B A S 



318 



BAS 



Basilicies 



Basing- 

 stoke. 



ed laterally, and a crest proceeding along the back 

 from the tail to the neck. See HknPETOLOOY. If) 



BASILIDES. Sec Church History. 



BASILISK, a creature famous among the earlier 

 writers of natural history for its dangerous properties. 

 !t is described by Galen, Pliny, Lucan, and several 

 other naturalists and poets among the ancients, and 

 by Lobo, Prosper Alpini, and Aldrovandi, among 

 the moderns. From their accounts we gather, that 

 the basilisk was a kind of serpent, or reptile, of a 

 yellowish colour, having on its head several little 

 prominences of a speckled appearance, and furnished 

 witli eight feet, and two large scales that served it 

 for wings ; that its breath was so pestilential as to 

 taint the air around it, and prevent any other animal 

 from breathing in ti.e same atmosphere ; and that 

 even its look was so piercing and so baneful, as to 

 cause instant death to the person on whom it fixed 

 its terrible glance ; that it inhabited the desai ts of 

 Africa, and the lakes that form the sources of the 

 Nile, where, like the phoenix, it reigned alone in 

 gloomy solitude. From this circumstance, some have 

 derived its name from the Greek $y,<ri\iZ > t>/.:xt., to 

 reign ; while others choose to draw the etymology 

 from the crowned appearance of its head. Its origin 

 was not less extraordinary and portentous than its 

 "figure or its properties. It was generated from a 

 cock's egg, hatched by a serpent. 



Such is the substance of the accounts which the 

 credulity or invention of the above authors have hand- 

 ed down to posterity. We forbear to abuse the pa- 

 tience of our readers, with relating the many idle and 

 puerile stories which are told of this wonderful rep- 

 tile ; but we may remark, that a similar instance of 

 credulity still prevails in this country, respecting 

 what is called the cockatrice. This creature, worthy 

 To rival the basilisk in its nature and origin, is gene- 

 rated from the egg of an old cock, hatched, not "by a 

 serpent, but a toad ; and so dreadful is justly deemed 

 this unnatural progeny, that the building, in which 

 such a phenomenon has taken place, must be burnt 

 to the ground, as the only means of averting the 

 danger impending on the master or his family. [f) 



BASILUZZO, one of the Lipari islands on the 

 north of Sicily, about two miles in circuit, and con- 

 siderably elevated above the level of the sea. A 

 small quantity of corn and pulse which grow on its 

 level summit, are the only nourishment for the inha- 

 bitants of two small cottages. Spallanzani is of opi- 

 nion, that this and the other Lipari islands is of volca- 

 nic origin ; but Professor Jameson seems to think that 

 they are composed of rocks of the newest flcetz trap, 

 or second porphyry formation. See Spallanzani, Voy- 

 ages dans les deux Sidles, vol. ii. p. 140 ; and Ali- 

 CliDA. (ie) 



BASINGSTOKE, a market town in Hampshire, 

 pleasantly situated in an open and fertile country. 

 The ruins of the chapel of the Holy Ghost, situated 

 on an eminence on the north side of the town, and the 

 newly erected market-house and town-hall, are the 

 only objects deserving of notice. The principal ma- 

 nufactures of the place are shalloons and druggets ; 

 and the communication with London, by means of 

 the Basingstoke canal to the river Wye, has increased 

 its market for corn and malt. Number of houses 



B.kct,. 



Basle. 



512. Population 2589, of whom 365 were returned 

 as engaged in trade. See Warner's Collections for 

 the History of Hampshire, (hi) 



BASKET Salt. See Salt. 



BASLE, Basil, or Balk, one of the cantons of 

 Swisserland, situated on the banks or the Rhine, and 

 bounded on the north by Alsace and Brisgavv ; by the 

 Frickthal, or the territory of the forest-towns, and 

 the canton of SoJeure, on the cast ; on the south by 

 the canton of Soleure ; and on the west by the bi- 

 shopric of Basle. It extends about 20 miles in length 

 from north to south, and about 18 in its greatest 

 breadth from east to west. 



The climate of this canton is temperate and sa- Soil and 

 Iubrious, and the country is delightful. Though climate 1 . 

 mountainous, it has many rallies and plains extreme- 

 ly fertile and well cultivated, while the varied as- 

 pect of the mountains themselves render the scenery 

 at once beautiful and grand. Many of the smaller 

 hills are covered with vineyards, or clothed to the 

 summits with luxuriant herbage ; beyond which 

 its mountains, forming part of the chain of Jura, 

 tower in Alpine majesty, and seem to form an in- 

 superable barrier around the country. The Rhine, 

 too, which flows through this canton, greatly height- 

 ens the sublimity of the scenery. In no part of its 

 course does it (ill an ampler channel, or roll its mighty 

 stream with such an impetuous rapidity. Few places 

 in Europe are blessed with a greater profusion of 

 comforts, and even of delicacies, than the canton of 

 Basle. Plentiful crops of grain, fruits, and grapes, 

 are the productions of its genial soil ; its forests har- 

 bour great variety of game ; and the noble river, 

 which enriches its fields, teems with different species 

 of excellent fish. 



The bounty of nature is here seconded by the 

 industry of the inhabitants. Agriculture, manufac- 

 tures, and their attendant arts, fostered by a discern- 

 ing government, are pursued in this country with the 

 ardour naturally inspired by the certainty of a rich 

 return. The principal branches of manufactures, 

 are ribbons, of which, so far back as the year 1777, 

 there were no fewer than twenty factories in the ca- 

 pital, which distribute annually upwards of 300,000 

 florins, as wages to the workmen ; silken stufFs ; 

 figured cottons ; bonnets ; gloves ; paper-making ; 

 bleaching, and dyeing. These manufactures, sup- 

 ported by agriculture, in their turn contribute essen- 

 tially to its improvement, by increasing both the con- 

 sumption, and the means of enriching the soil. 



The population of the canton isestimated at 10,000 

 persons, and its extent is about 160 square miles. 



Previous to its subjugation by the French, the Adminis- 

 government of Basle was aristodemocratical. The tration and 

 supreme power was vested in two assemblies, cal- govern- 

 ed the Great and Little Council. The great coun- mcnt * 

 oil was composed of 216 members taken from the 

 18 tribes of the large and small town ; the little 

 council consisted of (50 members, 4 being elected 

 from each of the 15 tribes of the great town. To 

 these we must add two burgomasters, and two grand 

 tribunes, who were the four chiefs of the canton. 

 The supreme council, composed of these 280 persons, 

 decided on all the great political and economical in- 

 terests of the state ; exercised legislative power ; and 



