Basque Country French Pays Basque \pe-'e-'bask\ Cultural region, extreme southwestern France. It extends from the Anie Peak of the Pyrenees to the coast around Biarritz on the Bay of Biscay. The region has been largely spared the problems associated with Basque separatism in Spain’s Basque Country. Fishing and tourism are economic mainstays.
Basque language Language spoken by an estimated 1,000,000 Basque people living in the Basque Country of north-central Spain and southwestern France. About 200,000 Basques live in other parts of the world. The only remnant of the languages spoken in western Europe before incursions by iNDO-EuROPEAN-speaking peoples, Basque has no known linguistic relatives; linguists call it a language isolate. Its gram¬ mar is markedly distinct from that of all other western European lan¬ guages. Basque is sparsely attested before the 16th century, when the first book in the language was printed (1545), though it has maintained a con¬ tinuous literary tradition since then.
Basrah, Al- or Basra Port and city (pop., 2003 est.: 1,400,000), south¬ eastern Iraq. It lies at the head of the Shatt al-Arab, about 70 mi (110 km) upstream from the Persian Gulf. Founded in ad 638, it became famous under the ‘Abbasid dynasty; in The Thousand and One Nights it was the city from which Sindbad the Sailor set sail. In the 17th—18th centuries it became a trading centre. Occupied by the British in World War I (1914— 18), the town and port underwent many improvements and grew in impor¬ tance. After World War II (1939-45), the growth of Iraq’s petroleum industry turned Al-Basrah into a major refining centre. It suffered heavy damage in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-90) and the First Persian Gulf War (1990-91) and was the scene of fighting between Iraqi and coalition forces in the Second Persian Gulf War (2003).
bas-relief \,ba-ri-Tef\ or low relief Sculptural form in which figures are carved in a flat surface and project only slightly from the background rather than standing freely. Depending on the degree of projection, reliefs may also be classified as high or medium relief.
bass \'bas\ In zoology, any of numerous fish species, many valued for food or sport. Most are placed in three families (all in the order Perci- formes): 400 species of sea bass and grouper; the family Moronidae, which contains about 12 species, including striped and European basses; and sunfishes, including the black and largemouth basses, prized by fishermen. Many other species are also known as bass, including the channel bass (a drum) and the calico bass (a crappie).
sons continued the Bassano workshop tradition: Francesco (1549-92) and Leandro (1557-1622), both of whom were part of the workshop’s Vene¬ tian branch, Giovanni Battista (1553-1613), and Gerolamo (1566-1621). Many products of the workshop were collaborative efforts.
basset hound Centuries-old breed of dog developed in France and
maintained, chiefly in France and Belgium, as a hunting dog of the aristocracy. Originally used to trail hares, rabbits, and deer, it has also been used for hunting birds, foxes, and other game. It is a slow, deliber¬ ate hunter, with a deep voice and a nose exceeded in keenness only by the bloodhound’s. Short-legged and heavy-boned, the basset hound has long, dangling ears and a short coat in any combination of black, tan, and white. It stands 12-15 in. (30-38 cm) high and weighs 40-60 lbs (18-27 1
Basset hound
SALLY ANNE THOMPSON/EB INC.
Basseterre \bas-'ter\ Seaport (pop., 1994 est.: 12,605), Saint Kitts Island. Chief town of Saint Kitts and capital of the federated state of Saint Kitts and Nevis, it lies on the southwestern coast, west of St. John’s, Anti¬ gua. Founded in 1627, it serves as a depot distributing merchandise to neighbouring islands.
Bassi Vbas-eV Agostino (b. Sept. 25, 1773, near Lodi, Lombardy, Habsburg crown land—d. Feb. 8, 1856, Lodi) Italian bacteriologist. He attended Pavia University. In 1807 he began an investigation of the silk¬ worm disease muscardine, which was causing serious economic losses in Italy and France. After 25 years of research, he demonstrated that the dis¬ ease was contagious and was caused by a microscopic parasitic fungus spread among the silkworms by contact and infected food. He announced his discoveries in 1835 and theorized that many plant, animal, and human diseases are caused by animal or vegetable parasites, thus preceding both Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in formulating a germ theory of disease.
basso continuo See continuo
bassoon Principal tenor and bass instrument of the orchestral wood¬ wind family. Its mouthpiece has a double reed attached to a curved metal crook, which leads to a narrow conical bore that doubles back on itself (to keep its length manageable). It developed from the older curtal (or dulzian) in the 17th century. An agile instrument with a mild tone, it has a range of 3Vi octaves, starting at B-flat two octaves below middle C. The contrabassoon, a large metal instrument whose tubing doubles back four times, has a range an octave lower.
basswood Any of certain species of linden common to North America. The name refers especially to Tilia americana, found in a vast area of eastern North America but centred in the Great Lakes region, and to T. caroliniana and T georgiana, found in the southeastern U.S.
bast See phloem
bass \'bas\ Lowest musical voice or register. In vocal music, its range is approximately from the second E below middle C to middle C itself. A basso profundo emphasizes a lower register, a basso cantante a some¬ what higher one. Outside of Russia, the solo bass voice has generally been relegated to certain standard operatic character roles. The lowest-pitched member of most instrumental families is usually called the bass (bass clarinet, double bass, etc.). In Western tonal music, the bass part is usually second in importance only to the melody, being the chief determiner of harmonic movement, a tendency that became particularly notable after the appearance of the basso continuo c. 1600.
Bass Strait \'bas\ Strait separating Australia from Tasmania. It is 150 mi (240 km) wide at its widest point and 185 mi (298 km) long. It was named in 1798 for the British surgeon-explorer George Bass. Development of its offshore petroleum resources began in the 1960s.
Bassano \ba-'sa-no\, Jacopo orig. Jacopo da Ponte (b. c. 1517, Bassano, republic of Venice—d. Feb. 13, 1592, Bassano) Italian painter. He was the most celebrated member of a family of artists from the small town of Bassano, near Venice, where he worked for most of his life. He trained with Bonifacio de’ Pitati in Venice and was influenced by other Venetian painters. He became known for his late Renaissance-style works depicting biblical themes, lush landscapes, and rustic scenes. Four painter
Bastet \'bas-,tet\ or Bast or Ubasti In Egyptian religion, a goddess worshiped first as a lioness and later as a cat. Her nature changed after the domestication of the cat c. 1500 bc. She had cults at Bubastis in the Nile delta and at Memphis. In the Late and Ptolemaic periods, large cem¬ eteries of mummified cats were created at both sites, and thousands of bronze statuettes of the goddess were deposited as votive offerings. Bastet is represented as a lioness or a woman with a cat’s head, usually holding a bag, a breastplate, and a sistrum (wire rattle). The Romans carried her cult to Italy.
Bastille \bas-'tel\ Medieval fortress in Paris that became a symbol of despotism. In the 17th—18th centuries, the Bastille was used as a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons. On July 14, 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution, an armed mob of Pari¬ sians captured the fortress and released its prisoners, a dramatic action that came to symbolize the end of the ancien regime. The Bastille was sub¬ sequently demolished by the Revolutionary government. Bastille Day (July 14) has been a French national holiday since 1880.