B A S 



the lines, AC, or BC in the triangle, may be made the 

 bafe. 



In a right-nnglcd triangle, the bafe is properly that fide 

 oppofiti to the right ^r.gle, i.e. the hypothenufe. 



Base of a fol'ul Figure, is its lowcft'fide, or tliat whereon 

 it ftands. Thus the circf.hir plane DI'E is tlic bafe of the 

 cylinder ABDII. Plate III. Geom. fig. 39. 



Base of a come Scllion, is a right line in the hyperbola and 

 parabola, formed by the common iiiterfcdion of the fccant 

 plane, and the bafe of the cone. 



Base, Aliem. See Altern. 



Base, in Gunnery. See Casnon. 



Base, in H;raldry, figniiies the bottom of the fliicld ; and 

 llx charges thereon are faid to be in bafe. 



Base, Difiuicl, in Optics. See Distinct. 



Base of the Heart, in Anatomy, denotes tlie broader or 

 upper part of that vifcns, to the fides of which tlic two 

 auricles are afBxed. Tiiis is fometinics a!fo called the vertex 

 or head, x!?«Xii ; in oppofition to which, the lefier or 

 narrower part is called opcx or macro, the point or t:p of tl;e 

 heart. 



Some alfo give the denomination Lif to the root of the ot 

 hyoidei. 



Base, or Basis, in Chemi/lry, a term which was applied, 

 by the old chemills, to dcfignate thofe fubftanccs of a fixed, 

 inert, pafTive nature, which combined with, and were adcd 

 upon, by more volatile or aftive menlhua. Thus the alka- 

 lies, earths, and metallic oxyds, which form compound falts 

 by uniting with acids, were called the bafes of thefe f^Its. 

 Modem chemiits, though they maintain that in every com- 

 bination thenifus or force 'of affinity between two ingredients 

 is mutual and equal, have yet retained the term, for the fake 

 of precifion, to cxprefs either fpecies or families of fa'ts, 

 which differ with regard to the acid, but agree as to the al- 

 kali, earth, or mi-tallic oxyd which they contain. Thus 

 falts with a bafe of potafh, include all thofe fpecies which 

 are formed by the combination of the various acids with the 

 particular alkali potafii. Again, falts with an alkaline bafe 

 comprehend the three families of falts with bafes of potafli, 

 loda, or ammonia, as dillinguiilied from the other falts 

 with earthy or metallic bafes. The utility, therefore, of 

 this mode of exprefTion is evident ; for though the com- 

 pound falts are uhially divided into genera, according to 

 their acids, as fulphats, nitrats, muriats, &c. yet it is often 

 defirabie to arrange them according to their other element or 

 bafe, for whic!; th.e Lavoiferian noir.enclature has not parti- 

 cularly provided. 



The term bafe is alfo ufed on other occafions as a method 

 of denoting [pccies ; as when we fay, fulphuric acid is com- 

 pjfed of oxygen united with abafe of fulphur ; the vegetable 

 acids of oxygen and a compound bafe of hydrogen and 

 carbon. Sometimes alfo the word bafe is applied in a more 

 indefirite manner ; as in the exprefiion, phofphat of lime is 

 the bafe of animal bone, azot is the bafe of mufcular fibre : 

 where it means merely the charafteriflic or principal part. 



Base, Engl. Basse, Fr. Basso, Ital. in Muftc, the 

 lowed part in the harmony of a mufical compofition. We 

 prcfcT the derivi'tion of the word from hofis, Lat. to bafTe or 

 baflb ; as the word bafis is already naturalized in the ufe that 

 is made of it in architecture, thebiife of a pillar. Sir Francis 

 Bacon ufes it mufieally for a deep or gr^ve iound : " In pipes 

 the lower the note-holes be, and the further from the month 

 of the pipe, the niori? bafe founds they yield." Nat. Hift. 

