B A L 
B A L 
106 
before. As soon as the whale is struck, the men | 
set up one of their oars in the middle of the 
boat as a signal to those in the ship. On per- 
ceiving this, the watchman alarms all the rest 
with the cry of fall ! fall ! upon which all the 
other boats are immediately sent out to the 
assistance of the first. 
The whale finding himself wounded, runs 
«!’ with prodigious violence. Sometimes he 
descends perpendicularly ; at others, goes off 
horizontally, at a small depth below the sur- 
face. The rope which is fastened to the har- 
poon is about two hundred fathoms long, 
and properly coiled up, that it may freely be 
iven out as there is a demand for it. At 
rst the velocity with which this line runs 
over the side of the boat is so great, that it is 
wetted to prevent its taking fire : but in a short 
time the strength of the whale begins to fail, 
and the fishermen, instead of letting out more 
rope, strive as much as possible to pull back 
what is given out already, though they always 
find themselves necessitated to yield at last 
to the efforts of the animal, to prevent his 
sinking their boat. If lie runs out the two 
hundred fathoms of line contained in one 
boat, that belonging to another is immediately 
fastened to the end of the first, and so on ; 
and there have been instances, tvhere all the 
rope belonging to the six boats has been ne- 
cessary, though half that quantity is seldom 
required. The whale cannot stay long below 
the water, but again comes up to blow : and be- 
ing now much fatigued and wounded, stays 
longer above water than usual. This gives an- 
other boat time to come up with him, and he is 
again struck with another harpoon. He again 
descends, but with less force than before ; 
and when he comes up again, is generally in- 
capable of descending, but suffers himself to 
be wounded and killed with long lances, 
which the men are provided with for the pur- 
pose. He is known to be near death when 
he spouts up the water deeply tinged with 
blood. 
The whale being dead, is lashed along-side 
the ship. They then lay it on one side, and 
put two ropes, one at the head, and the other 
in the place of the tail, which, together with 
the fins, is struck off as soon as he is taken, to 
keep these extremities above water. On the 
off-side of the whale are two boats, to receive 
the pieces of fat, utensils, and men, that might 
otherwise fall into the water on that side. 
These precautions having been taken, three 
or four men with irons at their feet, to 
prevent slipping, get on the whale, and 
begin to cut out pieces of about three 
feet thick and eight long, which are hauled 
up at the capstan or windlass. When the 
fat is all got otf, they cut off the whiskers 
of the upper jaw with an axe. Before they 
cut, they are all lashed to keep them firm : 
which also facilitates the cutting, and prevents 
them from falling into the sea. When on 
hoard, five or six of them are bundled toge- 
ther, and properly stowed ; and after all is 
got off, the carcase is turned adrift, and 
devoured by the bears, who are very fond of 
it. In proportion as the large pieces of fat 
are cut otf, the rest of the crew are em- 
ployed in slicing them smaller, and also 
in picking out all the lean. When this is pre- 
pared, they stow it under the deck, where it 
lies till the fat of all the whales is on board ; 
then cutting it still smaller, they put it up in 
casks in the hold) cramming them very full 
and close. Nothing now remains but to sail 
homewards, where the fat is boiled, and melt- 
ed down into train oil. 
BALANCE, or bullance, in mechanics, 
one of the simple powers which serve to find 
out the equality or difference of weight in 
heavy bodies. See Mechanics. 
T he modern balance consists of a lever, 
suspended exactly by the middle, and scales 
affixed to each extremity : the principle on 
which each is founded is the same, and may 
be easily conceived. 
Balance, hi/drostatical. See the article 
Hydrostatics. 
Balance of trade, in commerce, the 
equality between the value of the commodi- 
ties bought of foreigners, and the value of 
the native productions transported into other 
nations. 
It is reckoned that that nation lias the ad- 
vantage in the balance of trade, which ex- 
ports more of native commodities, and imports 
less of the foreign ; so that the nation grows 
so much richer in bullion as the balance of 
that trade amounts to, which must be made 
up of bullion or money. 
Among various others, the most received 
methods of arriving at the knowledge whe- 
ther a nation gains or loses by foreign trade, 
or any branch thereof, are the following : 
1°. A strict survey must be taken of what 
proportion the value of the commodities 
exported bears to those imported. If the ex- 
ports exceed the imports, it is concluded that 
that nation is so far in a gaining way, by the 
overplus imported in bullion. But this me- 
thod is uncertain, from the difficulty of ob- 
taining a true account, either of the exports 
or imports ; as custom-house books are no 
rule in this case, on account of the running 
of goods, especially many fine commodities 
of small bulk, but great value ; besides the 
various accidents which affect the value of 
the stock, either sent out or brought in, as 
losses at sea, &c. 
