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BD or bondage and discipline is a form of sexual activity involving bondage and role-playing or humiliation but, unlike SM, little or no pain.
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The BMW 2002 Turbo was a German high-speed saloon car produced briefly in 1972 and 1973, until high petrol prices killed demand for it. The BMW 2002 Turbo was powered by a 1990 cc 4-cylinder engine providing 170 bhp and a top speed of 209 kmh, but at a high fuel consumption of 17 mpg.
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The BMW 507 was a German, handmade super sports car produced from 1955 to 1959 for the American market. The BMW 507 was powered by a 3168 cc V-eight engine providing between 150 and 160 bhp and a top speed of between 200 and 225 kmh.
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The BMW CSL was a German road-going coupe road racing car produced between 1971 and 1975. The BMW CSL was powered by a 3 litre in-line six engine which provided between 180 and 206 bhp and a top speed of between 213 and 225 kmh.
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Ba'athism is an Arab political doctrine which combines elements of socialist thinking with pan-Arabism. This theory of Arab nationalism conceives of the 'Arab nation' as a single entity stretching from Morocco to Iraq which has been artificially divided by colonialism and imperialism.
Ba'athism originated in Syria, where the first Ba'ath Party was founded in 1953. Ba'athists have held power in Syria since 1963 and held power in Iraq from 1968 until they were overthrown in 2003 by a US led coalition of America, Britain and Australia which invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the pretence of disarming the regime of weapons of mass destruction. The Syrian and Iraqi branches of the movement were deeply divided. There have been further divisions between its civilian and military elements. While the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein employed the slogans of pan-Arabism to justify his invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the Ba'ath Party in Iraq was reduced to an instrument of state power.
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The Baader-Meinhof gang were a West German anarchist terrorist group, (also called the Red Army Faction). Its leaders were Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. The group set itself to oppose the capitalist organisation of German society and the presence of US armed forces by engaging in murders, bombings, and kidnappings. The leaders were arrested in 1972, and their trial and deaths by suicide received considerable publicity. The group continued its terrorist activities in the 1980s, forming a number of splinter cells.
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Babelavante is an old term from the Middle Ages for a bad joke.
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The Babington Plot of 1586 was a conspiracy to co-ordinate a Spanish invasion of England with a rising of English Catholics, to assassinate Elizabeth I, and to replace her on the throne with Mary, Queen of Scots. Sir Anthony Babington was the go-between in the secret preparations. Walsingham monitored Babington's correspondence with the captive Queen Mary until he had enough evidence of her treasonable intentions to have her tried and executed in 1587, Babington having been executed after torture at Tyburn.
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Babism is the doctrines of a Muslim messianic Shiite sect. Founded in 1844 by the Persian Sayyid Ali Muhammad of Shiraz known as the Bab ed-Din (the gate or intermediary between man and God), who declared himself to be the long-awaited Mahdi. For inciting insurrection the Bab was arrested in 1848 by the government and executed in 1850, his remains being interred in 1909 on Mount Carmel, Palestine. In 1863 Baha'ullah and his son Abdul Baha declared themselves the new leaders, and their followers became known as the Baha'is.
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Baboo or babu is a Hindu title of respect equivalent to sir or master, usually given to wealthy and educated native gentlemen, especially when of the mercantile class.
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A back pointed knife is a basic knife design in which the back of the blade is straight, and the cutting edge is curved. This design allows the cutting edge to roll off the item being cut and is suited to making swaying cutting movements.
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Backwash is the flow of water down a beach under the influence of gravity after the breaking of a wave and its associated swash. As this water returns to the breaker zone it carries beach material with it. Steep waves, which break almost vertically on to a beach, have an extremely powerful backwash and move much material out to sea. Backwash contributes to longshore drift.
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Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 was an uprising in Virginia, North America, led by an English immigrant, Nathaniel Bacon. Dissident county leaders and landless ex-servants followed his opposition to Sir William Berkeley. Though he was initially successful, Bacon died soon after the passage of reforms in the Virginian Assembly. Underlying the rebellion were problems caused by depressed tobacco prices and lack of colonial autonomy.
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In geomorphology, badlands are areas of bare ground which have been intensely eroded by running water into a maze of miniature canyons and steep slopes. There may be hundreds of tiny stream channels within a single square kilometre or mile, with the channels containing water only after rainstorms. Common on clays and shales in areas where the climate is semi-arid, they occur also on the tip-heaps of mines, especially of china-clay workings, in areas where the climate is wetter. Resistant layers of rock are often left as cappings on pillars of softer rock; these structures are known as hoodoos, or pedestal rocks.
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Bagasse or cane-trash is the sugar-cane in its dry crushed state as delivered from the mill, and after the main portion of its juce has been expressed. It is traditionally used as fuel in the sugar factory.
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Baha'ism is a religion founded in Iran by Baha'ullah with about five million adherents throughout the world. Following the suppression of the millenarian Babi movement Babism in Iran and the execution of its leader, the Bab, in 1850, Baha'ullah declared himself in 1863 to be the new prophet heralded by the Bab. Baha'ullah acknowledged the revelations of earlier prophets such as Jesus and Muhammad, but held that the single identity of God must be re-taught by new prophecy to each generation.
Baha'is believe in the spiritual progression of the world to unity and their ideal is an international community with one language. Baha'i temples are open to the faithful of all creeds. A Universal House of Justice administers the religion, with its centres in Haifa and Akko (Acre) in Israel. There is no clergy or ritual; spiritual practice includes daily private prayer and an annual period of fasting, which ends with the festival of Now Ruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox. Baha'is stress the equality of women and the importance of monogamous family life.
Although Baha'is regard the Koran and Muhammad with reverence, to Muslims the Baha'is are heretics who have displaced the Koran from its position as the final and most important revelation; this has led to persecution in Iran since the religion's inception, with renewed force since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Furthermore, the location of the Baha'is world centre in Israel has led to an association of Baha'is with that country and made the Baha'is a target of anti-Semitic sentiment.
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Bahr is an Arabic term denoting a river or lake.
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Bail is the release by the police, magistrates' court, or Crown Court of a person held in legal custody while awaiting trial or appealing against a criminal conviction. A person granted bail undertakes to pay a specified sum to the court if he fails to appear on the date set by the court. This is known as bail in one's own recognisance. Often the court also requires guarantors (known as sureties) to undertake to produce the accused or to forfeit the sum fixed by the court if they fail to do so. In these circumstances the bailed person is, in theory, released into the custody of the sureties.
Judges have wide discretionary powers as to whether or not bail should be granted, and for what sum. Normally an accused is granted bail unless it is likely that he will abscond, or interfere with witnesses, or unless he is accused of a serious crime (such as rape) and is likely to repeat it if released. The accused has the right to appeal to the High Court against a refusal to grant him bail. The conditions governing bail are contained in the Bail Act 1976.
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Bairam is a Muslim feast falling immediately after Ramadan and extending over one to three days. This feast during the course of thirty-three years makes a complete circuit of all the months and seasons, as the Turks reckon by lunar years. Sixty days after this first great Bairam begins the lesser Bairam which commemorates Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac.. They are the only two feasts prescribed by the Muslim religion.
