BAT 



the Blenmus, genera of Linnasus, viz. G. tau, and B. rnrl- 

 mis. The charafter of the b^trachoides conlifts in having 

 the head very large and greatly dcprcffed ; opening of the 

 mouth ver)- fpacioiis ; and one or more beards lituated about 

 or at the \uiderfide of the lower jaw. 



BATRACHOMYOMACHIA, formed of the Greek 

 $!x\fv,-^o:, frog, fjivc, moufe, and jxay^y., pugnn, and denoting 

 the battle of the frotrs and the mice ; the title of a burlefque 

 poem, ufnallv afcribed to Homer. The fubjeft of tiie 

 poem is tht death of Pfvciiarpax, a moufe, (on of Tox- 

 artes, who being mounted on the back of Phyfi?nathus, a 

 frog, on a voyage to its palace, to which he had been in- 

 vited, was feized with fear when he faw himfelf in the mid- 

 dle of the pond, fo that he tumbled off and was drowned. 

 Phyfignathus being fufpefted to have Ihaken him off with 

 defign, the mice demanded fatisfatiion, and unanirnoufly de- 

 clared war againft the frogs. Stephens, Nunnefius, and 

 other modern authors, take the poem not to be Homer's ; 

 but feveral of the ancients feem of another opinion ; and Sta- 

 tius, who wrote under Domitian, makes no doubt of it. See 

 Fabric. Bihl. Grxc. lib.ii. c. i. § 3. 



BATRACHOSALIS, in Ichthyology, a name affigned 

 by many of the Greek writers to the tifh called by Linnseus 

 i-.opmus P15CATOR.1US. 



BATRACHUS, the name given by Klein to the Lin- 

 nsean Lophius PiscAroRius. — Batrachus capite, ridluque 

 rana;, &c. Kiein. The laft writer alfo delcribes the Lin- 

 nxan Lophius Vespertilio, as Batrachus capite vu- 

 meris inftar cornuto, &c. 



Batrachus, a fpecies of Silurus, found in Afia and 

 Africa. The dorfal tin is fingle, and contains fixty rays ; 

 beards of the mouth eight. Linn. Muf. Fr. — The tail is 

 entire." 



BATTA, or Bata, in Geography, a duchy or province 

 of Africa, fituate on the fouth-weft of Pango, and having 

 Dembo, AmulaflTa, and the falt-petre mountain on the 

 eaft, on the fouth the marquifate of Incuffa, and the burnt 

 mountains, and Congo and Pemba on the weft. It is of 

 confiderable extent, was formerly called Anguirima or Ag- 

 hirimba, and was a kingdom of itfelf, till both king and 

 people fubmitted to the kings of Congo. This country is 

 generally fertile, well watered by rivers, and produces feve- 

 ral forts of jjrain. The inhabitants are more civilized than 

 their neighbours. 



Batta, the capital of the above duchy, is diftinguidied 

 in no other refpeft befides the fertility of its teiriton,', 

 and its being the refidence of the governors of this province. 

 Thefe are allowed to have a number of arquebuficrs in pay, 

 to defend it from the incurfions of the wild Giagas, or Ja- 

 gas, who inhabit the dillrifts near its eaftern froiiti-rrs, be- 

 yond the mountains of the Sun and Saltpetre, and who 

 chiefly fubfiil by ravaging the adjacent territories. The 

 road between this capital and that of the kingdom of Congo, 

 called St. Salvador, has, it isfaid, a great number of houfes 

 and hamlets on both fides. 



Batta, the name of a country in Sumatra, where the 

 Englith have two fettlements. The inhabitants ftill eat hu- 

 man flcfh, but reftridt themfelves to that of prifoners taken 

 in war, and capital offenders. 



BATTABLE Ground, denotes land lying between 

 England and Scotland, of which the right of poflcffion was 

 diiputed, when they were two dillindl kingdoms. 



The word imports as much as litigious, or difputable 

 ground, from laltre, to bent or Jighl. 