 N° I7». And Dryden thus exprefles the ftring of an in- 

 Urument that gives a bafe found: 



"At thy wcU-lharpen'd thumb, from (hore to fhore. 

 The trebles fqucak for fear, the bafes roar." 



B A S 



Dr. Johnfon fays, bafe is applied to deep, gratre found.; ; 

 it is frequently written bafs, tliough the comparative bufcr 

 feeir.s to require bafe. 



The bafe is the inoft important of all the parts of poli- 

 phonic compofitions, being the foundation upon which all 

 the other parts are built ; and it has long been a maxim 

 among niulicians, that " if the bafe be good, the harmony 

 and modulation are fcldom defective." 



The word bafe is applied to various purpofes in mufic; as 

 bafe-viol, principal bale, continued bafe, ripicnobafe, ground 

 bale, thorough bafe, &c. moil of which explain themfelves : 

 the rell will be further noticed in their places. But the bafe 

 to any common chord or pan of a chord, called by the 

 Italians bafib principale, and by the French baffe fonda- 

 mentalc, is what chiefly belongs to this article, and requires 

 . a clear explanation of its ufe. 



A piineipal or fundamental bafe, in praftice, is that bafe 



which carries th.e common chord oi s> or tiie chord of the 



3 



7th, \. 



In the Encyclopedie Methodique, there are rulfs given of 

 M. Sulzer, for arranging the parts to a low bafe, which 

 M Framery fays are excellent ; yet he has fjmething to ob- 

 ject to every one of them. We (hall not difpute with either 

 of thofe able mufical critic?;, their rules or exceptions ; we 

 fear that both willb'e unintelligible to young compofers, and 

 that an experienced compofer will h,ardly confult a dic- 

 tionary for the arrangement of the feveral parts in his com- 

 pofitions. All -we ftiall recommend to the young harmonift, 

 or juvenile organitt, is to accompany low notes in the bafe 

 by wide intervals. In common chords, when the bafe is low 

 in the fcale, thirds have a very growling bad effeft, particu- 

 larly on the organ. In filling up the parts with the left 

 hand, when the right hand has common chords or divifions 

 derived from common chords, the left hand fhould only give 

 the fifth and eighth to the bafe. For the fundamental and 

 fuppofed bafe to the treble fcale, major, minor, and chro- 

 matic, fee Counterpoint, Composition, Score, Com- 

 mon Chords, and Thorough-Base. 



Basse Fondamenialc. The general acceptation of the 

 term bafe, in praftical mufic, has been given in the preceding 

 article. We (liall now endeavour to trace the hiftory of the 

 fundamental bafe in theory; which Ranieau and his adherents 

 regard as a dii'covery in mufic, equal to Newton's dodrine of 

 gravitation in aftronomy. 



The earlieft notice in England of the phenomenon upon 

 which the fundamental bafe of Rameau has been built, was 

 in the Royal Society, in a paper written by Dr. Wallis 

 " on the trembling of conlonant firings," Mar. 1677. 

 N° 134. p. 839. Abridg. vol.i. p. 606. 



" It hath long been obferved, that if a viol ftring, or lute- 

 ftring, be touched with the bow or hand, another firing on 

 the fame or another inftrument not far from it (if in uni- 

 fon to it, or an otiave, or the like) will at the fame time 

 tremble of its own accord. But I can now add, that not 

 the whole of that other ftring doth thus tremble, but the 

 feveral parts fcverally, according as they are unilons to the 

 whole or the parts of that llring fo llruck." (Here he 

 gives the feveral divifions into which a ftring, when caufed to 

 found, divides itfelf, and a delineation of the foi-ms of the 

 feveral confonances on a plate ; but of thefe we fiiall have 

 further occafion to fpeak hereafter.) 



" This was firft of all (that I know of) difcovered by 

 Mr. William Noble, M.A. of Merton college; and by him 

 fiiewed to fome of o'.:r rauficians about three years fince : 

 and after him by Mr, Thomas Pigot, A.B. of Wadham 



college, 



