BANKS -BAPTISM. 



411 



researches in natural history, ami, together with his 

 friend doctor Solander, accompanied Cook on his 

 voyage of discovery. In an expedition into the in- 

 terior of the desolate Terra del Fuego, for the pur- 

 pose of examining the country, the two naturalists 

 narrowly escaped perish ing witli cold. B. introduced 

 the bread-tree into the American islands, and he 

 wrote the botanical observations in the account of 

 Cook's voyages. Jn 1771, the university of Oxford 

 conferred on him the degree of doctor of laws. In 

 1772, he visited Iceland, in order to make himself 

 acquainted with its natural productions. After the 

 resignation of Sir John Pringle, in 1778, B. was 

 chosen president' of the royal society; but, in 1784, 

 he was violently assailed by some of the most dis- 

 tinguished members, on account of his behaviour 

 towards doctor Ilutton, and his disregard to the 

 mathematical part of the society. In 1781, he was 

 made a baronet. The French chose him a member 

 of the national institute, in 1801, because to his inter- 

 cession they owed the recovery of the papers of La 

 Peyrouse, relating to his voyage, which had fallen 

 into the hands of the British. His library, and his 

 collections in natural history v are unequaled. Be- 

 *idi-s some essays, periodical publications, and some 

 contributions to the transactions of learned societies, 

 he wrote nothing but a Short Account of the Causes 

 of the Blight, the Mildew, and the Rust in Corn, 

 1805. He died June 19, 1820. After the death of 

 Mr Brown his librarian, his collections will be added 

 to the British museum. 



BANKS, Thomas, an English sculptor, was born in 

 1735. He studied sculpture with great success, in 

 the royal academy, and was elected to be sent, as 

 one of its students, to Italy. Here he executed 

 several excellent pieces, particularly a basso relievo 

 representing Caractacus brought prisoner to Rome, in 

 the possession of the duke of Buckingham ; and a 

 Cupid catching a butterfly, which was afterwards 

 purchased by the empress Catharine. From Italy he 

 repaired to Russia, where he staid for two years 

 without meeting with any adequate encouragement, 

 when he returned to his own country. Among other 

 works executed by him, was a colossal statue, exhib- 

 iting Achilles mourning the loss of Briseis, now in 

 the hall of the British institution. He is also the 

 sculptor of the admired -monument of Sir Eyre Coote 

 in Westminster abbey. Mr Banks was elected a 

 member of the royal academy not long after his re- 

 turn from Russia, and finished a life of arduous exer- 

 tion in February, 1805. 



BANN. See Ban. 



BANNEC ; an island in the English channel, near 

 the coast of France. Lon. 4 55' W. ; lat. 48 25' N. 



BANNKR ; a word found in all the modern languages 

 of western Europe, the origin of which, however, is 

 given in many very different ways. It signifies the 

 colours or standard. Among the ancient Germans, if 

 a knight was able to lead ten helmets, i. e. ten other 

 knights, against the enemy, the duke (herzog) gave 

 him a banner, and he was called a banneret (banner- 

 herr). In some republics, banneret or standard- 

 bearer was the title of one of the highest officers, as 

 the ffonfaloniere of Florence and other Italian repub- 

 lics, and the bannerherr in the Swiss republics. Ban- 

 neret, in England, was a knight made in the field, 

 with the ceremony of cutting off the point of his 

 standard, and making it a banner a custom which 

 lias long since ceased. Several banners are famous 

 in history, as the Danish banner, taken from the 

 Danes by Alfred the Great, the oriflamme (q. v.),&c. 

 Catholic churches generally have their banners. 



BANNOCKBURN; a village of Scotland, in Stirling 

 shire, seated on the Bannock, famous for the decisive 

 buttle fought near it between king Robert Bruce of 



Scotland and Edward II. of England, on the 24th 

 July, 1314, in which the English were defeated. 



BANQOETTE, in fortification ; the elevation of earth 

 behind a parapet, on which the garrison of a fortress 

 may stand, on the approach of an enemy, in or- 

 der to fire upon them. The height of the para- 

 pet above the banquette (the height of defence), is 

 usually about four feet six inches ; the breadth of 

 the banquette, when it is occupied by one rank, two 

 and a half to three feet ; when it is occupied by two 

 ranks, four to six feet. It is frequently made double, 

 that is, a second is made still lower. 



BANQUO, or BANCHO ; thane of Lochaber, the grand- 

 father to Walter, the first lord high steward of Scot- 

 land, and the progenitor of the royal house of Stew- 

 art. He gained several great victories over the 

 Highlanders and Danes, in the reign of Donald VII., 

 but tarnished his glory by joining Macbeth in the 

 conspiracy against that monarch. He was murdered 

 by Macbeth, about 1046. 



BANS OF MATRIMONY is the giving public notice, or 

 making proclamation, of a matrimonial contract, and 

 the intended celebration of the marriage of the par- 

 ties in pursuance of such contract, to the end that 

 persons objecting, either on account of kindred, 

 precontract, or for other just cause, may have oppor- 

 tunity to declare such objections before the marriage 

 is solemnized. The notice is given either by procla- 

 mation, viva voce, by a minister or some public officer 

 thereto authorized, in some religious or other public 

 assembly, or by posting up written notice in some 

 public place. 



BAOBAB, or BAHOBAB ; a tree (adansonia digitata, 

 Wild). It is the largest production of the whole 

 vegetable kingdom. The trunk is not above twelve 

 feet high, but it is from sixty to eighty-five feet 

 round ; the weight of the lower branches bends them 

 to the ground, so that they form a hemispherical 

 mass of verdure about 120, sometimes 150, feet in 

 diameter. The flowers are in proportion to the size of 

 the tree, and followed by a fruit about ten inches long. 

 When dry, the pulp, by which the seeds are sur- 

 rounded, is powdered, and brought to Europe from 

 the Levant, under the name of terra sigillata lemnia ; 

 the seeds are called goui. 



BAPTISM. As most symbolical ceremonies origi 

 nate from customs or events of common life, which 

 are afterwards chosen to represent something higher, 

 baptism originated from the bathings and ablutions 

 so frequently practised in Asia, and which, among 

 all the sects of that part of the world, whether hea- 

 thens, Jews, or Mohammedfens, have obtained a reli- 

 gious character. Baptism (that is, dipping, immers- 

 ing, from the Greek ftnvri^u) was usual with the 

 Jews even before Christ, and every converted heathen 

 was not only circumcised, but also washed, as a sym- 

 bol of his entrance into the new religion purified 

 from the stains of his former life. From this baptism 

 of proselytes, however, that of St John differs, be- 

 cause he baptized Jews, also, as a symbol of the ne- 

 cessity of perfect purification from sin. Jesus himself 

 was baptized by John, as were probably several of 

 his apostles, who had been the disciples of St John. 

 Christ himself never baptized, but directed his dis 

 ciples to administer this rite to the converts, using 

 the following words : " Go ye, therefore, and teach 

 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 

 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt, xxviii. 

 19). Baptism, therefore, became a religious cere- 

 mony among Christians, and is considered as a sacra- 

 ment by all sects which acknowledge sacraments. In 

 the time of the apostles, the form of baptism was very 

 simple. The person to be baptized was dipped in a rivrr 

 or vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered 

 and > to express more fully his change of charnctrri 

 3 F a H 



