INDEX. 



remains in safety at the bottom ; the fox takes possession of 

 the hole quitted by the badger, or forces it from its retreat 

 by wiles ; surprised by the dogs at a distance from its hole, 

 it fights with desperate resolution ; all that has life is its 

 food ; it sleeps the greatest part of the time, and, though 

 not voracious, keeps fat, particularly in winter; it keeps 

 the hole very clean ; the female makes a bed of hay for her 

 young ; brings forth in summer three or four young ; how 

 she feeds them ; the young are easily tamed, the old are 

 savage and incorrigible ; are fond of fire, and often burn 

 themselves dangerously ; are subject to the mange, and have 

 a gland under the tail, which scents strongly ; its flesh rank 

 and ill tasted, iii. 391, &c. 



Bait, the best for all kind of fish is fresh herring ; the larger 

 sort will take a living small fish upon the hook sooner than 

 any other bait, v. 82. 



Balance to determine the specific gravity of metals, i. 163. 



Balearic Crane, its description ; the real crane of Pliny ; comes 

 from the coast of Africa and the Cape de Verde Islands ; 

 its habits ; has been described by the name of sea-peacock ; 

 foreign birds of the crane kind described, the jabiru, the 

 jabiru-guacu, the anhima, and the buffoon bird, iv. 310, &c. 



Ball of fire of the bigness of a bomb, its effects, i. 323. 



Baltic, the Danes in possession of it, i. 201. 



Banana, the elephant eats this plant to the roots, iii. 337. 



Banks of a river, after inundations, appear above water, when 

 all the adjacent valley is overflown, and why, i. 174. 



Barb, an Arabian horse bred in Barbary, ii. 186. 



Barbary hen, its description, iv. 155. 



Barbel, a flat fish, its growth, v. 147. 



Barbs of the whale, or whalebone, v. 35. 



Barnacle, imaginary, a shell-fish, v. 249. 



Baroch, in the kingdom of Cambaya, flocks of peacocks seen 

 in the fields near that city, iv. 141. 



Barometer, serviceable in measuring the heights of mountains, 

 i. 132. Measures the weight of the air, in what manner, 

 260. Changes in the air without sensible alteration in the 

 barometer, 261. When it marks a peculiar lightness in the 

 air, no wonder that it foretells a storm, and why, 299. 



Barretiere, a famous youth, considered as a prodigy of learn- 

 ing at the age of fourteen, slept regularly twelve hours in 

 the twenty-four, ii. 14. 



Basilisk, a kind of lizard, v. 321. 



Bat, as big as a rabbit, i. 351. By some reckoned among 

 birds, ii. 154. Doubtful among naturalists whether beast 

 or bird ; now universally takes place among quadrupeds ; 

 Pliny, Gesner, and Aldrovandus placed it among birds ; 

 scarcely in any particular resembles the bird, except the 

 power of sustaining itself in the air ; description of the corn- 



