in ichthyology. See BALISTES.

BALLOON, or BALLON, in a general sense, signifies any spherical hollow body, of whatever matter it be composed, or for whatever purpose it be designed. Thus, with chemists, balloon denotes a round short-necked vessel, used to receive what is distilled by means of fire; in architecture, a round globe on the top of a pillar; and among engineers, a kind of bomb made of paste-board, and played off in fire-works, either in the air or on the water, in imitation of a real bomb.

Balloon, in the French paper trade, is a term for a quantity of paper, containing 24 reams. It is also the name of a fort of brigantine used in the kingdom of Siam.