BASTARD ALKANET. 



Daly on the mountains. Michaux says he 

 found this species of lime tree most abundant 

 in the Genessee country, bordering on Lakes 

 Erie and Ontario, where it frequently consti- 

 tutes two-thirds, and sometimes the whole of 

 the forests. The sugar maple, the white elm, 

 and the white oak are the trees with which it 

 most frequently associates. On newly cleared 

 land its stump and roots frequently sprout, 

 causing no little trouble to the settler 



The presence of the lime tree indicates a 

 loose, deep, and fertile soil. It is sometimes 

 more than eighty feet high and four feet in 

 diameter. Its straight and even trunk, termi- 

 nating in an ample and tufted summit, forms 

 a beautiful tree. 



The wood is white and soft. In the Northern 

 States, where the tulip poplar does not grow, it 

 is used for the pannels of carriage bodies and 

 the seats of \Vmdsor chairs. It is, however, 

 apt to split, and is not considered equal to pop- 

 lar for such and other useful purposes. (North 

 Ani'r. ,V'.7m.) The American Lime tree or 

 Linden is extensively cultivated in Europe, 

 where its larger leaves easily distinguish it 

 from the European Lime or Linden, which 

 last bears such s\veet blossoms, perfuming the 

 air like the mock orange. The European Lin- 

 den i> so much the prey of insect borers and 

 caterpillars as to make its preservation ex- 

 tremely difficult, especially in cities. The 

 American Linden escapes much better. 



BASTARD ALKANET (Corn Gronuv.-ll, 

 LithnKjHTinum urvtnse). An annual weed com- 

 mon in waste grounds and corn-fields, espe- 

 cially among rye, flowering in May and June. 

 It may be easily known by its tapering root, 

 with a bright red bark, which communicates 

 its colour to oily substances, as well as to pa- 

 per, linen, and pale faces; and it is therefore 

 occasionally used by the young girls in Sweden 

 to colour their cheeks. This colouring matter 

 is also used to tinge some ointments, especi- 

 ally lip-salves, of a red colour. From the root 

 usually rises a single stem, about a foot high, 

 rough, and generally branched and spi 

 at the top ; sometimes decumbent. The flowers 

 are small and white, surrounded with five long, 

 narrow, hairy leaves. Wildenow says, he has 

 seen a variety with blue flowers. (Smith's 



EHX. I-' lor.) 



BASTARD -TOADFLAX (Thesium lino- 

 vhyllum}. An English perennial wild plant, 

 with terminal clusters of whitish or yellowish 

 blossoms, many-flowered, erect, generally 

 branched or subdivided, flowering in July. Its 

 root is woody and yellowish, stems widely 

 spreading, angular, leafy, a span or more in 

 length : leaves turned to one side, rough-edged, 

 lisrht-^reen, an inch long at most. Found in 

 high open chalky pastures. The only species 

 of this genus known in the United States is 

 the Thesium umbcllatum. (See Darlington's 

 Flora C'cftrica.') 



BAT, or FLITTERMOUSE (Cheiroptera, a 

 hand and winij). A mammiferous animal 

 which has a body like a mouse, with wings 

 not feathered, but consisting of a membranous 

 skin extended. These wings of the bat, osteo- 

 logically considered, are hands; the bony 

 stretchers of the cutaneous membrane being 



BAY OF A BARN. 



the digital phalanges, or fingers; extremely 

 elongated; one digit or finger of each wing is 

 tipped with a small nail. Bats are widely 

 spread over the globe ; they are to be found in 

 the Old and New World, and in New Holland. 

 A tolerably temperate climate seems necessary 

 for them, and the greatest developement of the 

 form takes place in warm countries. Gene- 

 rally speaking, they remain in concealment 

 during the day in caverns, ruinous buildings, 

 hollow trees, and such hiding places, and fli't 

 forth at twilight or sunset to take their prey. 

 They feed mostly on flies, insects, &c., but do 

 not refuse raw flesh, so that the notion that 

 bats go down chimneys and gnaw men's bacon 

 is no improbable story. 



Bats are divided into two classes, the omni- 

 vorous or fruit-eating, and the insectivorous. 

 Those who are desirous of further investigating 

 the subject will find ample particulars under 

 the head " Cheiroptera" in the Penny Cyclo. 

 vol. vii. p. 19. 



BATEABLE HERBAGE. Provincially, 

 such herbage as has the tendency of readily 

 fattening stock of different kinds. 



BAT FOWLING. A particular manner of 

 bird-catching in the night, while they are at 

 roost under the eaves of barns, or upon trees 

 or hedges. The fowler lights torches or straw, 

 and beats the bushes, upon which the birds, 

 dazzled by the light, fly into the flames, and 

 are then knocked down with sticks, or caught 

 either with nets or by other means. 



BATING. An abbreviation of abating. 

 From bate, to lessen any thing, to retrench, to 

 sink the price. Thus Locke says, " When the 

 landholder's rent falls, he must either bate the 

 labourer's wages, or not employ or not pay 

 him." It is also used synonymously with 

 barring, to except. 



BATTEN (probably from the French baton, 

 from its slender width). A name in common 

 use for a slip or scantling of wood from two to 

 four inches broad and one inch thick, the 

 length inconsiderable, but undefined. If above 

 seven inches wide, it is called deal. 



It also signifies strong broad fencing rails. 

 It is sometimes written button. 



BAY (Lat. badius , old Fr. baye, bai, rouge 

 brim; Ital. baio). The term for a colour in- 

 clining to a chestnut. In reference to the horse 

 this colour has various shades, from the very 

 light bay, to the dark bay, which approaches 

 nearly to the brown ; but it is always more gay 

 and shining. There are also coloured horses 

 that are called dappled bays. All bay horses 

 are commonly called brown. Bay horses have 

 black manes, which distinguish them from the 

 sorrel, that have red or white manes. There 

 are light bays, and gilded bays, which are 

 somewhat of a yellowish colour. The chestnut 

 bay is that which comes nearest to the colour 

 of the chestnut. 



The bay is one of the best colours of horses, 

 and horses of ail the different shades of bays 

 are commonly good. 



BAYARD. A provincial term for a bay 



BAY OF A BARN. That part where the 

 mow is placed. Hence such barns as have 

 the thrashing-floor in the middle, and a space 



