Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 6

[Sidenote: Phagocytosis.]

The destruction of bacteria by direct cellular agency both in natural and acquired immunity must not be overlooked. The behaviour of certain cells, especially leucocytes, in infective conditions led Metchnikoff to place great importance on phagocytosis. In this process there are two factors concerned, viz. the ingestion of bacteria by the cells, and the subsequent intracellular digestion. If either of these is wanting or interfered with, phagocytosis will necessarily fail as a means of defence. As regards the former, leucocytes are guided chiefly by chemiotaxis, _i.e._ by sensitiveness to chemical substances in their surroundings--a property which is not peculiar to them but is possessed by various unicellular organisms, including motile bacteria. When the cell moves from a less to a greater degree of concentration, _i.e._ towards the focus of production, the chemiotaxis is termed positive; when the converse obtains, negative.

This apparently purposive movement has been pointed out by M. Verworn to depend upon stimulation to contraction or the reverse. Metchnikoff showed that in animals immune to a given organism phagocytosis is present, whereas in susceptible animals it is deficient or absent. He also showed that the development of artificial immunity is attended by the appearance of phagocytosis; also, when an anti-serum is injected into an animal, the phagocytes which formerly were indifferent might move towards and destroy the bacteria. In the light of all the facts, however, especially those with regard to anti-bacterial sera, the presence of phagocytosis cannot be regarded as the essence of immunity, but rather the evidence of its existence. The increased ingestion of bacteria in active immunity would seem to depend upon the presence of immune opsonins in the serum. These, as already explained, are true anti-substances. Thus the apparent increased activity of the leucocytes is due to a preliminary effect of the opsonins on the bacteria. We have no distinct proof that there occurs in active immunity any education of the phagocytes, in Metchnikoff's sense, that is, any increase of the inherent ingestive or digestive activity of these cells. There is some evidence that in certain cases anti-substances may act upon the leucocytes, and to these the name of "stimulins" has been given.

We cannot, however, say that these play an important part in immunity, and even if it were so, the essential factor would be the development of the substances which act in this way. While in immunity there probably occurs no marked change in the leucocytes themselves, it must be admitted that the increased destruction of bacteria by these cells is of the highest importance. This, as already pointed out, depends upon the increase of opsonins, though it is also to be noted that in many infective conditions there is another factor present, namely a leucocytosis, that is, an increase of the leucocytes in the blood, and the defensive powers of the body are thereby increased. Evidence has been brought forward within recent years that the leucocytes may const.i.tute an important source of the antagonistic substances which appear in the serum. Much of such evidence possesses considerable weight, and seeing that these cells possess active digestive powers it is by no means improbable that substances with corresponding properties may be set free by them. To ascribe such powers to them exclusively is, however, not justifiable. Probably the lining endothelium of the blood-vessels as well as other tissues of the body partic.i.p.ate in the production of anti-substances.

[Sidenote: Natural immunity.]

The subject of artificial immunity has occupied a large proportion of bacteriological literature within recent years, and our endeavour has been mainly to indicate the general laws which are in process of evolution. When the facts of natural immunity are examined, we find that no single explanation is possible. Natural immunity against toxins must be taken into account, and, if Ehrlich's view with regard to toxic action be correct, this may depend upon either the absence of chemical affinity of the living molecules of the tissues for the toxic molecule, or upon insensitiveness to the action of the toxophorous group. It has been shown with regard to the former, for example, that the nervous system of the fowl, which possesses immunity against teta.n.u.s toxin, has little combining affinity for it. The non-sensitiveness of a cell to a toxic body when brought into immediate relations.h.i.+p cannot, however, be explained further than by saying that the disintegrative changes which underlie symptoms of poisoning are not brought about. Then as regards natural powers of destroying bacteria, phagocytosis aided by chemiotaxis plays a part, and it can be understood that an animal whose phagocytes are attracted by a particular bacterium will have an advantage over one in which this action is absent. Variations in chemiotaxis towards different organisms probably depend in natural conditions, as well as in active immunity, upon the opsonic content of the serum. Whether bacteria will be destroyed or not after they have been ingested by the leucocytes will depend upon the digestive powers of the latter, and these probably vary in different species of animals. The blood serum has a direct bactericidal action on certain bacteria, as tested outside the body, and this also varies in different animals. Observations made on this property with respect to the anthrax bacillus at first gave the hope that it might explain variations in natural immunity. Thus the serum of the white rat, which is immune to anthrax, kills the bacillus; whereas the serum of the guinea-pig, which is susceptible, has no such effect. Further observations, however, showed that this does not hold as a general law. The serum of the susceptible rabbit, for example, is bactericidal to this organism, whilst the serum of the immune dog is not.