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Baize is a rough woollen cloth with a nap on one side used for linings, coverings and curtains, most notably covering billiards, snooker and pool tables.
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Bakelite is a strong synthetic material resistant to heat and chemicals.
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The Baker Street Bazaar was a shop, formerly at 28 Baker Street, London, famous during the Victorian era for its sale of carriages, Chinese and Japanese wares. Dickens reports that in 1888 the Baker Street Bazaar was open between 10 am and 6 pm everyday.
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Bakshish or backshish (from the Persian for a gift) is a word used throughout the Arab world for a gratuity for services rendered, though it is demanded often with threats.
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A balaam box or balaam basket was a pannier carried on an ass.
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In politics, the balance of power is the theory that the strength of one group of powers on the European continent should be equal to the strength of the other group, thus preventing one group from becoming dominant. Britain's foreign policy in Europe before the Great War is often said to have been dictated by the wish to achieve a balance of power between the countries on the continent of Europe, and so prevent aggression and war.
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A bale was a British measure for cinnamon equivalent to 92.5 lbs, in use during the 19th century.
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Baleen is whale-bone in the rough or natural state.
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Ballast is a term applied to heavy matter, such as stone, sand, iron, or water placed in the bottom of a sailing ship or other vessel to sink it in the water to such a depth as to enable it to carry sufficient sail without oversetting. The term ballast is also applied to the sand placed in bags in the car of a hot-air balloon to steady it and to enable the aeronaut to lighten the balloon by throwing part of it out. Ballast is also the name for the material used to fill up the space between the rails on a railway in order to make it firm and solid.
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Balliol College is a college of Oxford University, founded in 1263 by the Norman knight John de Baliol.
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A balloon is a bag filled with gas.
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Ballooning is a form of un-powered flight dependant on the inflation of a usually spherical fabric container with a gas that is lighter than air, such as heated air. The container (balloon) rises, carrying the pilot and passengers in a basket beneath it. Descent is effected by the controlled release of the gas, through a valve in the top of the container, operated by a cord from the basket.
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A ballot is a method of secret voting. Voting by ballot signifies literally voting by means of little balls (called by the French ballottes), usually of different colours, which are put into a box in such a manner as to enable the voter, if he chooses, to conceal for whom or for what he gives his suffrage. The method is adopted by most clubs in the election of their members - a white ball indicating assent, a black ball dissent. Hence, when an applicant is rejected, he is said to be blackballed. The term voting by ballot is also applied in a general way to any method of secret voting, as, for instance, when a person gives his vote by means of a ticket bearing the name of the candidate whom he wishes to support. In this sense vote by ballot is the mode adopted in electing the members of legislative assemblies in most countries, as well as the members of various other bodies. In ancient Greece and Rome the ballot was in common use. In Britain it had long been advocated in the election of members of Parliament and of municipal corporations, but it was only introduced by an act passed in 1872.
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Balmoral Castle is the British royal residence in Scotland. It stands on the right bank of the Dee near Crathie. Balmoral was purchased in 1848 by Queen Victoria.
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A bambillo is a Brazilian straw or tube used for drinking mate tea.
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Bambocciades are pictures, generally grotesque, of common, rustic, or low life, such as those of Peter Van Laar, a Dutch painter of the 17th century, who on account of his deformity was called Bamboccio (the cripple). Teniers is the great master of this style.
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The Bampton Lectures were a course of lectures established in 1751 by John Bampton, canon of Salisbury, who bequeathed certain property to the University of Oxford for the endowment of eight divinity lectures to be annually delivered. The subjects prescribed were mainly connected with the evidences of Christianity, and the lecturer must have taken the degree of M.A. at Oxford or Cambridge. The first course of lectures was delivered in 1780, and were delivered every year since, with the exceptions of 1834, 1835, and 1841. Among the more remarkable lectures were those by Dr. White in 1784, by Dr. Mant in 1812, by Reginald Heber in 1815, Whately in 1822, Milman in 1827, Dr. Hampden in 1832, Mr. Mansel in 1858, Canon Liddon in 1866, Canon Gore in 1891. A similar course of lectures, the Hulsean, was annually delivered at Cambridge.
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Band of hope was a name given to late 19th century and early 20th century societies of young persons pledged to teetotalism.
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The bandbox plot was an attempt to assassinate the lord-treasurer during the reign of Queen Anne. A bandbox containing three charged and cocked pistols was sent to the lord-treasurer, a thread tied to their triggers in such a way that when the box lid was lifted the pistols would discharge and shoot the person opening the box. Apparently dean Swift was present when the box was delivered, and seeing the thread cut it, thereby disarming the device.
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Bande Noire was the name given when the revolution in France had entailed the confiscation of much ecclesiastical property, also many castles and residences of the emigrant and resident nobility, to a number of speculators who bought up the edifices, etc, in order to demolish them and turn their materials to profit. They were so called on account of their disregard of sacred property, of art, antiquity, and historical associations.
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The Bangorian Controversy was a controversy stirred up by a sermon preached before George I in 1717 by Dr. Hoadly, bishop of Bangor, from the text 'My kingdom is not of this world,' in which the bishop contended in the most pronounced manner for the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom. The controversy was carried on with great heat for many years, and resulted in an enormous collection of pamphlets.
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Bank Holidays are British public holidays when the banks are closed. They are New Year's Day, Easter Monday, May Day (the first Monday in May), Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), August Bank Holiday (last Monday in August), and Boxing Day. In Scotland, Easter Monday is replaced by the 2nd of January and the August Bank Holiday is on the first Monday in August. In Northern Ireland Saint Patrick's Day (the 17th of March) is added. In the Channel Islands Liberation Day (the 9th of May) is included.
Bank Holidays have a similar status to Sundays in that bills of exchange falling due on a Bank Holiday are postponed until the following day and also they do not count in working out days of grace. Good Friday and Christmas Day are also public holidays, but payments falling due (including bills of exchange) on these days are payable on the preceding day. When Bank Holidays fall on a Sunday, the following day becomes the Bank Holiday.
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The Bannatyne Club was a literary society which was instituted in Edinburgh in 1823 by Sir Walter Scott who was its first president, David Laing , who was club secretary until its dissolution in 1865, Archibald Constable, and Thomas Thomson. It started with thirty-one members, subsequently extended to 100, having as its object the printing of rare works on Scotch history, literature, geography, etc. It derived its name from George Bannatyne the 16th century collector of the famous manuscripts of early Scottish poetry.
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In the feudal law, banns were a solemn proclamation of any kind; hence arose the present custom of asking banns, or giving notice before marriage.
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The Banting System was a course of diet for reducing superfluous fat, adopted and recommended in 1863 by W Banting of London. The dietary recommended was the use of butcher-meat principally, and abstinence from beer, farinaceous food, and vegetables - a similar low-carbohydrate diet was 100 years later promoted by Dr Atkins as the Atkins Diet.
