BAS 



BAS 





which is drawn from the flanked angle of 

 a bastion to the angle opposite to it. 



BASE, in geometry, the lowest side of 

 the perimeter of a figure. Thus, the 

 base of a triangle may be said of any of 

 its sides, but more properly of the low- 

 est, or that which is parallel to the hori- 

 zon. In rectangled triangles, the base is 

 properly that side opposite to the right 

 angle. 



BASE of a come section, a right line in 

 the hyperbola and parabola, arising from 

 the common intersection of the secant 

 plane and the base of the cone. 



BASE of a solid figure, the lowest side, 

 or that on which it stands ; and if the so- 

 lid has two opposite parallel plane sides, 

 and one of them is the base, then the 

 other is called the base also. 



BASE, in gunnery, the least sort of ord- 

 nance, the diameter of whose bore is 1^ 

 inch, weight 200 pounds, length 4 feet, 

 load 5 pounds, shot 1 pound weight, 

 and diameter 1.1 inch. 



BASE, in law. Base estate, such as base 

 tenants have in their hands. Base te- 

 nure, the holding by villanage, or other 

 customary services, as distinguished from 

 the higher tenures in capite, or by milita- 

 ry service. Base fee, is to hold in fee at 

 the will of the lord, as distinguished from 

 soccage tenure. Base court, any coxirt 

 not of record. 



BASE line, in perspective, the common 

 section of a picture, and the geometrical 

 plane. 



BASE, or BASS, in music. See BASS. 



BASELLA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Trigynia class and order. 

 Natural order Holoraceae ; Atriplices, 

 Juss. Essential character : calyx none ; 

 corolla seven-cleft; two opposite divisions 

 shorter, at length buried: seed one. 

 There are four species; the first, B. ru- 

 bra, has thick, strong, succulent stalks, 

 and leaves of a deep purple colour. This 

 plant requires to be supported, for it will 

 climb to the height of eight or ten feet. 

 The flowers have no great beauty : but 

 the plant is preserved for the odd appear- 

 ance of the stalks and leaves. It is a na- 

 tive of the East Indies, Amboyna, and Ja- 

 pan. From the berries a beautiful colour 

 is drawn : when used for painting, does 

 not continue very long, but changes to a 

 pale colour ; and has also been used for 

 staining calicoes in India. 



BASEMENT, in architecture, a base 

 continued a considerable length, as round 

 a house, room, &c. 



BASSILIC, in ancient architecture, a 

 term used for a large hall, orpublic place, 



VOL. II. 



with aisles, porticoes, galleries, tribunals, 

 &c. where princes sat. and administered 

 justice in person. But the name has since 

 been transferred, and is now applied to 

 such churches, temples, &c. which, by 

 their grandeur, as far surpass other 

 churches, as princes' palaces do private 

 houses : as also to certain spacious halls 

 in princes' courts, where the people hold 

 their assemblies : and to such stately 

 buildings as the Palais at Paris, and the 

 Royal Exchange at London, where mer- 

 chants meet and converse. 



BASILICON. See PHARMACY. 



BASILICUS, in astronomy, Cor Leonis, 

 a fixed star of the first magnitude in the 

 constellation Leo. See L*.o. 



BASKET, a kind of vessel made of 

 twigs interwoven together, in order to 

 hold fruit, earth, &c. 



The best baskets are made of osiers 

 which thrive in moist places. To form an 

 osier bed, the land should be divided into 

 plots, eight or ten feet broad, by narrow 

 ditches, and if there is a power of keep, 

 ing water in these places, by means of a 

 sluice, it is of the greatest importance in 

 dry seasons. The common osier is cut 

 at three years, but that with yellow bark 

 not till the fourth. When the osiers are 

 cut down, those that are intended for 

 white work, such asbasketsused in wash- 

 ing, are to be stripped of their bark 

 while green. This is done by means of a 

 sharp instrument, fixed into a firm block, 

 over which the osiers are passed, and 

 stripped of their covering with great ve- 

 locity. They are then dried, and put in 

 bundles for sale. Before they are work- 

 ed, they must be soaked in water, which 

 renders them flexible. The basket-maker 

 usually sits on the ground to his business. 

 Hampers, and other coarse work, are 

 made of osiers without any previous pre- 

 paration. The ancient Britons were cele- 

 brated for their ingenuity in making bas- 

 kets, which they exported in great num- 

 bers. They were often of very elegant 

 workmanship, and bore a high price. 



BASKETS of earth, in the military art, 

 are small baskets used in sieges, on the 

 parapet of a trench, being filled with 

 earth. They are a foot and a half high, 

 about a foot and a half diameter at the 

 top, and eight or ten inches at bottom ; 

 so that, being set together, there is a sort 

 of embrasures left at their bottoms, 

 through which the soldiers fire, without 

 exposing themselves. 



BASKET fish, a kind of star-fish caught 

 in the seas of North America. 



BASKET salt, that made from salt 



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