BALZAC BAN. 



395 



has a nearly straight, strong, black bill, tapering to 

 a point. The head, throat, and upper part of the 

 l>ack and wings are black ; the inferior part of the 

 back, rump, and whole of the body beneath are of a 

 brilliant orange hue. The tail is slightly forked ; 

 the legs are of a lead colour, and the irides hazel. 

 The colours of the female are far less brilliant than 

 those of the male. Beautiful figures of both sexes 

 are given in Wilson's American Ornithology, whence 

 tliis account is sketched. The nest of the Baltimore 

 bird is formed by fastening strong strings of hemp or 

 flax round two forked twigs, corresponding to the in 

 tt- nded width of the nest, on the high bending extrem- 

 ities of apple, willow.or tulip-tree branches, near farm- 

 Chouses. With similar materials, together with loose 

 tow, a strong sort of cloth is interwoven, resembling 

 raw felt, forming a pouch six or seven inches deep. 

 This is well lined with soft substances, which are work- 

 ed into the outward netting, and, finally, with a layer 

 of horse- hair ; the whole being protected from sun and 

 rain by the overhanging leaves. The nests, how- 

 ever, are not uniformly of the same shape, and some 

 are more perfect than others. While making their 

 nests, these birds will carry off any thread or strings 

 left within their reach ; they will even attempt to 

 pull off the strings with which grafts are secured. 

 All such materials are interwoven in the fabric with 

 great ingenuity, and the strongest and best materials 

 are uniformly found in parts by which the whole nest 

 is supported. The Baltimore bird feeds on bugs, 

 caterpillars, beetles, &c. His song is a clear, mellow 

 whistle, repeated at short intervals : when alarmed, 

 a rapid chirping is uttered, but always followed by his 

 peculiar mellow notes. The species inhabits North 

 America, from Canada to Mexico, and is found even 

 as far south as Brazil. 



BALZAC, Jean Louis Guez de, a member of the 

 French academy, born at Angouleme, in 1694, lived 

 in Rome as agent of the cardinal de Lavalette, after 

 two years established himself in Paris, and, by his 

 talents, attracted the favourable notice of the cardi- 

 nal Richelieu, who conferred upon him a salary of 

 2000 livres, with the title of a counsellor of state. 

 He was considered as one of the greatest scholars 

 and most eloquent men of his age in France ; yet his 

 numerous writings found severe critics. Among 

 these, Goulu, general of the Feuillans (a monastic 

 order, under the rule of St Bernard), pushed his cri- 

 ticisms even to insult and abuse. This induced B. 

 to leave Paris. He died in Angouleme, in 1654, 

 and the 60th year of his age. Aiming at dignity of 

 style, he fell into bombast, affectation, and exagger- 

 ation, so that his works have gradually lost their re- 

 putation as taste has improved in purity. Neverthe- 

 less, we must do justice to the harmony of his periods, 

 and acknowledge that he has done much towards the 

 improvement of the French prose. He had studied 

 the ancients, and his Latin poems, although without 

 remarkable poetical merit, are pure, ana free from 

 the faults of his French writings. The most perfect 

 of his works is, without doubt, a treatise upon Latin 

 verse. The assertion of Voltaire and Laharpe, that 

 he occupied himself more with words than with ideas, 

 is too severe. A complete edition of his works appear- 

 ed at Paris, in 1665, in two volumes, folio. 



BAMBARRA ; one of the largest and most powerful 

 kingdoms of central Africa; bounded N. by the 

 Great Desert, W. by Kaarta, Mandingo, and Lada- 

 mar, E. by Timbuctoo, and S. by Kong. It is tra- 

 versed from W. to E. by the Niger, and is generally 

 very fertile. The inhabitants are a mixture of Moors 

 and Negroes. Among the towns are Sego, the capi- 

 tal, Jenne, and Sansanding. 



