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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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The BSA A10 Golden Flash was a popular British motorbike produced between 1950 and 1961. The BSA A10 Golden Flash was powered by a four-stroke, twin-cylinder 650cc engine. BSA A10 Golden Flash motorcycles were the 'standard' British motorbike of the 1950's, bought by ordinary young men when they were single, and often fitted with a side-car after the owner got married and started a family.
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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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Bafflegab is a term used mainly in North America for incomprehensible or pretentious verbiage or jargon, designed to deliberately hide the true meaning from the listener.
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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 William 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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A barrier is something, either real or immaterial, that obstructs or prevents one thing from accessing another thing. A fence is a barrier in that it obstructs people from accessing what is on the opposite side of the fence. A cattle grid is a barrier to cloven-hooved animals, precenting their passage over the grid, while allowing vehicles and other animals free passage. Barrier creams are substances which prevent germs, water, the sun's rays or other substances from reaching the skin or a wound. In abstract terms, language can be a barrier to communication, if two people do not speak a common language then communication between them is seriously impaired and obstructed.
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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.'
Research Bath
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).
Bells were used in churches to summon the congregation at least as early as the 10th century. The inscriptions on church bells are mostly pious aspirations, frequently addressed to trhe patron saint, in whose name the bell, or church containing it, had been consecrated. Saint Katherine appears to have been regarded as an especial patroness of bells, as the incription 'Sea Katerina ora pro nobis' or something similar is frequently found on church bells.
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, around 1895, 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, from this developed the Raleigh bicycle design of 1900 which forms the basis of the modern bicycle. 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 bicycle (motorcycle or motorbike) was invented.
A typical bicycle is comprised of several parts. The principal and essential being: the frame, front forks, wheels, pedals, saddle, handlebars, chain and brakes. The largest part of the bicycle is the frame, and these vary in design depending upon the specialised intention of the bicycle.
A frame for a BMX bicycle being small, heavily braced and made of aluminium. The frame for BMX xyxling needs to be strong so as to endure the stresses of the bumpy ride, and the saddle low as competitors never sit down during a competition and as such they need space to sprint and jump with ease.
Cross-Country cycle frames are generally made of aluminium and carbon-fibre so as to be light weight. They are relatively small frames to allow quick and easy mounting and dismounting off road, and strong to endure off-road bumpy conditions. The smaller frames are often compensated for by having a longer seat post to allow a normal height saddle position.
The cycle speedway bicycle frame is designed primarily for strength, and as such is typically made from steel or aluminium.
Road racing bicycle frames are designed to be light and stiff. Traditionally they ewre made of steel, but by the start of the 21st century carbon fibre was being used for the more expensive models as this offered the same stiffness at reduced weight. The design of the tubes also developed over time, tubes becoming of a larger diameter, but thinner walls, to allow the same stiffness with reduced weight.
Bicycles are fitted with various types of brake, the most popular being the calliper, cantilever, hydraulic or disc and the V brake. The most common form of brake found on leisure bicycles, is that form used also on road racing bicycles. The calliper brake. Calliper brakes are a very efficient means of rim braking and basically comprise two blocks of rubber or plastic which are squeezed onto the wheel rim when the brake lever is squeezed by the ride.
Cantilever brakes operate on the same principal as calliper brakes, but are of a slightly different design at the wheel end, offering increased clearance between the tyre and the brake pads and as such are frequently employed for cyclo-cross bicycles and mountain bikes.
The most efficient form of rim brake is the V brake. The V brake also offers the most clearance of any rim braking system, and is most often found on mountain bikes.
Hydraulic or disc brakes are the most efficient and powerful form of bicycle brake. They use the wheel hub to brake, rather than the rim. Disc brakes offer the most clearance, and as such are used on mountain bikes, but are also expensive to fit and maintain.
Bicycle wheels are generally of one of three types. The most common and traitional bicycle wheel is the spoked wheel, comprising a rim connected to the central bub by a series of thin metal rods known as spokes. Spoked wheels are light in weight. Less common than spoked wheels, but offering greater strength and durability at the expense of weight are mag wheels which comprise a rim attached to the hub by a few, thick solid plastic bars. Solid wheels, also known as disc wheels, are made from composite material or carbon fibre are very strong, stiff, aerodynamic and very expensive. They are rarely used except as rear wheels in time-trialing and track racing.
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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 Exclusion was a bill introduced into the British Parliament during the reign of Charles II for the purpose of excluding the Duke of York (afterwards James II), he being a Roman Catholic, from the throne. The Bill of Exclusion is still existant in England in 2009.
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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 applied in Victorian society to coarse and violent language.
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Formerly a billion was one thousand million (10 to the 9th power) in the USA and France and one million (10 to the 12th power) in Britain and Germany. It is now almost universally taken to be one thousand million.
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An original study into the science of attraction among the English.
A young person on a Friday night dresses up and goes to town seeking a mate. They would argue that their choice of clothes and presentation are conscious. Decisions made in the light of current fashion trends and their own perception of what they look good in. In fact, the choices have already been made by nature. Biological programming by nature steers that young person as surely as the winds and tides steer a ship without a rudder. To understand these unconscious motivations one must review the role of humans as animals. All animals are programmed with the primary intention of helping the species to survive long-term. Long term survival of any species is accomplished through it's adaptation and development. A species adapts from one generation to the next through the mixing of genes. Breeding between many different partners. Nature programs all animals to encourage the combination of genes which are most likely to assist the species. Strong animals breed together and restrict the breeding of weaker animals. Creative and perceptive, but weak individuals covertly breed.
In this way both strength, and creativity are passed on. The notion of 'the survival of the fittest' is quite untrue. Speed, strength and mental ability all assist survival. Human animals are no different in their programming to any other species. They are as much victims to the primary directive of species survival as are the amoeba, the ant and the elephant. When two animals, be they human or otherwise, breed the parents pass on to the offspring characteristics from themselves. The offspring is then a mixture of characteristics from the parents. Human animals have an insatiable desire to pass on their characteristics. It is programmed into them just as it is with all animals. Certainly the human ability to think and to rationalise gives rise to conflicts between this animal desire and social acceptability, but the urge remains none-the-less.
To examine how the desire to satisfy this primary directive motivates humans in perhaps everything they do one must first review the basic roles of the sexes. The female human, like all female mammals is fertilised by the male and carries the young inside herself for a while before giving birth. Human' s give birth prematurely, as do all advanced animals. If the human mother was to carry her offspring until such time as it was capable of self sufficiency her gestation period would be in the region of twelve years, rather than nine months. Quite impossible, so the young is born early and dependant upon the mother, for she produces milk, for support. In a primitive society, a nursing mother is incapable of supporting her offspring and gathering food and shelter for herself. The human mother, like most other animals relies upon the support of a partner - usually the male father of the offspring - who will collect food, shelter and provide protection against predators. The two roles are quite clearly defined by nature: The female nurtures the offspring. The male provides for the female during the nurturing period
With civilisation, the roles become confused. A male may nurture the offspring once it has been born while the female support him. Two males or females may acquire an offspring and live together. But the basic situation is the same; two adults co-operating for the benefit of producing new offspring for the species. Gregarious co-operation with family units supporting single parents may also appear. But even in these circumstances responsibility for an offspring will be taken by one or two adults. Realising these basic roles of the two sexes one can see what each looks for in the other as a partner.
The female when seeking a male partner looks for the following characteristics: 1) Desirability by other females. This ensures that resultant offspring will also attractive and will have the maximum chance of spawning.
2) Fidelity. To ensure the maximum purity of the offspring.
3) Steadfastness. This ensures that the male will support her during the gestation period and while the offspring is dependant upon her. Otherwise, she and the offspring may not survive.
4) Mental ability. Mental ability is important to assist the species to develop.
5) Strength. Physical strength is necessary for the survival of both the offspring and the species.
6) Social Status. In an advanced society this may be realised as wealth. A perceived high social status implies success, which in turn inspires confidence in the off spring' s chances of survival.
The male human seeks the following from a female mate:
1) Desirability by other males. This ensures that resultant offspring will also attractive and will have the maximum chance of spawning.
2) Fidelity. To ensure the maximum purity of the offspring.
3) Steadfastness. This ensures that the female will provide and nourish the offspring ensuring its survival.
4) Mental ability. Mental ability is important to assist the species to develop.
5) Strength. Physical strength is necessary for the survival of both the offspring and the species.
Despite the desire for fidelity in our partner, mankind has also been programmed to spread our genes as far and wide as possible. This programming is responsible for the phases humans go through with our desires at times for 'older' and 'younger' partners, and also for ' exotic' or foreign partners. The problem of inbreeding has been taken care of with our variance in what humans find desirable. If all humans found the same attributes attractive in a person, the scope of reproduction would be severely limited. However, by programming humans to find different attributes more or less attractive, nature ensures a good spread of reproduction.
Personality takes a part. Our programming to benefit the species leads one to resist personalities with attributes which do not consider beneficial to the species, and to bias towards personalities with attributes which are found beneficial. As with all animals, humans have a problem with finding a mate. Potential mates must be satisfied with our desirability. And while this can be circumscribed through force and deceit (rape or plying the mate with alcohol or drugs to numb the mind), generally humans preen and parade themselves as other animals do.
Humans embarrass attractiveness through covering our bodies with perfumes, clothes and paint. Males will appear successful through driving a suitable vehicle, or wearing suitable clothes. Suitable being items which trigger the notion of success in the potential mate's mind. The female human, being on the whole passive in the mate selection process, will display herself in front of potential mates to attract attention. She implies receptability through the display and emphasis of her erogenous regions. Homosexuality: While the divisions between the male and female sexes in humans is clearly defined biologically, psychologically the male and female sexes are confused, blended and fused.
The advancement of the human animal has been a partial result of the blending of psychological characteristics of parents in their offspring. Thus, all humans posses male and female characteristics in varying degrees, forming a shaded psyche rather than the clearly defined male/female roles of less complex organisms. This may account for the comparatively large number of human homosexuals compared to other animals, and indeed observation and interviews with homosexual men over many years has led to the belief that male homosexuals are essentially of the male physical sex, but female mental sex, consisting of a much higher proportion of female psychological attributes than traditional men.
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The Bipont editions were famous editions of the classic authors, printed at Zweibrucken in the Rhenish Palatinate. The collection forms fifty volumes begun in 1779 and finished at Strasburg.
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Bird's-eye Maple is the curled maple, the wood of the sugar-maple when full of little knotty spots somewhat resembling birds' eyes, much used in cabinet-work.
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A bird's-eye view is the representation of any scene as it would appear if seen from a considerable elevation right above.
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A bird-call (bird whistle) is an instrument for imitating the cry of birds. Bird-calls were originally designed to attract birds in order that they may be caught.
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Bird-lime is a viscous substance used for entangling birds so as to make them easily caught, twigs being for this purpose smeared with it at places where birds resort. It is prepared from holly-bark, being extracted by boiling; also - mainly in Italy - from the viscid berries of the mistletoe.
Bird-lime was traditionally prepared from holly-bark which was boiled for between ten and twelve hours, where upon the green bark becoming seperated from the rest, it was covered over and left in a moist place for two weeks and then pounded into a rough paste so that no woody fibres were discernable, and then washed in ruunning water. After washing the holly-bark bird-line was left to ferment for four or five days, being regularly skimmed to remove any surface waste, and was then ready for use. Before use, two parts of holly-bark bird lime were mixed with one part nut-oil or grease, and mixed together while being warmed over a fire.
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The Birmingham Daily Post was established in 1857 by John Feeney in association with Sir John Jaffray, and was the first daily newspaper to be published in the provinces at the price of one penny. During the American civil war, the newspaper stoutly supported the cause of the North, despite widespread British support for the South.
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In pottery, biscuit is a term applied to porcelain and other earthenware after the first firing and before glazing. At this stage it is porous and used for wine-coolers, etc.
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The bise is a dry north wind prevalent in Switzerland and southern France.
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Bisque is a kind of unglazed white porcelain used for statuettes and ornaments.
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A bistoury is a surgical implement for making incisions, of various forms.
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Bistre, or bister is a warm brown pigment, a burned oil extracted from the soot of wood, especially beech. It furnishes a fine transparent wash, but was chiefly employed in the same fashion as sepia and Indian ink for monochrome sketches.
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A bit is the part of a bridle which goes into the mouth of a horse and to which the reigns are attached.
