Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/393

paration of barley is included in the British Pharmacopoeia, which is of value as a demulcent and emollient drink in febrile and inflammatory disorders. For the cultivation of

barley, see Agriculture, vol. i. p. 358.

The following table shows the quantities and values of barley imported into the United Kingdom in 1873:—

Cwts. From Russia 1,119,094 Sweden 182,004 Denmark 850,011 Germany 1,133,737 France 1,970,953 Turkey 2,905,646 AVallachia and Moldavia 836,606 Egypt 16,510 Tripoli and Tunis 28,554 Algeria 110,384 i"l*-V.,-i-i- /irttit-i-f 1*100 ft^ ^riQ Other countries. 82,559 408,344 86,366 425,856 572,640 966,740 137,147 322,064 6,105 11,330 42,546 34,434 Total 9,241,063 4,013,572

BARLOW, Joel, an Amercian poet and politician, born in 1755 at Reading in Connecticut. In 1774, some years after his father s death, he was entered at Yale College, New Haven, where he soon began to manifest considerable taste for poetry and power of composition. A few small pieces published by him were received with some degree of public favour. During his vacations he had taken part with the colonists in several engagements against the British, and immediately after completing his course, he qualified himself for the church, and was appointed chaplain to a regiment. This post he held till the conclusion of peace between Britain and America, when he settled in the village of Hartford, and began to practise as a lawyer. He also conducted a newspaper, and about the same time published his best poem, the Vision of Columbus, a vigorous and spirited piece of writing. About the year 1788 he gave up his newspaper and his legal practice, and came to Europe as the agent for a land company. Having discovered that this company was merely a swindling concern, he severed his connection with it, but did not return to America. In London he became acquainted with some of the most ad vanced liberal thinkers, and published several politica tracts of a decidedly revolutionary character. In 1793, after having been some time in France, he accompanied the Commission of the National Convention, which was sent to organize the newly-acquired territory in Savoy. During his residence in Paris he engaged in commercial transac tions, by which he acquired considerable fortune anc importance. In 1795 he was appointed American consu at Algiers, and efficiently discharged the duties of tha office. In 1805 he returned to America and began tc interest himself in the politics of his own country, pamphlet of his, sketching a plan of national education was received with great favour. In 1808 ha published an enlarged edition of his great poem, under the title Colum biad. It was magnificently illustrated, but did not achieve the popularity of its predecessor. In 1811 he was ap pointed minister plenipotentiary to France, with the objec mainly of negotiating a commercial treaty and of obtaining compensation for some American property that had beei unjustly confiscated. To accomplish this he required ; personal interview with Napoleon, and set out to meet th emperor, who was at Wilna. On his way he was attackec with inflammation of the lungs, and died at a Polish villag near Cracow, on the 22d December 1812.

BARLOW, Peter, an able writer on pure and applied mathematics, was born at Norwich in 1776, and died ir 1862. He received a very ordinary education, but improve! himself by his own exertions. In 1806 he was appointe mathematical master in the Woolwich Academy, and fille that post for forty-one years. In 1823 he was made Fellow of the Royal Society, and two years later received he Copley medal. He received many distinctions from British and foreign scientific societies. Mr Barlow s prin cipal works are Elementary Investigation of the Theory of Numbers, 1811 ; New Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, 1814; Essay on Magnetic Attractions, 1820. The investigations on magnetism led to the important practical discovery of a means of rectifying or compensating compass errors in ships. Besides compiling numerous useful tables, Mr Barlow contributed largely to the Encyclopedia Metropolitan. The most important of his articles are " Theory of Numbers," " Mechanics," " Hydrodynamics," Pneumatics," " Optics," " Astronomy," " Magnetism," and " Electro-Magnetism," along with the huge volume on " Manufactures."

BARMECIDES, or descendants of Barmak, were a noble Persian family, who attained great power under the Abbaside caliphs. Barmak, the first of them, was a Ghebre, or Persian fire-worshipper, and is supposed to have been a native of the district of Khorassan. He was introduced to the caliph Abd-ul-Malik, and acquired great power under him. His family prospered, and his grandson, Yahya, was vizier to the caliph El-Mahdy, and tutor v of the famous prince Haroun-al-Raschid, celebrated in the Thousand and One Nights. Yahya s sons occupied high offices, one of them, Ja afar (the Giafar of the Arabian Nights}, being vizier and constant companion of Haroun. The caliph, however, conceived suspicions against the Barmecides, and in 802 beheaded Ja afar with great cruelty, condemned the whole family to prison, and confiscated their property. Oriental historians give a romantic and not improbable reason for the caliph s conduct towards his vizier. Ja afar had been married to Haroun s favourite sister, Abbasah, on condition that he should never see his wife save in presence of the caliph. He neglected this injunction, and Abbasah bore a son, who was brought up secretly. The caliph became aware of this, and in his wrath punished Ja afar and all his family. The use of the expression Barmecides Feast, to denote an imaginary banquet, is drawn from one of the tales in the Arabian Nights, where an entertainment of merely imaginary viands is served up to a hungry man by one of the Barmecides.

BARMEN, a town of Rhenish Prussia, in the govern ment of Dusseldorf and circle of Elberfeld, on the Bergisch- Markisch railway. It is formed by the combination of a large number of separate villages, which stretch along the northern valley of the Wupper for a distance of six miles in almost perfect continuity with Elberfeld. The first of these to obtain a separate civic organization was Gemarke, which may thus be regarded as the nucleus of the whole. The rapid development of manufacturing activity, to which the town owes its origin, only dates from the beginning of the 18th century. It is the chief seat of ribbon-weaving in Germany, and manufactures thread, lace, buttons, braids, cotton, cloth, silk stuffs, steel wares, and plated goods. There are also numerous bleachfields, printtields, dyeworks, famous for their Turkey-red, soap-works, chemical-works, and potteries. A chamber of commerce and a commercial tribunal hold their sessions in the town, which also possesses an exchange, a music hall, a deaf and dumb asylum, numerous schools, and a variety of churches. The most of the inhabitants are Protestants of various sects. The Rhenish-Westphalian Missionary Society maintains a theological seminary in the town and possesses an ethnographical museum. Population, 74,449.

BARNABAS ([ Hebrew ]) was the surname given by

the apostles to Joses, " a Levite, of the country of Cyprus," who, though like Paul not of the twelve, was with him recognized among the number of the apostles. The name ([ Greek ]), translated - son of consolation " in the

authorized version (Acts iv. 36), would be better rendered