In the case of the latter animal the serum [v.03 p.0180] contains an opsonin which leads to phagocytosis of the bacillus, and the latter is then destroyed by the leucocytes. It is quite evident that bactericidal action as tested _in vitro_ outside the body does not correspond to the degree of immunity possessed by the animal under natural conditions. We may say, however, that there are several factors concerned in natural immunity, of which the most important may be said to be the three following, viz.

variations in the bactericidal action of the serum _in vivo_, variations in the chemiotactic or opsonic properties of the serum _in vivo_, and variations in the digestive properties of the leucocytes of the particular animal. It is thus evident that the explanation of natural immunity in any given instance may be a matter of difficulty and much complexity.

AUTHORITIES.--Bacteriological literature has become so extensive that it is impossible to give here references to original articles, even the more important. A number of these, giving an account of cla.s.sical researches, were translated from French and German, and published by the New Sydenham Society under the t.i.tle _Microparasites in Disease: Selected Essays_, in 1886. The following list contains some of the more important books published within recent years. Abbott, _Principles of Bacteriology_ (7th ed., London, 1905); Crookshank, _Bacteriology and Infective Diseases_ (with bibliography, 4th ed., London, 1896); Duclaux, _Traite de microbiologie_ (Paris, 1899-1900); Eyre, _Bacteriological Technique_ (Philadelphia and London, 1902); Flugge, _Die Mikroorganismen_ (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1896); Fischer, _Vorlesungen uber Bakterien_ (2nd ed., Jena, 1902); Gunther, _Einfuhrung in das Studium der Bakteriologie_ (6th ed., Leipzig, 1906); Hewlett, _Manual of Bacteriology_ (2nd ed., London, 1902); Hueppe, _Principles of Bacteriology_ (translation, London, 1899); Klein, _Micro-organisms and Disease_ (3rd ed., London, 1896); Kolle and Wa.s.sermann, _Handbuch der pathogenen Mikroorganismen_ (Jena, 1904) (supplements are still being published; this is the most important work on the subject); Loffler, _Vorlesungen uber die geschichtliche Entwickelung der Lehre von der Bacterien_ (Leipzig, 1887); McFarland, _Text-book upon the Pathogenic Bacteria_ (5th ed., London, 1906); Muir and Ritchie, _Manual of Bacteriology_ (with bibliography, 4th ed., Edin. and Lond., 1908); Park, _Pathogenic Micro-organisms_ (London, 1906); Sternberg, _Manual of Bacteriology_ (with full bibliography, 2nd ed., New York, 1896); Woodhead, _Bacteria and their products_ (with bibliography, London, 1891). The bacteriology of the infective diseases (with bibliography) is fully given in the _System of Medicine_, edited by Clifford Allb.u.t.t, (2nd ed., London, 1907). For references consult _Centralbl. fur Bakter. u. Parasitenk._ (Jena); also _Index Medicus_. The most important works on immunity are: Ehrlich, _Studies in Immunity_ (English translation, New York, 1906), and Metchnikoff, _Immunity in Infective Diseases_ (English translation, Cambridge, 1905).

(R. M.*)

[1] Gr. [Greek: bakterion], Lat. _bacillus_, little rod or stick.

[2] _Cladothrix dichotoma_, for example, which is ordinarily a branched, filamentous, sheathed form, at certain seasons breaks up into a number of separate cells which develop a tuft of cilia and escape from the sheath.

Such a behaviour is very similar to the production of zoospores which is so common in many filamentous algae.

[3] Brefeld has observed that a bacterium may divide once every half-hour, and its progeny repeat the process in the same time. One bacterium might thus produce in twenty-four hours a number of segments amounting to many millions of millions.

[4] The difficulties presented by such minute and simple organisms as the Schizomycetes are due partly to the few "characters" which they possess and partly to the dangers of error in manipulating them; it is anything but an easy matter either to trace the whole development of a single form or to recognize with certainty any one stage in the development unless the others are known. This being the case, and having regard to the minuteness and ubiquity of these organisms, we should be very careful in accepting evidence as to the continuity or otherwise of any two forms which falls short of direct and uninterrupted observation. The outcome of all these considerations is that, while recognizing that the "genera" and "species"

as defined by Cohn must be recast, we are not warranted in uniting any forms the continuity of which has not been directly observed; or, at any rate, the strictest rules should be followed in accepting the evidence adduced to render the union of any forms probable.

BACTRIA (_Bactriana_), the ancient name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Paropamisus) and the Oxus (Amu Darya), with the capital Bactra (now Balkh); in the Persian inscriptions B[=a]khtri. It is a mountainous country with a moderate climate. Water is abundant and the land is very fertile. Bactria was the home of one of the Iranian tribes (see PERSIA: _Ancient History_). Modern authors have often used the name in a wider sense, as the designation of the whole eastern part of Iran. As there can be scarcely any doubt that it was in these regions, where the fertile soil of the mountainous country is everywhere surrounded and limited by the Turanian desert, that the prophet Zoroaster preached and gained his first adherents, and that his religion spread from here over the western parts of Iran, the sacred language in which the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism, is written, has often been called "old Bactrian." But there is no reason for this extensive use of the name, and the term "old Bactrian" is, therefore, at present completely abandoned by scholars. Still less foundation exists for the belief, once widely spread, that Bactria was the cradle of the Indo-European race; it was based on the supposition that the nations of Europe had immigrated from Asia, and that the Aryan languages (Indian and Iranian) stood nearest to the original language of the Indo-Europeans. It is now acknowledged by all linguists that this supposition is quite wrong, and that the Aryans probably came from Europe.

