a machine made of twigs interwoven together, in order to hold fruit, earth, &c. It denotes an uncertain quantity, as a basket of medlars is two bushels, of afa foetida from 20 to 50 pound weight.

Baskets of earth, in the military art, called by the French corbeilles, are small baskets used in sieges, on the parapet of a trench, being filled with earth. They are about a foot and a half high, about a foot and a half diameter at the top, and 8 or 10 inches at bottom; so that being set together, there is a sort of embrasures left at their bottoms, through which the soldiers fire, without exposing themselves.

Basket-fish. See Asturias.

Basket-salt, that made from salt-springs, being purer, whiter, and composed of finer grains than the common brine-salt.

Basket-tenure, a tenure of lands by the service of making the king's baskets.

Baskiri, a country of Mulcovitish Tartary, bounded on the north by the Tartars of Tumen, on the east by Barabinskoi, on the south by the mountain Sortora, and on the west by the duchy of Bulgaria.

Bason, in anatomy. See Pelvis.

Bason, in hydraulics, a reservoir of water, used for various purposes: Thus we say, The bason of a jet d'eau, the bason of a fountain, and likewise the bason of a port or harbour.

Bason, in Jewish antiquities, the layer of the tabernacle, made of the bras looking-glasses belonging to those devout women that watched and stood sentinels at the door of the tabernacle.

Bason, in mechanics, a term used by glass-grinders for a dish of copper, iron, &c. in which they grind convex glasses, as concave ones are formed on spheres: And by hatters for a round iron mould, in which they form the matter of their hats; and also for a leaden one for the brims of hats, having an aperture in the middle, of a diameter sufficient for the largest block to go through.

Basons of a balance, the two scales or dishes fastened to the extremities of the strings, the one to hold the weight, and the other the thing to be weighed.

Sale by the Bason, at Amsterdam, is a public sale made by authority, over which presides an officer, appointed by the magistrates. It is so called, because, before the lots are delivered to the highest bidder, they commonly strike on a copper bason, to give notice that the lot is going to be adjudged.

Basque, or Labour, the south-west division of the province of Galcony, in France.

Bass, in music, that part of a concert which is most heard, which consists of the gravest and deepest sounds, and which is played on the largest pipes or strings of a common instrument, as of an organ, lute, &c. or on instruments larger than ordinary, for that purpose, as bass-violos, bassoons, bass-hautboys, &c. The bass is the principal part of a musical composition, and the foundation of harmony; for which reason it is a maxim among musicians, That when the bass is good, the harmony is seldom bad.

Thorough-Bass is the harmony made by the bass-violos, or theorbos, continuing to play both while the voices sing, and the other instruments perform their parts, and also filling up the intervals when any of the other parts stop. It is played by cyphers marked over the notes, on the organ, spinet, harpsichord, &c., and frequently simply and without cyphers on the bass-viol and bassoon.

Counter-Bass is a second or double bass, where there are several in the same concert.

Bass, in geography, a steep rock, with an old fort, accessible only at one place, lying on the coast of E. Lothain in Scotland, at the mouth of the frith of Forth.

Bassaim, or Bacceim, a port-town of the Hither India, subject to the Portuguese, situated in 71° 5' E. long. and 19° 30' N. lat.

Bassanus, in ornithology. See Pelicanus.

Bassee, a town of French Flanders, upon the confines of Artois, situated in 3° 20' E. lon. and 50° 43' N. lat.

Bassempon, a town of Gascogne, in France.

Basset, a game at cards, said to have been invented by a noble Venetian, for which he was banished.

The persons concerned in it are a dealer, or banker; his assistant, who supervises the losing cards; and the punter, or any one who plays against the banker.

Bassigny, the south-east division of the province of Champagne, in France. See Campaign.

Bassoon, a musical instrument of the wind-pan, blown with a reed, furnished with eleven holes, and used as a bass in a concert of hautboys, flutes, &c.

To render this instrument more portable, it is divided into two parts, whence it is also called a fagot. Its diameter at bottom is nine inches, and its holes are stopped like those of a large flute.

Bassora, a large city of Asia, situated below the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, in 53° E. long. and 30° 20' N. lat.

Basso-relievo, or Bass-relief, a piece of sculpture, where the figures or images do not protuberate, but stand out far above the plane on which they are formed.

Whatever figures or representations are thus cut, stamped, or otherwise wrought, so that not the entire body, but only part of it is raised above the plane, are said to be done in relief, or relievo; and when that work is low, flat, and but a little raised, it is called low relief. When a piece of sculpture, a coin, or a medal, has its figure raised so as to be well distinguished, it is called bold, and we say its relief is strong.

Bass-viol, a musical instrument of the like form with that of a violin, but much larger. It is struck with a bow as that is, has the same number of strings, and has eight stops, which are subdivided into semi-stops. Its sound is grave, and has a much nobler effect in a concert than that of the violin.

Basterna, a sort of vehicle, much the same with our chariot, used by the ancient Roman ladies. This was a different carriage from the lecita, which it succeeded. needed, inasmuch as the lectica was borne on mens shoulders, whereas this was drawn by beasts.

BASIA, the chief city of the island of Corsica. It is a good port, situated on the north-east part of the island, in $9^\circ 40'$ E. long. and $42^\circ 20'$ N. lat.

BASILEE, a castle for state prisoners in Paris, answering to the Tower of London.