Part 69

Bar"y*sphere (?), n. [Gr. &?; heavy + sphere.] (Geol.) The heavy interior portion of the earth, within the lithosphere.

Bash (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bashing.] [Perh. of imitative origin; or cf. Dan. baske to strike, bask a blow, Sw. basa to beat, bas a beating.] To strike heavily; to beat; to crush. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Hall Caine.

Bash her open with a rock.

Kipling.

Ba"sic proc"ess. (Iron Metal.) A Bessemer or open-hearth steel-making process in which a lining that is basic, or not siliceous, is used, and additions of basic material are made to the molten charge during treatment. Opposed to acid process, above. Called also Thomas process.

Basic slag. A by-product from the manufacture of steel by the basic process, used as a fertilizer. It is rich in lime and contains 14 to 20 per cent of phosphoric acid. Called also Thomas slag, phosphatic slag, and odorless phosphate.

Basic steel. Steel produced by the basic process.

||Ba*sid`i*o*my*ce"tes (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. NL. & E. basidium + Gr. &?;, &?;, fungus.] (Bot.) A large subdivision of fungi coördinate with the Ascomycetes, characterized by having the spores borne on a basidium. It embraces those fungi best known to the public, such as mushrooms, toadstools, etc.

Bas"ket ball`. A game, usually played indoors, in which two parties of players contest with each other to toss a large inflated ball into opposite goals resembling baskets.

Bas"set horn`. (Mus.) The corno di bassetto.

Ba*su"tos (?), n. pl.; sing. Basuto (&?;). (Ethnol.) A warlike South African people of the Bantu stock, divided into many tribes, subject to the English. They formerly practiced cannibalism, but have now adopted many European customs.

||Bat (?), n. [Siamese.] Same as Tical, n., 1.

Bat, v. t. & i. 1. To bate or flutter, as a hawk. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

2. To wink. [Local, U. S. & Prov Eng.]

Bat, n. 1. In badminton, tennis, and similar games, a racket.

2. A stroke; a sharp blow. [Colloq. or Slang]

3. A stroke of work. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

4. Rate of motion; speed. [Colloq.] "A vast host of fowl . . . making at full bat for the North Sea." Pall Mall Mag.

5. A spree; a jollification. [Slang, U. S.]

6. Manner; rate; condition; state of health. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

Bath`y*graph"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; deep + graphic.] Descriptive of the ocean depth; as, a bathygraphic chart.

Bat*tal"ion (?), n. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self- supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed.

In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command.

Bat"tle range`. (Mil.) The range within which the fire of small arms is very destructive. With the magazine rifle, this is six hundred yards.

Battle ship. (Nav.) An armor-plated man-of-war built of steel and heavily armed, generally having from ten thousand to fifteen thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to meet the heaviest ships in line of battle.

Bau`mé" (?), a. Designating or conforming to either of the scales used by the French chemist Antoine Baumé in the graduation of his hydrometers; of or relating to Baumé's scales or hydrometers. There are two Baumé hydrometers. One, which is used with liquids heavier than water, sinks to 0° in pure water, and to 15° in a 15 per cent salt solution; the other, for liquids lighter than water, sinks to 0° in a 10 per cent salt solution and to 10° in pure water. In both cases the graduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific-gravity scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation between degrees Bé. and Sp. gr. However, readings on Baumés scale may be approximately reduced to specific gravities by the following formulæ (x in each case being the reading on Baumé's scale) : (a) for liquids heavier than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (144 - x); (b) for liquids lighter than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (134 + x).

||Ba`var`dage" (?), n. [F.] Much talking; prattle; chatter. Byron.

Ba*ya"mo (?), n. (Meteor.) A violent thunder squall occurring on the south coast of Cuba, esp. near Bayamo. The gusts, called bayamo winds, are modified foehn winds.