balance-plow 
to be used without turning, and is so arranged as to cast 
all the furrows in the same direction, the one part of the 
frame being raised outof the ground wlirii moving in one 
direction, and the other when moving in the opposite. It 
is the front part of the frame, or that furthest from where 
the driver sits, which is elevated, the plowing apparatus 
connected with the after part being always inserted in the 
ground and doing the work. Balance-plows are used in 
steam-plowing. Generally two, three, or four sets of plow- 
bodies and colters are attached to either extremity, so 
that two, three, or four furrows are made at once. See 
plow. 
balancer (bal'au-ser), n. 1. One who balances 
or weighs ; a weigher of things in or as in a 
balance. 
The nicest of our modern critical balancers. 
Damon, Orig. of World, p. 59. 
2. An acrobat; one who balances himself. 
3. One who or that which keeps a thing or 
things in equilibrium; that which maintains 
or helps to maintain something in a state of 
balance or equipoise. 4. Specifically, in cutom., 
a halter (which see) ; a poiser ; the small organ 
supposed to be usef ul in balancing the body ; 
one of a pair of slender processes with clubbed 
ends placed near the insertion of the wings, 
especially of dipterous insects. 5. In herpet., 
an elongate cylindrical rod protruding from 
each side of the head of larval salamanders, in 
front of the gills : permanently retained in cer- 
tain forms, as the ceecilias and some sala- 
manders. E. D. Cope, 
balance-reef (bal'ans-ref), n. Naut., a reef- 
band crossing a sail diagonally. A balance-reef 
Balance-rudder. 
Balance- reef, 
a, sail before reefing ; b, balance-reefed sail. 
is generally placed in all gaff -sails, the band running from 
the throat to the clew. Either the upper or the lower half 
of the sail may be reefed. 
balance-rudder (bal'ans-rud"er), . A rudder 
supported on a skeg 
or projection from 
the keel, about one 
third of its surface 
being forward of and 
two thirds abaft its 
vertical axis of mo- 
tion. See rudder. 
balance-rynd (bal'- 
ans-rind), n. An iron 
bar stretched across 
the eye of a revolv- 
ing millstone, to 
support the stone 
upon the top of its 
spindle. 
balance-sections (barans-sek"shgnz), n. pL In 
ship-building, a pair of sections, one near each 
end of the vessel, which are not designed till 
after the midship section and the water-line 
are determined. 
balance-Sheet (bal'ans-shet), n. A statement 
made by merchants and others to show the 
true state of a particular business. A balance- 
sheet should exhibit all the balances of debits and credits, 
also the value of the merchandise, and the result of the 
whole. (Bouvier.) A statement designed to show the as- 
sets and liabilities and the profits and losses of a com- 
pany. (Marsh, Bank Book-keeping.) 
Many banks publish balance-sheets professing to show 
the reserve of ready money. 
Je cons, Money and Mech. of Exchange, p. 320. 
balance-Step (bal'ans-step), n. In milit. tactics, 
an exercise in squad-drill intended to teach 
the principles of marching. 
balance-thermometer (bal'ans -ther-mom^e - 
ter), n. A device in which mercury inclosed in 
a balanced tube is caused to make one or the 
other of the ends preponderate, thereby open- 
ing or closing a window or damper, or touch- 
ing an alarm. 
balance-valve (bal'ans-valv), . A valve in 
which the fluid is admitted to both sides, and 
acts with nearly equal pressure in opposite 
directions, but with an excess in the direction 
of the seat sufficient to keep the valve in con- 
tact with it when closed. It is a construction de- 
426 
signed to permit the operation of a valve by a slight 
force. The balance puppet-valve has two disks upon a 
single stem, the fluid being admitted either between the 
two disks or above the upper and below the lower. One 
disk is made larger than the other, that there may be a 
slight excess of pressure tending to close the valve, or to 
keep it pressed to its seat. 
balance-vise (bal'ans-vis), . A small tail- 
vise used by watchmakers. 
balance-wheel (bal'ans-hwel), n. 1. Awheel 
in a watch or chronometer which by the regu- 
larity of its motion determines the beat or 
strike. 2. Figuratively, whatever serves for 
the regulation or coordination of movements. 
These are in themselves very objectionable ; the true 
regulator's, the proper balance-wheels, are those which 
have been described. Brougham. 