The eastern part of Iran seems to have been the region where the Aryans lived as long as they formed one people, and whence they separated into Indians and Iranians.

The Iranian tradition, preserved in the Avesta and in Firdousi's _Shahnama_, localizes a part of its heroes and myths in the east of Iran, and has transformed the old G.o.ds who fight with the great snake into kings of Iran who fight with the Turanians. Many modern authors have attempted to make history out of these stories, and have created an old Bactrian empire of great extent, the kings of which had won great victories over the Turanians. But this historical aspect of the myth is of late origin: it is nothing but a reflex of the great Iranian empire founded by the Achaemenids and restored by the Sa.s.sanids. The only historical fact which we can learn from the Iranian tradition is that the contrast and the feud between the peasants of Iran and the nomads of Turan was as great in old times as it is now: it is indeed based upon the natural geographical conditions, and is therefore eternal. But a great Bactrian empire certainly never existed; the Bactrians and their neighbours were in old times ruled by petty local kings, one of whom was Vishtaspa, the protector of Zoroaster. Ctesias in his history of the a.s.syrian empire (Diodor. Sic. ii. 6 ff.) narrates a war waged by Ninus and Semiram, against the king of Bactria (whom some later authors, _e.g._ Justin i. 1, call Zoroaster). But the whole a.s.syrian history of Ctesias is nothing but a fantastic fiction; from the a.s.syrian inscriptions we know that the a.s.syrians never entered the eastern parts of Iran.

Whether Bactria formed part of the Median empire, we do not know; but it was subjugated by Cyrus and from then formed one of the satrapies of the Persian empire. When Alexander had defeated Darius III., his murderer Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, tried to organize a national resistance in the east. But Bactria was conquered by Alexander without much difficulty; it was only farther in the north, beyond the Oxus, in Sogdiana, that he met with strong resistance. Bactria became a province of the Macedonian empire, and soon came under the rule of Seleucus, king of Asia (see SELEUCID DYNASTY and h.e.l.lENISM). The Macedonians (and especially Seleucus I. and his son Antiochus I.) founded a great many Greek towns in eastern Iran, and the Greek language became for some time dominant there. The many difficulties against which the Seleucid kings had to fight and the attacks of Ptolemy II., gave to Diodotus, satrap of Bactria, the opportunity of making himself independent (about 255 B.C.) and of conquering Sogdiana. He was the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. Diodotus and his successors were able to maintain themselves against the attacks of the Seleucids; and when Antiochus III., "the Great," had been defeated by the Romans (190 B.C.), the Bactrian king Euthydemus and his son Demetrius crossed the Hindu Kush and began the conquest of eastern Iran and the Indus valley. For a short time they wielded great power; a great Greek empire seemed to have arisen far in the East. But this empire was torn by internal dissensions and continual usurpations. When Demetrius advanced far into India one of his generals, Eucratides, made himself king of Bactria, and soon in every province there arose new usurpers, who proclaimed themselves kings and fought one against the other. Most of them we know only by their coins, a great many of which are found in Afghanistan and India. By these wars the dominant position of the Greeks was undermined even more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings abandoned the Attic standard of coinage and introduced a native standard; at the same time the native language came into use by the side of the Greek. On the coins struck in India, the well-known Indian alphabet (called Brahmi by the Indians, the older form of the Devanagari) is used; on the coins struck in Afghanistan and in the Punjab the Kharosh[t.]hi alphabet, which is derived directly from the Aramaic and was in common use in the western parts of India, as is shown by one of the inscriptions of Asoka and by the recent discovery of many fragments of Indian ma.n.u.scripts, written in Kharosh[t.]hi, in eastern Turkestan (formerly this alphabet has been called Arianic or Bactrian Pali; the true name is derived from Indian sources).