In carpentry, a bit is the movable boring tool used by means of a brace.
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Bitter is a taste sensation caused by stimulation of the gustatory nerve.
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A bivouac is an encampment of soldiers in the open-air without tents or huts, but with temporary shelters improvised out of available materials.
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Black is a strong, powerful colour traditionally associated with night, evil, mystery and death. Black hides things, people and thoughts. Black is the colour of spoiled fruit, of things ruined by evil.
- Jet - An intense black.
- Raven - An intense, glossy black with a hint of purple or blue.
- Sooty - Brownish-black. Reminiscent of dirt from a smoky fire.
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The Black Acts were the acts of the Scottish parliaments of the Jameses I to V, of Queen Mary, and of James VI; so called from their being printed in black-letter.
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Black knot is a fungal disease of plums and cherries caused by Dibotryon morbosum and characterised by rough black knot-like swellings on the twigs and branches.
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There have been many dates dubbed 'Black Monday', but the first was Easter Monday, 14th April 1360, 'so full dark of mist and hail, and so bitter cold that many men died on their horsebacks with the cold.' The day on which a number of English were slaughtered at a village near Dublin in 1209. The day of panic in 1745 when the Scottish rebels were reported to have arrived at Derby, and the Bank of England paid in sixpences.
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Black-letter is the name commonly given to the Gothic characters which began to supersede the Roman characters in the writings of Western Europe towards the close of the twelfth century. The first types were in black-letter, but these were gradually modified in Italy until they took the later Roman shape introduced into most European states during the sixteenth century.
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Black-mail or blackmail was a certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or the like, anciently paid, in the north of England and in Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, to be protected by them from pillage. Blackmail was levied in the districts bordering the Highlands of Scotland until the middle of the eighteenth century. The term later became associated with the extortion of monies by threats or pressure, especially in respect to threatening to reveal a secret unless monies are paid.
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In England, black-rod is the usher belonging to the order of the Garter, so called from the black rod which he carries. His full title is Gentleman-usher of the Black Rod, and his deputy is styled the Yeoman-usher. They are the official messengers of the House of Lords; and either the gentleman- or the yeoman-usher summons the Commons to the House of Lords when the royal assent is given to bills or royal speeches read, takes into custody parties guilty of breach of privilege and contempt, etc.
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Blank Verse is verse without rhyme. It was first introduced into English from Italian by the Earl of Surrey in the 16th century. Blank verse was first employed in the English drama 'Gorboduc', written by Sackville in 1561. The most common form of English blank verse is the decasyllabic, such as that of Milton's Paradise Lost, or of the dramas of Shakespeare. Erom Shakespeare's time it has been the kind of verse almost universally used by dramatic writers, who often employ an additional syllable, making the lines not strictly decasyllabic. The term is not applied to the Anglo-Saxon and Early English alliterative unrhymed verse.
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A blanket is an extensive covering. Often a warm bed covering.
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A blanket bog is a very acid peat bog, low in nutrients and extending widely over a flat terrain. They are found in cold wet climates.
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Blasphemy is the denying of the existence of God, assigning to him false attributes, or denying his true attributes; contumelious reproaches of Jesus; profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures, or exposing them to ridicule and contempt. In Catholic countries it also includes the speaking contemptuously or disrespectfully of the Holy Virgin or the saints. By the former common law of England blasphemies of God, as denying his being and providence, all contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ, etc, were punishable by fine and imprisonment, or corporal punishment. According to a celebrated judgment of Lord Hales, 'Christianity being parcel of the law of England, to reproach the Christian religion was to speak in subversion of the law;' but in a case decided in 1883 it was held that a person may attack the fundamentals of religion without being guilty of a blasphemous libel 'if the decencies of controversy are observed.'
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A blast freezer is a freezer in which very cold air is actively blown over the contents so as to freeze them more quickly.
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It was an old English superstition that at the approach of a murderer, the blood of the murdered victim would gush out of their corpse.
A similar superstition held that at the approach of the murderer, a change, no matter how slight, would be noticed at the eyes, mouth, feet or hands of the corpse.
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Bless Me Father was a British situation comedy about a parish priest who moved to a London suburb Bless Me Father was produced by London Weekend Television and starred Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Day and Derek Francis.
Bless Me, Father ran from 1978 to 1981.
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Bless This House was a British situation comedy television show about a fictional suburban stationery salesman ('Sidney Abbott' played by Sid James) who longs for a quiet life, but never gets one due to his wife and two teenage children. Bless This House was produced by Thames television and ran from 1971 to 1976.
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Blessing or benediction is a prayer or solemn wish imploring happiness upon another; a certain holy action which, combined with prayer, seeks for God's grace for persons, and, in a lower degree, a blessing upon things, with a view whether to their efficiency or safety. The lifting up of the hands is practised in the act of ceremonial blessing. In the Roman Catholic Church the sign of the cross is made, and the thumb and the two first fingers of the right hand are extended, the two remaining fingers turned down. In the Greek Church the thumb and the third finger of the same hand are conjoined, the other fingers being stretched out. Some see in this position a representation of the sacred monogram in Greek letters of Jesus' name. In the English liturgy there are two blessings or benedictions; in the service of the Scotch Church there is only one.
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Bletonism is divination by analysing currents of water.
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The blind are those who want, or are deficient in, the sense of sight. Blindness may vary in degree from the slightest impairment of vision to total loss of sight; it may also be temporary or permanent. It is caused by defect, disease, or injury to the eye, to the optic nerve, or to that part of the brain connected with it. Old age is sometimes accompanied with blindness, occasioned by the drying up of the humours of the eye, or by the opacity of the cornea, the crystalline lens, etc. The blind are often distinguished for a remarkable mental activity, and a wonderful development of the intellectual powers. Their touch and hearing, particularly, become very acute.
As early as 1260 an asylum for the blind (L'hospice des Quinze-Vingts) was founded in Paris by St Louis for the relief of the Crusaders who lost their sight in Egypt and Syria; but the first institution for the instruction of the blind was the idea of Valentin Hauy, brother of the celebrated mineralogist. In 1784 he opened an institution in which the blind were instructed not only in appropriate mechanical employments, as spinning, knitting, making ropes or fringes, and working in paste-board, but also in music, in reading, writing, ciphering, geography, and the sciences. For instruction in reading he procured raised letters of metal; for writing he used particular writing-cases, in which a frame, with wires to separate the lines, could be fastened upon the paper; for ciphering there were movable figures of metal, and ciphering-boards in which the figures could be fixed; for teaching geography maps were prepared upon which mountains, rivers, cities, and the boundaries of countries were indicated to the sense of touch in various ways, etc.
Similar institutions were soon afterwards founded in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dresden, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Vienna, and in many towns of the United States. By 1900 there were comparatively few large cities that did not possess a school or institution of some kind for the blind.
At the start of the 20th century the attitude towards the blind was rather patronising, and one source may be quoted as saying 'the occupations in which the blind are found capable of engaging are such as the making of baskets and other kinds of wicker-work, brushmaking, rope and twine making, the making of mats and matting, knitting, netting, fancy work of various kinds, cutting fire-wood, the sewing of sacks and bags; the carving of articles in wood, etc'. However, it was also recognised that more skilled tasks could also be performed by blind persons, and the same source notes that 'Piano-tuning is also successfully carried on by some, and the cleaning of clocks and watches has even been occasionally practised by them'.
Around 1900 an impetus was given, in Britain, to the higher education of the blind by the formation of the British and Foreign Blind Association, the establishment of a college for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen at Worcester, and the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind, Upper Norwood.
Various systems were devised for the purpose of teaching the blind to read, some of which consisted in the use of the ordinary Roman alphabet, with more or less modification, and some of which employ types quite arbitrary in form. In all systems the characters rise above the surface of the paper so as to be felt by the fingers. The type adopted by Hauy was the script or italic form of the Roman letter. This was introduced into England by Sir C. Lowther, who printed the Gospel of St. Matthew in 1832 with type obtained from Paris. Before this Gall of Edinburgh made use of an embossed alphabet based on the ordinary Roman small letters, in which all curves were replaced by angular lines, and in 1834 he published the Gospel of St John in this character. Subsequently he introduced various improvements, and in particular the letters were produced with serrated surfaces, thus giving greater distinctness. Alston of Glasgow, Howe of Boston, and others also used the Roman form; but the former (who was the first to print the whole Bible, in 1840) adopted the Roman capitals, while the latter adopted the small letters, printing in this type the Bible and many other books.
Of alphabets deviating entirely or nearly so from the Roman letter, one consists of a stenographic shorthand invented by Lucas of Bristol; another was a phonetic shorthand devised by Frere of London. In Dr. Moon's alphabet some of the characters are Roman, others are based on or suggested by the Roman characters. The Braille system, widely adopted by the laye 20th century, is one in which the letters are formed by a combination of dots. Dr. Moon's system from its simplicity and the size of its characters is in very general use in books for the blind. There are also systems by which the blind are enabled to write, and the writing may be either in relief so as to be read by the blind, or in characters that may be read by those who see.
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In carpentry, blind dowelling describes a joint fitted with a dowel or dowels which do not appear on the outer surfaces.
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Blind Men was a British situation comedy television show created by Chris England and Neil Hancock about two rival window-blind salesmen. Blind Men starred Jeremy Swift and Jesse Birdsall, and ran from 1997 to 1998.
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Blindman's holiday is an old expression for the hour of dusk when it was too dark to work, and yet too light to light candles.
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Before and for a short time after the invention of printing, books printed from wooden blocks each the size of a page and having the matter to be reproduced, whether text or picture, cut in relief on the surface are termed block-books.
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The block-system is a system of working the traffic on railways according to which the line is divided into sections of three or four miles, with a signal and telegraphic connection at the end of each section. The essential principle of the system is that no train is allowed to enter upon any one section until the section is signalled wholly clear, so that between two successive trains there is not merely an interval of time, but also an interval of space.
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A blockade is the rendering of intercourse with the seaports of an enemy unlawful on the part of neutrals, and it consists essentially in the presence of a sufficient naval force to make such intercourse difficult. It must be declared or made public, so that neutrals may have notice of it. If a blockade is instituted by a sufficient authority, and maintained by a sufficient force, a neutral is so far affected by it that an attempt to trade with the place invested subjects vessel and cargo to confiscation by the blockading power. The term is also used to describe the state of matters when hostile forces sit down around a place and keep possession of all the means of access to it, so as to entirely cut off its communication with the outside world, and so compel surrender from want of supplies.
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Blood-rain is the name given to showers of grayish and reddish dust mingled with rain which occasionally fall usually in the zone of the earth which extends on both sides of the Mediterranean westwardly over the Atlantic, and eastwardly to Central Asia. The dust is largely made up of microscopic organisms, especially the shells of diatoms; the red colour being owing to the presence of a red oxide of iron.
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The Bloody Assizes were those held by Judge Jeffreys in 1685, after the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion. Upwards of 300 persons were executed after short trials; very many were whipped, imprisoned, and fined; and nearly 1000 were sent as slaves to the American plantations.
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A bloom is a lump of puddled iron, which leaves the furnace in a rough state, to be subsequently rolled into bars or whatever.
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Bloom's taxonomy is three educational objectives formulated by the American psychologist B S Bloom. The cognitive deals with knowledge and its application; the affective deals with emotions and values; and the psychomotor deals with physical and manipulative skills.
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Bloomers was a British BBC situation comedy television show written by James Saunders, starring Richard Beckinsale and Anna Calder-Marshall, about an out-of-work actor working in a florists shop. Bloomers ran during 1979.
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Bloomin' Marvellous was a British BBC situation comedy television show written by John Godber and starring Clive Mantle and Sarah Lancashire, about a married couple in their thirties who decide to start a family. Bloomin' Marvellous was shown during 1997.
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In geography, a blowhole is a hole in the roof of a seaside cave through which sit and sometimes water are forced by the rising tide.
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Blubber is the thick coating of fat enveloping whales.
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A blucher was a type of 19th century horse-drawn coach.
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Blue is one of the seven colours into which the rays of light divide themselves when refracted through a glass prism, seen in nature in the clear expanse of the heavens; the term is also applied to a dye or pigment of this hue.
