S13 



BALLOT. 



BALSAM. 



8U 



Occasionally balloons have been made subsidiary to science, but very 

 seldom. The British Association has more than once directed its 

 attention to this matter, but with very little result. In 1843, Mr. 

 Green made observations with meteorological instruments at five 

 different elevations, varying from 2591 to 6758 feet ; while Mr. Jones, 

 the instrument maker, was making similar observations at the surface 

 of the earth at the same time ; such observations as these might 

 perhaps be multiplied with advantage. Mr. Rush communicated to 

 the British Association, in 1849, a series of thermometrical and baro- 

 metrical observations, made during five balloon ascents, in 1847-8-9, at 

 various altitudes ranging up to 20,000 feet. 



A suggestion was made about the year 1851, for sending out balloons 

 to assist in the search for Sir John Franklin ; and in 1854 balloons 

 were suggested for reconnoitring Sebastopol. 



The last seven years (1 852 to 1 859) have shown that the hope is not yet 

 quite extinguished among ingenious, but not very profound, machinists, 

 of being able to guide balloons through the air. In 1852 Mr. Graham 

 added to the list of contrivances intended to aid in the steering of 

 balloons, by means of levers, sails, rudders, &c. In 1856 another inven- 

 tor brought into notice an " Arehimedian balloon," comprising a great 

 variety of mechanical appliances, including a wooden framework, four 

 paddle-wheels, some new kind of chemical engine to supply moving 

 power, and a screw propeller. The inventor's hope was, that the turning 

 of the screw would bring the balloon into any desired direction, and 

 that the paddles would give progressive motion. The balloon was a 

 cylinder, with hemispherical ends, placed immediately over the hull of 

 this aerial screw-ship. The project never appears to have gone beyond 

 the condition of a model. Dr. Lotszky, in the same year, proposed a 

 suite of small balloons and wings, to be attached to " a slim youth," as a 

 means of enabling him to fly over the Crystal Palace grounds. The 

 latest enthusiast is Lord Carlingford, who in 1857 brought into notice 

 his " Archedon," or aerial chariot. It had before been shown in model 

 at the Dublin Exhibition; but as it obtained few admirers, the inventor 

 afterwards made sundry improvements in it. It consists of a sort of 

 light boat, with one wheel in front and two behind ; there are two con- 

 cave wings at the sides, held up by laths, cords, and hoops ; and there 

 is a tail, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure. The moving 

 power is a winch turned by the aeronaut ; the winch acts through a 

 train of multiplying wheels, upon an Archimediau screw ; this screw 

 acts upon the cords which move the sails. The wings are covered with 

 network and silk. It is not often that the specification of a patent 

 contains such glowing language as that which Lord Carlingford used 

 in reference to his invention : " Like the chariot of Jupiter, we may 

 yet behold the eagle trained to draw the aerial chariot." In a letter to 

 the ' Mechanics' Magazine/ his lordship thus commented on the mode 

 in which his invention was received : " The first chariot I made was 

 placed in the Dublin Exhibition ; yet, strange to say, although clear 

 and simple as was the principle of it, it was not understood, nor even 

 examined, but left in such an obscure position, that no doubt it was 

 concluded to be some nonsensical production ; yet none were courageous 

 enough to question the principle, or to approve it, though challenged 

 to do so." 



Of all these contrivances, it may simply be said that the means of 

 guiding balloons through the air have yet to be discovered ; that the 

 higher the scientific attainments of the aeronaut, the less sanguine is 

 he of any such means ever being devised. Balloons may possibly, some 

 day, render more service to meteorology than they have yet done, by 

 testing currents, &c., high up in the atmosphere; and indeed the 

 British Association, in 1858, made a grant of money for further 

 experiments in this direction. 



BALLOT, a word taken from the French balolte or ballolte, signifying 

 a little ball, and used to designate a mode of voting employed upon 

 occasions where it is considered desirable to preserve secrecy in regard 

 to the opinion of each voter. In many cases where any matter is 

 decided by votes, there are good reasons why it should be generally 

 known how each person has voted ; but there are other cases in which 

 there may be equally good reasons for allowing the voters to vote by 

 ballot. Voting by ballot, therefore, cannot be called either a good or a 

 bad system of voting, without considering the particular cases in which 

 it is exercised. 



In Great Britain it has been agitated for many years whether the 

 election of members of Parliament should or should not be by ballot. 

 It is a question we are not called on to decide, and much has been 

 written and said on both sides. It may be remarked, however, that 

 there is no strict analogy between the election of members of a private 

 society, or even of a public association, and of members elected for 

 political and legislative purposes. In the one, private reasons which 

 could not be openly stated with propriety, may, and ought to, operate 

 against the admission of an individual as an associate ; while, hi the 

 other, as it is his public character that should give him the necessary 

 qualification, there is the less reason for secrecy. His public defects, if 

 hould be publicly stated, to enable him to meet them ; he is a 

 untative, and ought not to be rejected on grounds that cannot 

 be publicly stated. Again, as it is said that martyrs make a faith, it is 

 not impossible that the ballot, by ensuring secrecy, may also create 

 indifference, when the public mind is no longer stirred up by the 

 excitement given by open voting; although that may too frequently 

 lead to instances of oppression and hardship suffered in consequence. 



