BAK 
pleted that work he died, in the year 1643, 
at 61 years of age. 
Dr. Bainbridge wrote many works, but 
most of them have never been published ; 
those that were published, were the three 
following : viz. 1. “ An Astronomical De- 
scription of the late Comet, from the 18th 
of November, 1618, to the 16th of Decem- 
ber folio wing j”4to, London, 1619. 2. “Pro- 
cli Spheera, Ptolommi de Hypothesibus Pla- 
netarum Liber singularis.” To which he ad- 
ded Ptolomy’s “ Canon Reguorum.” He 
collated these pieces with ancient manu- 
scripts, and gave a Latin version of them, 
illustrated with figures : printed in 4to, 
1620. 3. “ Canicularia.’’ A treatise con- 
cerning the Dog-star, and the canicular 
days : published at Oxford, in 1648, by Mr. 
Greaves, together with a demonstration of 
the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog-star, for 
the parallel of Lower E^ypt. Dr. Bain- 
bridge undertook this work at the request 
of Archbishop Usher, but he left it imper- 
fect ; being prevented by the breaking out 
of the civil war, or by death. 
There were also several dissertations of 
his prepared for and committed to the press 
the year after his death, but the edition of 
them was never completed. 
BAIT, in fishing, a thing prepared to take 
and bring fishes to. See Angling. 
BAITING is applied to the act of smal- 
ler or weaker beasts attacking and harrass- 
ing greater and stronger ones. Bulls and 
bears are baited by mastiffs, or bull-dogs. 
The practice of bull-baiting, and other 
sports of the same kind, which cannot be 
too strongly reprobated, may be traced to 
an early period of our history. In the 
twelfth century, it was a common practice 
on every holiday. In the reign of Henry 
VIII. many herds of bears were maintained 
for the purpose of baiting. Queen Mary 
had a great exhibition of bear-baiting im- 
mediately after mass, with which to enter- 
tain her sister Elizabeth, then a prisoner in 
Hatfield-house ; and the same princess, 
soon after her accession to the throne, en- 
tertained the foreign ambassadors with the 
baiting of bulls and bears, The custom of 
bull-baiting was most ingeniously defended 
by Mr. Windham in the House of Commons 
jn the session of 1803, when a bill was 
brought in to stop that inhuman practice. 
Whales are baited by a kind of fish called 
orim or killers, ten or twelve, of which will 
attack a young whale at once, and not 
leave him till he is killed. 
BAKER (Thomas), a mathematician of 
BAK 
some eminence, was born at Ilton, in So- 
mersetshire, in 1625. He entered upon his 
studies at Oxford, in 1640, where he re- 
mained seven years. He was afterwards 
appointed vicar of Bishop’s-Nymmet, in 
Devonshire, where he lived a studious and 
retired life for many years, chiefly pursuing 
the mathematical sciences; of which he 
gave a proof of his critical knowledge, in the 
book lie published, concerning the general 
construction of biquadratic equations, by a 
parabola and a circle ; the title of which 
book at full length is, “ The Geometrical 
Key ; or the Gate of Equations unlocked : 
or a new Discovery of the Construction of 
all Equations, howsoever affected, not ex- 
ceeding the fourth degree; viz. of Linears, 
Quadratics, Cubics, Biquadratics, and the 
finding of all their roots.” 
A little before his death, the Royal So- 
ciety sent him some mathematical queries ; 
to which he returned such satisfactory an- 
swers, as procured the present of a medal, 
with an inscription full of honour and re- 
spect. Mr. Baker died at Bishop’s Nym- 
met, 1690, in the 65th year of his age. 
BAKER (Henry), an ingenious and di- 
ligent naturalist, was born in London about 
the beginning of the 18th century. He was 
brought up under an eminent bookseller, 
but being of a philosophical turn of mind, 
he quitted that line of business soon after 
the expiration of his apprenticeship, and 
took to the employment of teaching deaf 
and dumb persons to speak and write, &c. 
in which occupation, in the course of his 
life he acquired a handsome fortune. For 
his amusement he cultivated various natural 
and philosophical sciences, particularly bo- 
tany, natural history, and microscopical 
subjects, in which he especially excelled, 
having, in the year 1744, obtained the Royal 
Society’s gold medal, for his microscopical 
experiments on the crystallizations and con- 
figurations of saline particles. He published 
various papers in the Transaction of theRoyal 
Society, ot which he was a worthy member, 
as well as of the Society of Antiquaries. 
He was author of many pieces on various 
subjects, the principal of which were, his 
Treatise on the Water Polype, and two 
Treatises on the Microscope; viz. “The Mi- 
croscope made easy,” and “Employment 
for the Microscope,” which have gone 
through several editions. 
Mr. Baker married Sophia, youngest 
daughter of the celebrated Daniel Defoe, 
by whom he had two sons, who both died 
before him. He terminated an honourable 