The substances used as blue pigments are of very different natures, and derived from various sources; they are all compound bodies, some being natural and others artificial. They are derived almost entirely from the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. The principal blues used in painting are ultramarine, which was originally prepared from lapis-lazuli or azure-stone - a mineral found in China and other oriental countries - but, as now prepared, it is an artificial compound of china-clay, carbonate of soda, sulphur, and charcoal; Prussian or Berlin blue, which is a compound of cyanogen and iron; blue bice, prepared from carbonate of copper; indigo blue, from the indigo plant. Besides these, there are numerous other blues used in art, as blue-verditer, smalt- and cobalt-blue, from cobalt, lacmus or litmus, etc.
Before the discovery of aniline or coal-tar colours dyers chiefly depended for their blues on woad, archil, indigo, and Prussian blue, but now a series of brilliant blues are obtained from coal-tar, possessing great tinctorial power and various degrees of durability.
Blue as a colour ranges from green-blue (turquoise) through to purple-blue (indigo).
- Alice blue - A very light greenish-blue colour.
- Aquamarine - A bluish-green colour.
- Azure - A deep blue colour reminiscent of the sky.
- Aquamarine - A pale greenish-blue colour.
- Bice blue - A medium blue colour
- Cambridge blue - A light blue colour.
- Cobalt blue - A deep blue colour with a greenish-tint. The colour of old blue glass.
- Cornflower - A soft purplish-blue colour.
- Cyan - A greenish-blue colour
- Duck-egg blue - A pale, greenish-blue colour.
- Electric blue - A vivid, metallic blue colour.
- Gentian blue - A purplish-blue colour.
- Lapis - Lapis is a deep blue colour, the colour of the lapis lazuli gem stone.
- Lupin - A pale, greyish-blue with a hint of purple.
- Midnight blue - A very dark blackish-blue colour.
- Navy - A dark, greyish-blue colour.
- Nile blue - A pale greenish-blue colour.
- Oxford blue - A dark blue colour.
- Peacock blue - A greenish-blue colour.
- Powder blue - A pale blue colour.
- Prussian blue - A deep greenish-blue colour.
- Royal blue - A deep blue colour.
- Saxe blue - A light, greyish-blue colour.
- Toffee - A yellowish-brown.
- Turquoise - A bright greenish-blue colour.
- Ultramarine - A vivid blue colour.
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Blue Heaven was a British, Channel 4 situation comedy television show written by Frank Skinner, starring Frank Skinner and Conleth Hill about a Birmingham-based blues band struggling to make it big. Blue Heaven was shown during 1994.
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The Blue Laws were puritanical laws enacted in 1732 at New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Their objective was to stamp out heresy and enforce a strict observance of the Sunday.
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The Blue Lodges were an American secret pro-slavery order of Western Missouri formed about 1854 to aid the Southern mission work of establishing slavery in Kansas. In March 1855 they crossed the Missouri and forcibly deposited their ballots for the pro-slavery candidates.
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Blue-books are the official reports, papers, and documents printed for the British government and laid before the Houses of Parliament. They are so called simply from being stitched up in dark-blue paper wrappers, and include bills presented to and acts passed by the houses; all reports and papers moved for by members or granted by government on particular subjects; the reports of committees; statistics of the trade, etc, of the country and formerly of the colonies; and ambassadorial and consular reports from foreign countries and ports.
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Blundell's School is a public school outside Tiverton in Devon. It was founded in 1604 by Peter Blundell, a Tiverton tradesman and was mentioned in the book Lorna Doone.
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The Board of Green Cloth was an ancient court in the department of the lord-steward of the household with jurisdiction of all offences committed in the verge of the court. It was abolished in 1849.
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A bobbin is a reel or other similar contrivance for holding thread. It is often a cylindrical piece of wood or plastic with a head, on which thread is wound for making lace; or a spool with a head at one or both ends, intended to have thread or yarn wound on it, and used in spinning machinery (when it is slipped on a spindle and revolves therewith) and in sewing-machines (applied within the shuttle).
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A bocal is a cylindrical glass jar with a short, wide neck used for preserving solid substances.
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The Body of Liberties was a code of 100 fundamental laws established by the General Court of Massachusetts in December 1641. Previously there had been no written law in the colony, and justice was administered wholly upon principles of equity. The Body of Liberties was drafted by Nathaniel Ward, pastor of the church at Ipswich. It laid down the fundamental principles of the sacredness of life, liberty, property and reputation and prescribed general rules for judicial proceedings.
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Body-snatching was the old custom of purloining bodies newly buried in order to sell them to surgeons for dissection. The first instance of body-snatching on record in Britain was in 1777 when the body of Mrs Jane Sainsbury was taken from the burial ground near Gray's Inn Lane. The men convicted for the crime were imprisoned for six months.
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In French polishing, bodying-up is the building up of a thickness of shellac before the final spiriting off.
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Bog is the name given to a piece of wet, soft, and spongy ground, where the soil is composed mainly of decaying and decayed vegetable matter. Such ground is valueless for agriculture until reclaimed, but often yields abundance of peat for fuel.
A bog seems usually to be formed as follows: A shallow pool induces the formation of aquatic plants, which gradually creep in from the borders to the deeper centre. Mud accumulates round their roots and stalks, and a semi-fluid mass is formed, well suited for the growth of moss, particularly Sphagnum, which now begins to luxuriate, continually absorbing water, and shooting out new plants above as the old decay beneath; these are consequently rotted, and compressed into a solid substance, gradually replacing the water by a mass of vegetable matter. A layer of clay, frequently found over gravel, assists the formation of bog by its power of retaining moisture. When the subsoil is very retentive, and the quantity of water becomes excessive, the superincumbent peat sometimes bursts forth and floats over adjacent lands.
Bogs are generally divided into two classes: red bogs, or peat-mosses, and black bogs, or mountain mosses. The former class are found in extensive plains frequently running through several counties, such as the Chatmoss in Lancashire, and the Bog of Alien in Ireland, the depth varying from 3.6 to 13 metres. Their texture is light and full of filaments, and is formed by the slow decay of mosses and plants of different kinds. The lower parts, being more entirely decayed, approach nearer to the nature of the humus than the upper portion, and, as being more carbonaceous, are more valuable for fuel. Black bog is formed by a more rapid decomposition of plants. It is heavier and more homogeneous in quality, but is usually found in limited and detached portions, and at high elevations where its reclamation is difficult.
In Ireland bogs frequently rest on a calcareous subsoil, which is of great value in reclaiming them. In the reclamation of bog land a permanent system of drainage must be established; the loose and spongy soil must be mixed with a sufficient quantity of mineral matter to give firmness to its texture and fertilize its superabundant humus; proper manures must be provided to facilitate the extraction of nutriment from the new soil, and a rotation of crops adopted suitable for bringing it into permanent condition. The materials best adapted for reclaiming peat are calcareous earths, limestone gravel, shell-marl, and shell-sand. Thoroughly reclaimed bogs are not liable to revert to their former condition. Trunks of trees are often found in bogs as are also bones of extinct animals.
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A bog spavin is a fluctuating swelling on the inner and front part of the hock of a horse, arising from a distension of the joint capsule with synovial fluid.
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Bog-butter is a fatty spermaceti-like mineral resin found in masses in peat-bogs, composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
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Boiling To Death was made a capital punishment in England by Henry VIII in 1531 as a result of seventeen people being poisoned by Richard Rosse, the bishop of Rochester's cook, two of whom died. Margaret Davy, a young woman was similarly executed in 1542 for a similar crime. The act was repealed in 1547.
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Bold As Brass was a British BBC situation comedy television show created by Ron Watson, starring Jimmy Edwards and Beryl Reid, about a man obsessed with brass bands, and his put-upon wife. Bold As Brass was aired during 1964.
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Bolide is the name given to a meteor seen to explode in the atmosphere.
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Boll was an old Scottish measure used for corn. A boll of wheat or beans was equal to 4 bushels, a boll of oats, barley or potatoes equal to 6 bushels. It was abolished by an act which came into force on January 1st 1879 replacing the boll and other local weights with imperial weights and measures.
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A bolt was a British measurement for canvas equal to 35 yards.
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Bona fides or bona fide (from the Latin 'good faith', or 'in good faith'), is a term derived from the Roman jurists, implying the absence of all fraud or unfair dealing. A bona fide traveller in England and Scotland was fomerly someone who is actually travelling at some distance from home on Sunday and was thus legally entitled to demand and obtain alcoholic refreshments at a hotel. In the law of Scotland a bona fide possessor was a person who holds property upon a title which he honestly believes to be good.
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Bonanza, from the Spanish meaning 'fair weather' or 'a favouring wind', was a term first applied in the United States to an abundance of precious metal or rich ore in a mine. The term became applied to a run of good luck or great prosperity generally.
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Bondage is a family of sexual activities, generally involving the tying or strapping up of one partner or the other. Popular forms include Japanese rope bondage, involving extensive binding with rope. Often, though not necessarily, bondage is associated with sado-masochism, slave and master games or pony girl games. Typical variations range from tying a partner's hands behind their back or handcuffing them in the manner of a police arrest, through to tying a partner spread-eagle on their back to a table, or standing against a wall. Tight fitting clothes, such as corsets are another popular form of self-administered bondage, particularly for women.
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Bone black (also known as drop black, ivory black and animal charcoal) is a black pigment produced by burning bones and other animal refuse in a closed retort. Bone black is usually supplied ground in turpentine as it tends to retard the drying of oil. Bone black also possesses the valuable property of arresting and absorbing into itself the colouring matter of liquids which are passed through it. Hence it was extensively used in the process of sugar-refining, when cylinders of large dimensions filled with this substance were used as filters. After a certain amount of absorption the charcoal became saturated and ceased to act. It had then to be restored by reheating, or could be used to make bone-ash. Bone black has also the property of absorbing odours, and so may serve as a disinfectant of clothing, rooms, etc.
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Bone manure was formerly one of the most important fertilizers in agriculture. The value of bones as manure arises chiefly from the phosphates and nitrogenous organic matters they contain; and where the soil is already rich in phosphates bone is of little use as manure. It is of most service therefore where the soil is deficient in this respect, or in the case of crops whose rapid growth or small roots do not enable them to extract a sufficient supply of phosphate from the earth, turnips, for instance, or late-sown oats and barley. There are several methods for increasing the value of bones as manure, by boiling out the fat and gelatine, for instance, the removal of which makes the bones more readily acted on by the weather and hastens the decay and distribution of their parts, or by grinding them to dust or dissolving them in sulphuric acid, by which latter course the phosphates are rendered soluble in water.
Bones have long been used as manure in some parts of England, but only in a rude, unscientific way. It was in 1814 or 1815 that machinery was first used for crushing them in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and bone-dust and dissolved bones were then largely employed as manures, great quantities of bones being imported into Great Britain for this purpose. Before being utilized in agriculture they were often boiled for the oil or fat they contain, which was used in the manufacture of soap and lubricants.
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Bonjour La Classe was a British BBC situation comedy television show written by Paul Smith and Terry Kyan, starring Nigel Planer and Nicholas Woodeson, about a French-teacher and his problems at a secondary school. Bonjour La Classe was aired during 1993.
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The Bonus Bill was an American bill submitted by Calhoun on the 23rd of December 1816, appropriating $1.5 million 'for constructing roads and canals and improving the navigation of watercourses.' The bill was passed, being strongly supported by New York and the South. It was supposed the money would immediately be applied to the construction of a canal between Albany and the lakes. President James Mason vetoed the bill during the last days of his administration, insisting that internal improvement measures needed a constitutional amendment. Accordingly, New York State undertook the construction of the Erie Canal.
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In the Viking tradition, Bo or Boh was a fierce Gothic captain and a son of Odin. When Viking troops surprised their enemies they invoke his name, calling out Bo! The custom lives on in Britain where it is customary to shout boo! When taking someone by surprise.
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The Book of Common Prayer is the liturgy or public form of prayer prescribed by the Church of England to be used in all churches and chapels, and which the clergy are to use under a certain penalty. The Book of Common Prayer is used also by the English-speaking Episcopal churches in Scotland, Ireland, America, and the colonies, as well as by some non-episcopal bodies, with or without certain alterations. It dates from the reign of Edward VI and was published in 1549, and again with some changes in 1552. Some slight alterations were made upon it when it was adopted in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the reign of James I, and finally soon after the Restoration, it underwent new revisions.
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The book of Durham is a Latin text of the gospels written by Bishop Eadfrith of Lindisfarne, with an interlinear Saxon gloss, finished in the year 720; now in the British Museum.