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Baphomet was the imaginary idol or symbol which the Templars were accused of employing in their mysterious rites, and of which little or nothing is known.
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Baptism (from the Greek baptizo, from bapto, to immerse or dip), is a rite which is generally thought to have been usual with the Jews even before Christ, being administered to proselytes. From this baptism, however, that of St John the Baptist differed, because he baptized Jews also as a symbol of the necessity of perfect purification from sin. Christ himself never baptizedy, but directed his disciples to administer this rite to converts; and baptism, therefore, became a religious ceremony among Christians, taking rank as a sacrament with all sects which acknowledge sacraments.
In the primitive church the person to be baptized was dipped in a river or in a vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered, generally adopting a new name to further express the change. Sprinkling, or, as it was termed, clinic baptism, was used only in the case of the sick who could not leave their beds. The Greek Church and Eastern schismatics retained the custom of immersion; but the Western Church adopted or allowed the mode of baptism by pouring or sprinkling, since continued by most Protestants. This practice can be traced back certainly to the third century, before which its existence is disputed.
Since the Reformation there have been various Protestant sects called Baptists, holding that baptism should be administered only by immersion, and to those who can make a personal profession of faith. The Montanists in Africa baptized even the dead, and in Roman Catholic countries the practice of baptizing church-bells - a custom of tenth-century origin - continues to this day. Being an initiatory rite, baptism is only administered once to the same person. The Roman and Greek Catholics consecrate the water of baptism, but Protestants do not. The act of baptism is accompanied only with the formula that the person is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but, among most Christians, it is preceded by a confession of faith made by the person to be baptized if an adult, and by his parents or sponsors if he be a child. The Roman Catholic form of baptism is far more elaborate than the Protestant. This church teaches that all persons not baptized are damned, even unbaptized infants are not admitted into heaven; but for those with whom the absence of baptism was the chief fault, even St. Augustine himself believed in a species of mitigated damnation. Protestants hold that though the neglect of the sacrament is a sin, yet the saving new birth may be found without the performance of the rite which symbolizes it. Naming the person baptized forms no essential part of the ceremony, but has become almost universal, probably from the ancient custom of renaming the catechumen.
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In geography, a bar is a collection of gravel, sand or mud at the mouth of a river.
A bar was a British baker's unit of measurement equivalent to 196 lbs.
In law, a bar is the railing that encloses the place which council occupy in courts of justice; hence the phrase, at the bar of the court, that is, in open court. Hence also persons duly admitted as pleaders or advocates before the courts of England are denominated barristers , and the whole body of such barristers or advocates are called the bar. The enclosed place or dock in which persons accused of crimes stand in court is also called the bar. Near the door of both houses of Parliament there is also a bar, beyond which none but the members and clerks are admitted, and at which counsel, witnesses, offenders against privilege, etc, are heard.
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Bar Mitzvah are Jewish celebrations connected with reaching the age of maturity and of legal and religious responsibility. A boy celebrates his
Bar Mitzvah when he is thirteen years and one day old, a girl (in non- orthodox communities) when she is twelve years and one day. The celebration involves the child reading a passage from the Torah or the Prophets in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and is then considered a full member of the congregation.
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Barbarian (from the Greek, barbaros), was a name given by the Greeks, and afterwards by the Romans, to every one who spoke an unintelligible language; and hence coming to connote the idea of rude, illiterate, uncivilized. This word, therefore, did not always convey the idea of something odious or savage; thus Plautus calls Naevius a barbarous poet, because he had not written in Greek; and Cicero terms illiterate persons without taste 'barbarians.'
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Barbed Wire is wire-rope used for fencing or other purposes, having fixed in it short bent pieces of wire with sharp projecting points, which serve to keep animals from pressing against it. Barbed wire may also be used for various protective purposes, and especially in war to form an impediment to the attack of an enemy - some barbed wire is designed to snag clothing and cause minor scratches, other types with longer spikes are designed to cause more serious injuries. Razor-wire, which evolved from barbed wire is fitted with razor-sharp metal blades intended to kill or maime any person trying to pass through it. There was an act of Parliament passed in 1893 to prevent the use of barbed wire fences that form a nuisance on a public road or path; and a person employing barbed wire for fencing could render himself liable for damages caused by it to another person who was legitimately using the adjoining ground.
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The Barebones Parliament was the assembly summoned by Oliver Cromwell in July 1653, after he had dissolved the Rump Parliament. It consisted of 140 members chosen partly by the army leaders and partly by congregations of 'godly men'. Known initially as the Parliament of Saints, it was later nicknamed after 'Praise-God' Barbon, or Barebones, one of its excessively pious leaders. Its attacks on the Court of Chancery and on the Church of England alarmed both Cromwell and its more moderate members. The dissolution of this Parliament was followed by the Instrument of Government and the proclamation of Cromwell as Lord Protector.
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Barlaam and Josaphat is a famous mediaeval spiritual romance, which is in its main details a Christianized version of the Hindu legends of Buddha. The story first appeared in Greek in the works of Joannes Damascenus in the eighth century. The compilers of the Gesta Romanorum, Boccaccio, Gower, and Shakespeare have all drawn materials from it.
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Barley-month was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month we now call September. It was so called barley-month as it was the month when barley-beer was made.
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A barleycorn was a British long measure equivalent to 1/3rd of an inch.
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Baron is an English peerage title.
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A barouche was a 19th century four-wheeled carriage with a falling top, with a seat outside for the driver, and two inside capable of accommodating two people sitting facing each other.
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The barra was an old unit of measurement used for cloth in Portugal and parts of Spain during the 18th century. Three different barras were employed: in Valencia, in Castile and in Aragon, all slightly different but roughly equivalent to the English yard, but all slightly shorter.
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In law, barratry is the stirring up of lawsuits and quarrels between other persons, the party guilty of this offence being indictable as a common barrator or barretor. The commencing of suits in the name of a fictitious plaintiff is common barratry.
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A barrel is a dry and liquid measurement that varies with substance. A barrel of beef or pork was equal to 200 lbs, a barrel of butter varied from 106 to 256 lbs, a barrel of flour from 196 to 228 lbs, a barrel of gunpowder was 100 lbs, a barrel of raisins was 112 lbs, a barrel of soft soap was 256 lbs, a barrel of candles in 1888 was equivalent to 120 lbs, a barrel of beer is two kilderkins or 36 gallons.
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The Barrier Treaty was a treaty concluded in 1715 at the Hague between England and the Netherlands, by which the Netherlands republic obtained the right to occupy certain fortified places (Namur, Tournai, Menin, Furnes, etc.) in the Spanish Netherlands.
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Bartholomew Fair was a fair held at West Smithfield on St Bartholomew's day (August the 24th) from 1133 until 1855. One of the chief attractions at the fair was the hog roast, at which a whole pig was roasted and sold hot.
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Baru is a woolly substance formerly used for caulking ships, stuffing cushions, etc, found at the base of the leaves of an East India sago palm.
