BALM 



561 



BALTIC SEA 



balloting, was first used in the commonwealth 

 of South Australia in 1857. It was officially 

 adopted in England in 1872, and was soon after 

 introduced into Canada. The first complete 

 law for the adoption of the Australian ballot 

 passed by an American state was enacted by 

 the legislature of Massachusetts in 1888, and 

 the other states gradually fell into line in the 

 matter of electoral reform, until now the Aus- 

 tralian ballot system is used in every state in 

 the Union. 



This is, however, not the end of ballot reform. 

 The large number of officials chosen at one 

 time in American elections has necessitated the 

 printing of huge tickets sometimes two or three 

 feet long, and these are often so complicated 

 that the inexperienced or illiterate voter is 

 quite unable to give an intelligent expression of 

 his preferences. There is now a widespread 

 movement for the simplifying of the election 

 ballot; the various measures proposed are dis- 

 cussed in the article SHORT BALLOT. 



Ancient Customs of Balloting. In ancient 

 Athens the judges of the highest court gener- 

 ally gave their verdict by dropping stone or 

 metal balls into boxes selected for that purpose. 

 Those pierced in the center, or colored black, 

 stood for a verdict of condemnation, while the 

 unpierced, or white balls, meant acquittal. 

 Shells with marks (ostrakon) were also em- 

 ployed, and their use in popular elections gave 

 rise to the institution of ostracism (which see), 

 by which citizens who were considered danger- 

 ous to the welfare of the state were driven into 

 exile. The Romans generally used wooden 

 tickets (tabellac) ; when a change in law was 

 proposed those in favor marked the ballot with 

 the letters U R (for Uti rogas, meaning as you 

 ask) ; a vote against the change was indicated 

 by the letter A (for Antique, meaning for the 

 old). In an election of candidates for public 

 office the names of the candidates were written 

 on the ballots. These customs of secret voting 

 continued into the Middle Ages. EJ>.F. 



BALM, bahm, a tall, showy and fragrant 

 plant of the mint family, growing wild in the 

 < la nip and shady woodlands of the southeastern 

 part of the United States, Southern Europe and 

 Western Asia. It is cultivated in gardens as a 

 v-producing plant and seasoning herb. A 

 common medicine was once made from its 

 leaves and stem. which were cut for this pur- 

 pose before the appearance of the flower. In 

 localities the plant is known as horse- 

 . bcc balm and Oswcgo tea, and it is often 

 confused with a common variety of catnip, 

 36 



which has a similar odor. When dried the 

 plant has a delightful, lasting fragrance. The 

 bastard balm, a native of Southern England 

 and many parts of Europe, is a beautiful plant. 

 Moldavia balm is a native of Eastern Europe 

 and Siberia. 



Balm of Gilead, the gum or resin from a tree 

 found in Southern Syria and Northeast Africa. 

 The balm of Gilead of the shops, or balsam of 

 Mecca or of Syria, is obtained by making an 

 incision in the trunk of the tree. The gum has 

 a yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, 

 biting taste and a sharp, fragrant smell. It is 

 valued for its fragrance and its supposed nit 

 inal powers. The name originated from the 

 Scriptures. The word balm is now more often 

 used to signify anything which heals. 



BALSAM, bawl' sam, the name given some- 

 what generally to a resinous, spicy substance 

 secreted by certain plants. In North America 

 the valuable Canada balsam, a secretion of the 

 balsam fir, is most familiar, but technically 

 the balsams of Peru have the best right to 

 the name. These are of considerable impor- 

 tance commercially, as they are used in per- 

 fumery, in confectionery and in medicine, 

 chiefly in the manufacture of lozenges for 

 throat troubles. Balsams are either solid or 

 liquid, and are soluble in alcohol and in ether. 



BALTIC, bawl' tik, SEA, an inland sea of 

 Northern Europe, of great commercial impor- 

 tance, affording Russia its principal outlet to 

 the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It 

 forms part of the coastline of Denmark, Ger- 



LOCATION OF BALTIC SEA 



Sweden and Russia, and covers about 

 160,000 square miles, a little more than the 

 area of the state of California. Its greatest 

 length is about 050 milesfarther than the dis- 

 tance from New York to Chicago; the greatest 