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The Book of Enoch is an apocryphal book of an assumedly prophetical character, to which considerable importance has been attached, particularly on account of St Jude quoting it in the 14th and 15th verses of his epistle. It is referred to by many of the early fathers; it is of unknown authorship, but was probably written by a Palestinian Jew in Hebrew or Aramaic, was translated into Greek, and from the Greek the existing Ethiopic version was made in the 1st or 2nd century BC. Until the end of the 18th century it was known in Europe only by the references of early writers. On his return Bruce, the African traveller, brought with him from Abyssinia two manuscripts containing the Ethiopic translation of it. It has since been repeatedly published, translated, and criticised.
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The Book of Judges is a canonical book of the Old Testament, so called because the greater part of the narrative is occupied with the history of the judges who were raised up to deliver their countrymen from the oppressions of their neighbours. The first chapter, although formally connected with the book of Joshua by the opening sentence, evidently contains a separate portion of the history of the Israelitish invasion of Canaan, the first settlement, indeed, west of the Jordan, in which the tribes of Judah and Simeon play a distinct part in the conquest. The 6th verse of the 2nd chapter again connects the work with the concluding part of the book of Joshua, and in the chapters which follow the history of the nation is written from an ideal and poetic point of view, which gives it unity, the judges being represented as successive rulers, although in most cases their history and influence were merely local. The third part of the book begins at chapter seventeen., and has no formal or chronological connection with what has gone before, and has sometimes been called an appendix.
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The book of Kings forms two books in the English and one book in the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament. The books of Kings are closely connected with the first and second of Samuel, and, following these, form the third and fourth in what is known as 'the four books of the kingdom'. From internal evidence it would seem that these were written by a series of contemporary authorities, with additions and glosses made by a later writer. The history in the books of Kings begins with the close of David's reign, and carries the events onwards to the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. This embraces, according to the received chronology, a period of upwards of 400 years (1015-588 BC), and includes the history of both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The chronology, however, has been much disputed. In comparing these books with the Chronicles it is found that while the former describe the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah, the latter are occupied almost exclusively with Judah; and further, that the books of Kings seem to have been compiled under prophetic, and the Chronicles under priestly influence.
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The book of Mormon is an alleged translation (done in 1830) by Joseph Smith, of a volume found buried in a stone box on Cumorah, a hill near Manchester, New York state. Composed of gold plates eight inches by seven inches, fastened by three gold rings, written in 'reformed Egyptian', interpreted by the aid of two crystals (Urim and Thummim) set like spectacles in a silver bow, it summarised American history from Babel to 420 AD. Its authors were the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni. A travesty of the Old Testament, and of similar size, intended as the bible of the West, it has been identified by unbelievers with an unprinted romance, 'The Found Manuscript' by Solomon Spaulding who died in 1816, copied and communicated to Joseph Smith by Sidney Rigdon.
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The Book of the Dead was an ancient Egyptian collection of religious texts for guiding the departed soul safely through the dangers of the Amenti, the lower world. A copy of the work was placed with the mummy in his tomb.
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Bookplates are plates bearing a person's name, and often the Latin words ex libris used to attest the ownership of books, one of them being usually pasted inside the front cover of each book. Such plates are generally more or less of an artistic character, and may bear some heraldic, emblematic, or other device. They were first employed about the end of the fifteenth century, and had passed from popular use by the late 20th century
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The books of discipline were two books connected with the Church of Scotland. The First Book of Discipline was drawn up by John Knox and four other ministers, and laid before the General Assembly in 1560. Though not formally ratified by the privy-council, it was secretly subscribed by the greater part of the nobility and barons who were members of the council. Another similar document, the Second Book of Discipline, was prepared and sanctioned by the General Assembly of 1578, and has from that time been recognized as the authorized standard of the Church of Scotland in respect of government and discipline.
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Boopsy is a Jamaican term for a man who supports a woman materially, and yet receives no sexual gratification in return (being boopsed). Hence the expression; 'Mi a no boops!' which translates as 'I am not a boopsy'.
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Boot Popping is a form of theft in which a gang pose as car windscreen cleaners at traffic lights, and while distracting the car driver by cleaning the windscreen, another gang member opens the car boot and empties it of valuables. The theft works on the principle that in most modern cars when the car doors are unlocked, so is the boot, and can be opened by pressing the boot button.
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A bootikin was a wood and iron boot used in torture to extract confessions from the victim. Wooden wedges were hammered between the leg and the boot with a mallet so as to crush the victims bone.
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Bootsie And Snudge was a British situation comedy television show created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, starring Alfie Bass, Bill Fraser, Robert Dorning and Clive Dunn, about two demobbed soldiers working at a gentleman's club.
Bootsie And Snudge was produced by Granada television and was aired from 1960 to 1964 and later revived in 1974.
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In geography, a bore is a tidal wave produced in river estuaries by the rapid narrowing of the channel.
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British Boroughs originated as Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman towns from the ninth century. The Anglo-Saxon invaders who arrived in Britain in the fifth to seventh centuries were farmers, not interested in repairing the roads or maintaining the Roman towns which fell into partial disuse. The Angle-Saxons at first regarded towns as 'the defences of slavery and the graves of freedom... the work of giants seen from afar'. However, when the Vikings from Scandinavia overran the east and north of the country in the ninth century, they turned to town life in the area which they conquered, the Danelaw. The commercial life of York, their headquarters from 876, was revived by Viking enterprise, the Roman walls of Chester were rebuilt by a Viking chief, and the East Midlands came under the jurisdiction of the five newly-created Scandinavian boroughs of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Stamford and Lincoln.
The Angle-Saxons, under their kings Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder, not to be outdone, also created boroughs similar to those of the Scandinavian invaders, at places such as Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford and Tamworth, and despite many setbacks, re-conquered all the territory which the Scandinavians had acquired. In 1066, the Normans in their turn came to Britain as conquering invaders, and also built new boroughs and enlarged old ones.
The Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Norman borough had varied functions. It was foremost a defended place or strong point surrounded by an earthen bank of oval or square shape, or by the patched-up wall of an older Roman town. In each new borough, the King settled a permanent garrison with ample reserves, sustained by landowners on whom was laid the obligation of defending the borough in time of need. In return for this, the borough and its burgesses were protected by the King's special peace. The borough was also a trading centre, with a market place and often a mint for coins. When King Edward the Elder ordained that all buying and selling should take place in a market town in the presence of a town-reeve, he ensured the concentration of trading in the growing boroughs. The borough was also an administrative centre. Indeed, many British modern counties came into being as the territories allocated by the King to the support of the defences and trading facilities of a borough, e.g. Nottinghamshire was the support for the county town of Nottingham, as its name shows.
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The Borrowing Days are the last three days of March. They are so named from the popular notion in Scotland and some parts of England, that they were borrowed by March from April. The fiction is of great antiquity, and probably arose in the observation of a frequent wintry relapse about the end of March.
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Bort is a powdered form of diamond.
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Borthwick Castle is a castle in Scotland 22 km south-east of Edinburgh. It was built around 1430. In 1567 Queen Mary and Bothwell spent some days in it before fleeing to Dunbar to escape the insurgent nobles. The castle capitulated to Oliver Cromwell in 1650.
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The Boston Massacre was an incident that occurred in 1770. In February 1770 at Boston. Massachusetts, USA. A press gang from the British frigate 'Rose' boarded a ship belonging to Hooper of Marblehead, and a riot followed. On the night of March the 5th, 1770, the ringing of fire bells brought together a large crowd which collided violently with English soldiers. The soldiers opened fire, killing three people and wounding several others. News of the killings spread and strengthened resolve among the colonists for independence from Britain.
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The Boston Tea Party was an incident that occurred at the height of the agitation antecedent to the American revolution. On December 16th, 1773 a group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded several ships laden with taxed tea and threw 350 chests of it into the harbour. In retaliation the home government declared the port closed.
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Botanomancy is divination by means of plants, or more accurately leaves. Words were written on large leaves which were then exposed to the wind. The remaining leaves providing the response.
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Both Ends Meet was a British situation comedy television show starring Dora Bryan, David Howe, Deddie Davis and Pat Ashton about a middle-aged woman supporting her family by working in a factory. Both Ends Meet was aired during 1972.
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Bottom was an anarchic British situation comedy television show about two sex-mad, immature, single men ('Richie Richard' played by Rik Mayall and 'Eddie Hitler' played by Adrian Edmondson) sharing an untidy flat. Bottom was produced by the BBC and ran from 1991 to 1995.
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Boule Work (Buhl Work) is a type of marquetry invented by Charles Boule, a French woodcarver. Tortoise-shell, brass and rosewood are inlaid together with a highly decorative effect.
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In 1776, the American Congress passed a resolution, promising both commissioned and non-commissioned officers who would enlist in the cause for independence certain 'bounty lands' to be taken from the 'Crown lands' or Northwest Territory, which was then claimed in portions by several States. Maryland protested vigorously against the resolution on the ground that she had no extra lands, and would therefore be unfairly taxed.
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Bourgeois is a size of printing type larger than brevier and smaller than long primer, used in books and newspapers.
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Boustrophedon is the name given to a method of writing or printing, alternatively from right to left and from left to right. Boustrophedon is found on Greek inscriptions of the remotest antiquity. It is called boustrophedon (turning like oxen), because in this way oxen used to plough a field.
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Bouts rimes are words or syllables given as the ends of the verses, the other parts of the lines to be supplied by the ingenuity of the poet. In the 17th century the composition of bouts rimes was a fashionable amusement.
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A bovate (oxgang) was an early English measure of land equal to half a virgate and one-eight of a carucate. It was deemed to be the extent that an ox could plough in one day and varied from 8 to 24 acres.
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Bow bells is the name given to the peal of bells belonging to the church of St Mary-Ie-Bow, Cheapside, London, and celebrated for centuries. One who is born 'within the sound of Bow Bells' is considered a genuine Cockney.
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Bowler was a British situation comedy television show written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, starring George Baker, Fred Beauman, Renny Lister and Gretchen Franklin, about a London gang boss determined to improve his social standing. Bowler was produced by London Weekend Television and aired during 1973.
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The bowline is a non-slip knot. It is so named after being used on ships to fasten the bowline-bridles to the cringles.
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Box day is a day in Scotland when the courts of law being closed, lawyers and litigants can hand in papers.
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Boxing Day is the day following Christmas day. It has long been a holiday in England, and is so named from the custom of bestowing Christmas-boxes which arose in the early days of the church, when boxes were placed in the churches for the reception of offerings. These boxes were opened on Christmas day, and their contents distributed by the priests on the next day, (boxing day).
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Formerly in England a boy-bishop was a boy chosen by cathedral choirs or pupils in grammar-schools as a mock-bishop to take leading parts in certain mummeries or festivities in the month of December annually.
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The Boys Brigade was a semi-military organization started in 1883 by W A Smith of Glasgow with the object of advancing Christianity among boys aged between twelve and seventeen years and promoting habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self-respect and Christian values among boys.
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Boyz Unlimited was a British Channel Four situation comedy television show written by Richard Osman, starring Frank Harper, James Corben and Billy Worth, about a boy band. Boyz Unlimited was aired during 1999.
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The Brabanconne is a Belgian patriotic song, composed in the revolution of 1830, and named after Brabant or which Brussels was the chief city.
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In mathematics, a brachistochrone is the curve between two points through which a body moves under the force of gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve, that is the path of quickest descent.
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A bradawl is a carpenter's small tool consisting of a slender steel stem with a chisel edge, used for making holes for screws and nails.
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Bradshaw's Railway Guide was once a well-known English manual for travellers. It was first published in 1839 by George Bradshaw, a printer and engraver living in Manchester. For a time it was published each month and contained the arrangements of the railway and steamboat companies operating in Britain.
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Brahmanism is a religious and social system prevalent amongst the Hindus, and so called because it was developed and expounded by the sacerdotal caste known as the Brahmans. Brahmanism is founded on the ancient religious writings known as the Vedas and regarded as sacred revelations, of which the Brahmans as a body became custodians and interpreters, being also the officiating priests and the general directors of sacrifices and religious rites.
As the priestly caste increased in numbers and power they went on elaborating the ceremonies, and added to the Vedas other writings tending to confirm the excessive pretensions of this now predominant caste, and give them the sanction of a revelation. The earliest supplements to the Vedas are the Brahmanas, more fully explaining the functions of the officiating priests. Both together form the revealed Scriptures of the Hindus.