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The Basilean Manuscripts are two manuscripts of the Greek New Testament now in the library of Basel. They comprise a nearly complete uncial copy of the Gospels of the eighth century and a cursive copy of the whole New Testament except the Apocalypse, written in the tenth century.
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The Basilian Liturgy is that form for celebrating the Eucharist drawn up towards the close of the fourth century by Basil the Great (St Basil), still used in the Greek Church.
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Basilicon Doron (the royal gift) is the title of a book written by King James I in 1599, containing a collection of precepts of the art of government. It maintains the claim of the king to be sole head of the church. It was printed at Edinburgh, in 1603.
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In geography, a basin is the whole tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries. The line dividing one river basin from another is the water-shed, and by tracing the various water-sheds we divide each country into its constituent basins The basin of a loch or sea consists of the basins of all the rivers which run into it.
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A basket is a vessel or utensil of wicker-work, made of interwoven osiers or willows, rushes, twigs, grasses, etc. The process of basket-making is very simple, and appears to be well known among the most technologically undeveloped peoples. The ancient Britons excelled in the art, and their baskets were highly prized in Rome.
A basket was a British measure of almonds equivalent to between 1.25 and 1.5 hundred weight, in use during the 19th century.
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Bast is the inner bark of exogenous trees, especially of thel ime or linden, consisting of several layers of fibres. The manufacture of bast into mats, ropes, shoes, etc, was in some districts of Russia a considerable branch of industry, bast mate, used for packing- furniture, covering' plants in gardens, etc, being exported in large quantities during the 19th century. Though the term is usually restricted, many of the most important fibres of former commerce, such as hemp, flax, jute, etc, were the products of bast or liber.
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A bastard is a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child. By the former civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland (as well as of some of the United States), a bastard became legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. But by the former laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage; it did not require that the child should be begotten in wedlock, but it was indispensable that it should be born after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard in former law was that he cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the maintenance of a bastard in the first instance formerly devolved on the mother, while in Scotland it was a joint burden upon both parents. The mother was entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. By the 1980's the law had evolved and illegitimacy was irrelevant.
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Bastinado is a form of torture or punishment (often used in SM sex games) involving beating the soles of the feet. Originally, bastinado was employed as a method of corporal punishment, consisting of blows upon the soles of the feet, applied with a stick, in the Far East.
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Bath is the immersion of the body in water, or an apparatus for this purpose. The use of the bath as an institution apart from occasional immersion in rivers or the sea, is, as might be anticipated, an exceedingly old custom. Homer mentions the bath as one of the first refreshments offered to a guest; thus, when Ulysses enters the palace of Circe, a bath is prepared for him, and he is anointed after it with costly perfumes. No representation, however, of a bath as we understand it is given upon the Greek vases, bathers being represented either simply washing at an elevated basin, or having water poured over them from above. In later times, rooms, both public and private, were built expressly for bathing, the public baths of the Greeks being mostly connected with the gymnasia. Apparently, by an inversion of the later practice, it was customary in the Homeric epoch to take first a cold and then a hot bath; but the Lacedemonians substituted the hot-air sudorific bath, as less enervating than warm water, and in Athens at the time of Demosthenes and Socrates the warm bath was considered by the more rigorous as an effeminate custom.
The fullest details we have with respect to the bathing of the ancients apply to its luxurious development under the Romans. Their bathing establishments consisted of four main sections: the undressing room, with an adjoining chamber in which the bathers were anointed; a cold room with provision for a cold bath; a room heated moderately to serve as a preparation for the highest and lowest temperatures; and the sweating-room, at one extremity of which was a vapour-bath and at the other an ordinary hot bath. After going through the entire course both the Greeks and Romans made use of strigils or scrapers, either of horn or metal, to remove perspiration, oil, and impurities from the skin. Connected with the bath were walks, covered race-grounds, tennis-courts, and gardens, the whole, both in the external and internal decorations, being frequently on a palatial scale. The group of the Laocoon and the Parnese Hercules were both found in the ruins of Roman baths.
With respect to modern baths, that commonly in use in Russia consists of a single hall, built of wood, in the midst of which is a powerful metal oven, covered with heated stones, and surrounded with broad benches, on which the bathers take their places. Cold water is then poured upon the heated stones, and a thick, hot steam rises, which causes the sweat to issue from the whole body. The bather is then gently whipped with wet birch rods, rubbed with soap, and washed with lukewarm and cold water; of the latter, some pailfuls are poured over his head; or else he leaps, immediately after this sweating-bath, into a river or pond, or rolls in the snow.
The Turks, by their religion, are obliged to make repeated ablutions daily, and for this purpose there is, in every city, a public bath connected with a mosque. A favourite bath among them, however, is a modification of the hot-air sudorific-bath of the ancients introduced under the name of Turkish Bath into other than Islamic countries. A regular accompaniment of this bath, when properly given, is the operation known as 'kneading,' or massage, generally performed at the close of the sweating process, after the final rubbing of the bather with soap, and consisting in a systematic pressing and squeezing of the whole body, stretching the limbs, and manipulating all the joints as well as the fleshy and muscular parts.
Public baths were common in Europe during the late 19th century, but the first English public baths and wash-houses of the kind common in all cities during the late 19th century were established in Liverpool and near the London docks in 1844. In 1846 an act was passed for their encouragement, and a Baths and Wash-houses Act of 1878 authorized the establishment of cheap swimming-baths.
The principal natural warm baths in England are at Bath in Somersetshire (the hottest), and Brixton and Matlock in Derbyshire. The temperature of the Bath springs ranges from 109 to 117 degrees, while that of the Buxton and Matlock waters scarcely exceeds 82 degrees. The baths of Harrogate, which are strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, are also of great repute for the cure of obstinate cutaneous diseases, indurations of the glands, etc. The most celebrated natural hot baths in Europe are those of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the various Baden in Germany; Toeplitz, in Bohemia; Bagnieres, Bareges, and Dax, in the south of France; and Spa, in Belgium. Besides the various kinds of water-bath with or without medication or natural mineral ingredients, there are also milk, oil, wine, earth, sand, mud, and electric baths, smoke-baths and gas-baths; but these are as a rule only indulged after specific prescription.
The practice of bathing as a method of cure in cases of disease falls under the head of hydrotherapathy; in the 19th century it was advised that even when bathing was employed simply for pleasure or purification due regard should be paid to the physiological condition of the bather. During the Victorian era in Britain writers were concerned about the potential dangers of bathing, and one warned:
'in many cases cold bathing should be avoided altogether, especially by those who have any tendency to spitting of blood or consumption, by gouty people, or by those who have any latent visceral disease or apoplectic tendency. Wherever the bath is followed by shivering instead of by a healthy reactionary glow, it is undesirable; and a cold bath in the morning after any debauchery or excess in eating or drinking on the previous evening is exceedingly imprudent. Delicate persons and children ought not to bathe in the sea before ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and in no case should bathing be indulged after a long fast. In cold streams and rivers additional precautions should be taken, the cold plunge, when heated or fatigued, being frequently attended with fatal results. Even warm baths are not wholly free from danger; apoplexy and death having been known to follow a hot bath when entered with a full stomach. As a rule the temperature should not exceed 105 degrees, and they should not be too long continued. Frequent indulgence in them has an enervating effect, though the majority of people need as yet no renewal of Hadrian's prohibitive legislation in this matter.'
