B A L 



y*nrcnee of invalids. Moft of them are private property, 

 bdongmg to a nu-rchant c,f New York ; Init the iLeft 

 iprmg belongs to the puhhc. The waters of thefe fprincs 

 contain ,ron a mnieral alkali, common fait and lime : they 

 are bnlk and fparklmg like champagne ; and they potTefs 

 the properties ot other waters of the mephitic kind, in which 

 there is an irtcrmixture of fixed air or carbonic acid ; they 

 are reckoned cathartic, diuretic, and fudorific ; and rccourle 

 IS had to them by invalids of various dtfcriptions. 



Balltown-, or Ba/f/lcwn, a townfiiip in Lincoln county, 

 in thediilrta of Maine, containing 1072 inhabitants, loc 

 miles N. E. from Bofton. ^^ 



BALLUS, in EntamrJogy, a fpecies of Papilio iPleb. 

 Rur.), with entire fulvous wings dotted with black ; pofte- 

 rior one green, with a brown margin. Gmelin, &c. Inha- 

 bits Spain. 



BALLUSTER, or Ballister, in Architeaure, a fmall 

 kind of column or pillar, whereof balluftrades are formed. 



The word is French, balujlre, which fignifies the fame, 

 formed from the Latin balujlrum or balujirmm, a place 

 among the ancients where the'b;;ths were railed in. 



Balluftres are of divers forms, as well as matters, accord- 

 ing to different occalions, and different orders of archite- 

 ture. 



Balujster of the Ionic capital, denotes the lateral part 

 of the volute anfwering to what Vitruvius calls puhinata 

 on account of its refemblance to a pillow. 



BALLUSTRADE, an afl'emblage of one or more rows 

 of ballullcrs high enough to reft the elbow 011, fixed upon 

 a terrace, or the top of a building, by way of fccurity ; 

 fometimes alfo to make a fepaniiion between one part and 

 another, as thofe around altars, fonts, Sic. See figure of 

 Basilic. 



BALLY, Ballin, ot Baily, prefixed to names of places 

 in Ireland, fignities a town or inclofcd place of habitation. 

 It comes from the Liih kiile, which O'Brien, in his diction- 

 ary, fuppofes to be derived from the Latin villa, changing 

 ■u into b, and that both come from •uiil/is, on account of the 

 preference given to low fituations. General Valiancy derives 

 it from the Ar.ibic Z«W, a province; and quotes J. Bapt. 

 Pafftri, as explaining the Phoenician ^0/ in the fame fenfc as 

 the Irilli biiile. But Mr. Lcdwich, in his Antiquities of 

 Ireland, obferves, that it is plainly the 'i'eutonic baiie, an 

 inclofure. 



BALLYCASTLE, a fea-port town, in the northern 

 part of the county of Antrim, province ot Ulfter, Ireland, 

 ijtniitcd on the v.eft of Fairhcad, near l!ie mouth of the 

 little river Gleniheflv, and oppofite to the illand of Raghsry. 

 Between this town and Fsiirhead are valuable collieries, in 

 an abrupt bank which overhangs the fea ; a circumftance, 

 however, from which little advantage can be derived, as the 

 unflieltered fituation of the place, and the prevailing wef- 

 terly winds, make a delay on the cuail extrtintly dangerous, 

 and render it difficult to embark tl-.e coals. As the want of 

 capital has always been an impediment to fuch undertakings 

 in Ireland, application was made to the legiflature, on the 

 difcovery of the mine in 1721, for aid to work it; and 

 6ooo pounds were granted for this purpofe, as well as the 

 lart;e fum of 2 5,000!. at different times for making a harbour 

 there, and building a pier to proteft it ; which txpcnce was 

 incurred ill the hope that Dublin would be in a great meafure 

 fupplied from this colliery, and thus be rendered lefs de- 

 pendant on ih" proprietors of the Cumberland mines. The 

 pier, however, has been wafhtd away, and the harbour fo 

 choaked up with fand, that like many other publiek grants 

 in Ireland, it has been productive of little or no national 

 beritlit. By liie exertions of ai. individual, fume years ago, 

 Vol. III. 