In time the caste of Brahmans came to be accepted as a divine institution, and an elaborate system of rules defining and enforcing by the severest penalties its place as well as that of the inferior castes was promulgated. Other early castes were the Kshattriyas or warriors, and the Vaisyas or cultivators, and it was not without a struggle that the former recognized the superiority of the Brahmans. It was by the Brahmans that the Sanskrit literature was developed;
and they were not only the priests, theologians, and philosophers, but also the poets, men of science, lawgivers, administrators, and statesmen of the Aryans of India.
The sanctity and inviolability of a Brahman are maintained by severe penalties. The murder of one of the order, robbing him, etc, are inexpiable sins; even the killing of his cow can only be expiated by a painful penance. A Brahman should pass through four states: First, as Brahmachari, or novice, he begins the study of the sacred Vedas, and is initiated into the privileges and the duties of his caste. He has a right to alms, to exemption from taxes, and from capital and even corporal punishment. Flesh and eggs he is not allowed to eat. Leather, skins of animals, and most animals themselves are impure and not to be touched by him. When manhood comes he ought to marry, and as Grihastha enter the second state, which requires more numerous and minute observances. When he has begotten a son and trained him up for the holy calling he ought to enter the third state, and as Vanaprastha, or inhabitant of the forest, retire from the world for solitary praying and meditation, with severe penances to purify the spirit; but this and the fourth or last state of a Sannyasi, requiring a cruel degree of asceticism, are now seldom reached, and the whole scheme is to be regarded as representing rather the Brahmanical ideal of life than the actual facts.
The worship represented in the oldest Vedic literature is that of natural objects: the sky, personified in the god Indra; the dawn, in Ushas; the various attributes of the sun, in Vishnu, Surya, Agni, etc. These gods were invoked for assistance in the common affairs of life, and were propitiated by offerings which, at first few and simple, afterwards became more complicated and included animal sacrifices. In the later Vedic hymns a philosophical conception of religion and the problems of being and creation appears struggling into existence; and this tendency is systematically developed by the supplements and commentaries known as the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. In some of the Upanishads the deities of the old Vedic creed are treated as symbolical. Brahma, the supreme soul, is the only reality, the world is regarded as an emanation from him, and the highest good of the soul is to become united with the divine. The necessity for the purification of the soul in order to its reunion with the divine nature gave rise to the doctrine of metempsychosis or transmigration.
This philosophical development of Brahmanism gave rise to a distinct separation between the educated and the vulgar creeds. Whilst from the fifth to the first century BC the higher thinkers amongst the Brahmans were developing a philosophy which recognized that there was but one god, the popular creed had concentrated its ideas of worship round three great deities - Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, who now took the place of the confused old Vedic Pantheon. Brahma, the creator, though considered the most exalted of the three, was too abstract an idea to become a, popular god, and soon sank almost out of notice. Thus the Brahmans became divided between Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer and reproducer, and the worshippers of these two deities now form the two great religious sects of India. Siva, in his philosophical significance, is the deity mostly worshipped by the conventional Brahman, while in his aspect of the Destroyer, or in one of his female manifestations, he is the god of the low castes, and was often worshipped with degrading rites. But the highly cultivated Brahman was still a pure theist, and the educated Hindu in general professes to regard the special deity he chooses for worship as merely a form under which the One First Cause may be approached
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The sharp division of the people of India into 'civilized' Aryans and crude non-Aryans had a great influence upon Brahmanism, and thus the spiritual conceptions of the old Vedic creed were mixed in later Hinduism with superstitions and customs belonging to the so-called aboriginal races. Suttee, for example, or the burning of widows, has no authority in the Veda, but like most of the darker features of Hinduism is the result of a compromise which the Brahmanical teachers had to make with the non-Aryan races in India. The Buddhist religion has also had an important influence on the Brahmanic.
The system of caste originally no doubt represented distinctions of race. The early classification of the people was that of 'twice-born' Aryans (priests, warriors, husbandmen) and once-born non-Aryans (serfs); but intermarriages, giving rise to a mixed progeny, and the variety of employments in later times, profoundly modified this simple classification. Innumerable minor distinctions have grown up, so that amongst the Brahmans alone there are several hundred castes who traditionally cannot intermarry or eat food cooked by each other.
The Brahmans represent the highest culture of India, and as the result of centuries of education and self-restraint have evolved a type of man considered by the West as distinctly superior to the castes around them. They still had great influence at the start of the 20th century, and occupied the highest places at the courts of princes. Many, however, were driven by need or other motives into trades and employments inconsistent with the original character of their caste.
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Brahmo-Somaj or the Theistic Church of India, was founded in 1830 by a Brahman, who sought to purify his religion from impurities and idolatries. This church, while accepting what religious truth the Vedas may contain, rejects the idea of their special infallibility, and founds its faith on principles of reason. The members do not in principle recognize the distinction of caste, and have made great efforts to weaken this as well as other prejudices amongst their countrymen.
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A brake was a large four-wheeled, horse-drawn, pleasure vehicle, open or with a removable cover, with facing side-seats and one or two seats arranged crosswise in front.
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Branding is the act of marking a body with a red-hot iron. It was used as a punishment in England for various crimes until it was abolished in 1822. A form of branding continued for a while in the army as a punishment for desertion when a large D was marked with ink or gunpowder on the left side two inches below the arm-pit.
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A branks was a kind of bridle constructed of iron bands, acting as a gag, formerly used in England and Scotland as an instrument of punishment for scolds and slanderous women. The culprit was paraded through the streets by the bellman, beadle, or constable, or chained to the market cross where she was exposed to public ridicule.
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Brasenose is one of the colleges of Oxford University, founded by William Smith, bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton, in 1509. The origin of the name is doubtful, but there is a large nose of brass over the entrance. The college is very rich in endowments.
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Brass was a British period situation comedy television show written by John Stevenson and Julian Roach, starring Timothy West and Caroline Blakiston, about the relationships between a rich family and a poor family in north-west England during the 1930s. Brass was aired from 1983 to 1984 and revived in 1990.
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In mines, a brattice is a partition of light wood or canvas which divides a shaft or underground roadway in two, and furnishes a means of conducting ventilation to the working face.
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Bravo is an Italian adjective used as an exclamation of praise (meaning well done or excellent). Originally it was used only within the theatre, but now it is used in all walks of life. The word bravo should be used for a man, brava for a woman and bravi to several persons.
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Originally, brawling was the term applied in English law to the offence of wilfully disturbing any meeting of persons lawfully assembled for religious worship, or misusing any preacher, teacher or persons so assembled. Today however, the term is more generally applied to an illegal fight in a public place.
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The brazen bull was an article of torture invented by Perilaus for the tyrant Phalaris. The device was a hollow, metal model of a bull with a trap door at the back. The idea being that the victim should be placed inside and a fire lit underneath. The victim's screams would then be conveyed by an ingenious collection of flutes in the head of the bull to sound like the bellowing of a real bull. Ironically, the tyrant Phalaris was appalled by the invention and tricked the inventor inside it where he locked him in and lit a fire underneath, before having the man dragged out still alive and hurled from a high rock.
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Brazil-wood a kind of wood yielding a red dye, obtained from several trees of the genus Caesalpinia, of the order Leguminosae, natives of the West Indies and Central and South America. The best kind is Caesalpinia echinata; other varieties are Caesalpinia brasiliensis, Caesalpinia orista and Caesalpinia Sappan. The wood is hard and heavy, and as it takes on a fine polish it is used by cabinet-makers for various purposes, but its principal use is in dyeing red. The dye is obtained by reducing the wood to powder and boiling it in water, when the water receives the red colouring principle, which is a crystallizable substance called brazilin. The colour is not permanent unless fixed by suitable mordants.
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Breach of contract is a failure by a party to a contract to perform his obligations under that contract or an indication of his intention not to do so. An indication that a contract will be breached in the future is called repudiation or an anticipatory breach; it may be either expressed in words or implied from conduct. Such an implication arises when the only reasonable inference from a person's acts is that he does not intend to fulfil his part of the bargain. For example, an anticipatory breach occurs if a person contracts to sell his car to A but sells and delivers it to B before the delivery date agreed with A. The repudiation of a contract entitles the injured party to treat the contract as discharged and to sue immediately for damages for the loss sustained.
The same procedure only applies to an actual breach if it constitutes a fundamental breach, i.e. a breach of a major term of the contract. In either an anticipatory or an actual breach, the injured party may, however, decide to affirm the contract instead. When an actual breach relates only to a minor term of the contract (a warranty) the injured party may sue for damages but has no right to treat the contract as discharged. The process of treating a contract as discharged by reason of repudiation or actual breach is sometimes referred to as rescission. Other remedies available under certain circumstances for breach of contract are an injunction and specific performance.
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Bread was a British situation comedy television show following the daily lives of a fictional poverty stricken Liverpool Catholic family. Bread was created by Carla Lane and produced by the BBC. Bread ran from 1986 to 1991.
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The Bread Riots were a series of riots that took place in New York during the financial panic of 1837 which saw prices rise enormously. Rents were exorbitant and flour was twelve dollars a barrel. During February and March the poor of New York held frequent riotous meetings which culminated in violent assaults upon flour warehouses, on several instances the warehouses being opened and the crowd helping themselves. The disturbances were quelled by militia.
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In painting, break refers to insoluble matter that separates from within the paint.
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A break or brake was a large four-wheeled vehicle with a straight body and a raised seat in front for the driver, containing seats for six, eight, or more persons.
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Breaking on the wheel was a form of torturous execution employed for criminals until the 18th century in Europe. The victim was laid on his back, spread-eagle, and fastened to the spokes. The executioner then smashed each limb in turn with a sledge-hammer or iron bar before finally delivering the death blow to the stomach. Earlier forms of breaking on the wheel during the Middle Ages involved the victim being tied to a large wheel like a cylinder, which was then rolled down a hill or over iron spikes.
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In old Scots law, a breve is a short, compendious writ issued from the crown to a judge, ordering him to try by jury the points outlined in the writ. Procedure by breve was introduced into Scotland by James I upon the model of the system in vogue in England.
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The breviary is the book which contains prayers or offices to be used at the seven canonical hours of matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline by all in the orders of the Church of Rome or in the enjoyment of any Roman Catholic benefice. It is not known at what time the use of the breviary was first enjoined, but the early offices were exhaustive from their great length, and under Gregory VII their abridgment was considered necessary, hence the origin of the name breviary (from the Latin brevis, short). In 1568 Pius V published that which has remained, with few modifications, to the present day. The Roman breviary, however, was never fully accepted by the Gallican Church until after the strenuous efforts made by the Ultramontanes from 1840 to 1864. The Psalms occupy a large place in the breviary; passages from the Old and New Testament and from the fathers have the next place. All the services are in Latin, and their arrangement is very complex. The English Book of Common Prayer is based on the Roman Breviary.
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Bribery and corruption are offences relating to the improper influencing of people in positions of trust. The offences commonly grouped under this expression are now statutory. Under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act (1889), amended by the Prevention of Corruption Act (1916), it is an offence corruptly to offer to a member, officer, or servant of a public body any reward or advantage to do anything in relation to any matter with which that body is concerned; it is also an offence for a public servant or officer to corruptly receive or solicit such a reward. The Prevention of Corruption Act (1906) amended by the 1916 Act is wider in scope. Under this Act it is an offence corruptly to give or offer any valuable consideration to an agent to do any act or show any favour in relation to his principal's affairs.
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A bride ale was an old English event where a bride would sell ale to cover the cost of her wedding.
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Bridewell was a house of correction in Blackfriars, London. The building took its name from a holy well of medicinal water once existing between Fleet Street and the Thames, and dedicated to St Bride. Henry VIII built a palace to accommodate the Emperor Charles V on the site in 1522. This building was converted into a hospital to serve the poor and Edward VI chartered the hospital to the city. After the reformation Bridewell was made into a workhouse for the poor and a house of correction for the idle (vagrants) and vicious (unruly apprentices). The building was badly damaged by the Fire of London in 1666.
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The Bridgewater Treatises were a series of books, the outcome of the will of the Reverend Henry Francis, Earl of Bridgewater, who died in 1829, bequeathing a sum of 8000 pounds, which should be paid to the person or persons chosen to write and publish 1000 copies of a work on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God as manifested in the creation. The result was eight works on animal and vegetable physiology, astronomy, geology, the history, habits, and instincts of animals, etc, which at one time enjoyed great popularity. The names of the writers are Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Kidd, Dr. Whewell, Sir Charles Bell, Dr. Roget, Dr. Buckland, Reverend William Kirby, and Dr. Prout.