The eminent author, George Black, in 1892, while generally encouraging bathing, and describing bathing as 'likely to be of excellent use and efficacy both in the prevention and cure of disease.' Also went on to warn:
'Baths should never be taken immediately after a meal, nor when the body is very much exhausted by fatigue or excitement of any kind, nor during nor just before menstruation; and they should be sparingly and guardedly used by pregnant women.'
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A bath brick was a brick-shaped mass made from alluvial matter (silt and clay) dredged from the river Parrett at Bridgewater, and formerly much used in Britain for cleaning knives and polishing metal.
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A bath chair is a chair, mounted on wheels, used by invalids. They were employed at Bath by invalids frequenting the mineral springs, and whence they derived their name.
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Before the invention of the penny post and gummed envelopes, bath post was a writing paper sold in letter size, with a highly glazed surface. It was very fashionable among wealthy visitors to the springs at Bath, and whence its name.
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In law, battery is the intentional or reckless application of physical force to someone without his consent.
Battery is a form of trespass to the person and is a summary offence (punishable with a fine of up to 2000 pounds and/or six months' imprisonment) as well as a tort, even if no actual harm results. If actual harm does result, however, the consent of the victim may not prevent the act from being criminal, except when the injury is inflicted in the course of properly conducted sports or games (e.g. rugby or boxing) or as a result of reasonable surgical intervention, for example in the 'Spanner Case' a group of consenting adults were convicted for indulging in sado-masochistic sex acts.
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A bauble was originally a stick with a lump of lead hanging from its summit, used to beat dogs with. later, the bauble developed into a short stick or wand with a head or with ass's ears carved at the end of it and carried by the court fools or jesters of the time.
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Bauhaus is a German institution for training architects, artists and industrial designers founded in 1919 at Weimer.
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In geography, a bay is a broad open indentation in a coast-line.
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Bay Mahogany is a variety of mahogany exported from Honduras. It is softer and less finely marked than the variety known as Spanish mahogany, but is the largest and most abundant kind.
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Bay rum is a spirit obtained by distilling the leaves of Myrica acris, or other West Indian trees of the same genus. It is used for toilet purposes, and as a liniment in rheumatic affections.
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Bay-salt is a general term for coarse grained salt, but properly it is applied to salt obtained by spontaneous or natural evaporation of sea-water in large shallow tanks or bays.
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The Bayeux-tapestry is a tapestry preserved in the Cathedral of Bayeux, representing the events in William of Normandy's conquest of England. It is thought to have been wrought by his queen, Matilda, and to have been presented by Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the half-brother of William, to the church in which it was found. It is 214 feet in length and 20 inches in breadth, and is divided into seventy-two compartments, the subject of each scene being indicated by a Latin inscription. These scenes give a pictorial history of the invasion and conquest of England by the Normans, beginning with Harold's visit to the Norman court, and ending with his death at Hastings.
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A bayou is a section of still or slow-moving marshy water cut off from a main river channel, often in the form of an oxbow lake. Bayous are typical of the Mississippi River delta in Louisiana.
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A beacon is ignited, combustible materials placed in an iron cage, elevated upon a pole or other natural elevation, so as to be seen from a distance. Beacons were formerly used to guide travellers across unfrequented parts of the country, and to alarm the inhabitants on the occasion of an invasion or a rebellion. It was from the earlier beacons that street lighting first developed in London.
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A bead was originally a prayer; then the name was given to a small perforated ball of gold, pearl, amber, glass, or the like, to be strung on a thread, and used in a rosary by Roman Catholics in numbering their prayers, one bead being passed at the end of-each ejaculation or short prayer. Later the word came to mean any such small ornamental body. Since the 19th century glass beads have been among the most common sort.
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A beaker was, during the middle-ages and until the 20th century, a large-mouthed, handleless drinking vessel. During the 20th century the term came to be applied to a metal, or usually plastic, drinking vessel, again without handles - thus differentiating it from the glass tumbler. In archaeology, the term beaker may be applied to a type of handless pottery drinking vessel characteristic of the peoples of early bronze age western Europe.
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The Bean-king was the person chosen king in former Twelfth Night festivities in virtue of having got the piece of cake containing the bean buried in the cake for this purpose.
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The bear of Bradwardine was a wine goblet, of about a pint capacity, made on command of St Duthac the Abbot of Aberbrothoe to be presented to the Baron of Bradwardine for services rendered in defence of the monastery. Inscribed upon the goblet was the motto: 'Beware the Bear'.
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Bear's-grease was the fat of bears, formerly esteemed as of great efficacy in nourishing and promoting the growth of hair during the Victorian era. The ungents sold under this name, however, were in a great measure made of pig's lard or veal fat, or a mixture of both, scented and slightly coloured.
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A bear-pit is a deep, open pit with perpendicular walls, formerly built in a zoological garden for keeping bears, and having in the centre a pole in which the bears could exercise their climbing powers.
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A bearing is the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen, or the situation of one object in regard to another, with reference to the points of the compass. Thus, if from a certain situation an object is seen in the direction of north-east, the bearing of the object is said to be north-east from the situation.
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In the Roman Catholic Church, beatification is an act by which the pope declares a person beatified or blessed after his death. It is the first step to canonization, that is, the raising one to the honour and dignity of a saint. No person can be beatified until fifty years after his or her death. All certificates or attestations of virtues and miracles, the necessary qualifications for saintship, are examined by the Congregation of Rites. This examination often continues for several years; after which his holiness decrees the beatification, and the corpse and relics of the future saint are exposed to the veneration of all good Christians.
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Beating the bounds (called in Scotland riding the marches) was a popular English ceremony of perambulation round the boundaries of a township or parish on Ascension Day with the view of keeping alive the memory of the places where the boundaries ran. It used to be sometimes customary to whip the boys of the parish school at important spots during the walk, and this practice continued at some places up to the start of the 20th century.
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A bee is a social gathering for some useful work. The term is most often encountered in spelling-bee, a contest in spellings popular in America. The custom of bees originated in Devon in England, and was introduced to America during the 17th century.
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Beef-wood is the timber of some species of Australian trees belonging to the genus Casuarina, of a reddish colour, hard, and close-grained, with dark and whitish streaks, it is chiefly used in fine ornamental work.
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A bell is a hollow, somewhat cup-shaped, sounding instrument of metal. The metal from which bells are usually made (by founding) is an alloy, called bell-metal, commonly composed of eighty parts of copper and twenty of tin. The proportion of tin varies, however, from one-third to one-fifth of the weight of the copper, according to the sound required, the size of the bell, and the impulse to be given. The clearness and richness of the tone depend upon the metal used, the perfection of its casting, and also upon its shape; it having been shown by a number of experiments that the well-known shape with a thick lip is the best adapted to give a perfect sound. The depth of the tone of a bell increases in proportion to its size.
