Bachelors, or unmarried persona, have in many countries been subjected to penal laws. The best-known examples of such legislation are those of Sparta and Rome. At Sparta, citizens who remained unmarried after a certain age were subjected to a species of drt/xta. They were not allowed to witness the gymnastic exercises of the maidens ; and during winter they were compelled to march naked round the market-place, singing a song composed against themselves, and expressing the justice of their punishment. The usual respect of the young to the old was not paid to bachelors (Pint, Lye., 15). At Athens there was no definite legislation on this matter; but certain minor laws are evidently dictated by a spirit akin to the Spartan doctrine (see Schomann, Gr. Alterth., i. 548). At Rome, though there appear traces of some earlier legislation in the matter, the first clearly known law is that called the Lex Julia, passed about 18 B.C. It does not appear to have ever come into full operation ; and in 9 A.D. it was incorporated with the Lex Papia et Poppsea, the two laws being frequently cited as one, Lex Julia et Papia Poppcea. This law, while restricting marriages between the several classes of the people, laid heavy penalties on unmarried persons, gave certain privileges to those citizens who had several children, and finally imposed lighter penalties on married persons who were childless. In Britain there has been no direct legislation bearing on bachelors ; but, occasionally, taxes have been made to bear more heavily on them than on others. Instances of this are the Act (6 and 7 Will. III.) passed in 1695; the tax on servants, 1785; and the income tax, 1798.
BACHIAN, one of the East Indian islands belonging to the group of the northern Moluccas, situated immediately south of the equator, and lying with its subordinate islands, MandioliandKasiruta,betweenl27and 127and50 E.long. It is of an irregular form, consisting of two distinct mountainous parts, united by a low isthmus, which a slight subsidence would submerge. The area is estimated at about GOO geographical square miles. Sandstone, coralline limestone, and pebbly conglomerate are the prevailing rocks. Of volcanic formations no traces were discovered by Mr Wallace, but other travellers speak of hot springs that seem to point to volcanic activity. The sulphur spring at Taubenkit has a temperature of 125 Fahr.; and a more remarkable example of the same phenomenon exists at Sayowang on the east coast. The highest mountain in the southern half of the island is Gunong Sabella, which is regarded by the natives as the seat of evil spirits. It was partially ascended by Bernstein in ISO 1. A large portion of the surface is richly wooded, and sago, cocoa-nuts, and cloves are abundantly produced, while, in spite of the extermination of nutmeg-trees by the Dutch, at least one extensive grove remains. Bachian is remarkable as the most eastern point on the globe inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. The interior of the island is uninhabited, and none of the dwellers on the coast are indigenous. They consist of the Sirani or Christian descendants of the Portuguese, of Malays, with a Papuan element, Galela men from the north of Jilolo, and a colony from Tomore, in the eastern peninsula of Celebes. The Sirani preserve various marks of their Portuguese origin, wear a semi-European dress, and celebrate Sunday with dancing and music. The government of the island is vested in a sultan, under the protection of the Dutch, to whom it is becoming of considerable importance from the discovery of coal and other minerals. The chief town or village, called Amassing by the natives, but often spoken of as Bachian, is situated on the isthmus.
BACKGAMMON, a game played with dice, said to have been invented about the 10th century (Strutt). The etymology of the word backgammon is disputed; it is probably Saxon, Baec, back ; gamen, game, i.e., a game in which the players are liable to be sent back. Other derivations are, Dan. bakke, tray, gammen, game (Wedgwood) ; and Welsh, bach, little, cammaun, battle (Henry).
Backgammon is played by two persons, having between them a backgammon board. (See diagram.) The board is divided into tables, each table being marked with six. points, coloured alternately white and black. The inner and outer tables are separated from each other by a projecting bar.
Backgammon Board.
The board is furnished with fifteen white and fifteen black men, disposed at the commencement of a game in the manner shown above. The arrangement of the men may be reversed, as it would be if the diagram were turned upside down, and the white men put where the black now stand, and vice versa, there being no rule as to whether the play shall be from right to left, or from left to right. It is usual to make the inner table (see diagram) the one nearest to the light (Academie desjeux ; regies du jeu de toute-table).
Two dice boxes are required, one for each player, and a pair of dice, which are used by both players. The dice are marked with numbers on each face from one to six, number one being called ace ; two, deuce ; three, trois (pronounced trey); four, quatre (katre); five, cinque ; and six, six (size).
The board being arranged, each player throws one die ; the one who throws the higher number has the right of playing first ; and he may either adopt the throw originally made by the two players, each throwing one die; or he may throw again, using both dice.
not move a man for five, from the ace point in black s inner table, because the six point in that table (i.e., the fifth point from where white moves) is blocked by the black men. Any part of the throw which cannot be moved is of no effect ; but it is compulsory for a player to move the whole throw if he can. Thus, if the men were
differently placed, and white could move a six, and having