The weakness of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdoms was shown by their sudden and complete overthrow. In the west the Arsacid empire had risen, and Mithradates I. and Phraates II. began to conquer some of their western districts, especially Areia (Herat). But in the north a new race appeared, Mongolian tribes, called [v.03 p.0181] Scythians by the Greeks, amongst which the Tochari, identical with the Yue-chi (_q.v._) of the Chinese, were the most important. In 159 B.C., according to Chinese sources, they entered Sogdiana, in 139 they conquered Bactria, and during the next generation they had made an end to the Greek rule in eastern Iran. Only in India the Greek conquerors (Menander, Apollodotus) maintained themselves some time longer. But in the middle of the 1st century B.C. the whole of eastern Iran and western India belonged to the great "Indo-Scythian" empire. The ruling dynasty had the name Kushan (Kushana), by which they are called on their coins and in the Persian sources. The most famous of these kings is Kanishka (ca. 123-153), the great protector of Buddhism. The princ.i.p.al seat of the Tochari and the Kushan dynasty seems to have been Bactria; but they always maintained the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan and Baluchistan, while the western regions (Areia, _i.e._ Herat, Seistan and part of the Helmund valley) were conquered by the Arsacids. In the 3rd century the Kushan dynasty began to decay; about A.D. 320 the Gupta empire was founded in India. Thus the Kushanas were reduced to eastern Iran, where they had to fight against the Sa.s.sanids. In the 5th century a new people came from the east, the Ephthalites (_q.v._) or "white Huns," who subjected Bactria (about 450); and they were followed by the Turks, who first appear in history about A.D. 560 and subjugated the country north of the Oxus. Most of the small princ.i.p.alities of the Tochari or Kushan became subject to them. But when the Sa.s.sanian empire was overthrown by the Arabs, the conquerors immediately advanced eastwards, and in a few years Bactria and the whole Iran to the banks of the Jaxartes had submitted to the rule of the caliph and of Islam.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For the earlier times see PERSIA. For the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Scythian kingdoms see (beside articles on the separate kings):--H. H. Wilson, _Ariana Antiqua_ (1841); Cunningham, "The Greeks of Bactriana, Ariana and India" in _Numismatic Chronicle_, N. Ser. viii.-xii.; A. von Sallet, _Die Nachfolger Alexanders des Grossen in Baktrien und Indien_ (1879); P. Gardner, _The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of India_ (1886, Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, x.); A. von Gutschmid, _Geschichte Irans und seiner Nachbarlander von Alexander dem Grossen bis zum Untergang der Arsaciden_ (1888); A. Stein, "Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins," _Babylonian and Oriental Record_, i. 1887 (cf. Cunningham, _ib._ ii. 1888); Vincent A. Smith, "The Kush[=a]n or Indo-Scythian Period of Indian History," _Journal of the R. Asiatic Soc._, 1903 (cf. his _Early History of India_, 2nd ed. 1908); W. W. Tarn, "Notes on h.e.l.lenism in Bactria and India" in _Journ. of h.e.l.lenic Studies_, xxii.

1902. For the history and character of the Indian alphabet cf. J. Buhler, "Indische Palaographie" (in _Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie_, Bd.

i.). From the Greek authors only a few notices have been preserved, especially by Justin (and in the prologues of Trogus) and Strabo; for the later times we get some information from the Byzantine authors and from Persian and Armenian sources; cf. Th. Noldeke's translation of Tabari (_Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden_, 1890) and J.

Marquart, "Er[=a]n[vs]ahr" (_Abhandlungen der koniglichen Ges. d.

Wissenschaften zu Gottingen_, 1901). The Chinese sources are given by Deguignes, "Recherches sur quelques evenements qui concernent l'histoire des rois grecs de la Bactriane," _Mem. de l'acad. des inscriptions_, xxv.; E. Specht, "etudes sur l'Asie centrale d'apres les historiens chinois" in _Journal asiatique_, 8 serie, ii. 1883, 9 serie, x. 1857; Sylvain Levi, "Notes sur les Indo-scythiens," _Journal asiatique_, 9 serie ix., x. and others.

(ED. M.)

BACUP, a market town and munic.i.p.al borough in the Rossendale parliamentary division of Lancas.h.i.+re, England, on the river Irwell, 203 m. N.N.W. from London, and 22 N. by E. from Manchester, on the Lancas.h.i.+re & Yorks.h.i.+re railway. Pop. (1901) 22,505. It is finely situated in a narrow valley, surrounded by wild, high-lying moorland. It is wholly of modern growth, and contains several handsome churches and other buildings, while among inst.i.tutions the chief is the mechanics' inst.i.tute and library. The recreation grounds presented in 1893 by Mr. J. H. Maden, M.P., are beautifully laid out. Cotton spinning and power-loom weaving are the chief of numerous manufacturing industries, and there are large collieries in the vicinity. The principle of co-operation is strongly developed, and a large and handsome store contains among other departments a free library for members. The borough was incorporated in 1882, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 17 councillors. Area, 6120 acres. In 1841 the population of the chapelry was only 1526. One of the hills in the vicinity is fortified with a great ancient earthwork and ditch.

BADAGAS (literally "a Telugu man"), a tribe inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills, in India, by some authorities declared not to be an aboriginal or jungle race. They are probably Dravidian by descent, though they are in religion Hindus of the Saiva sect. They are supposed to have migrated to the Nilgiris from Mysore about A.D. 1600, after the breaking up of the kingdom of Vijayanagar. They are an agricultural people and far the most numerous and wealthy of the hill tribes. They pay a tribute in grain, &c., to the Todas. Their language is a corrupt form of Kanarese. At the census of 1901 they numbered 34,178.