Balance-wheel engine, a watchmakers' instrument, 
used in the construction of the balance-wheel. Bal- 
ance-wheel file, a watchmakers' file with three sides, 
one convex and cut. the others plane and smooth. It is 
used in working in the sectoropenings of a balance-wheel. 
Compensation balance-wheel, a balance-wheel whose 
rim is formed of two metals of different expansive powers, 
so arranged that the change of size of the wheel, as the 
temperature rises or falls, is compensated for by the 
change in position of the parts of the rim. 
balandra (ba-lau'dra), . [Sp. Pg. balandra 
= F. belandre, < D. bijlander, > E. Inlander : see 
bilander.] A small coasting vessel used in 
South America. 
balandrana (ba-lan'dra-na), n. [ML. ; OF. 
balandran, F. balandras = Sp. balandran = It. 
palandrano, palandrana; origin unknown.] A 
wide cloak or mantle used as an additional gar- 
ment by travelers and others in the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries. Also called super- 
totus. 
balanid (bal'a-nid), n. A cirriped of the family 
Balanidte. 
Balanidas (ba-lan'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Balanus 
+ -ida'.] A family of sessile thoracic cirripeds, 
of which the genus Balanus is the type. The 
peduncle is absent or rudimentary, the operculum is 
present, and the scuta and terga are movably articu- 
lated. The species are commonly called acorn-shells or 
sea-acorns, and often share the name barnacle with the 
species of Lepas. They are found all over the world, ad- 
hering closely to submerged rocks, timber, etc. Also 
Balanoidea. See cuts under Balanus. 
balaniferpus (bal-a-nif 'e-rus), o. [< L. balamts 
(< Gr. (tdfavoc,), an acorn, + jferre = E. bear*.] 
Bearing, yielding, or producing acorns. 
Balaninus (bal-a-ni'nus), n. [NL., < L. balanus 
(< Gr. jid'Aavof), an acorn, + -inus.] A genus of 
rhynehophorous 
beetles, of the 
family Curculi- 
onidos or weevils ; 
the nut-weevils. 
B. nucitni is the 
weevil of hazels 
and filberts ; B. 
glandium and B. 
rectus, of acorns. 
balanism (bal'a- 
nizm), n. [< Gr. 
ftdAavo;, an acorn, 
a suppository, + 
-ism ; cf. Gr. /fa/la- 
vifctv, administer 
a suppository.] 
In med., the application of a suppository or 
pessary. 
balanite (bal'a-nit), n. [< L. balanites: see 
Balanites.] If. A kind of precious stone. 2. 
A fossil cirriped of the family Balanidte. 
Balanites (bal-a-m'tez), . [L., < Gr. fkdartnK, 
a precious stone, prop. adj. (sc. /U0of), acorn- 
shaped, < /3d/laror, an acorn. Cf. Balanus.] 1. 
[I.e.] A kind of precious stone; balanite. 2. 
[NL. ] A simarubaceous genus of plants, includ- 
ing two species, spiny shrubs or small trees, na- 
tives of the drier parts of India, western Asia, 
and tropical Africa. The fruit is a one-seeded drape, 
the pulp of which is sometimes used in India in cleaning 
silk. The oily seeds, as well as the bark and subacid leaves, 
of the Indian species, B. Roxburyhii, are employed in native 
medicine, and the hard woody nut is made into a kind of 
fireworks. The African species is B. .Vgi/ptiaca. 
S. [NL.] A genus of fossil cirripeds, of the 
family Balanidte. 
balanitis (bal-a-nl'tis), n. [NL., < Gr. fldAavor,, 
acorn, glans penis, + -itis.] In pathol., in- 
flammation of the glans penis. 
balanoglossid (baFa-uo-glos'id), n. A mem- 
ber of the family Balanoglossidix. 
Balanoglossidae (bal"a-no-glos'i-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Balanoglossus -f -ida;.] The family of 
invertebrates represented by the genus Bala- 
nonlossua. 