BATTACKS, or Battogfs, a punifhment in Rufiia, 

 fimilar to the bailinado, or ballonado, of China, Turkry, 

 fcc. The delinquent is llrip ped naked, and nwde to lie on 



BAT 



his belly, while two executioners beat him with fmall flicks, 

 till the judge cries out, enough. The order to defill is fre- 

 quently not given till the back of the unfortunate fuflerer 

 has been mortally mangled. During the whipping, he is 

 obliged to pronounce the word " Winawat," wliich means 

 " I am guilty ;" and at the end of the punifhment he niuft 

 go and kifs the feet of him who direfted it, and thank him 

 that he did not make it more fevere. The highefl lords are 

 not exempted from the battoges, and take vengeance for it 

 on their unhappy vaffals. This purufhment is particslarly 

 referved for the inferior orders, whom malverfation or roguery 

 would any where elfe drive from their employments. In 

 Rnffin, it is reckoned fuflicient to reduce them to an infe- 

 rior employment, after the correction of the battoges. Chan- 

 treau's Travels in Rufiia, vol.i. p. 117. See Bastonado. 

 BATTAGLIA, in Geography, a town of Italy, in the 

 kingdom of Naples, and province of Capitanata, z miles 

 N. W. of Viefle. 



BATTAL, in Ancient Geography, ?l promontory of Ara- 

 bia, north-eafl of Juha Casfarea. 



BATTALIA, an army ranged in order of battle, or 

 ready for engagement. 



In this fenfe, we meet with the depth of a battalia ; to 

 march in battalia, with the baggage in the middle ; to break 

 the battalia, &c. In the Roman battalia, the Hastati 

 made the front. 



BATTALION, in the Military Art, fignities a fmall 

 body of infantrjs arranged in regular order, and intlrucled 

 to march and to aft in concert. 



There are different opinions refpcfting the force of which 

 a battalion Ihould confill. If compofed of too great a num- 

 ber of men, it cannot perform its evolutions with the necef- 

 fary facility ; if, on the contrary, the troops are not fuffi- 

 ciently numerous, it is incapable of producing by its attack 

 any confiderable effcft. The number muft therefore be fo 

 regulated, as to permit the neceffary manoeuvres to be exe- 

 cuted with promptitude and regularity ; and at the fame 

 time to compofe a folid body, capable both of charging 

 with firmnels, and of fuftaining the affault of other corps to 

 which it may be oppofcd without falling into dilorder. 



The number of the battalion varies according to the 

 ufages of belligerent nations, their arms, the manner in 

 •which they employ thofe arms, and the order in which they 

 engage. ^ Europeans formerly differed very widely on all 

 thefe points ; but at prefent all the continental powers, the 

 Turks alone excepted, obferve nearly the fame difpofitions 

 with refped to the battalion. The term even is adopted 

 in every modern language. 



The French have fixed the number of the battalion at 

 about 700 men. Some nations form them ftill ftrono-er, 

 others weaker. In the Enghih fervice they ufually confift, 

 in time of war, of ten companies ; forming,- exclufively of 

 the ftafT, a total of between feven and eight hundred. 

 When employed on fervice, the battalions being filled up at 

 the commencenent of a campaign, and rarely recruited till 

 its clofe, are feldom or ever complete ; as well from the lofs 

 they fuftain in different engagements, as on account of ficknefs 

 and other accidents infeparable from the military profefiion. 



The arms of the battalion have been frequently and ma- 

 ti:riaily altered. la the infancy of modern taftics, one 

 third of the troops were furnilhed with pikes, and drawn 

 up in the centre ; the other two thirds carrying mufqncts, 

 were polled on the wings, to flank, proteft, and fecond, by 

 their fire, the or.fet of the pikes. The infantry are nov/ 

 univerfally armed with firelocks and bavonets, the ufe of 

 the pike being completely laid afide. 



The laodein method of andngement has been decried by 



the 