See J. W. Breeks, _An Account of the Primitive Tribes of the Nilgiris_ (1873); _Nilgiri Manual_, vol. i. pp. 218-228; _Madras Journ. of Sci. and Lit._ vol. viii. pp. 103-105; _Madras Museum Bulletin_, vol. ii., no. 1, pp. 1-7.

BADAJOZ (formerly sometimes written Badajos), a frontier province of western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from the province of Estremadura (_q.v._), and bounded on the N. by Caceres, E. by Cordova and Ciudad Real, S. by Seville and Huelva, and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900) 520,246; area, 8451 sq. m. Badajoz is thus the largest province of the whole kingdom. Although in many districts there are low ranges of hills, the surface is more often a desolate and monotonous plain, flat or slightly undulating. Its one large river is the Guadiana, which traverses the north of the province from east to west, fed by many tributaries; but it is only at certain seasons that the river-beds fill with any considerable volume of water, and the Guadiana may frequently be forded without difficulty. The climate shows great extremes of heat in summer and of cold in winter, when fierce north and north-west winds blow across the plains. In the hot months intermittent fevers are prevalent in the Guadiana valley. The rainfall is scanty in average years, and only an insignificant proportion of the land is irrigated, while the rest is devoted to pasture, or covered with thin bush and forest. Agriculture, and the cultivation of fruit, including the vine and olive, are thus in a very backward condition; but Badajoz possesses more livestock than any other Spanish province. Its acorn-fed swine are celebrated throughout Spain for their hams and bacon, and large herds of sheep and goats thrive where the pasture is too meagre for cattle.

The exploitation of the mineral resources of Badajoz is greatly hindered by lack of water and means of communication; in 1903, out of nearly 600 mines registered only 26 were at work. Their output consisted of lead, with very small quant.i.ties of copper. The local industries are not of much importance: they comprise manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs of a coa.r.s.e description, soaps, oils, cork and leather. The purely commercial interests are more important than the industrial, because of the transit trade to and from Portugal through no less than seven custom-houses. Many parts of the province are inaccessible except by road, and the roads are ill-made, ill-kept and wholly insufficient. The main line of the Madrid-Lisbon railway pa.s.ses through Villanueva de la Serena, Merida and Badajoz; at Merida it is joined by the railways going north to Caceres and south to Zafra, where the lines from Huelva and Seville unite. After Badajoz, the capital (pop. (1900) 30,899), the princ.i.p.al towns are Almendralejo (12,587), Azuaga (14,192), Don Benito (16,565), Jerez de los Caballeros (10,271), Merida (11,168) and Villanueva de la Serena (13,489); these, and also the historically interesting village of Albuera, are described in separate articles. Other small towns, chiefly important as markets for agricultural produce, are Albuquerque (9030), Cabeza del Buey (7566), Campanario (7450), Fregenal de la Sierra (9615), Fuente de Cantos (8483), Fuente del Maestre (6934), Llerena (7049), Montijo (7644), Oliva de Jerez (8348), Olivenza (9066), San Vicente de Alcantara (7722), and Villafranca de los Barros (9954). Very few inhabitants emigrate from this province, where the birth-rate considerably exceeds the death-rate.

Education, even primary, is in a very backward condition.

BADAJOZ, the capital of the Spanish province described above; situated close to the Portuguese frontier, on the left [v.03 p.0182] bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid-Lisbon railway. Pop. (1900) 30,899. Badajoz is the see of a bishop, and the official residence of the captain-general of Estremadura. It occupies a slight eminence, crowned by the ruins of a Moorish castle, and overlooking the Guadiana. A strong wall and bastions, with a broad moat and outworks, and forts on the surrounding heights, give the city an appearance of great strength. The river, which flows between the castle-hill and the powerfully armed fort of San Cristobal, is crossed by a magnificent granite bridge, originally built in 1460, repaired in 1597 and rebuilt in 1833. The whole aspect of Badajoz recalls its stormy history; even the cathedral, built in 1258, resembles a fortress, with ma.s.sive embattled walls. Badajoz was the birthplace of the statesman Manuel de G.o.doy, duke of Alcudia (1767-1851), and of the painter Luis de Morales (1509-1586). Two pictures by Morales, unfortunately retouched in modern times, are preserved in the cathedral. Owing to its position the city enjoys a considerable transit trade with Portugal; its other industries include the manufacture of linen, woollen and leather goods, and of pottery. It is not mentioned by any Roman historian, and first rose to importance under Moorish rule. In 1031 it became the capital of a small Moorish kingdom, and, though temporarily held by the Portuguese in 1168, it retained its independence until 1229, when it was captured by Alphonso IX.

of Leon. As a frontier fortress it underwent many sieges. It was beleaguered by the Portuguese in 1660, and in 1705 by the Allies in the War of the Spanish Succession. During the Peninsular War Badajoz was unsuccessfully attacked by the French in 1808 and 1809; but on the 10th of March 1811, the Spanish commander, Jose Imaz, was bribed into surrendering to the French force under Marshal Soult. A British army, commanded by Marshal Beresford, endeavoured to retake it, and on the 16th of May defeated a relieving force at Albuera, but the siege was abandoned in June.