A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the ear or cannon, and the clapper or tongue. The lip or sound-bow is that part where the bell is struck by the clapper. It is uncertain whether the jangling instruments used by the Egyptians and Israelites can be correctly described as bells; but it is certain that bells of a considerable size were in early use in China and Japan, and that the Greeks and Romans used them for various purposes. They are said to have been first introduced into Christian churches about 400 AD by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania (whence campana and nola as old names of bells); although their adoption on a wide scale does not become apparent until after the year 550, when they were introduced into France.
Benedict Biscop, abbot of Wearmouth, seems to have imported bells from Italy to England in 680, but their use in Ireland and Scotland is probably of earlier date. The oldest of those existing in Great Britain and Ireland, such as the 'bell of St. Patrick's will' and St Ninian's bell, are quadrangular and made of thin iron plates hammered and riveted together.
Until the thirteenth century bells were of comparatively small size, but after the casting of the Jacqueline of Paris (6.5 tons) in 1400 their weight rapidly increased. Among the more famous bells are the bell of Cologne, 11. tons, 1448; of Dantzic, 6 tons, 1453; of Halberstadt, 7.5, 1457; of Rouen, 16, 1501; of Breslau, 11, 1507; of Lucerne, 71, 1636; of Oxford,7.5 1680; of Paris, 12.8, 1680; of Bruges, 10.5, 1680; of Vienna, 17.75, 1711; of Moscow (the monarch of all bells), 193, 1736; three other bells at Moscow ranging from 16 to 31 tons, and a fourth of 80 tons cast in 1819; the bell of Lincoln (Great Tom), 5.5, 1834; of York Minster (Great Peter), 10.75, 1845; of Montreal, 134, 1847; of Westminster (Big Ben), 15.5, 1856, (St Stephen), 13.5, 1858; the Great Bell of St. Paul's, 17.5, 1882. Others are the bells of Ghent (5 tons), Gorlitz (10.75 tons), St Peter's, Rome (8 tons), Antwerp (7.25 tons), Olmutz (18 tons), Sacred Heart, Paris (27 tons), Novgorod (31 tons), Pekin (53.5 tons).
Besides their use in churches bells are employed for various purposes, formerly the most common use being to summon attendants or domestics in private houses, hotels, etc. Bells for this purpose were of small size and may be held in the hand and rung, but most commonly were rung by means of wires stretched from the various apartments to the place where the bells were hung. Bells rung by electricity became common in hotels and other establishments around 1905.
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The bell, book and candle is a ceremony in the greater excommunication introduced into the Catholic Church in the eighth century. After reading the sentence, a bell is rung, a book closed, and a candle extinguished. From that moment the excommunicated person is excluded from the sacraments and even divine worship.
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A bellarmine is a large, Flemish beer-jug (a gotch) originally made in Flanders in ridicule of Cardinal Bellarmine, and having at the neck of the jug a rude likeness of the cardinal with his large, square, ecclesiastical beard.
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Bellatrix is a white star in the right shoulder of the constellation of Orion.
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Belles-lettres are polite or elegant literature. The term is of somewhat vague signification. Rhetoric, poetry, fiction, history, and criticism, with the languages in which the standard works in these departments are written, are generally understood to come under the head of belles-lettres.
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The Belleview Palladium was the first newspaper issued in Nebraska, first published at Belleview in 1854.
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Belomancy is divination by means of arrows. Labels are attached to the arrows, and fired by archers. The arrow which lands furthest away has its label read, and the advice upon it acted upon. The practice of belomancy originated with the Greeks and around 1900 was reported as commonplace among the Arabs by Brewer.
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The Belper Committee was a five-man Home Office committee chaired by Lord Belper which sat in 1900 to consider the relative merits of anthropometry and fingerprinting as means to identifying suspects and solving crimes. Edward Henry appeared before the committee and provided a practical demonstration of 7000 fingerprints that convinced the committee.
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Ben (Hebrew for son) is a prepositive syllable signifying in composition 'son of', found in many Jewish names, as Bendavid, Benasser, etc. Beni, the plural, occurs in several modern names, and in the names of many Arabian tribes.
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Benefit of Clergy was a privilege by which formerly in England the clergy accused of capital offences were exempted from the jurisdiction of the lay tribunals, and left to be dealt with by their bishop. Though originally it was intended to apply only to the clergy or clerks, latterly every one who could read was considered to be a clerk, and the result of pleading 'his clergy' was tantamount to acquittal. A layman could only receive the benefit of clergy once, however, but he was not allowed to go without being branded on the thumb, a punishment which latterly might be commuted for whipping, imprisonment, or transportation. Benefit of Clergy was abolished in 1827.
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Benelux is an association of countries in western Europe, consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Apart from geographical proximity these countries have particularly close economic interests, recognised in their 1947 customs union. In 1958 the Benelux countries joined the European Economic Community.
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A benitier or benatura is a stone font or vase for containing holy water, usually placed in a niche in the chief porch or entrance oi a Roman Catholic church, some times in one of the pillars close to the door, into which the members of the congregation on entering dip the fingers of the right hand, and then cross themselves.
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The Benjamin order (from the case of Benjamin in 1902) is an English law order made by the court for the distribution of assets on death when it is uncertain whether or not a beneficiary is alive. The order authorises the personal representatives of the deceased (who will be administering the estate) to distribute the property on the basis that the beneficiary is dead (or on some other basis); the personal representatives are thus protected from being sued if the beneficiary is in fact alive and entitled. The beneficiary may, however, trace the trust property.
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The Bentley Arnage is a luxury four-door saloon motor car produced since 1998 in a 4.4 litre twin turbo fuel injected 32 valve V8 cylinder engine producing 350 BHP and providing 17 mpg (known as the Green Label) and a 6.7 litre 16 valve V8 cylinder engine model producing 400 BHP and delivering 14 mpg (known as the Red Label). The Bentley Arnage is renowned for its opulence, high running costs and depreciation in value.
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The Bentley Continental was a British, four-seater super-coupe car produced from 1952 to 1955. The Bentley Continental was powered by a 4566 cc straight six engine which gave it a top speed of 199 kmh, making it the fastest four-seater car of the time.
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Beowulf is a famous English epic. The poem is rich in the accurate and picturesque portrayal of the daily life in England in the 6th century. The only existing manuscript of Beiowulf belongs to the 8th or 9th century, and is in the Cottonian Library (British Museum). From internal evidence it is concluded that the poem in its essentials existed prior to the Anglo-Saxon colonization of Britain, and that it must be regarded either as brought to Britain by the Teutonic invaders, or as an early Anglo-Saxon translation of a Danish legend. From the allusions in it to Christianity, however, it must have received considerable modifications from its original form. It recounts the adventures of the hero Beowulf, especially his delivery of the Danish kingdom from the monster Grendel, and his equally formidable mother, and lastly the slaughter by Beowulf of a fiery dragon and his death from wounds received in the conflict.