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A bridle is the head-stall and bit by which and by the reins a horse is governed by its rider.
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In English law, a brief is a memorandum of instructions, concisely expressed, drawn up by an attorney for the guidance of the barrister, containing a statement of the facts, points of law, etc. to be developed and expanded before the court, or to be used in the cross-examination of witnesses.
A brief may also mean, in law, an order emanating from the superior courts.
A papal brief is a sort of pastoral letter in which the pope gives his decision on some matter which concerns the party to whom it is addressed. The brief is an official document, but of a less public character than the bull.
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Brigands are organised bands who practise general robbery, making their headquarters in fastnesses in forests or mountains from which they sally forth to plunder travellers of their property, or seize them until a ransom is paid for their liberation. Brigandage had its origin in Greece and Italy, and soon spread to France and Germany.
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Brighella is a personage in Italian popular comedy. He is always represented as a servant who is always ready to lie, to play tricks and to plot, but leaves the execution of his plots to Arlechino, another comic character.
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In painting, a bristle refers exclusively to the hair of a pig (boar or hog). Hence a bristle brush is a brush made from pig hairs.
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The Bristol 401 was an English automobile produced from 1949 to 1953 by the Bristol aircraft manufacturing company. The Bristol 401 was powered by a BMW 2 litre straight six engine providing between 85 and 100 bhp and a top speed of 155 kmh.
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The Bristol 411 was a very select English automobile produced from 1970 to 1976. The Bristol 411 was powered by a 6277 cc V-eight engine providing 335 bhp and a top speed of 225 kmh.
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Bristol board is a type of stiff drawing paper, smooth and sometimes glazed, originally made in Bristol hence its name.
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The British Academy is an academy or association of learned men incorporated by royal charter in 1902, its main object being to promote the study of literature, mental and moral science. It comprises four chief sections or divisions, devoted respectively to history and archaeology, philology, philosophy, economics and jurisprudence.
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The British Airports Authority plc (BAA) is a public limited company that was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 and formed from the former British Airports Authority (founded in 1966). It owns and operates London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted) as well as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Prestwick, and Glasgow airports. It is responsible for the construction and maintenance of buildings, fire and security services, passenger services, and terminal management.
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The British Coal Corporation (BCC) is the nationalised corporation, formerly called the National Coal Board (NCB), which owns and runs all British coal mines. The NCB itself took control of the mines in 1947.
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The British Empire League was an association formed in 1895 in London for the purpose of promoting trade between the United Kingdom, the colonies and India; fostering closer intercourse between the different portions of the empire by the establishment of cheaper and more direct steam postal and telegraphic communication; devising a more perfect co-operation of the military and naval forces of the empire, with a special view to the due protection of the trade routes; assimilating, as far as possible, the laws relating to copyright, patents, legitimacy, and bankruptcy throughout the empire; the calling of periodic conferences to deal with these and similar questions on the lines of the London Conference of 1887 and the Ottawa Conference of 1894.
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The British Exporters Association (BEXA) is an association, formerly the British Export Houses Association (BEHA), that puts UK suppliers in touch with Association members, who trade and finance trade throughout the world.
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The British Institute of Management (BIM) is an institution set up in 1974 by the then Board of Trade to promote professionalism in management practice and to provide information for its members. It promotes courses in management and those with a diploma in management can become associate members (AMBIM); there are also fellows (FBIM) and members (MBIM) of the institute.
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The British Insurance and Investment Brokers Association is a trade association for insurance brokers registered with the Insurance Brokers Registration Council and investment brokers registered under the Financial Services Act (1986). Formed in 1977 as the British Insurance Brokers Association by the amalgamation of a number of insurance broking associations, it changed to its current name in 1988 to widen its membership to include investment advisors. It provides public relations, free advice, representation in parliament, and a conciliation service for consumers.
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The British Medical Association (BMA) was founded at Worcester in 1832 as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association. Its aims were the advancement of medical science and the maintenance of the dignity and welfare of the profession. In 1853 the name was altered to
British Medical Association.
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The British Museum is the great national museum in London. It owes its foundation to Sir Hans Sloane, who, in 1753, bequeathed his various collections, including 50,000 books and manuscripts, to the nation, on the condition of 20,000 pounds - less by 30,000 pounds than the original cost - being paid to his heirs. Montague House, which was bought for the purpose for 10,250 pounds, was appropriated for the museum, which was first opened on the 15th January, 1759. The original edifice having become inadequate, a new building in Great Russell Street was resolved upon in 1823, the architect being Sir R Smirke, whose building was not completed until 1847. In 1857 a new library building was completed and opened at a cost of 150,000 pounds. It contains a circular reading-room 140 feet in diameter, with a dome 106 feet in height. This room contains accommodation for 300 readers comfortably seated at separate desks, which are provided with all necessary conveniences. Later, the accommodation having become again inadequate, it was resolved to separate the objects belonging to the natural history department from the rest, and to lodge them in a building by themselves. Accordingly a large natural history museum was erected at South Kensington, and the specimens pertaining to natural history (including geology and mineralogy) were transferred thither, but they still formed part of the British Museum for some time. Later the literary section was split away to form the British Library, and for many years a copy of every book, pamphlet, newspaper, piece of music etc published anywhere in British territory had to be conveyed free of charge to the museum, this practice being reduced at the end of the 20th century when it was deemed by some as unnecessary to store every bus time table and the like published throughout Britain.
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The British North America Act was passed by Parliament in 1867 and provided for the voluntary union of the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into one confederation under the title of 'The Dominion of Canada'. A further British North America Act passed in 1871 provided the Parliament of Canada with the ability to establish new provinces.
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British Rates and Data (BRAD) is a monthly publication listing addresses, cover price, circulation, frequency, rate cards, copy and cancellation requirements, and advertising representatives for national and provincial newspapers, consumer, trade, technical, and professional publications, and for television and radio stations.
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The British Standards Institution (BSI) is an association founded in 1901 at London, which received a royal charter in 1929 and took its present name in 1931. Its function is to formulate standards for building, engineering, chemical, textile, and electrical products, ensuring that they maintain a specified quality. Products so standardised make use of the Kite mark logo as a symbol of quality. Manufacturers who use the Kite mark do so under licence from the BSI on condition that products are subject to regular inspection. Apart from maintaining quality standards in this way, the BSI attempts to ensure that the design of goods is restricted to a sensible number of patterns and sizes for one purpose, to avoid unnecessary variety. The BSI, which collaborates closely with the International Standards Organization, is also actively concerned in metrology, providing information on units of measurement and issuing glossaries defining technical words.
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British Summer Time is a British daylight saving scheme which resulted from the Summer-Time Act enacted by Parliament and adopted in 1916, whereby on a specified date in spring the official time is advanced one hour ahead of Greenwich mean time which is restored on a specified date in autumn. A bill to provide for a fixed period - the night of the last Saturday in March until the night of the first Sunday in October - was introduced in Parliament in 1922 so as to synchronise the summer times of Britain, France and Belgium.
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The British Technology Group (BTG) is a government-appointed organisation formed in 1981 by the merger of the National Enterprise Board (NEB) and the National Research and Development Corporation (NRDC). Its purpose is to encourage technological development by providing finance for new scientific and engineering products and processes discovered through research at UK universities, polytechnics, research councils, and government research establishments.
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The British Telecommunications Corporation was formed in 1981 as a public corporation to control the UK telephone and telecommunications system, which had previously been the responsibility of the Post Office. In 1984 this corporation became British Telecommunications plc, when 51% of the shares were sold to the public.
British Telecom is now licensed to run telecommunications throughout the UK.
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The British Waterways Board was set up under the Transport Act (1962) to provide services and facilities for UK inland waterways. The Board's responsibilities extend over approximately 2000 miles of waterways and 90 reservoirs.
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The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1839 under the presidency of Thomas Clarkson with the object of promoting the universal extinction of slavery and the slave trade, and the protection of the enfranchised population in the British possessions, and of all persons captured as slaves. It published the ' Anti-Slavery Reporter' and was still operational in 1905.
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The Britzka or britzska was a kind of small carriage, used around 1900, the head of which was always a movable calash, and having a place in front for the driver, and a seat behind for servants.
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A broach is a broad chisel used by masons for stonecutting.
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The Broad Arrow is a symbol used as a royal mark on government stores. It was the cognisance of Viscount Sydney, Earl of Romney, who was the master- general of the Ordnance from 1693 to 1702.
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Broadcast is a mode of sowing grain by which the seed is cast or dispersed upon the ground with the hand or with a machine devised for sowing in this manner; opposed to planting in drills or rows.
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Broadmoor is an asylum in Sandhurst, Berkshire. It was built in 1863 to house 700 of the criminally insane.
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Broadside is a tterm applied to any large page printed on one side of a sheet of paper, and, strictly, not divided into columns.
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The Broadwater Farm Riot occurred on October the 6th 1985 as a result of the death of Mrs Cynthia Jarrett in the course of a police search of her home. During the riot PC Keith Blakelock was brutally murdered.
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The brougham was a two-wheeled or more usually four-wheeled single horse-drawn enclosed carriage named after Lord Brougham who died in 1868.
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Brown is a colour which may be regarded as a mixture of red and black, or of red, black, and yellow. There are various brown pigments, mostly of mineral origin, as bistre, umber, cappagh brown, etc. Brown as a colour is associated with the earth and with soil. With ordinary or working activities or people. Brown is a drab, peasant or poor colour. Brown is also associated with wood and with trees. With honesty and unpretentiousness.
- Almond - A rich pale brown colour.
- Bisque - A pale, yellowish-brown colour like baked biscuit.
- Burnt sienna - A rich reddish brown, earthy colour.
- Butterscotch - A pale yellowish-brown colour.
- Chocolate - A rich dark brown colour.
- Hazel - A greenish-brown usually associated with the colour of eyes.
- Leather - Tan-brown
- Sienna - A yellowish brown, earthy colour.
- Tan - A yellowish-brown colour, darker than butterscotch or bisque.
- Tawny - An orange-brown, yellow-brown or pale brown colour.
- Terracotta - A dull, earthy, brownish orange.
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Brown Holland is an unbleached linen formerly used for various articles of clothing and upholstery.
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Brown University is an American university. The university was founded in 1764 by a union of Baptists with other sects, at warren, Rhode Island. In 1770 it was removed to providence, Rhode Island, and following receiving financial aid from Nicholas Brown, changed its name from Rhode Island College to Brown University in his honour.
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Brumaire was the second month in the calendar adopted by the first French Republic. It began on the 23rd of October and ended on the 21st of November. The 18th Brumaire of the year VIII of the French Revolution (November the 9th, 1799) witnessed the overthrow of the Directory by Bonaparte. The next day he dispersed at the point of the bayonet the Council of Five Hundred, and was elected consul.
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Brunswick Black is a varnish composed chiefly of lamp-black and turpentine, and applied to cast-iron goods. Asphalt and oil of turpentine were also ingredients in some kinds of it.
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Brunswick Green is a green pigment, traditionally usually prepared from copper filings.
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The Brunswick Theatre was a theatre in Well-street, east London. It was built in 1828 to replace the Royalty which burned down in 1826. Four days after opening it was destroyed by the walls falling in as a result of too much weight being attached to the heavy iron roof. The catastrophe occurred during a rehearsal of 'Guy Mannering' killing twelve people.
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Brush Strokes was a British situation comedy television show following the exploits of an amorous, but charming, London painter and decorator ('Jacko' played by Karl Howman) and his eccentric employer ('Lionel' played by Gary Waldhorn). Brush Strokes was created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and produced by the BBC. Brush Strokes ran from 1986 to 1991.
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The Brussels Sugar Convention of 1898 and again in 1901 to 1902 were staged between representatives of the major powers to discuss the abolition of bounties on the export of sugar. Agreement was reached in 1902 by which Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden undertook to suppress the direct and indirect bounties by which the production or export of sugar might benefit, and not to establish bounties of such a kind during the duration of the convention.
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Bucephalus (meaning Ox-Head) was the name of Alexander The Great's horse. When it died, he built a town over its grave in memory and called the town Bucephala.