BAMBERG. This town, formerly the capital and 

 place of residence of a bishop, whose see contained 



1375 square miles, and 200,000 inhabitants, now the 

 seat of the provincial authorities of the Bavarian 

 circle of the Upper Maine, and of an archbishop, has 

 about 20,000 inhabitants. The prince of Neufchatel. 

 Berthier, the son-in-law of duke William of Bavaria, 

 here threw himself from a window, in the palace of 

 the latter, in 1815, on account of the new revolution 

 in France. The cathedral church was built as early 

 as 1110. The university there is also very ancient. 



BAMBOO CANE. The bamboo cane tpambusa arun- 

 dinacea) lias a hollow, round, straight, and shining 

 stem, and sometimes grows to the length of forty feet 

 and upwards ; has knots at the distance of ten or 

 or twelve inches from each other, with thick, rough, 

 and hairy sheaths, alternate branches, and small, en- 

 tire, and spear-shaped leaves. There is scarcely any 

 plant so common in hot climates as this, and few are 

 more extensively useful. It occurs within the tropi- 

 cal regions, both of the eastern and western hemi- 

 spheres, throughout the East Indies and the greater 

 part of China, in the West Indies, and America. In 

 temperate climates, it can only be cultivated in a hot 

 house ; and its growth is so rapid, even there, that a 

 strong shoot has been known to spring from the 

 ground, and attain the height of twenty feet in six 

 weeks. The inhabitants of many parts of India 

 build their houses almost wholly of bamboo, and 

 make all sorts of furniture with it, in a very ingeni- 

 ous manner. They likewise form, with it several 

 kinds of utensils tor their kitchens and tables; 

 and from two pieces of bamboo, rubbed hard 

 together, they produce fire. The masts of boats, 

 boxes, baskets, and innumerable other articles, are 

 made of bamboo. After having been bruised, 

 steeped in water, and formed into a pulp, paper 

 is manufactured from the sheaths and leaves. The 

 stems are frequently bored, and used as pipes for 

 conveying water ; and the strongest serve to make 

 the sticks or poles with which the slaves or servants 

 carry those litters, so common in the East, called 

 palanquins. The stems of the bamboo serve as the 

 usual defence for gardens and other enclosures; 

 and the leaves are generally put round the tea ex- 

 ported from China to Europe and America. Some 

 of the Malays preserve the small and tender shoots 

 in vinegar and pepper, to be eaten with their food. 

 Many of the walking canes used in Europe and the 

 United States are formed of young bamboo shoots. 

 The Chinese make a kind of frame- work of bamboo, 

 by which they are enabled to float in water ; and the 

 Chinese merchants, when going on a voyage, always 

 provide themselves with this simple apparatus to save 

 their lives in case of shipwreck. It is formed by 

 placing four bamboos horizontally across each other, 

 so as to leave a square place in the middle for the 

 body, and, when used, is slipped over the head, and 

 secured by being tied to the waist. 



BAMBOUK or BAMBUC ; a town in Africa, and capi- 

 tal of a kingdom of the same name, between the Fa- 

 leme and Senegal rivers ; Ion. 9 3Of W. ; lat. 13 25' 

 N. The country is situated between 12 3(X and 

 14 15' N. lat. ; about 36 leagues from N. to S., and 

 28 in breadth, and said to contain about 60,000 in- 

 habitants. It is composed chiefly of lofty, naked, 

 and barren mountains, and its wealth consists entirely 

 in its mineral productions. These are gold (which is 

 .abundant), silver, iron, tin, lead, and loadstone. 

 The most remarkable animals are a species of asses, 

 extremely white (which the inhabitants will not 

 allow to be sent out of the country), white foxes, and 

 the giraffe. The little which is known of this state 

 is derived from a Frenchman named Compagnonj 

 who resided there a year and a half, in the beginning 

 of the last century. (Labat, Afrique Occidental, iv. 5.) 



BAN, in ancient jurisprudence; a declaration of 



