B A S 



and greatly excelled liis brntlicrft in dcfigning, di-awinj», and 

 i-oloiiriiig. He was employed in tiio chuicli of St. Mark at 

 Venice, in conjuiiolioii with Tintoretto and Paolo Vcroiiefc. 

 ]iy iiiccfTant application he iiicrealed the natural melancholy 

 of his difpofition, and pnt an end to his lite m 1594, by 

 throwing himlelf out of a window. Leandro was born in 

 155S, fettled at Venice, painted in the ftyle of his father 

 and brother, but witli inferior merit, and particularly ex- 

 celled in portraits. The portrait of the doge Grimani pro- 

 cured for him the honour of kaijjhthood. His life was irre- 

 {jular, and he dillrefTcd hinifelf by a conllaut fufpicion of 

 the intention of his companions to poiloii him. He died 

 in 1623. The other two brothers, viz. Giovanni Bjltijla 

 and Giroluno, the former born in 1553 and dying in 1613, 

 and the latter born in 1560 and dying in 1622, chiefly em- 

 ployed tiiemfelvi.s in copying tlic worka'of their father and 

 tldell brother. Pilkiiijjton. 



BASSANI, (li AMiiATisTA, in Mufual Biography, was 

 chiefly known in Kngland, at the beginnin;^ of the lall cen- 

 tury iiy his Mctits, which were more graceful and plir.fmg 

 than thofe of any <jf his counlfymen, except CaiifTuni and 

 titradella. Bat he has many titlcsto an honourable place in mu- 

 fical hiftory. He wab not only author of thirty-one different 

 works in favour all over Kurope during the limited longevity 

 ot mufical productions, but the firll eompofer for the violin 

 ill Italy, who fcems to have written tor it with the fpirit and 

 intelligence of a re;.l matter of the inltrument. He wa.s a 

 native of Bologna, maeilro di capella of the cathedral, Aca- 

 demico p'ilarnionieo of that city, and violin-mailer to Cortlli. 

 15ulTani, who flourilhed from about the year 1675 to 1703 

 (the date of his lall work), was a man of cxtenfive know- 

 ledge and abilities in his art ; having been not only a fuc- 

 cefaful eompofer for the church, the theatre, and tilt cham- 

 ber, but an excellent performer on the violin, as we were af- 

 furcd by Padre Martini his townfmaii, who was old enough 

 to have formed his opinion from thofe who had often heard 

 him pcrfonn. And, indeed, his fonatas for the violin, and 

 accompaniments for that inllrument to his matfes, motet', 

 plalms, and cantata?, manifelt a knowledge of the linger- 

 board and bow, which appears in the works of no other 

 eompofer, anterior to Corelli, which we have been able to 

 find ; and the lovers of (he pure liHrmony and fimple melody 

 of that admirable mailer would ftiU receive great pleafure 

 from the performance of Baflani's lonatas for two violins 

 and a bate ; in which they would hear, not only the general 

 mufical language of the time, but the mild accents and grate- 

 ful tones of Corelli'b own mellifluous voice. 



BASSANIA, in jiiuidit Ccogrnph\, a town of Mace- 

 donia, on the frontiers of Illyiia, fituate, according to Livv, 

 about 5 miles from LitTus, and belonging to the Cavians. ' 



BASSANO, in Giography, a town of Italy, belonging 

 to the (late of Venice, in the Trevifano, on the Brenta^ 13 

 miles north of Vicenza. 



Bassano, a town of Italy, in the ftate of the church, 

 near which Dolabella defeated the Etrari and Boii, 3 miles 

 weft of Orta. 



BASSANTIN, Jamks, in Biography, a Scots aftrono- 

 mer, in the fixteenth century, was the ion of the laird of 

 EalTantin, in the Mers, and born in the reign of king James 

 ly. _ The rudiments of knowledge, and particularlv'of that 

 Ikill in various branches of the mathematics for which he 

 was afterwardsjo dillinguilhed, he acquired in the iinivcrrity 

 of Glafgow. For further improvement he travtihd through 

 various parts of the continent, and at length fettled at Pa- 

 ris, where he taught the mathtmalies with applaufe in the 

 univerfity of that city. During his abode in this city, he 

 imbibed Uiat zeal for the dtluiioiis of judicial ailrology, 



B A S 



which was tlicn fo prevalent, and which few adronon'ierj 

 had judgment or refoiution fulHcient to difcountenancc. 