2°. The second method, no less defective 
than the other, is by observing the course «f 
exchange, which it generally above the in- 
trinsic value, or par of the coins of foreign 
countries, we. not only lose by such exchange, 
but the same is a proof that we lose by the 
general course of our trade. 
3°. The third method is made from the in- 
crease or the diminution of our trade and 
shipping in general; for if these diminish, 
the nation loses, and vice versa : this seems 
equally imperfect with the following. 
4°. A fourth way is, by observing the in- 
crease and diminution of our coin and bul- 
lion. 
Balance of a clock or watch. See the 
article Clockwork. 
Balancers/*. See Zygiena. 
B ALAN I marini, certain multivalve 
shells, usually growing in clusters on the shells 
of the larger sort of sea shell-fish. See Le- 
pas. 
BALCONY, in architecture, a projection 
in the front of a house, or other building, 
supported by pillars or consoles, and encom- 
passed with a balustrade : or it is a kind of 
open gallery for people to stand in, to be- 
hold any public show, or for taking the air 
in. 
Balcony, in a ship, is a gallery either co- 
vered or open, made abaft, either for orna- 
ment or convenience of the captain’s cabin. 
BAl 
BALDACHIN, or Baldaquin, In arch!* 
teeture, a building in form of a canopy, sup- 
ported by pillars, and frequently used as a 
covering to insulated altars. Some also use 
the term baldachin for the shell over a door. 
BALE, in commerce, is said of merchan- 
dises packed up in cloth, and corded round 
very tight, in order, to keep tiiem from 
breaking, or preserve them from the wea- 
ther. 
A bale of cotton-yarn is from three to four 
hundred weight ; oV raw silk, it is from one 
to four hundred ; of loekrum or dowlass 
either three, three and a half, or four pieces. 
BALK-gooffs, among the English merchants, 
are all such as are imported or exported in 
bales ; but the French give that name to 
certain hardwares, and other sort of mer- 
chandise, which come to Baris, and are com- 
monly made by bad workmen, of indifferent 
materials. 
BALISTES, in ichthyology, a genus of 
fishes belonging to the order of amphibia 
nantes. The characters are these ; the head 
is fiat ;■ there are eight teeth in each side, 
and the two anterior ones are longest ; in the 
place of gills, the balistes has an aperture im- 
mediately above the pectoral fins ; the body 
is fiat, the scales are joined together by the 
skin, and the belly is keeled. There are 24 
species of this genus : the most remarkable 
are, 
1. Balistes aculeatus, which has a triradiat- 
ed back fin ; and the spines of the tail lean 
upon each other. It is a native of India. 
2. Balistes hispidus lias the head-fin unira- 
diated; and there is around black spot in 
the tail fin. The body is rough, and bristly 
towards Hie tail. The spine or horn is si- 
tuated between the eyes ; the snout is subu- 
lated ; and instead of a belly-fin, it has a 
jagged sharp spine. This species is a native 
of Carolina. 
3. Balistes monoceros, whose head-fin con- 
sists of but one ray, and the tail-rays ' are cari- 
nated. It is called the unicorn fish by Ca- 
tesby, who informs us that the intestines of this 
fish are full of small shells and coralline sub- 
stances, which by the strength and hardness of 
its jaw it is enabled to grind very small. 
These fish, he adds, are not eaten, being ac • 
counted poisonous. They, most frequent 
those seas, amongst the Bahama islands, 
where tfie corals are in greatest plenty. 
4. Balistes papillosus has a biradiated back- 
fin, and a papillous body. 
5. Balistes ringens has a tri radiated back- 
fin ; there are three folds in each side of the 
head, and the tail-fin is forked, it is found 
at Ascension Island. 
6. Balistes tomentosus, whose head-fin is 
biradiated, and the body of it towards the 
hind part is hairy. It is a native of Ame- 
rica. 
7. Balistes verrucosus has a triradiated 
back-fin, and the tail is full of little warts. In 
the place of a belly-fin, this species has a 
large, thick, warty ray. It has 25 small re- 
versed sharp spines at the side of the tail, dis- 
posed in four rows. It is a native of India. 
8. Balistes vetula, or old wife, lias a 1 r Ra- 
diated back-fin ; the belly-fin is longitudinal, 
and somewhat carinated ; and the tail is fin- 
forked. It is found at Ascension Island. See 
Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 45. 
Nearly all the fishes of this genus, which 
by Linnaeus is divided into nineteen species. 