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A buck-rider was a dummy-fare who enabled a cabman to pass police-constables who prevented empty cabs from loitering at places where they were likely to be required, such as theatres and music-halls, and large hotels. A cabman who wanted to get at such a place under hope of picking up a fare would pay a person known as a 'buck', a shilling to get into his cab so that he might appear to be carrying a fare and so pass the police.
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Buckingham Palace is the London residence of the British royal family. It was built by John Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, in 1703. In 1761 it was bought by George III who in 1775 settled it on his queen, Charlotte who made it her town residence.
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The Buckshot War was an event which occurred in 1838 in Philadelphia where control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives depended upon the choice of a United States Senator. In the election, the Democratic party candidates for the Legislature were elected by small majorities; but their Congressional candidate was defeated. Thereupon the Democratic judges cast out 5000 Whig votes, claiming fraud. The Whig judges then issued certificates of election to both their Congressional and Legislative candidates, and these returns were accepted by the Whig Secretary of State. At the opening of the Legislature at Harrisburg on December the 4th 1838, armed partisans were present. The Whig Senate adjourned because of the mob, and in the House tow warring bodies assembled. The Whig Governor called on the militia, and tried, without effect, to obtain Federal aid. The Democratic House was finally recognised on December the 25th.
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Buddhism is the religious system founded by Buddha, one of the most prominent doctrines of which is that Nirvana, or an absolute release from existence, is the chief good. According to it pain is inseparable from existence, and consequently pain can cease only through Nirvana; and in order to attain Nirvana our desires and passions must be suppressed, the most extreme self-renunciation practised, and we must, as far as possible, forget our own personality.
In order to attain Nirvana eight conditions must be kept or practised. The first is in Buddhistic language right view; the second is right judgment; the third is right language; the fourth is right purpose; the fifth is right profession; the sixth is right application; the seventh is right memory; the eighth is right meditation. The five fundamental precepts of the Buddhist moral code are: not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and not to give way to drunkenness. To these there are added five others of less importance, and binding more particularly on the religious class, such as to abstain from repasts taken out of season, from theatrical representations, etc. There are six fundamental virtues to be practised by all men alike, viz charity, purity, patience, courage, contemplation, and knowledge. These are the virtues that are said to 'conduct a man to the other shore'. The devotee who strictly practises them has not yet attained Nirvana, but is on the road to it.
The Buddhist virtue of charity is universal in its application, extending to all creatures, and demanding sometimes the greatest self-denial and sacrifice. There is a legend that the Buddha in one of his stages of existence (for he had passed through innumerable transmigrations before becoming 'the enlightened') gave himself up to be devoured by a famishing lioness which was unable to suckle her young ones. There are other virtues, less important, indeed, than the six cardinal ones, but still binding on believers. Thus not only is lying forbidden, but evil-speaking, coarseness of language, and even vain and frivolous talk, must be avoided. Buddhist metaphysics are comprised in three theories - the theory of transmigration (borrowed from Brahmanism), the theory of the mutual connection of causes, and the theory of Nirvana. The first requires no explanation. According to the second, life is the result of twelve conditions, which are by turns causes and effects. Thus there would be no death were it not for birth; it is therefore the effect of which birth is the cause. Again, there would be no birth were there not a continuation of existence. Existence has for its cause our attachment to things, which again has its origin in desire; and so on through sensation, contact, the organs of sensation and the heart, name and form, ideas, etc, up to ignorance. This ignorance, however, is not ordinary ignorance, but the fundamental error which causes us to attribute permanence and reality to things. This, then, is the primary origin of existence and all its attendant evils.
Nirvana or extinction is eternal salvation from the evils of existence, and the end which every Buddhist is supposed to seek. Sakya-muni did not leave his doctrines in writing; he declared them orally, and they were carefully treasured up by his disciples, and written down after his death. The determination of the canon of the Buddhist scriptures as we now possess them was the work of three successive councils, and was finished two centuries at least before Christ. From Buddhism involving a protest against caste distinctions it was eagerly adopted by the Dasyus or non-Aryan inhabitants of Hindustan. It was pure, moral, and humane in its origin, but it came subsequently to be mixed up with idolatrous worship of its founder and other deities. Although now long banished from Hindustan by the persecutions of the Brahmans, Buddhism prevails in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Indonesia, and Japan, and its adherents are said to comprise about a third of the human race.
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Budding is the art of multiplying plants by causing the leaf-bud of one species or variety to grow upon the branch of another. The operation consists in shaving off a leaf-bud, with a portion of the wood beneath it, which portion is afterwards removed by a sudden jerk of the operator's finger and thumb, aided by the budding-knife. An incision in the bark of the stock is then made in the form of a T; the two side lips are pushed aside, the bud is thrust between the bark and the wood, the upper end of its bark is cut to a level with the cross arm of the T, and the whole is bound up with worsted or other soft fastening, the point of the bud being left exposed.
In performing the operation, a knife with a thin flat handle and a blade with a peculiar edge is required. The bud must be fully formed; the bark of the stock must separate readily from the wood below it; and young branches should always be chosen, as having beneath the bark the largest quantity of cambium or viscid matter out of which tissue is formed. The maturer shoots of the year in which the operation is performed are the best. The autumn is the best time for budding, though it may also be practised in the spring.
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A buffer state is a small state established or preserved between two greater states to prevent direct clashes between them.
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A buffet is properly a cupboard, sideboard, or closet used to hold china, crystal, plate, and the like. The word is also very commonly applied to the space set apart for refreshments in public places, and to a spread of food from which diners serve themselves to a selection before going to eat elsewhere, as distinct from having the food laid out on the table at which the diners sit.
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Buggy was a name given to several species of carriages or gigs: in England, a buggy was a light one-horse two-wheeled vehicle without a hood; in the United States, a buggy was a light one-horse four-wheeled vehicle, with or without a hood or top; in India, a buggy was a gig with a large hood to screen those who travelled in it from the sun's rays.
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The Buick Riviera was an American tourer car produced from 1963 to 1965. The
Buick Riviera was powered by a 6572 cc V-eight engine providing 325 bhp and a top speed of 209 kmh. The Buick Riviera had a two-speed automatic transmission, and very poor drum brakes which were prone to failure at high speed.
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The Bundeschuh was an insurrection of the peasants of Germany in the sixteenth century. The insurrection was so named from the highblows (bundeschuh) or clouted shoes worn by the insurgents.
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A bunk is a wooden box or case serving as a seat during the day and a bed at night. The term bunk is also applied to one of a series of sleeping berths arranged above each other.
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Burking is a form of murder involving killing the victim by pressure or other modes of suffocation so as to leave no mark of violence on the body. It was first known to be used by William Burke who was executed in 1829 after being detected and tried at Edinburgh, for the murder of numerous individuals. The vigilance with which the burying-grounds throughout the country were watched rendered a supply of subjects for anatomical schools almost altogether impracticable, and the demand for dead bodies consequently became great. This led William Burke, in conjunction with another named Hare, to decoy into their lodging-house and murder by strangulation many obscure wayfarers, whose bodies they sold to a school of anatomy at prices averaging from 8 to 14 pounds sterling.
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A burl is a knot in wood. The term is used in veneering to refer to an overgrown knot in the wood.
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Burlesque was a type of American theatre entertainment characterised by chorus-girl numbers interspersed with comedians and other acts. It started in the mid-1800s and became very popular in the early 1900s with stars such as Al Jolson, W. C. Fields, Sophie Tucker, Fannie Brice and strippers Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. It declined with the rise of films and was finally Banned in the 1940s as a threat to public morality.
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The Burnett prizes were prizes established by a Mr. Burnett, a merchant of Aberdeen, on his death in 1784. He left a fund from which were to be given every forty years two theological prizes (not less than 1200 pounds and 400 pounds) for the best two essays in favour of the evidence that there is an all-powerful, wise, and good Being, and this independent of all revelation.
The first competition was in 1815, when Dr. Brown, principal of Aberdeen University, gained the first prize, and Dr. John Bird Sumner, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, the second. In 1855 the first prize was adjudged to the Reverend R. A. Thompson, Lincolnshire, and the second prize to the Reverend Dr. John Tulloch, afterwards principal of St Mary's College, St. Andrews. The destination of the fund was later altered by parliament, and from the late 19th century courses of lectures were delivered, the first, on light, being by Professor Gabriel Stokes in 1883.
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A burning crown was a crown of red-hot iron formerly set on the head of regicides.
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In India, a burning-ghat is a level place at the top of a river ghat where Hindus cremate their dead.
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Burnt Candlemas Day was the name given to February the second when in 1355 and 1356 Edward III marched through the Lothians with fire and sword. He burnt to the ground Edinburgh and Haddington before retreating due to a lack of provisions.
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The Burwell Fire occurred in a barn at Burwell, near Newmarket on 8th September 1727. A number of people had assembled to see a puppet-show in the barn when a candle set fire to a heap of straw. Seventy-six people died at the scene and others died later of their injuries.
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The bushel is a unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 4 pecks, 8 gallons or 3.637 dekalitres. It is also used as a measure of weight for apples, equivalent to about 40 lbs. Henry VIII ordered that a bushel should hold eight gallons of wheat in 1520. A bushel of barley was 47 lbs, of oats 38 lbs and of wheat 60 lbs.
The British imperial bushel introduced in 1826 has a capacity of 2218.192 cubic inches, and holds 80 lbs avoirdupois of distilled water at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit with the barometer at 30 inches. Previous to this the Winchester bushel had been the standard measure. Its capacity was 2150.42 cubic inches.
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In sculpture, a bust is the representation of that portion of the human figure which comprises the head and the upper part of the body. During the literary period of Greece the portrait busts of the learned formed an important branch of art, and in this way we come to possess faithful likenesses of Socrates, Plato, Demosthenes, etc, in which the artists show great power of expressing the character of those represented. The number of busts belonging to the time of the Roman Empire is very considerable, but those of the Roman poets and men of letters have not been preserved in nearly so large numbers as those of the Greeks. The first bust that can be depended upon as giving a correct likeness is that of Scipio Africanus the elder.
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A butler is a domestic servant, one of the principal menservants, who is principally in charge of the household's wine and beer cellar (hence the name which derives from the French word meaning someone who bottles drinks) and plate. It is a common misunderstanding that a butler is in charge of the other servants, in reality this was the duty of the valet, however in the absence of a valet the role would be required of a butler. Primarily a butler is a wine consultant and brewer of beer. The notion of a butler opening the door to guests is quite incorrect, that duty was traditionally conducted by a footman.
The duties and role of the 19th century butler were helpfully described in 1860 by Mrs Beeton to those starting a household as:
The domestic duties of the butler are to bring in the eatables [food] at breakfast, and wait upon the family at that meal, assisted by the footman, and see to the cleanliness of everything at table. On taking away, he removes the tray with the china and plate [silver plated metal articles], for which he is responsible. At luncheon, he arranges the meal, and waits unassisted, the footman now being engaged in other duties. At dinner, he places the silver and plated articles on the table, sees that everything is in its place, and rectifies what is wrong. He carries in the first dish, and announces in the drawing-room that dinner is on the table, and respectfully stands by the door until the company are seated, when he takes his place behind his master's chair on the left, to remove the covers, handing them to the other attendants to carry out. After the first course of plates is supplied, his place is at the sideboard to serve the wines, but only when called on.
The first course ended, he rings the cook's bell, and hands the dishes from the table to the other servants to carry away, receiving from them the second course, which he places on the table, removing the covers as before, and again taking his place at the sideboard.
At dessert, the slips being removed, the butler receives the dessert from the other servants, and arranges it on the table, with plates and glasses, and then takes his place behind his master's chair to hand the wines and ices, while the footman stands behind his mistress for the same purpose, the other attendants leaving the room. Where the old-fashioned practice of having the dessert on the polished table, without any cloth, is still adhered to, the butler should rub off any marks made by the hot dishes before arranging the dessert.
Before dinner, he has satisfied himself that the lamps, candles, or gas-burners are in perfect order, if not lighted, which will usually be the case. Having served every one with their share of the dessert, put the fires in order (when they are used), and seen the lights are all right, at a signal from his master, he and the footman leave the room.
He now proceeds to the drawing room, arranges the fireplace, and sees to the lights; he then returns to the pantry, prepared to answer the bell, and attend to the company, while the footman is clearing away and cleaning the plate and glasses.
At tea he again attends. At bedtime he appears with the candles; he locks up the plate, secures doors and windows, and sees that all the fires are safe.
