BAGNACAVALʼLO, BARTOLOMMEO RAMENGHI, 1484-1542; an Italian painter, whose real name was Ramenghi, but he was called B. from the village where he was born At Rome he was a pupil of Raphael, and worked on the decorations of the gallery in the Vatican. At Bologna he took the leading place, and did much to improve the style of the Bolognese school. His works are distinguished by rich coloring and graceful delineation. The best specimens, the "Dispute of St. Augustin," and a 'Madonna and Child," are at Bologna, where he died. BAGNÈRES, the name of two towns in the Pyrenees, France, both well known as watering-places.-B. DE BIGORRE on the Adour, in the department of the High Pyrenees, is situated at the base of Montalivet, and at the entrance to the romantic_valley of Campan. Besides its extensive bathing-houses, it has a college, a theater, a Pyrenean museum, a trades hall, and contained ('91) 8638 inhabitants. By the Romans it was known as Vicus Aquensis or Aqua Bigerronum. It was destroyed by the Goths, but the fame of its waters survived, and is now so great that it is visited by about 20,000 strangers yearly. The tepid, warm, and hot saline springs are numerous, and are recommended for cutaneous and nervous diseases. Woolens, linens, and bareges are manufactured here.-B. DE LUCHON-the Aqua Convenarum of the Romans-is situated in the department of Upper Garonne, and in a pleasant valley watered by the Pique. Its cold, tepid, and hot sulphurous waters are recommended in rheumatism, gout, cutaneous diseases, and paralysis. It had a pop. '91, of 3528. BAGNES, the convict-prisons of France. In ancient times, the severest punishment, ext to death, was that of the galleys (q.v.). In 1748, these were abolished, and the convicts were employed in hard labor in arsenals and other public works; and the prisons in which they were lodged were called bagnes, from the Italian bagno, literally, a batha name supposed to have originated in the fact, that the slave-prisons at Constantinople contained baths, or because they stood near the baths of the seraglio. The constituent assembly of 1791 and 1792 mitigated the sufferings of convicts, and substituted for the detested name galères, that of travaux publics, to which succeeded the travaux forcés, of the code Napoleon. The practice of branding criminals with a hot iron was not abolished till 1832. The latest existing institutions of this class were at Toulon, Brest, and Rochefort, at which the number of convicts, in 1850, was respectively 3873, 2831, and 986. In these establishments, the labor of the convicts was turned to profitable account, and the various handicrafts were taught in the prison under the direction of overseers. The industrious and clever were enabled to earn small wages, and good behavior was rewarded with a gradual relaxation of restraint. Formerly the punishment of the galleys was inflicted for comparatively slight offenses, such as removing landmarks, begging, poaching, etc., but hard labor in the B. was reserved exclusively for such as commit crimes which seriously menace the public peace and personal safety. These prisons were abolished in 1852. BAGNES-LE-CHABLE, a parish and village in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, on the left bank of the Dranse. The parish occupies the whole valley of the Bagne. Pop. between 4000 and 5000. The valley was twice inundated during the 16th c.; again in 1818, when 400 cottages were swept away, and 34 lives lost. BAG NI DI LUCCA (Baths of Lucca), an inland village of Italy, in the province of Lucca, and 13 m. n. of the city of Lucca. It is one of the most frequented bathing-places in Italy, and is situated in one of the finest valleys of Tuscany, the valley of the river Lima, a branch of the Serchio. There are hot springs of various temperature from 96° to 136° Fahr., scattered over a limited neighborhood. BAGNO A RIPOLI, a famous Italian bathing-place, in the province and circle of Florence, 5 m. e.n.e. from the city of Florence. It is a BAGNO IN ROMAGNO, a t. of Italy, in the province of Florence, and 35 m. e. by n. from Florence city, on the right bank of the Savio, not far from its source. much frequented bathing-place, having hot springs of temperature 108° to 110° Fahr. BAGNOLES, a summer resort in France, 13 m. s. s. e. of Domfront; noted for mineral springs and baths. The village is nearly 200 years old, and has recently been greatly improved and adorned BAGO AS, an Egyptian eunuch in the service of Alexander Ochus of Persia, who aided that monarch in conquering Egypt; but the sacrilegious treatment of the sacred objects by Alexander so offended him, that on his return to Persia he poisoned the king, and killed all the sons except Arses, the youngest, whom he placed on the throne. This boy soon displeased B., and was poisoned to exalt Darius Codomannus. B. tried to dispose of the last named by poison, but was detected and poisoned himself about 336 B.C. BAGOT, a co. in the southern part of the province of Quebec, Canada, e. of Richelieu river, intersected by the Grand Trunk railroad. Black limestone and copper are among its products. Co. seat, St. Liboire. Pop. '91, 21,199. BAGOT, Sir CHARLES, 1781-1843; an English diplomatist; under secretary of state in 1807; special envoy to France in 1814; ambassador to Russia in 1820, and to Holland in 1824. În 1842, he became governor-general of Canada, and died in office. Bahia. BAGPIPE, a wind instrument, which, up to the 18th c., was common in almost every country in Europe, and still continues in use among the country people in Poland, Italy, Sicily, the s. of