The fortress was finally stormed on the 6th of April 1812, by the British under Lord Wellington, and carried with terrible loss. It was then delivered up to a two day's pillage. A military and republican rising took place here in August 1883, but completely failed.

BADAKSHAN, including WAKHAN, a province on the north-east frontier of Afghanistan, adjoining Russian territory. Its north-eastern boundaries were decided by the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873, which expressly acknowledged "Badakshan with its dependent district Wakhan" as "fully belonging to the amir of Kabul," and limited it to the left or southern bank of the Oxus. Much of the interior of the province is still unexplored.

On the west, Badakshan is bounded by a line which crosses the Turkestan plains southwards from the junction of the Kunduz and Oxus rivers till it touches the eastern water-divide of the Tashkurghan river (here called the Koh-i-Chungar), and then runs south-east, crossing the Sarkhab affluent of the Khanabad (Kunduz), till it strikes the Hindu Kush. The southern boundary is carried along the crest of the Hindu Kush as far as the Khawak pa.s.s, leading from Badakshan into the Panjs.h.i.+r valley. Beyond this it is indefinite. It is known that the Kafirs occupy the crest of the Hindu Kush eastwards of the Khawak, but how far they extend north of the main watershed is not ascertainable. The southern limits of Badakshan become definite again at the Dorah pa.s.s. The Dorah connects Zebak and Ishkas.h.i.+m at the elbow, or bend, of the Oxus with the Lutku valley leading to Chitral.

From the Dorah eastwards the crest of the Hindu Kush again becomes the boundary till it effects a junction with the Muztagh and Sarikol ranges, which shut off China from Russia and India. Skirting round the head of the Tagdumbash Pamir, it finally merges into the Pamir boundary, and turns westwards, following the course of the Oxus, to the junction of that river and the Khanabad (Kunduz). So far as the northern boundary follows the Oxus stream, under the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, it is only separated by the length of these slopes (some 8 or 10 m.) from the southern boundary along the crest. Thus Badakshan reaches out an arm into the Pamirs eastwards--bottle-shaped--narrow at the neck (represented by the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush), and swelling out eastwards so as to include a part of the great and little Pamirs. Before the boundary settlement of 1873 the small states of Roshan and s.h.i.+gnan extended to the left bank of the Oxus, and the province of Darwaz, on the other hand, extended to the right bank. Now, however, the Darwaz extension northwards is exchanged for the Russian Pamir extension westwards, and the river throughout is the boundary between Russian and Afghan territory; the political boundaries of those provinces and those of Wakhan being no longer coincident with their geographical limits.

The following are the chief provincial subdivisions of Badakshan, omitting Roshan and s.h.i.+gnan:--On the west Rustak, Kataghan, Ghori, Narin and Anderab; on the north Darwaz, Ragh and s.h.i.+wa; on the east Charan, Ishkas.h.i.+m, Zebak and Wakhan; and in the centre Faizabad, Farkhar, Minjan and Kishm. There are others, but nothing certain is known about these minor subdivisions.

The conformation of the mountain districts, which comprise all the southern districts of Badakshan and the northern hills and valleys of Kafiristan, is undoubtedly a.n.a.logous to that of the rest of the Hindu Kush westwards. The water-divide of the Hindu Kush from the Dorah to the Khawak pa.s.s, _i.e._ through the centre of Kafiristan, has never been accurately traced; but its topographical conformation is evidently a continuation of that which has been observed in the districts of Badakshan to the west of the Khawak. The Hindu Kush represents the southern edge of a great central upheaval or plateau. It breaks up into long spurs southwards, deep amongst which are hidden the valleys of Kafiristan, almost isolated from each other by the rugged and snow-capped alt.i.tudes which divide them. To the north the plateau gradually slopes away towards the Oxus, falling from an average alt.i.tude of 15,000 ft. to 4000 ft. about Faizabad, in the centre of Badakshan, but tailing off to 1100 at Kunduz, in Kataghan, where it merges into the flat plains bordering the Oxus.

