B A L 



B A L 



BALADE, the name of a harbour on the nortli-weft 

 coafl of New Caledonia ifland, in the South Pacific ocean, 

 formed by a reef wliieh runs par?.llel to the coaft, at the 

 diftancc of three leagues, and near the vcfttrn extremity of 

 the ifland. S. lat. 20= 15'. E. lon^j. 1 64° 40'. 



BALiENA, Whale, in Zoolo^. Wl-slcs are a liibc of 

 cetaceous creatuies, which in external ?ppe=rarce, and cer- 



-at 



finny rscci 

 acquainted with 



nipted tiy avarice. Numb. xxii. 18. .St. Auftin and other 

 commentators have inclined to this opinion. 



Maimoiiides thinks, that every thing which happened to 

 Balaam in the way to Balak, was done in a prophetical vi- 

 fion. The abbot Jerufalem, and his followers', fuppofe Ba- 

 laam to have been an egregious impoflor, who had acquired 

 the rep'.^tation of being a prophet, and made a public traf- 



f,c of his divinaton- art. AVith this view he feign, frequvnt tain ha'bi'ts' o'f'lif.:," in thrir native c'. ment, the u^ter. f.em 



coniultat.ons vv,th Gcd, and dehvers h,s own ideas for u- to approach fo nearly t« the other k:,:ds of the 



vme oracles. He fuppofcs that Mofes mfeUed the hillory that the earlier writers, who were little acqu.,...u v>un 



01 Balaan., as an ep,lode from McaV.e memoirs, for the their hiffory. and pcrhap, ftill lef, with their interralfln^C 



p.rpofe of obv:at,ng preffi.g difficulties on the fuppoht.on ture. n,ay be furcl/ excuf^d f-.r corfigning them to the trbe 



that Mo cs was the ongmal wnter. IV. Gedc'.es, m confor- of hHies. To fay nothing of their "anatomy, the want of 



tr.rty to the free fentiments which he had adopted with regard feet, which is an obvio-.s defcft in the whale, « as ore arronr 



to the per.tateuch, declares ,t to be his oprnion. that this other cogent reafons for retaining it with the latter Ouf 



hillory was written, not by Mofes, but by the compiler of countrymen, Rav and V/ilhurhhy, both irch.de the whale. 



tne pentateueh, from fuch traditional Hones 01 fcraps of in their fyftems 'of ichthyology; Ray, whofe nalun-1 ar- 



written cocuments as he could fii.d. •• Indeed," he adds, rangement' of the animal tribe, deferve, no common praire. 



It has all the air of a legendary tale." divides. his fi(hes into two principal feftions. one comprcl 



i he ftoi7ofBalaanisafsiiasof.enbeenanobjeftof ridicule hiding thofe vhich hav;: lungs for refpiraticn, and the 



among Ic.ptics and infidels, 1 ne abbot Jerufalem thinks that other, thofe which breathe by means of the rif's ard are 



. t was all a ficticn of Balaam, to fave himfelf from oblo- truly fiilie.. The reafons he offers for ineludi,:,r tL former 



quy, if he fliould b.efs, mftead ot curfing.lhe Ifraehtes. with the f.fties are thefe ; becaufe the form of th.ir bodies 



Dr. Jortin (bix Differtations, Difl. v.) fuppofes, that Ba- agrees with thofe of fifhes; becaufe they are entirely naked 



laam was a worfhipperof the true God, and a prieft tndpro- or covered only with a fmooth (kin ; and becaufe thy live 



phet of great reputation ; and that he was fent for by Balak, entirely in the water, and have all the atlions of fifties 



from a notion which generally prevailed, that priefts and pro- Notv.ithftanding this, Linnzus, whofe accuracy of difcril 



phets could fometimes, by prayers and lacnhccs duly and mination an enlightened polleritv bid fair to honour and 



IkilftiUy applied, obtain favours from God, and that their efteem, has refiened them to the Mammalia triTje of animals- 



imprecations were "^ " ■ - -' -' '"^ "" ...... » 



phet had been accu 



to receive tnem in \ .,, v,. ... v.^„..w .-. ,.,,^ ...g,,,.. ,,,v.. icivli, as 10 uic accurate auatonmt, or ir.CelatigaDle tultcnan 



regard to theintereouvfe between Balaam and his afs, he con- of nature, 

 jedures that it was tranfaaed in a trance or vifion. Accord- The whale, noHvithftanding its fifli-like external appcar- 

 iiigly, he admits that an angel of the Lord did, indeed, come ance, and refidence in' the waters, has no other claim to a 

 to oppofe Balaa.T. in the way, and fulTeved him.felf tobefeen place among filhcs; for its internal anatomy is prtcifcly the 

 by thebeaft, but not by thecrophet ; that the bcaft was ter- fame as that of the terreftrial animals, and of the quadruped 

 ritied, and Balaam fmote it, aJndiir.m.ediately fell into a trance tribe in particular. Such is the opinion advanced by that 

 orextacy; and in thatftateof vH'ion, converfed with the beaft firft of naturalifts, Linn^us ; and fuch is the ' ' 