The modes of performing the voting by ballot vary, in some respects, 

 according to the object to be attained ; as for instance, in the case of 

 an election to an office where the choice can fall upon only one candi- 

 date, or upon a smaller number of candidates than are put in nomina- 

 tion, it is usual to deliver lists which are folded so as to conceal the 

 name or names which they bear, and which, in that condition, are 

 placed in a glass or urn, from which, after the votes are all collected, 

 they are taken and examined, in order to determine in whose favour 

 the greatest number of votes has been given. In cases where a simple 

 affirmative or negative is alone required, the same method is sometimes 

 employed, and then the papers deposited in the urn bear only the word 

 ' Yes ' or ' No.' Sometimes the original mode of voting by ballot* is 

 more strictly adhered to, and balls are used in one of two ways. One 

 of these ways is to choose in which of two compartments into which 

 the urn is divided, the voter will deposit the ball ; the other method is 

 to select the colour of the ball to be employed. In cases where the 

 last-mentioned method is resorted to, each voter is furnished with two 

 balls, one white and the other black ; the black ball is used to express 

 a negative, whence comes the expression ' to blackball,' signifying the 

 rejection of a candidate. In determining this point of rejection, no 

 uniform rule is observed by different bodies. In some societies or 

 bodies, one ball is made sufficient to negative the election ; sometimes 

 a larger number of adverse votes is necessary for this purpose. Other 

 bodies adopt as a regulation some definite proportion between the 

 rejecting and accepting votes, such as one in three, five, ten, &c., 

 whereby to determine upon the admission of the candidate. 



This mode of election is now almost universally resorted to in 

 England by clubs and scientific societies, as well as in hospitals for the 

 election of medical officers, and by insurance offices and commercial 

 associations for choosing their managers or directors. The directors of 

 the Bank of England are thus chosen. 



In France, voting by ballot is used in the election of members of the 

 Chamber of Deputies, and the same mode of voting was used under 

 the constitutional charter in the chamber itself whenever twenty 

 members concurred in demanding a ballot ; but in 1845, the practice 

 was abolished by a law proposed by M. Duvergier de Hauraiine, during 

 M. Guizot's administration. The most remarkable instances, however, 

 of the exercise of the ballot, are those of the election of Louis Napoleon 

 to the office of president ; and the ratification by the same process of 

 the coup d'ftat of December, 1851, and the consequent elevation of the 

 president to the throne of the empire. 



M. de Tocqueville, though he discusses the constitution of the United 

 States in all its phases, does not think the ballot of sufficient importance 

 to give it even a notice as having any effect, while he dwells strongly 

 on the great influence of publicity, and the passion for general and 

 varied political discussion, which he thinks a marked characteristic of 

 the American people as distinguishing them from Europeans. 



BALSAM. This name is applied to a class of substances which are 

 exclusively ready formed products of the vegetable kingdom. They 

 are chiefly produced in warm climates, and consist of a mixture of 

 ethereal oils with resinous bodies, frequently containing also benzoic or 

 cinnamic acid, to which their aromatic odour is due. The balsams are 

 of a semifluid or viscous consistence, and are generally obtained by 

 making incisions in the bark of the trees which produce them. By 

 exposure to the air the more volatile part evaporates and they become 

 harder, but it is rarely that they thus entirely lose then- viscosity. In 

 addition to these natural productions, some artificial balsams, as balsam 

 of sulphur, are employed in medicine. The following are a few of the 

 principal natural balsams : 



Ealtam of Canada. A terebinthiuous balsam, obtained from the 

 Balm of Gilead Fir (A bie baltamea). It is a transparent honey -like 

 yellowish liquid, becoming hard on exposure to the air. It possesses 

 the odour of turpentine and a bitter taste. Canada Balsam con- 

 sists of 



Essential oil . 



Besin soluble in alcohol 



Resin insoluble in alcohol 



Elastic resin 



Bitter extractive and salts 



18-6 



40-0 



33-4 



4-0 



4'0 



lOO'O 



Canada Balsam is used for cementing together the constituent lenses 

 of achromatic combinations. 



Balaam of Capivi. This balsam is a resinous exudation from 

 different species of Copaifera. It is a clear liquid, which thickens on 

 exposure to the air, and has a specific gravity from '95 to '96. It is 

 insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, and oils. Alkalies 

 convert it into an insoluble soap. According to Gerber it consists of 



Volatile oil . 



Yellow resin (Copaivic acid) 



Brown soft resin 



Water and loss . 



Fresh Balsam. 

 . 41-00 

 51-38 

 2-18 

 5-44 



100-00 



Old Balsam. 



3170 



53-68 



11-15 



4-10 



100-63 