The Kokcha river traverses Badakshan from south-east to north-west, and, with the Kunduz, drains all the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush west of the Dorah pa.s.s. Some of its sources are near Zebak, close to the great bend of the Oxus northwards, so that it cuts off all the mountainous area included within that bend from the rest of Badakshan. Its chief affluent is the Minjan, which Sir George Robertson found to be a considerable stream where it approaches the Hindu Kush close under the Dorah. Like the Kunduz, it probably drains the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush by deep lateral valleys, more or less parallel to the crest, reaching westwards towards the Khawak pa.s.s. From the Oxus (1000 ft.) to Faizabad (4000 ft.) and Zebak (8500 ft.) the course of the Kokcha offers a high road across Badakshan; between Zebak and Ishkas.h.i.+m, at the Oxus bend, there is but an insignificant pa.s.s of 9500 ft.; and from Ishkas.h.i.+m by the Panja, through the Pamirs, is the continuation of what must once have been a much-traversed trade route connecting Afghan Turkestan with Kashgar and China. It is undoubtedly one of the great continental high-roads of Asia.

North of the Kokcha, within the Oxus bend, is the mountainous district of Darwaz, of which the physiography belongs rather to the Pamir type than to that of the Hindu Kush.

A very remarkable meridional range extends for 100 m. northwards from the Hindu Kush (it is across this range that the route from Zebak to Ishkas.h.i.+m lies), which determines the great bend of the Oxus river northwards from Ishkas.h.i.+m, and narrows the valley of that river into the formation of a trough as far as the next bend westwards at Kala Wamar. The western slopes of this range drain to the Oxus either north-westwards, by the Kokcha and the Ragh, or else they twist their streams into the s.h.i.+wa, which runs due north across Darwaz. Here again we find the main routes which traverse the country following the rivers closely. The valleys are narrow, but fertile and populous. The mountains are rugged and difficult; but there is much of the world-famous beauty of scenery, and of the almost phenomenal agricultural wealth of the valleys of Bokhara and Ferghana to be found in the as yet half-explored recesses of Badakshan.

[v.03 p.0183] The princ.i.p.al domesticated animal is the yak. There are also large flocks of sheep, cows, goats, ponies, fine dogs and Bactrian camels.

The more important wild animals are a large wild sheep (_Ovis poli_), foxes, wolves, jackals, bears, boars, deer and leopards; amongst birds, there are partridges, pheasants, ravens, jays, sparrows, larks, a famous breed of hawks, &c.

Badakshan proper is peopled by Tajiks, Turks and Arabs, who speak the Persian and Turki languages, and profess the orthodox doctrines of the Mahommedan law adopted by the Sunnite sect; while the mountainous districts are inhabited by Tajiks, professing the s.h.i.+'ite creed and speaking distinct dialects in different districts.

_History._--Badakshan, part of the Greek Bactria, was visited by Hsuan Tsang in 630 and 644. The Arabian geographers of the 10th century speak of its mines of ruby and lapis lazuli, and give notices of the flouris.h.i.+ng commerce and large towns of Waksh and Khotl, regions which appear to have in part corresponded with Badakshan. In 1272-1273 Marco Polo and his companions stayed for a time in Badakshan. During this and the following centuries the country was governed by kings who claimed to be descendants of Alexander the Great. The last of these kings was Shah Mahommed, who died in the middle of the 15th century, leaving only his married daughters to represent the royal line. Early in the middle of the 16th century the Usbegs obtained possession of Badakshan, but were soon expelled, and then the country was generally governed by descendants of the old royal dynasty by the female line. About the middle of the 18th century the present dynasty of Mirs established its footing in the place of the old one which had become extinct. In 1765 the country was invaded and ravaged by the ruler of Kabul. During the first three decades of the 19th century it was overrun and depopulated by Kohan Beg and his son Murad Beg, chiefs of the Kataghan Usbegs of Kunduz. When Murad Beg died, the power pa.s.sed into the hands of another Usbeg, Mahommed Amir Khan. In 1859 the Kataghan Usbegs were expelled; and Mir Jahander Shah, the representative of the modern royal line, was reinstated at Faizabad under the supremacy of the Afghans.

In 1867 he was expelled by Abdur Rahman and replaced by Mir Mahommed Shah, and other representatives of the same family.

(T. H. H.*)

BADALOCCHIO, SISTO, surnamed ROSA (1581-1647), Italian painter and engraver, was born at Parma. He was of the school of Annibale Carracci, by whom he was highly esteemed for design. His princ.i.p.al engravings are the series known as Raphael's Bible, which were executed by him in conjunction with Lanfranco, another pupil of Carracci. The best of his paintings, which are few in number, are at Parma. He died at Bologna.

BADALONA (anc. _Baetulo_), a town of north-eastern Spain, in the province of Barcelona; 6 m. N.E. of the city of Barcelona, on the left bank of the small river Besos, and on the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900) 19,240.

Badalona has a station on the coast railway from Barcelona to Perpignan in France, and a small harbour, chiefly important for its fis.h.i.+ng and boat-building trades. There are gas, chemical and mineral-oil works in the town, which also manufactures woollen and cotton goods, gla.s.s, biscuits, sugar and brandy; while the surrounding fertile plains produce an abundance of grain, wine and fruit. Badalona thus largely contributes to the export trade of Barcelona, and may, in fact, be regarded as its industrial suburb.