Obtain favours trom L,od, and that their elteem, has referred them to the mammalia trilie of animals- 



: efficacious. He conceives that the pro- a reference extremely juft, but the propriety of which will 



uftom.ed to revelations, and that he ufed not appear fo obvious at the firft g1ance"to t!ie rurfory ob- 



viCons, or in e^eams of the night. With fervcr, as to the accurate auatomift, or indefatigable hiacrian 



firil, and then with the angel. The angel prefented thefe ob- 

 jecls to his imagination, as ftrongly as if they had been before 

 his eyes ; fo that this was ftill a miraculous or preternatural 

 operation. Dr. Geddes fays, that to liim the;e appears nothing 

 ftrange in the ftory of the afs, but the manner of telling it ; 

 and it ceafes to be wonderful, when we recoUeft the onental 

 mode of narrating. Balaam is riding on his afs on as yet 

 a doubtful errand ; the afs ftartles at fomething, and turns 

 afide from the way ; thrufts his mafter's legs againll a wall, 

 and at leng-th falls down under him. All this he takes for 



' opinion con- 

 firmed by the remarks of that able anatomift the late Mr. 

 Hunter. In a paper prefented on the anatomy of whales, 

 to the Royal Society of London, a few vears ago by the 

 latter, it is obferved, that this order of animals has nothing 

 peculiar to fifh, except living in the fame element, and being 

 endowed with the fame powers of piogrefiive motion, as 

 thofe fifh which are intended to move with a confiderable 

 velocity. Although inhabitants of the waters, they belong 

 to the fame clafs as quadrupeds; breathing air, being fur- 

 nillied with lungs, and all other parts peculiar to the econo- 

 a bad omen, and a fign that his journey is not agreeable to my of that clafs, and having warm blood. The prcjeftfng 

 God. God is thence conceived to" be angry with him, and part, or tail, contains the power that produces progreffive 

 an imaglnai-y dialogue enfues between God and Balaam, as motion, and moves the broad terminat'on, the motion of 

 had before been fuppofed to be held between Balaam and his which is finiilar to that of an oar in fculling a boat; it fuper- 

 afs. Geddes's Crit. Remarks, vol. i. p. 394. fedes the nccefilty of poflerior extremities, and allows of 



BALAAMITES, in Ecdefiajlkal H'ljlory, the name of the proper fliape for fwimming. The tail is flattened hori- 

 a fedl in the firft age of Chriftianity, of the fame import in zontally, which is contrary to that of fi(h ; this pcfition of 

 the Hebrew language with Nicolaitans in the Greek. See tail giving the diieflion to the animr.l in the progrefTivc mo- 

 NicoLAiTANS. tion of the body. The two lateral fins, which are analogous 



BALABAC, in Geography, one of the Philippine, or to the anterior extremities in the qu.-?druped, arc corrironly 

 rather Bornean iflands, between Borneo and Palawa, near fmall, var)-ing however in fize, and feem to fervc as a kind 



r 50 • 



of oars. The element in which they live renders fome parts, 

 which are of importance in other an'mals, ufelefs to them ; 

 gives to fomc parts a different adion, and renders others of 

 lefs account. The lar)-nx, fize of the trachea, and number 

 of ribs differ exceedingly. The coecum is only found ia 

 fome of them. The teeth in fome are wanting. The blow- 

 BALAD, a town of Afia, in the country of Diarbckir, holes are two in number in many ; in others only one. 

 twenty miles north-weft of Moful. The bonet alone, in many animals, when properly united 



3 QjJ int« 



the fouth-weftern point of the latter ifland. N. lat. 

 E.long. 117° 30'. 



BALABEA, an ifland near the north-weft end of New 

 Caledonia. S.lat. 20°7'. E.long. 164° 22'. 



BALABOLA. See Bolebola. 



BALACHNA. See Balakhna. 