B A L 



much coal was procured, and feveral manufa'^ures wer« efta- 

 bli(hed in the town, but fince his death the latter have been 

 negleiSed. The collieries, however, continue to be worked, 

 and from the late ft accounts fccm to be produdiv-, though 

 not to the degree that was expefied. The coal i? ' id to re- 

 femble the Scotch coal, but does not burn fo fall. The 

 different foftils commonly fituated above it are iron-ftone. 

 black fliivery (late, grey, brown, or ycllowifh fand-ftone, 

 and whin-ftone. The accidental difcovery of an old mine in 

 1770, which was very extenfivc, and was found to be a com- 

 plete gallery, branching into numerous chambers, which 

 were dreffed in a workmanlike mariner, and muft have been 

 wrought by perfona at leaft as expert in the bufinefs as the 

 prefcnt generation, has fumiflied Mr. Hamilton with an ar- 

 gument in favour of the ancient civiUzation of Irdarid. As 

 no coal mine at this place is mentioned either by Boate, or 

 by fir William Petty, the latte-- of whom vifited Baljycaftle 

 between 1660 and 1670, and is particular in his account of 

 it; as for many centjrics previoi:s to the reign of Jamee I. a 

 work of this nature was not likely to have been carried on; 

 as the cinders of fofli'-coal are vjii'jie in the cem.ent with 

 which a caftle of great antiq' it ■ in the adjoining ifle of Rag- 

 hery was built ; and as the traaition of the natives ; .fcrs it 

 to a \ery early period, he concludes that it muft have been 

 worked previoufly to the eighth century. This opinion feemt 

 to be ftrengthcned by Mr. Whitaker's reafons for fiippofing 

 fofiil-coal to have been known to the ancient Britons. Mr. 

 Ledwich, on the other hand, affirms, on the authority of 

 Lombard, that coal was not difcov.-red and ufed in Irela.d 

 long before A.D.l()32. Near Ballycaftle are two mineral 

 fprings, one of them vitriolic, and the other chalybeate. 

 iDiftancc from Dublin 1 13 Irifh miles. N. lat. 55° 11'. W. 

 long. 6° 6'. Hamilton's I etters on Antrim. Statutes of 

 Ireland. Latoenaye's Rambles. Ledwich's Antiquities. 

 Beaufort's Memoirs. Rutty on Mineral Waters. 



B.\LLYCLARE, a ])oft and fair town in the county 

 of Antrim, province of Ulfter, Irclaijd, ninety-five miles 

 north of Dublin. 



BALLYCONNELL, a fm?.ll market and poft town 

 of the county of Cavan, Ireland, fituate fixty-fcven Iriih 

 mdes north-weft from Dublin, on the borders of a wild 

 and mountainous diftrid. The peafaiits are hardy and in- 

 duftrious, yet hitherto much deprcffed for want of encou- 

 ragement. The women fp;n a good deal of wool as well a« 

 flax, and friezes are made for home ufc ; but every thing is 

 on a very narrow and contrat\ed fcale. Agricjlture hat 

 lately improved, and the culture of wheat kacbeen iucreafed 

 by the eftabliihment of a good flour-mill; and there is alfo 

 an excellent bleach-green near the town. The mineral Irca- 

 fures of this neighbourhood are, however, the moft valuable. 

 Coal is found in the adjoining mountain of Slieve-Ruffcll, 

 and generally dug out of the fide of the hill, in blocks, 

 near the furface. No attention to this valuable concern h.is 

 yet actuated the proprietors on whofe efiates this mineral it 

 found in fuch abundance, and fo eafily i-aifed. In the moun- 

 tain of OrtnacuUagii, both filver and Lad ore are cairied 

 down the ftream which Hows from it. Befidcs thcfc, pure 

 fuiphur is frequently found ; and fuller's earth is in abuii- 

 dnnce. Theie is much pipe-clay alfo, which is found very 

 foft, and when baked in the fun acquires a proper conlilU 

 eiicv. Sir C. Coote's Statiilical Account of Cavan. 



BALLYCOTTON, a vUlage on the, fea-coall of the 

 county of Cork, province of Muntlcr, Ireland, inhabit- 

 ed by fiflicrmtn, and fiequtnttd for feabathing. It ii 

 four miles from Cloyna, and has fo:ne niiiu; in the neigh, 

 bonrhood. It gives r.ame to a large but dangerous b.iy, 

 nearly fcmicircular, which ia rcnaarkalilc for abiuidance of 

 3 X &>, 