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Berberin is a golden-yellow colouring matter obtained from several species of Berberis or barberry.
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A berlin or berline was a four-wheeled covered carriage seating two person inside, and a third behind on a hooded seat. The driver sat in front. The berlin was first made in Berlin, hence its name, and was popular in France during the 18th century. By the 20th century the name berlin was being used to describe a development of the early limousine motor-car designed to carry five passengers.
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The Berlin Decree was issued in 1806 by Napoleon, and declared the British islands to be in a state of blockade. The decree forbade commerce with them and trade in their merchandise and declared all merchandise belonging to Englishmen or transported from England to be lawful prize. The Berlin Decree inflicted a great loss on American trade at the time.
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Berne Union is the informal name for the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers, an association of credit insurers from the main industrial countries, except Japan. Its main function is to facilitate an exchange of information, especially over credit terms. The Export Credits Guarantee Department of the UK government is a member.
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Bernesque poetry is that type of poetry which blends satire, wit, mockery and serious thought, as in Byron's Don Juan and in the poetry of Francesco Berni from whom the name is derived.
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The bernicles was a method of tortuous execution in which the victim was strapped by the neck to a mattress and had his legs slowly crushed by a pile of logs, on the top one of which sat the executioner. The process continuing until the victim died of the process.
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Bestiaties (Bestials) were books of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth century describing all sorts of animals, real and fabled, and forming a species of mediaeval encyclopedia of zoology. The books contained pictures of animals and described their symbolism. These books were very popular. The volumes are to be found both in Latin and in the vernacular, in prose and in verse.
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Betrothment is a mutual promise or contract between two parties, by which they bind themselves to marry. In ancient times it was attended with the exchanging of rings, joining hands and kissing in the presence of witnesses. Since a betrothment is a contract, it may be subject to litigation.
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Bever days were a former custom at Eton college on which extra bread and beer were served during the afternoon in the College Hall to scholars and their friends they brought in.
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Bevy is the collective noun for a group of ladies.
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In politics, a bi-partisan foreign policy is a foreign policy on which both the government and the opposition parties are agreed.
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The bible is the sacred book of the Jewish and Christian religions (actually a collection of a number of books) . The Hebrew Bible, recognised by both Jews and Christians, is called the Old Testament by Christians. The New Testament comprises books recognised by the Christian church from the 5th century as canonical (the first Christian bible was produced in 494). The Roman Catholic Bible also includes the Apocrypha. It was only in the 13th century that single-volume Bibles with a fixed content and order of books became common, largely through a Paris-produced Vulgate of 1200 and the Paris Bible of 1230. The first English translation of the entire Bible was by a priest, Miles Coverdale in 1535; the Authorised Version, or King James Bible of 1611, was long influential for the clarity and beauty of its language. A revision of the Authorized Version carried out in 1959 by the British and Foreign Bible Society produced the widely used American translation, the Revised Standard Version.
A conference of British churches in 1946 recommended a completely new translation into English from the original Hebrew and Greek texts; work on this was carried out over the following two decades, resulting in the publication of the New English Bible in 1961 and 1970. Another recent translation is the Jerusalem Bible, completed by Catholic scholars in 1966. Missionary activity led to the translation of the Bible into the languages of people they were trying to convert, and by 1993 parts of the Bible had been translated into over 2,000 different languages, with 329 complete translations.
The King James Bible has probably sold more copies than any other book in history, and is still popular, especially among fundamentalists. The 'Good News Bible' has been the most popular translation into modern colloquial English. Two new versions of the Bible were published in the mid-1990s: the Contemporary English Version of 1996, which rejects old biblical language in favour of a contemporary spoken style, and the Schocken Bible of 1995, a translation of the Pentateuch, which attempts to renew the shock of the original Hebrew. As more manuscripts are discovered, disputed readings become clearer, so that in some respects modern translations are more accurate than older ones.
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A bible Society is a society formed for the distribution of the Bible or portions of it in various languages, either gratuitously or at a low rate. A clergyman of Wales, whom the want of a Welsh Bible led to London, occasioned the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society, on March the 7th, 1804.
A great number of similar institutions were soon formed in all parts of Great Britain, and afterwards on the Continent of Europe, in Asia and in America, and connected with the British as a parent or kindred society.
The proceeding's of the British and Foreign Bible Society gave rise to several controversies, one of which related to the neglecting to give the Prayer-book with the Bible. Another controversy related to the circulation of the Apocrypha along with the canonical books.
The Edinburgh Bible Society established in 1809, and up to 1826 connected with the British and Foreig'a Bible Society, seceded on the occasion of the controversy regarding the circulation of the Apocrypha, and up to 1860 existed as a separate society. In 1861 this society was united with the National, the Glasgow, and other Bible societies, into a whole called the National Bible Society of Scotland, having its headquarters in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Hibernian Bible Society, which has its headquarters in Dublin, was established in 1806, to encourage a wider circulation of the Bible in Ireland. In Germany the principal Bible society was the Prussian, established at Berlin in 1814 and having many auxiliaries. France has two principal Bible Societies, whose headquarters are at Paris, the one instituted in 1818, the other in 1833. Switzerland possesses various Bible societies, chief among which are those of Basel founded in 1804, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. In the Netherlands there has existed since 1815 a fraternal union of different sects for the distribution of Bibles. The Swedish Bible Society was instituted in 1808, and the Norwegian Bible Society in 1816. The first Russian Society in St Petersburg printed the Bible in thirty-one languages and dialects spoken in the Russian dominions, and auxiliary societies were formed at Irkutsk, Tobolsk, among the Kirghises, Georgians, and Cossacks of the Don; but they were all suppressed by an imperial ukase in 1826. In 1831 a new Bible Society was instituted at St. Petersburg - namely, the Russian Evangelical Bible Society. In the United States of America the great American Bible Society was formed in 1816.
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Biblia Pauperum ('Bible of the poor') was the name for block-books common in the middle ages, and consisting of a number of rude pictures of Biblical subjects with short explanatory text accompanying each picture.
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Although the term bibliography (from the Greek biblion, a book, and grapho, I describe) is popularly understood to mean a list of works consulted in a written work, or a reading list, the term bibliography was originally the knowledge of books, in reference to the subjects discussed in them, their different degrees of rarity, curiosity, reputed and real value, the materials of which they are composed, and the rank which they ought to hold in the classification of a library. That is a form of catalogue of books.
The subject is sometimes divided into general, national, and special bibliography, according as it deals with books in general, with those of a particular country, or with those on special subjects or having a special character (as early printed books, anonymous books). A subdivision of each of these might be made into material and literary, according as books were viewed in regard to their mere externals or in regard to their contents.
The beginnings of English bibliography are to be found in Blount's Censura Celebriorum Auctorum published in 1690, and Oldys' British Librarian published in 1737.
