B. 



B 



BThe Tecond letter of our alphabet, and of mod 

 others. 

 * This obfervation fails in the ancient Irifh alpha- 

 bet ; where B is the firft, and A the feventeenth ; and in 

 tlie Abyffinian, where A is the thirteenth. 



B is the firft confonant, and firft mute, and in its pronun- 

 ciation is fuppofed to refemble the bleating of a flieep ; upon 

 ■which account Pierius tells us, in his Hieroglyphics, that the 

 Egyptians reprefented the found of this letter by the figure 

 of that animal. 



B is alfo one of thofe letters which the eaftern gramma- 

 rians call labial, becaufe the principal organs employed in 

 its pronunciation are the lips. It has a near affinity with 

 the other labials P and V, and is often ufed for P, both by 

 the Armenians, and other oriental* ; as in Betnis for Pelrits, 

 al'Jens for abfens, &c.; and by the Romans for V, as in ama- 

 iil for amavit, berna for verna, &c. whence arofe that jeft of 

 Anrelian on the emperor Bonofus, Nort ut vivat natus ejl,fed 

 vt bibat. See V. 



The final B was alfo fometimes changed into L in the 

 ancient languages, as Beclzebul for Bcel'zebub. Bochart 

 (Hieroz. p.ii. 1. iv. c.9. p. 501.) and Grotius (inMatth. x. 

 25.), have given inflances of fuch changes. 



B and C, or the K of the Greeks, are often fubftituted 

 for one another. Thus, the Greeks fay, Bof/Sopvyn? for 

 Kof/.ofvynv ; and the Latins Biifo for Cufo. B and D are 

 alfo ufed interchangeably, ?.i in Bdlum and Ducllum. See 

 Q^ninft. de Orat. c. 45. 



Plutarch obfei-ves that the Macedonians changed * into 

 B, and pronounced Bilip, Berenice, &c. for Philip, Pherenice, 

 &c. ; and that thofe of Delphos ufed B, inftead^of n ; as (Sa- 

 6i(v for t™9s(», piKfov for wixfov, &c. See P. — 



The jEolians change the B into r, as TXi<px^v for BXstpajoi'. 



The modern Greeks call the beta, "vila. 



The Latins faid fuppono, oppor.o, for fubpono, obpono, and 

 pronounced opiinuit, though they wrote ebtinuit, as 

 t^uiniStilian has obferved. They alfo ufed B for T or Ph ; 

 thus in an ancient infcription mentioned by Gruter, 



OBRENDARIO is ufed for OFRENDARIO. See F, &c. 



B requires an entire clofure and prelTure of the lips, and is 

 pronounced by forcing them' open v.'ith a ftrong breath. 

 This letter alfo, if it pafs through the nofe, becomes an M ; 

 as appears bv thofe who have the noftrils flopped by a cold or 

 othirwife, when they endeavour to pronounce the letter M; 

 for inftance, many men, is by fuch a one founded lany ben. 

 See M. 



With the ancients, B, as a numeral, flood for 300, as ap- 

 pears by this verle : 



" Et B trecentum per fe retincre videtur." 



BAA 



When a line was drawn above it, B, it flood for 3000 : 

 and with a kind of accent below it, for 200 ; but among 

 the Greeks as well as Hebrews, this letter fignified only 2. 



B. F. in the preface to the Decrees, or Senatus-confulta 

 of the old Romans, fignified bonum faElum. It is often 

 found on medals, to mark the epocha or year. 



B, in the chemical alphabet, denotes mercury, according 

 to Raymond Lully. 



B on fome French coins denotes that they were ftruck at 

 Rouen. 



B is alfo ufed as a contraftion for Bachelor ; as B.A. 

 Bachelor of Arts ; B.L.L. and B.D. bachelor of laws, and 

 bachelor of divinity. 



B, in Mtific, is a contraftion of B-mi, the third found of 

 the Guido fcale or gammut. B is the fecond line in the bafe ; 

 the third in the treble ; and the note below the tenor or C 

 clef, on whatever hue it is placed. It likewife flands for 

 balTo, bafe, in vocal mufic ; and in the inftrumental tenor 

 part, if C is placed before it in a fcore, thus, C. B. it im- 

 plies col bajfo, meaning that the alto viola is to play with, or 

 rather an oftave above, the bafe. B. C. in old fonatas, 

 implies bajis continuo, or a conftant accompaniment for the 

 organ or harpfichord, figured for thorough-bafe. B-fa, 

 and B-mi,m the fcale of Guido, imply ^ flat, and 5 natural. 



Bmolle imphes B D. 



B quadra, B t^ . 



If there are flats at the clef, they ftand in the following 

 1334s 

 order: BEADG. Sec Gammut, Flat, Sharp, and Na- 

 tural. 



BA, in Geography, a town of Africa, in Ardrah, on the 

 Slave coaft. See Ardrah. 



BAADEN. See Baden. 



BAADSTED, Badsted, or Batstcd, or Bastad, 

 a fea-port of Sweden, in South Gothland, with a bay, in 

 vi'hich are feveral fmall ports; ten miles north of Engelholm. 

 N.lat. 56^28'. E.long. 12° 40'. 



BAAL, Bel, or Belus, denoting Lord, in Ancient My- 

 thology, a divinity among feveral ancient nations, as the Ca- 

 naanites, Phoenicians, Sidonians, Carthaginians, Babylo- 

 nians, Chaldeans, and Afl"yrian?. 



The term Baal, which is itfelf an appellative, ferved at 

 firft to denote the true God, among thole who adhered to 

 the true religion. Accordingly the Phoenicians, being 

 originally Canaanites, having once had, as well as the reft 

 of thtir'kindred, fome notion of the true God, probably 

 called him Baal, or Lord. But they, as well as other na- 

 tions, gradually degenerating iuto idolatry, applied this ap- 

 pellation 