 After having acquired great reputation and fome fortune in 

 France, he returned to liis own country in 1562. At \ork, 

 in his journey through England, he had an interview with 

 fir Robert Melvll, brother of fir James Mclvil, who, in his 

 " Memoirs," relates the converfation that pafTed between 

 them. It appears that Bafl'antin communicated to Melvil 

 certain prcdiftioiis relating to his millrefs, Mary queen of ^ 

 Scots, who was then treating with Elizabeth after having 

 taken refuge in her dominions. Of thefe prediclions iome 

 were true, and others were falfe ; but inch was the political 

 fagacity of Batlantin, that we may afcribe them to this 

 fource rather than to his flciU in the occult fcienccs, for 

 which however he feeins to have been ambitious of bcin^r 

 tliought dillinguiflied. Of his mode of life during the rt- 

 maining period of it, we have no account ; but he appears tn 

 have been a zeulous proteilant, and a partiian ot the earl of 

 Murray. He died in i 56;'. To a (light acipiaintaiice with po- 

 lite literature, BalTaiitin added a contiderabie degree ot ma. 

 thematical and allronomical knowledge, contldcriiig the dark 

 period in which he lived. His principal work :ii allrononiy was 

 written in I'reneh, and tranllated into Latin by TunnEfius, 

 and publithed at Geneva by I5v9i tolio, under the title of 

 " Altronomia, Jacobi I'alf^ntini Scoti, opus abfoKitiUlrauni, 

 &c. S:c." He alfo pubhfhed " Par.ipliraie de I'Ailrolabc, 

 avec un amplification de I'ufage de I'Allrolabe," or a;i 

 ample explanation of the allrolabe, printed at Lyons in 

 1555, and at Paris in 1617, 8vo. ; "Super Mathtmatica 

 Gcnethliaca," or of the calculation of nativities ; " Ar'tli- 

 metica ;" " Mnlica fecundum Platoni ;" and " De Matheli 

 in genere." Biog. Brit. 



BASSANUS, in Ornithology, a fpecies of Pei-ecanus, 

 as large as a common goofc, with a widge-fhaped tail ; 

 body white ; bill and primary quill- feathers black ; and face 

 blue. Gmeliii. Latham, &c. 



This is the common gannet, or foland goofe ; a bird 

 found in great plenty on all the northern coalls of Britain, 

 but rather lets cominon to the fouthward. The adult birds 

 have the plumage nearly all white ; but during tlie firll years 

 it is of a dulky colour, and only fpeekled with white. The 

 bill i;. blueiih-afli colour, about fix inches in length, and 

 has tlic nollrils pkced in a furrow ; the mouth within is 

 black ; the throat is bare ; and the (kin very dilatable, form- 

 ing a pouch of fufficient fize to contain five or iix herrings ; 

 the legs are black, marked with a ftripe of pea-green be- 

 fore ; and the claw of the middle toe is pediiiated. The 

 malts and female are very much alike in plumage. The gan- 

 net is particularly abundant in the i(le of Ailfa in the firth 

 of Clyde ; the rocks adjacent to St. Kilda ; the llalks of 

 Soulilkerry, near llie Orkneys ; the Skelig ides off the coalU 

 of Kerry, Ireland ; and the Bafs illand in the firth of Edin- 

 burgh. Dr. Hervey gives fonie account of the latter in 

 thtle words. " There is a fmall ifiaiid, called by the Scotch 

 Bafi iJlanJ, not more than a mile in circumference; llie 

 furface is almoil wholly covered during the months of May 

 and June with netls, eggs, and young birds ; fo that it it 

 fearcely polFible to walk without treading on ihem ; and 

 the flocks of birds in flight arc fo prodigious as to darken 

 the air like clouds ; and their noife is fucli that you cannot 

 without difficulty hear your next neighbonr's voice. If yoa 

 look down upon the fea from the top of the precipice, you 

 will (ee it on every fide covered with infinite numbers of 

 birds of different kinds, fwimming and liunting for their 

 prey ; it in (ailing round the illand you furvey the hanging 

 cIi.Ts, you fee in every cragg or tifl'uie of the broken rocks 

 i.^n■JnncI■ablc bir.'.s of various forts and Uzes, more tlian the 



ftars 



