296 BATHS 



BASKETS. Wearing of rods into baskets is one of tho most ancient of the arts 

 amongst men ; and it is practised in almost every part of the globe, -whether inhabited 

 by civilised or savage races. Basket-making requires no description here. 



BASS, or BAST. Tho Russian mats used by gardeners and upholsterers, made 

 from the bark of tho Lime or Linden tree, {ire called Bast mats. Tho name is also 

 used for tho bark or tough fibres of the flax and hemp plants of which Bast brooms 

 are made. The thick mat or hassock used by persons to kneel on at church is called 

 a Bass. 



BASSET. A miner's term for tho outcrop of strata. When a seam of coal 

 comes to the surface, it is said to ' basset.' 



BAS8ORA GTTM. A gum obtained from the Acacia leuc&phlaa, brought from 

 Bassora. It has a specific gravity of 1*3591, and is yellowish white in colour. 



BASSORDTE. A constituent part of gum Bassora, as also of gum tragacanth. 

 It is semi-transparent, difficult to pulverise, swells considerably in cold or boiling 

 water, and forms a thick mucilage without dissolving. 



BATEA. A dish made slightly conical, which is employed for washing soil or 

 gravel, in search of gold. It is usually about 20 inches in diameter, and 2 inches 

 deep. Before using the batea, to ascertain if there be any gold, and what amount, it 

 is necessary to bo very careful in tho selection of the sample to be experimented upon. 

 Tho usual manner of obtaining such a sample is as follows : The produce of gold is so 

 very irregular that it is necessary, in the first place, to break from the rock several 

 hundredweights to secure a good average sample ; all of which should be broken in 

 pieces about the size of a walnut, the whole well mixed together, and made into a 

 round flat heap ; this heap is cut through the middle, and an equal quantity of stuff 

 being taken from each side of the trench formed by the cutting, may, for a rough es- 

 timation, bo at onco pulverised and subjected to washing in the batea or horn-spoon ; 

 but if greater accuracy be desired, it is well to take about half a hundredweight from 

 each side of the trench, and this be again reduced to pieces of about the size of a peci, 

 then formed in a heap, and cut as before, and about two pounds should be token from 

 each side the trench, and this after pulverisation, and being passed through a very 

 fine wire sieve, is ready for a very accurate trial with the batea; or is quite fit for 

 assay. This is, indeed, the process by which samples arc taken of the poorer copper 

 ores in Cornwall. 



BATH BRICK. A brick made of calcareous and siliceous earth, used in clean-, 

 ing knives and for polishing purposes. They are made very extensively at and near 

 Bridgewator from a deposit found in the estuary there ; a similar deposit is also 

 worked at Cumwick, at the entrance of the Parrot River, and at Highbridge. At 

 Bridgewater the average make is about 3,000,000 scouring bricks annually, which sell 

 at about 21. per thousand. 



BATH MET All. An alloy in nearly equal quantities of copper and zinc. Bath 

 metal consists of 3 oz. of zinc to 1 Ib of copper. See BRASS. 



BATHS. (Bains, Fr. ; Baden, Ger.) The importance attached by the Greeks 

 and Romans to bathing is sufficiently attested by the remains of magnificent structures, 

 which still excite tho admiration of the beholder^ and by the beautiful specimens of 

 fresco-painting and sculpture discovered in their baths'. 



It is computed that in the baths of Caracalla,' as many as three thousand people 

 could bathe at the same time, in 'water at various degrees of temperature, to suit their 

 inclinations. The warm atad hot baths were, however, almost exclusively in use 

 under the Emperors. 



During the Republic the baths were cold. Maecenas was the first to erect warm and 

 hot ones for public use ; they were called Thermae, and were placed under the direc-. 

 tion of aediles, who regulated tho temperature, enforced cleanliness in tho establish- 

 ment, and order and decorum among the visitors. Agrippa, chiring the time ho was 

 aedile, increased the number of thermse to 170, and in the course of two centuries, 

 there were no less than eight hundred in imperial Rome. The inhabitants resorted 

 to the baths at particular hours, indicated by striking a bell or gong. Adrian forbade 

 their being open before eight in the morning, except in cases of sickness ; whereas 

 Alexander Severus not only permitted them to be open during tho whole day, but 

 also to bo used through the night in the great heats of summer. 



It was a common practice with the Romans to bathe towards evening, and parti- 

 cularly before supper : some of the more luxurious made use of the bath even after 

 this meal. Wo are told of many citizens of distinction who were in the habit of 

 bathing four, or five, and even eight times a day. Bathing constituted a part of public 

 rejoicings, equally with the other spectacles, and like them was prohibited when the 

 country suffered under any calamity. All classes resorted to the baths ; the emperors 

 themselves, such as Titus, Adrian, and Alexander Sevcrus, were occasionally seen 



