in courts of justice, denotes an inclosure made with a partition of timber, where the counsel are placed to plead causes, and where prisoners are brought to answer to indictments, &c. It corresponds to what among the Romans was denominated tribunal. The French call it barre d'audience. In England, lawyers who are called to the bar, or licensed to plead, are termed barristers, an appellation equivalent to licentiate in other countries.

in Heraldry, an ordinary in form of the fess, but much less. See HERALDRY.

in Music, a stroke drawn perpendicularly across the lines of a piece of music, including between each two a certain quantity or measure of time, which is various as the time of the music is either triple or common. The use of bars is not to be traced higher than 1574; the time when the English translation of Adrian le Roy's book on the Tablature was published, and it was not until some time after that the use of bars became general. Barnard's cathedral music, printed in 1641, is without bars; but bars are to be found throughout in the Ayres and Dialogues of Henry Lawes, published in 1653; from which it may be conjectured that we owe this improvement to Lawes.

in Hydrography, denotes a bank of sand or other matter, whereby the mouth of a river is in a manner choked up. The term is also used for a strong beam wherewith the entrance of a harbour is secured; but this is more commonly called boom.

BAR-le-Duc, or BAR-SUR-ORNAIN, a town of France, department of Meuse, and capital of an arrondissement of the same name. It occupies the declivity and base of a hill, on the river Ornain, a tributary of the Marne, 125 miles E. of Paris. Lat. 48.46.8. N. Long. 5.9.47. E. It has a college, normal school, society of agriculture and arts, and public library. By the Orneain a considerable traffic is maintained in wood, wine, wool, &c. The manufactures of cotton stuffs, hats, hosiery, leather, and confections, are considerable. Pop. in 1851, 14,303. The arrondissement contains 8 cantons and 128 communes: pop. 86,358.

BAR-SUR-AUBE, an arrondissement of the department of the Aube, in France, comprehending 4 cantons and 88 communes. Area, 410 square miles. Pop. in 1851, 44,347. The chief place is the city of the same name, in a picturesque district, the wine of which is much esteemed. Pop. 4380. Long. 4. 44. E. Lat. 48. 13. N.

BAR-SUR-SUINE, an arrondissement of the department of the Aube, in France, comprehending 5 cantons and 85 communes. Area, 357 square miles. Pop. in 1851, 53,447. The chief place of the same name has a population of 2656 persons, employed in manufactures and the wine trade. In the middle ages this was a place of considerable importance. Long. 4. 24. E. Lat. 48. 5. N.