BATUM, a seaport town of Asiatic Turkey, in the peninsula of Trebizonde, and 110 miles N.E. of the town of that name. It is situated on the Black Sea, at the mouth of the river Tchorak. Its harbour is safe and commodious. A British vice-consul resides there. Pop. about 3000.
BAUCIS and PHILEMON, in Fabulous History, an aged couple who dwelt in a cottage in Phrygia. Jupiter and Mercury, disguised as mortals, were well received by this venerable pair, after having been refused entertainment by every body else. To punish the people for their inhumanity, they laid the country under water, but removed Baucis and Philemon to the top of a mountain, where they saw the deluge, and their own little hut above the waters changed into a temple. Here the grateful gods promised to confer on their entertainers whatever boon they might solicit. They expressed a desire to officiate in this temple as priest and priestess, and to die at the same moment; both of which requests were granted. Ovid, Met. viii.