In addition to these duties, the butler, where only one footman is kept, will be requires to perform some of the duties of the valet, to pay bills, and superintend the other servants. But the real duties of the butler are in the wine-cellar; there he should be competent and advise his master as to the price and quality of the wine to be laid in; "fine," [refine] bottle, cork and seal it, and place it in the binns [wine racks]. Brewing, racking and bottling malt liquors [beers, ales, stouts and the like], belong to his office, as well as their distribution. These and other drinkables are brought from the cellar every day by his own hands, except when an under-butler is kept; and a careful entry of every bottle used, entered in the cellar-book; so that the book should always show the contents of the cellar.
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Butser Ancient Farm is a unique open-air archaeological laboratory at Chalton in Hampshire, England, founded in 1972. The farm attempts to discover what life was like in Celtic and Roman Britain by recreating buildings, clothes, tools, food and the like from archaeological evidence. Celtic buildings, for example, are only known by their post holes and Roman writings. By creating (technically constructing, not reconstructing) what a building may have looked like using contemporary materials and techniques it is possible to discover evidence of what caused other archaeological remains - such as scars left when posts are dragged out and replaced - and how buildings did not look like because of the practical restrictions on construction. Research is also conducted at the site into prehistoric and Roman crops, ceramic and metal technology, maintenance of ancient breeds of sheep and goats and the construction of a Roman villa using actual materials and the same techniques as the Romans.
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The butt was a British measure of beer equal to 1.5 puncheons.
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A butte is an isolated abrupt flat-topped hill found in the west USA.
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A butterfly board is a sex toy used in some play piercing games. It comprises a card or wooden board with a hole cut to the shape of the male genitalia. The board is placed over the genitals and the skin of the edges of the penis and scrotum is pinned with needles or nails to it.
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A by-law (from the Scandinavian By meaning a town) is a law made by an incorporated or other body for the regulation of its own affairs, or the affairs entrusted to its care. Town councils, railway companies etc. enact by-laws which are binding upon all coming within the sphere of the operations of such bodies.
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Bylini are the epic songs of Russian popular poetry. Their heroes, bogatyri, or paladins, are either historical or mythical personages, or personifications of the forces of nature.
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Byrlaw is an ancient code of law by which rural communities were governed in minor affairs, such as the valuation of stock, the allocation of common land, or the limitation of boundaries. The system prevailed in Britain until the end of the 18th century.
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Byzantine art is the symbolic system which was developed by the early Greek or Byzantine artists out of the Christian symbolism. Byzantine Art arose in South-eastern Europe after Constantine the Great had made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD and ornamented that city, which was called after him, with all the treasures of Grecian art.
One of the chief influences in Byzantine art was Christianity, and to a certain extent Byzantine art may be recognized as the endeavour to give expression to the new elements which Christianity had brought into the life of men. The tendency towards Oriental luxuriance and splendour of ornament now quite supplanted the simplicity of ancient taste. Richness of material and decoration was the aim of the artist rather than purity of conception. Yet the classical ideals of art, and in particular the traditions of technical processes and methods carried to Byzantium by the artists of the Western Empire, held their ground long enough, and produced work pure and powerful enough, to kindle the new artistic life which began in Italy with Cimabue and Giotto.
With regard to sculpture the statues no longer displayed the freedom and dignity of ancient art. The true proportion of parts, the correctness of the outlines, and in general
the severe beauty of the naked figure, or of simple drapery in Greek art, were neglected for extravagant costume and ornamentation and petty details. Yet in the best period of Byzantine art, from the 6th to the 11th century, there is considerable spiritual dignity in the general conception of the figures. But sculpture was of second-rate importance at Byzantium, the taste of those times inclining more to mosaic work with the costliness and brilliant colours of its stones.
The first germ of a Christian style of art was developed in the Byzantine pictures. The artists, who appear to have seldom employed the living model, and had nothing real and material before them, but were obliged to find, in their own imaginations, conceptions of the external appearance of sacred persons, such as the mother of Christ or the apostles, could give but feeble renderings of their ideas. As they cared but little for a faithful imitation of nature, but were
satisfied with repeating what was once acknowledged as successful, it is not strange that certain forms, approved by the taste of the time, should be made, by convention, and without regard to truth and beauty, general models of the human figure, and be transmitted as such to succeeding times. In this way the artists in the later periods did not even aim at accuracy of representation, but were contented with stiff general outlines, lavishing their labour on ornamental parts.
Byzantine architecture may be said to have assumed its distinctive features in the church of St Sophia built by Justinian in the 6th century, and still existing as the chief mosque in Constantinople. It is more especially the style associated with the Greek Church as distinguished from the Roman.
The leading forms of the Byzantine style are the round arch, the circle, and in particular the dome. The last is the most conspicuous and characteristic object in Byzantine buildings, and the free and full employment of it was arrived at when by the use of pendentives the architects were enabled to place it on a square apartment instead of a circular or polygonal. In this style of building incrustation, the incrustation of brick with more precious materials, was largely in use. It depended much on colour and surface ornament for its effect, and with this intent mosaics wrought on grounds of gold or of positive colour are profusely introduced, while coloured marbles. and stones of various kinds are greatly made use of. The capitals are of peculiar and original design, the most characteristic being square and tapering downwards, and they are very varied in their decorations.
Byzantine architecture may be divided into an older and a newer (or Neo-Byzantine) style. The most distinctive feature of the latter ia that the dome is raised on a perpendicular circular or polygonal piece of masonry (technically the drum) containing windows for lighting the interior, while in the older style the light was admitted by openings in the dome itself. The Cathedral of Athens is an example of the Neo-Byzantine style.
The Byzantine style had a great influence on the architecture of Western Europe, especially in Italy, where St Mark's in Venice is a magnificent example, as also in Sicily. It had also material influence in Southern France and Western Germany.
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The Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, so called from its capital Byzantium or Constantinople was founded in 395 AD when Theodosius at his death divided the Roman Empire between his sons Arcadius and Honorius. In this empire the Greek language and civilization were prevalent; but the rulers claimed still to be Roman emperors, and under their sway the laws and official forms of Rome were maintained. It lasted for about a thousand years after the downfall of the Western Empire.
It is also known as the Greek Empire or Lower Empire. Its capital was naturally Constantinople (Istanbul), a city established by Constantine in 330 as the new capital of the whole Roman Empire.
The Eastern Empire, then comprising Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Thrace, Moesia, Macedonia, and Crete, fell to Theodosius's elder son Arcadius, through whose weakness and that of several of his immediate successors it suffered severely from the encroachments of Huns, Goths, Bulgarians, and Persians. In 527 the celebrated Justinian succeeded,, whose reign is famous for the codification of Roman law, and the victories of his generals Belisarius and Narses over the Vandals in Africa, and the Goths in Italy, which was henceforth governed for the Eastern Empire by an exarch residing at Ravenna. But his energy could not revive the decaying strength of the empire, and Justin II his successor, a weak and avaricious prince, lost his reason by the reverses encountered in his conflicts with plundering Lombards, Avars, and Persians.
Tiberius, a captain of the guard, succeeded in 578, and in 582 Mauricius; both were men of ability. In 602 Phocas, proclaimed emperor by the army, succeeded, and produced by his incapacity tlie greatest disorder in the empire. Heraclius, son of the governor of Africa, who headed a conspiracy, conquered Constantinople, and caused Phocas to be executed in 610. He was an excellent general, and finally succeeded in repressing the Avars and recovering the provinces lost to the Persians, whose power indeed he overthrew. But a far more dangerous enemy to the Byzantine empire now appeared in the Muslim power, founded amongst the Arabians by Mohammed and the caliphs, which gradually extended its conquests over Phoenicia, the countries on the Euphrates, Judea, Syria, and Egypt from 635-641.
In 641 Heraclius died, nor was there amongst his descendants a single prince capable of stemming the tide of Muslim invasion. The Arabians took part of Africa, Cyprus, and Rhodes in 653, inundated Africa and Sicily, penetrated into Thrace, and attacked Constantinople by sea.
The empire was in sore straits when Leo the Isaurian (Leo III), general of the army of the East, mounted the throne in 716, and a new period of comparative prosperity began. Some writers date the beginning of the Byzantine Empire proper, and the end of the Eastern Roman Empire, from this era.
Numerous reforms, civil and military, were now introduced, and the worship of images was prohibited. Leo repelled the Arabians or Saracens from Constantinople, but allowed the Lombards to seize the Italian provinces, while the Arabians plundered the Eastern ones. Constantine V in 741 recovered part of Syria and Armenia from the Arabians; and the struggle was carried on not unsuccessfully by his son Leo IV. Under his grandson, Constantine VI, Irene, the ambitious mother of the latter, raised a large faction by the restoration of image worship, and, in conjunction with her paramour Stauratius, deposed her son, and had his eyes put out in 797.
A revolt of the patricians placed one of their order, Nicephorus, on the throne, who fell in the war against the Bulgarians in 811. Stauratius, Michael, Leo V and Michael II in 820 ascended the throne in rapid succession. During the reign of the latter the Arabians conquered Sicily, Lower Italy, Crete, and other countries. The long dispute as to image-worship was brought to a close in 842, when the practice was finally sanctioned at the council of Nicaea, under Michael III.
He was put to death by Basil the Macedonian, who came to the throne as Basil I in 867, and whose reign formed a period of great glory in the history of the Byzantine Empire. He founded a dynasty (the Macedonian) which lasted until 1056. Among the greatest of his successors were Nicephorus II (Phocas), and John Zimisces in 969, who carried on successful wars against the Muslims, Bulgarians, and Russians.
Basil II succeeded this prince in 976. He vanquished the Bulgarians and the Arabians. His brother, Constantine IX was succeeded by Romanus III in 1028, who married Zoe, daughter of Constantine. This dissolute but able princess caused her husband to be executed, and successively raised to the throne Michael IV, Michael V, and Constantine X. Russians and Muslims meanwhile devastated the empire. Her sister Theodora succeeded her on the throne in 1054.
After the short reign of Michael VI from 1054 until 1057 Isaac Comnenus, the first of the Comnenian dynasty, ascended the throne, but soon after became a monk. The three chief emperors of this dynasty were Alexius, John, and Manuel Comnenus. During the reign of Alexius I from 1081 to 1118 the Crusades commenced. His son, John II, and grandson, Manuel I, fought with success against the Turks, whose progress also was considerably checked by the Crusades. The Latins, the name given to the French, Venetian, etc, crusaders, now forced their way to Constantinople in 1204, conquered the city, and retained it, together with most of the European territories of the empire.
Baldwin, count of Flanders, was made emperor; Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, obtained Thessalonica as a kingdom, and the Venetians acquired a large extent of territory. Theodore Lascaris seized on the Asiatic provinces, in 1206 made Nice (Nicaea) the capital of the empire, and was at first more powerful than Baldwin. Neither Baldwin nor his successors, Henry, Peter, and Robert of Courtenay, were able to secure the tottering throne. John, emperor of Nice, conquered all the remaining Byzantine territory except Constantinople, and at last, in 1261, Michael Palaeologus, king of Nice, conquered Constantinople, and thus overthrew the Latin dynasty.
Thus again the vast but exhausted Byzantine Empire was united under Michael Palaeologus, founder of the last Byzantine dynasty. Internal disturbances and wars with the Turks disturbed the reigns of his descendants Andronicus II and Andronicus III. For a time the Cantacuzenes shared the crown with John Palasologus, son of Andronicus III; but in 1355 John again became sole emperor. In his reign the Turks first obtained a firm footing in Europe, and conquered Gallipoli in 1357. In 1361 Sultan Amurath took Adrianople. Bajazet conquered almost all the European provinces except Constantinople, and was pressing it hard when Timur's invasion of the Turkish provinces saved Constantinople for this time in 1402. Manuel then recovered his throne, and regained some of the lost provinces from the contending sons of Bajazet. To him succeeded his son John, Palaeologus II whom Amurath II stripped of all his territories except Constantinople, and laid under tribute in 1444.
To the Emperor John succeeded his brother Constantine Palaeologus. With the assistance of his general Giustiniani, a Genoese, he withstood the superior forces of the enemy with fruitless courage, and fell in the defence of Constantinople, by the conquest of which on May the 29th, 1453 Mohammed II put an end to the Greek or Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, which thus lasted for over a thousand years, stemmed the tide of the advance of Islam and instead spread Christianity and maintained a regular system of government, law, and policy in the midst of surrounding conflicting systems.
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