Balanoglossus (baFa-uo-glos'us), . [NL., < 
Gr. (id'/Mvuf, an acorn, -f- y/.ucoa, tongue.] 1. An 
B alarms 
extraordinary genus of invertebrate animals, 
the type not only of a family, Jidlnnoghsnidce, 
but also of an order or even a distinct class of 
animals, Enteropneusta (which see), it is related 
in its mode of development to the echinoderms, in some 
respects to the ascidians, and is usually classed with the 
I. The Tornaria larva, about 1-12 of an inch long, enlarged, side 
view, a, anus ; *, vessels leading to the dorsal pore, rf, from sac of 
the water-vascular system, w; u- , prolongation of the sac ; it, heart; 
r, intestine ; J, stomach ; e, esophagus ; in. mouth ; n, it , lobes of 
alimentary canal ; tnb. muscular band from eye-speck . f, to water-vas- 
cular sac. II. Young balanoglossus. Letters as before, except g, the 
first-formed branchial stigmata. III. Balanoglossus, more advanced. 
c , collar ; /, proboscis. 
Venues. The members of this genus are elongated, foot- 
less, soft-bodied worms, with the mouth at one end of the 
body and the anus at the other. The fore part of the body 
presents a kind of collar surrounding a constriction from 
which springs a long hollow proboscis-like organ, whence 
the name Balanoylossus, this organ being like a tongue 
somewhat acorn-shaped, proceeding from within the col- 
lar like an acorn from its cup. On the portion of the body 
from which the proboscis springs there is a flattened area 
with a longitudinal series of branchial apertures, commu- 
nicating with branchial sacs connected with the alimen- 
tary canal; hence the term Enteropneusta. In consequence 
of this relation of the respiratory to the alimentary canal, 
Huxley associates Balanoylosints with Tunicata (or ascidi- 
ans) as members of a pharyngopneustal series. The larval 
form of Balanofflofifnut was formerly called Tornaria, and 
regarded as an echinoderm from its great resemblance to 
the larva of a starfish. 
2. [1. c.] A member of the genus Balanof/lossus. 
balanoid (bal'a-noid), a. and n. [< Gr. flaXa- 
voutirK, like an acorn, < [id^avoe, an acorn, + 
cldof, form.] I. a. Resembling an acorn : spe- 
cifically applied to the acorn-shells of the fam- 
ily Balanida>. See cut under Balanus. 
H. n. An acorn-shell ; a cirriped of the fam- 
ily Balanidte. 
Balanoidea (bal-a-noi'de-a), n. pi. [NL.,< Ba- 
lanus + -oidea. Cf . balanoid.] Same as Bala- 
nid(E. 
Balanophoraceoe (baFa-no-fo-ra'se-e), n. pi. 
[NL., CGr. /joXavof, an acorn, + -f6/>of, bearing 
(< ificpeiv =E. bear 1 ), + -acete.] An order of cu- 
rious apetalous leafless plants, related to the 
mistletoe, but parasitic upon the roots instead 
of the branches of other plants. From their simple 
structure, they were formerly thought to be allied to the 
fungi. There are about 40 known species, grouped into 14 
genera, natives of the tropics. They are generally of a 
Nut-weevil (Balaninus rectus. Say). 
a, dorsal view ; *, lateral view. (Verti- 
iws natural size, i 
Balanophoracfef. CynomoriMm coccintum, growing upon the root 
of a salsola, 1-15 natural size : a. inflorescence, J4 size. 
(From Le Maout and Dccaisne's "Traite general de Botanique.") 
bright yellow or red color. Their small flowers, in most 
cases unisexual, are aggregated into dense masses. The 
fruit is one-celled, with a single seed. 
balantt (ba'lant), a. [< L. balan(t-)s, ppr. of 
balare, bleat. Cf. baa.] Bleating. 
The balant and latrant noises of that sort of people. 
C. Mather, Mag. Christ, (ed. 1852), App., p. 620. 
Balanus (bal'a-nus), n. [L., < Gr. (3d2avor,, an 
acorn. Cf. L. glans, an acorn : see gland. ] The 
typical genus of sessile cir- 
ripeds of the family Bala- 
nidte'; the acorn-shells or 
sea-acorns, called barna- 
cles, except in Great Bri- 
tain, where the peduncu- 
lated Lepadidte have that 
name. B. tmtinnabuhtm is the 
representative species. The shell Kalanus f arcana. 
consists of 6 plates, with an oper- 
culum of 4 valves. Colonies are to be found on rocks left 
dry at low water, on ships, on timber, on lobsters and other 
crustaceans, and on the shells of eonchifers and other mol- 
lusks. They differ from the members of the genns Lepat 
in having a symmetrical shell and in being destitute of a 
flexible stalk. They pass through a larval stage of exis- 