BADBY, JOHN (d. 1410), one of the early Lollard martyrs, was a tailor (or perhaps a blacksmith) in the west Midlands, and was condemned by the Worcester diocesan court for his denial of transubstantiation. Badby bluntly maintained that when Christ sat at supper with his disciples he had not his body in his hand to distribute, and that "if every host consecrated at the altar were the Lord's body, then there be 20,000 G.o.ds in England." A further court in St Paul's, London, presided over by Archbishop Arundel, condemned him to be burned at Smithfield, the tournament ground just outside the city walls. It is said that the prince of Wales (afterwards Henry V.) witnessed the execution and offered the sufferer both life and a pension if he would recant; but in Walsingham's words, "the abandoned villain declined the prince's advice, and chose rather to be burned than to give reverence to the life-giving sacrament. So it befell that this mischievous fellow was burnt to ashes, and died miserably in his sin."

BADDELEY, ROBERT (_c._ 1732-1794), English actor, is said to have been first a cook to Samuel Foote, "the English Aristophanes," and then a valet, before he appeared on the stage. In 1761, described as "of Drury Lane theatre," he was seen at the theatre in Smock Alley, Dublin, as Gomez in Dryden's _Spanish Friar_. Two years later he was a regular member of the Drury Lane company in London, where he had a great success in the low comedy and servants' parts. He remained at this theatre and the Haymarket until his death. He was the original Moses in the _School for Scandal_.

Baddeley died on the 20th of November 1794. He bequeathed property to found a home for decayed actors, and also 3 per annum to provide wine and cake in the green-room of Drury Lane theatre on Twelfth Night. The ceremony of the Baddeley cake has remained a regular inst.i.tution.

His wife SOPHIA BADDELEY (1745-1786), an actress and singer, was born in London, the daughter of a sergeant-trumpeter named Snow. She was a woman of great beauty, but excessive vanity and notorious conduct. At the age of eighteen she ran away with Baddeley, then acting at Drury Lane, and she herself made her first appearance on the stage there on the 27th of April 1765, as Ophelia. Later, as a singer, she obtained engagements at Ranelagh and Vauxhall. Though separated from her husband on account of her misconduct, she still played several years in the same company. Her beauty and her extravagance rendered her celebrated, but the money which she made in all sorts of ways was so freely squandered that she was obliged to take refuge from her creditors in Edinburgh, where she made her last appearance on the stage in 1784.

See _Memoirs of Mistress Sophia Baddeley_, by Mrs Elizabeth Steele, 6 vols.

(1781).

BADEN, a town and watering-place of Austria, in lower Austria, 17 m. S. of Vienna by rail. Pop. (1900) 12,447. It is beautifully situated at the mouth of the romantic Helenenthal, on the banks of the Schwechat, and has become the princ.i.p.al summer resort of the inhabitants of the neighbouring capital.

It possesses a new _Kurhaus_, fifteen bathing-establishments, a parish church in late Gothic style, and a town-hall, which contains interesting archives. The warm baths, which gave name to the town, are thirteen in number, with a temperature of from 72 F. to 97 F., and contain, as chief ingredient, sulphate of lime. They rise for the most part at the foot of the Calvarienberg (1070 ft.), which is composed of dolomitic limestone, and are mostly used for bathing purposes. Several members of the Austrian imperial family have made Baden their summer residence and have built here beautiful villas. There are about 20,000 visitors annually. Baden possesses several parks and is surrounded by lovely and interesting spots, of which the most frequented is the picturesque valley of the Helenenthal, which is traversed by the Schwechat. Not far from Baden, the valley is crossed by the magnificent aqueduct of the Vienna waterworks. At the entrance to the valley, on the right bank of the river, lie the ruins of the 12th-century castle of Rauheneck, and at its foot stands the Chateau Weilburg, built in 1820-1825 by Archduke Charles, the victor of Aspern. On the left bank, just opposite, stands the ruined castle of Rauhenstein, dating also from the 12th century. About 4 m. up the valley is Mayerling, a hunting-lodge, where the crown prince Rudolph of Austria was found dead in 1889. Farther up is Alland, whence a road leads to the old and well-preserved abbey of Heiligenkreuz. It possesses a church, in Romanesque style, dating from the 11th century, with fine cloisters and the tombs of several members of the Babenberg family. The highest point in the neighbourhood of Baden is the peak of the Hoher Lindkogel (2825 ft.), popularly called the Eiserne Thor, which is ascended in about three hours.

The celebrity of Baden dates back to the days of the Romans, who knew it by the name of _Thermae Pannonicae_, and remains of their occupation still exist. It received its charter as a town [v.03 p.0184] in 1480, and although sacked at various times by Hungarians and Turks, it soon flourished again.