BARON BARQUISIMETO. 



429 



common to barometers), forces the quicksilver up- 

 wards at pleasure, and, by filling every part with 

 mercury, prevents jumbling, and renders the instru- 

 ment portable. There is yet another office of great 

 importance which this screw performs, as it enables 

 the operator to adjust the height of the mercury in 

 the glass cistern so as just to shut out the light from 

 passing between it and the upper edges of the slits 

 in the orass cover. This is called adjusting to zero ; 

 for the upper edges of the slits are the beginning of 

 the scale of inches. To the lower part of the tube 

 there is fixed a thermometer, and the whole is at- 

 tached to the frame by means of a ring ; the scale 

 commences at 15 and extends to 33 inches ; and by 

 means of a vernier the divisions can be read off 

 correctly to the hundredth part of an inch. The 

 chief use of the portable barometer is the measure- 

 ment of the height of mountains ; and it becomes, in 

 this respect, an indispensable accompaniment to 

 every traveler. The profile of a chain of mountains 

 may be taken with it without much trouble, and with 

 a very great degree of correctness. It would be in- 

 consistent with the nature of a Popular Encyclopedia 

 to go into minute details on the subject of the mea- 

 surement of heights by the barometer, as this re- 

 quires considerable mathematical attainment. We 

 shall, however, give the rule of Sir John Leslie, 

 which is exceedingly simple and sufficiently accurate 

 for ordinary purposes. . Mark the height of the 

 mercury in the barometer at the bottom of the height 

 to be measured, and also at the top, then the rule is, 

 as the sum of the heights of the mercury at the 

 bottom and top stations is to their difference, so is 

 52,000 to the height to be measured, in feet. 



BARON, (originally, also, varo) ; a word derived 

 from the Latin, which signifies a man, and sometimes 

 a servant. In the feudal system of the middle ages, 

 at first, the immediate tenant of any superior was call- 

 ed his baron. In old records, the citizens of London 

 are so styled, and the sixteen members of the house of 

 commons, sleeted by the cinque-ports, are still called 

 barons. The family of Montmorency called them- 

 selves, in France, premiers barons de la chrctiente. 

 This name was introduced by William the Conqueror 

 from Normandy to England, and used to signify an 

 immediate vassal of the crown, who had a seat and 

 vote in the royal court and tribunals, and, subsequent- 

 ly, in the house of peers. It was the second rank of 

 nobility, until dukes and marquises were introduced 

 and placed above the earls, and viscounts also set 

 above the barons. In Germany, the ancient barons 

 of the empire were the immediate vassals of the crown. 

 They appeared in the imperial court and diet, and 

 belonged to the high nobility. But these ancient 

 feudatories were early elevated to the rank of counts 

 or princes. The modern barons only form a rank of 

 lower nobility after the counts. Barons of the exche- 

 quer ; four judges in England and five in Scotland, 

 to whom the administration of justice is committed, 

 in causes between the king and his subjects, relating 

 to the revenue. They were formerly barons of the 

 .realm, but, of late, are generally persons learned in 

 the laws. 



BARON, Michael ; a celebrated French actor, born 

 at Paris in 1652 ; equally successful in tragedy and 

 comedy. Preachers are said to have attended in a 

 grated box to study his action. Such was his vanity, 

 that he said, every century produced a Caesar, but it 

 required 2000 years to produce a Baron. He died 

 in 1729. 



BARON and FEME. See Husband and fVife. 



BARONETS ; a hereditary dignity in Great Britain 

 and Ireland, next in rank to uie peerage, originally 

 instituted by James I., May 22, 1611. It is said that 

 lord chancellor Bacon suggested the Idea, and the 



first baronet was Sir Nicholas Bacon of Redgrave. 

 Baronets are created by patent, under the great seal, 

 and the honour is generally given to the grantee and 

 the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, though 

 sometimes it is entailed on collaterals. From the 

 preamble to the original patent, it appears that the 

 order was created to get money for the support of 

 soldiers in Ireland, each baronet, on his creation, be 

 ing obliged to pay into the treasury a sum little less 

 than 1100. In 1823, there were 661 baronets in 

 England. Precedency is given to baronets before all 

 knights, except those of the garter, bannerets created 

 on the field, and privy counsellors. 



Baronets of Ireland ; an order instituted by James 

 I., for the same purpose, and with the same privi- 

 leges, as the baronets of England. Since the union,*in 

 1801, none have been created otherwise than as ba- 

 ronets of the United Kingdom. A hereditary dignity, 

 somewhat similar to knighthood, appears to have 

 been conferred in this country, even in very ancient 

 times. 



Baronets of Nova Scotia, and Baronets of Scotland. 

 Charles I. instituted this order in 1621, for the pur- 

 pose of advancing the plantation of Nova Scotia, in 

 which the king granted a certain portion of land to 

 each member of the order. Since the union, the 

 power of the king to create new baronets within Scot- 

 land is held to have ceased. 



BARONIUS, or BARONIO, Caesar ; born at Sora, in the 

 kingdom of Naples, Oct. 30, 1538 ; received his early 

 education in Naples ; in 1557, went to Rome ; was 

 one of the first pupils of St Philip of Neri, and mem- 

 ber of the congregation of priests of the oratorio 

 founded by him; afterwards cardinal and librarian 

 of the Vatican library. He owed these dignities to 

 the services which he rendered the Catholic church 

 by his Ecclesiastical Annals, on which he laboured, 

 with indefatigable assiduity, from the year 1580 until 

 his death, June 30, 1607. They comprise a rich col- 

 lection of genuine documents from the papal archives, 

 and are, therefore, of great use to the student in ec- 

 clesiastical history, but contain many false statements 

 and unauthentic documents ; and the air of sincerity, 

 which prevails throughout, is calculated to give very 

 erroneous ideas of the papal administration of the 

 church. They are principally written to confute the 

 Centuries of Magdeburg, and to prove that the doc- 

 trine and the constitution of the church had remained 

 the same from the beginning. These Annales Ec- 

 clesiastici a Christo nato ad A. 1198, a C. Bar onto 

 (Rome, 15881607, 12 vols., folio), were often re- 

 printed, with the corrections of the author. At Mentz, 

 an edition was commenced, in 1601, in 12 vols., folio. 

 The Antwerp edition, however, begun in J 589, in 10 

 vols., folio, is handsomer, but does not contain the 

 treatise De Monarchia Sicilies, which contests the ec- 

 clesiastical privileges of the king of Sicily, known by 

 the above name, and, therefore, was forbidden by the 

 Spanish court. Many errors, particularly chronolo- 

 gical, were corrected by the Franciscan Anthony 

 Pagi, in his excellent criticism on the work (" Criti- 

 ca Historico-chronologica in Ann. Baron. Antwerp ;' 

 Geneva, 1705, 4 vols., folio). Other Catholic writers 

 have also mentioned his errors, against which the 

 censures of the Protestants have been more particu- 

 larly directed. Among the continuations of the An- 

 nals, none of which is equal to the work of B., Ray- 

 naldi has furnished the most copious (from 1198 

 1565, Rome, 1 646, 8 vols., folio ; continued until 1671 

 by Laderchi, Rome, 1728, 3 vols., folio). 



BARQUISIMETO ; a city in Venezuela, 110 miles W. 

 S. W. Caraccas, 440 N. N. E. Santa Fe de Bogota; 

 lat. 9 45' N ; pop., 11,300. It is situated on an ele- 

 vated plain, and is regularly laid out and well built. 

 The surrounding country is fertile. Cacao grows 