France, Scotland, etc.; but being far from a sweet-toned instrument, and limited in its range of notes, it has fallen into disuse wherever there is any pretension to musical refinement. It consists of a leathern bag, which the player inflates by blowing with his mouth through a tube. The music proceeds from three or four pipes, whose mouthpieces are inserted into the bag; the wind being forced out by pressing the bag under the arm. One of the pipes, the chanter, is a kind of oboe with eight holes, and is similarly handled; the others, called drones, sound each only one continuous low note. It is certain that the bagpipe was in use among the Hebrews and Greeks, and there are plenty of proofs that in Germany and elsewhere in Europe it was among the most favorite instruments in the 15th century. Though fallen generally into disuse, the B. is still a popular instrument in the Highlands of Scotland, and wherever there are gatherings of Highlanders, and even of Lowland Scotch, in England and other countries. Pipers in proper costume are also attached to the Highland regiments, and in some instances pipers are retained by Scottish noblemen to play on festive occasions. Skill in playing the B. is promoted by various Highland societies, which, at periodical competitions, give prizes to the best players of pibrochs (q.v.), reels, and other airs. BAG'RADITES, or BAGRATIDES, a royal house of Georgia and Armenia, founded by Bagrad; its members were permitted to crown the kings of Armenia. They became Christians at the beginning of the 4th century. The Bagdad caliphs made several of the B. governors of Armenia. The dynasty maintained their independence until the occupation of the country by Russia. BAGRATION, PETER, Prince, a distinguished Russian general, descended from the noble family of the Bagradites of Georgia and Armenia, was b. in 1756. He entered the Russian service in 1783, and was trained under Suwarrow. In 1788 he was engaged at the storming of Oczakow; fought in 1792 and 1794 against the Poles; in 1799, in Italy and Switzerland; and distinguished himself in the Austro-Russian war of 1805 against the French, especially in the sanguinary engagement of Nov. 16 of that year, when, with a small body of troops, he bravely stood during six hours opposed to the superior forces under Murat, and thus enabled the Russian general, Kutusow, to reach Znaym with the main army. Subsequently, prince B. was engaged in the battles of Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland, and took a part in the Russian campaign against the Turks, especially in the battle of Silistria, 1809. In the campaign of 1812, he commanded the second Russian army of the west, and had the misfortune to fail in his attack on Davoust near Mohilew; but succeeded in forming a junction with the west army at Smolensk. He was, however, mortally wounded in the battle of Borodino, and died Oct. 7, 1812. BAGSHOT BEDS, the lowest series of strata in the middle eocene formation of Britain. The name is derived from Bagshot heath in Surrey, where they were first examined; but, as they are more fully developed and better seen in the isle of Wight, the rocks there are now considered the typical representatives of the series. The strata are arranged into four groups: 1. The Upper B. B., composed of yellow and white sands with ferruginous stains, generally unfossiliferous, though a remarkable exception exists at Whitecliff bay, Isle of Wight, where a bed contains a large number of very friable shells. 2. The Barton beds, consisting of colored clays interstratified with sand and loam. They are rich in fossils, chiefly the shells of mollusca, but contain also the remains of a fish and several reptiles. Here, too, the nummulite (q.v.), so characteristic of the tertiary formations, makes its first appearance in a descending order. This genus dies out with the nummulites variolaris, the small species found in these beds. 3. The Bracklesham beds, so called from their extensive development at Bracklesham bay, near Chichester in Sussex, are composed of marly clays and white sands, capped by a bed of flint-pebble conglomerate, and resting on dark carbonaceous clays. This is the most highly fossiliferous group in the series. Two species of plants have been noticed. The remains of 6 reptiles and 21 fishes have been described, besides a long list of mollusca, amongst which is the magnificent cerithium (q.v.) giganteum, so conspicuous in the calcaire grossier of Paris, where it is sometimes 2 ft. in length. The prevalence of genera now only known as inhabitants of tropical or sub-tropical seas, such as volutes and cowries, together with their companion lunulites and corals, makes it highly probable that a warm climate prevailed during the deposition of these strata. 4. The Lower B B., consisting of alternations of variously colored sands with gray, chocolate-colored, or white pipe-clays. The white clays contains the only fossil organisms found in this group-beautifully preserved leaves spread out in the layers of the clay. The series rests on the true London clay. Its maximum thickness is about 1200 feet. BA GUL, or BHA'GUL, a small state in n. w. India, on the s. or left bank of the Sutlej. B. is one of the native states in feudal subordination to the Punjab government. Pop. estimated, '81, at 22,633. Its lat. is about 31 n., and long. 77 e. The surface is generally mountainous, presenting two summits, Bahadurgarh and Bara Devi, respectively 6233 and 7003 ft. above the sea. B. has a supposed gross revenue of £6000, pays 3600 rupees as tribute, and has 222 men under arms. |