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Bibliomancy also called sortes biblicae, or sortes sanctorum is divination by means of the phrases in a book, especially the verses in the bible. Bibliomancy was an ancient practise, the ancients drew prognostications from the works of Homer and Virgil. In 465 the Council of Yannes condemned the practice, as did the Councils of Agde and Auxerre. But in the twelfth century we find it employed as a mode of detecting heretics, and in the Gallican Church it was long practised in the election of bishops, the installation of abbots, etc. The idea was to open a book, frequently the bible, at a random page, and without looking to point to a verse. The verse thus indicated would be applicable.
Bibliomancy was also employed as a form of trial, whereby a person suspected of witchcraft or heresy was weighed against a bible. If the bible bore down the other scale, the accused would be acquitted. It is unlikely many such unfortunate victims were acquitted.
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Bibliomania (literally 'book-madness'), is a passion for possessing curious books, which reached its highest development in France and England, though originating, like Tulipomania, in Holland, towards the close of the seventeenth century. The true bibliomanist is determined in the purchase of books, less by the value of their contents, than by certain accidental circumstances attending them, as that they belong to particular classes, are made of singular materials, or have something remarkable in their history. One of the most common forms of the passion is the desire to possess complete sets of works, as of the various editions of the Bible or of single classics; of the editions in usum Delphini and cum notis variorum; of the Italian classics printed by the Academy delta Orusca; of the works printed by the Elzevirs or by Aldus.
Scarce books, prohibited books, and books distinguished for remarkable errors or mutilations have also been eagerly sought for, together with those printed in the infancy of typography, called incunabula, first printed editions (editiones principes) and the like. Other works are valued for their miniatures and illuminated initial letters, or as being printed upon vellum, upon paper of uncommon Materials, upon various substitutes for paper, or upon coloured paper, in coloured inks, or in letters of gold or silver.
In high esteem among bibliomanists are works printed on large paper, with very wide margins, especially if uncut, also works printed from copper plates, editions-de-luxe, and limited issues generally. Bibliomania often extends to the binding. In France the bindings of Derome and Bozerian are most valued; in England those of Charles Lewis and Roger Payne. Many devices have been adopted to give a factitious value to bindings. Jeffery, a London bookseller, had Fox's History of King James II bound in fox-skin;
and books have been more than once bound in human skin. The edges of books are often ornamented with paintings, etc, and marginal decoration is frequently an element of considerable value. Another method of gratifying the bibliomanist taste is that of enriching works by the addition of engravings - illustrative of the text of the book - and of preparing only single copies.
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Bice is the name of two colours used in painting, one blue the other green, and both native carbonates of copper, though inferior kinds are also prepared artificially.
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A bick iron was a type of tall anvil used in coopering for riveting the iron hoops, and tall enough to support the two ends of the hoop.
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A bicycle is a two wheeled vehicle driven by the riders feet pushing on cranks or pedals. A common misconception is that the earliest form of bicycle was the dandy-horse, which was pushed along by the rider's feet. However, while both the dandy-horse and the later bicycle are both velocipedes, the dandy-horse is not propelled by cranks.
The first bicycle was introduced to England from France in 1868, and comprised two solid wheels of equal size fitted to a frame, much like a modern bicycle in appearance, with a saddle fitted in the centre and propelled by cranks attached to the front wheel. This vehicle provided such a bumpy ride to the rider that it became popularly known as 'the bone-shaker'. Later came the Penny-Farthing with pedals fixed to the large front wheel which was made large to achieve high speeds. Later still came the safety bicycle with pedals driving the rear wheel by way of a chain, and the rider sitting upon a saddle set back from the front wheel so as to reduce the chances of falling forwards over the handlebars. In 1888 the two-person tandem bicycle was invented.
In 1906 it was reported that speeds of 50 mph were attained on a bicycle. Around the same time, slightly earlier, the motorised biccyle (motorbike) was invented.
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Bid-ale was an invitation to friends to assemble at the home of a poor man to drink ale, and thus to raise alms for his relief. Bid-ales were a popular pastime in England in the 17th century.
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Bidetonism is using the water spray from a bidet for masturbation. Bidetonism is generally performed by women.
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Biela's Comet was discovered by M. Biela, an Austrian officer, in 1826. Its orbit was calculated at 6 years and 38 weeks and the comet was seen again in 1832, 1839, 1846 and 1852. On the last two sightings it appeared in two distinct parts. It has not been seen since, however in 1872 and 1879 when the earth passed through the comets orbit immense flights of meteors were seen which were connected with the break-up of the comet.
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A bier is a sacred hand-barrow adapted to carry a corpse, a coffin or both. the only difference between a bier, and a stretcher, litter or even a hand-barrow, is the sacred purpose for which it was employed. The ancient Egyptians made use of biers to carry wealthier classes to their grave.
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Big Ben is the 13.5 ton bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. It was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1858, and popularly known as
Big Ben after Sir Bejamin Hall, the First Commissioner of Works at the time.
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The biga was an ancient Roman two-horse chariot.
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In geography, a bight is a shallow even indentation in the sea coast, often of great width.
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Bilboes are an apparatus for confining the feet of offenders, especially on board ships where they were used to confine mutineers, consisting of a long bar of iron with shackles sliding on it and a lock at one end to stop them from sliding off. From the use of bilboes evolved the term 'put in irons'. Bilboes are so named after the town in Spain, Bilbao, where they were first made.
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The Bill of Rights was a statute embodied in the declaration of Rights presented by both houses of the Convention to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1689. After declaring the late King James II to have done various acts contrary to the laws of the realm, and to have abdicated the government, the Bill of Rights proceeds to enact in detail the celebrated declaration as to the rights and liberties of the English people. It was laid down that the crown had no power to suspend or dispense with the ordinary laws, or form judicial courts, or levy money without parliamentary sanction. The raising or keeping of a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless with the consent of Parliament was declared to be unlawful. Freedom of election for members of Parliament, freedom of speech in debate, and the right of the subject to petition the crown were alike maintained. A clause also stated that if any king or queen should embrace the Roman Catholic religion, or intermarry with a Roman Catholic, their subjects should be absolved of their allegiance.
In America, the first Bill of Rights was the Declaration of Rights which accompanied the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and was largely the work of Colonel George Mason who based it upon the English Bill of Rights. The American Constitution of 1787 was strongly criticised for not including and statements of individual rights, and accordingly the first ten amendments of the US Constitution were made to include statements of individual rights in the nature of a Bill of Rights.
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A bill-hook is an agricultural implement consisting of a thick, heavy knife with a hooked end, useful for chopping off small branches of trees or cutting apart entangled vines or roots.
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Billabong is an Australian term for a pool of water, or a blind channel.
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Billeting is a mode of feeding and lodging soldiers when they are not in camp or barracks, by quartering them on the inhabitants of a town.
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The Billeting Act was a British Act of Parliament passed in 1765 directing Colonial (American) legislatures to make special contributions toward the support of an army. The Act was resisted in New York and in South Carolina.
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Billingsgate is the principal fish-market of London. It is located on the left bank of the River Thames, a little below London Bridge. It has been frequently improved, and was rebuilt in 1852 and again bewteen 1874 and 1876. From the character, real or supposed, of the Billingsgate fish-dealers, the term Billingsgate was appli |
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