the three counties, Temes, Torontal, ami Krasso (Map: Hungary, G 41. It has a total area of over 10.000 square miles, and is one of the most fertile and best-cultivated districts of Hungary. Owing to its mild climate and the rich soil yields, abundant crops of grain and southern fruits are raised, while the mountains contain rich mineral deposits, especially coal. Among its numerous mineral springs the best known are those of Jlehadia. The district, which was at one time under the Turkish dominion, was un- inhabited and covered with impassable forest and marshes, but was reclaimed under Maria Theresa in the Eighteenth Century, who drained the land by means of canals, and by free grants of land induced a considerable immigration from Germany, Turkey, and Servia, thereby laying the foundations of the present prosperity of the region. The population is naturally extremely heterogeneous, and amounted, in 1S90, to 1,433- 424. The principal town is TemesvSr. From l(i52 to 171G the" district was in the possession of the Turks. In 1770 it was united with Hun- gary. It was formed into an Austria crown- land in 1840, but was restored to Hungary in ISUO. See Ban.
BAN'BRIDGE. A town in County Down,
Ireland, built on a steep slope on the left bank
of the Bann, 70 miles north of Dublin (Map: Ire-
land, E 2). It is a thriving seat of the linen
manufacture in all its stages, from the prepara-
tion of the soil for the flaxseed to the finishing of
the finest linen. Miles of bleaching-greens exist
in the vicinity, while there are numerous facto-
ries along the Bann. Population, in 1801, 4001.
BANBURY, banljer-i (anciently Berenburig,
Bera's fort). A market-town in Oxfordshire,
England, on the Cherwell, and the Oxford Canal,
23 miles north of O.xford (Map: England, E 4).
Banbury is the centre of the famous ricli red land
of Oxford County. This land is among the most
fertile in the kingdom. Banbury is noted for its
manufactire of agricultural implements, and
for its malt liquors, cheese, and cakes. It was
a strongliold of Puritanism in the Seventeenth
Century, and the term 'Banbury man' came to
be applied, as a term of derision, to the typical
Puritan. The old "Banbury Cross.' famous in
the nursery rhyme, is replaced by a modern one.
Population, in 1801, 12,767; in 1901, 12,967.
Consult Beesley, History of Banliunj (London,
1841).
BANC (OF. lane. Low Lat. lancus, MHG.
hnnc, Ger. Bank, bench). In law, the bench or
seat of judgment. Hence, the sittings of a superior
court of common law, composed of more than one
judge, to determine questions of law: or the sit-
tings of a full court or quorum, as distinguished
from the sittings at nisi prius (q.v.), or by one
judge, for the purpose of trying issues of fact,
are called 'sittings in banc' or 'in banco.' The
term is in use in the United States as well as in
England. See Bench; Common Bench; and
CorRT.
BANCA, biln'ka, or BANKA. One of the
Dutcli East Indian islands, northeast of Sumatra,
from which it is separated by the Banca Strait.
It is of an oblong shape and covers an area of
about 4446 square miles. (Map: East Indies.
C 5). Its surface is generally flat, although it
has some elevations on the northern and south-
ern ends. The climate is moist and unlicalthful
for Europeans. The most important product of
the island is tin, which has been mined by the
Government since 1832. The annual export of
that metal is about 5000 tons. The flora is
remarkable. The principal articles of import are
rice and salt. The population of Banca is esti-
mated at 94.000. of which aliout 200 are Europeans and over 25,000 Chinese. Administratively, Banca. together with a few' adjacent small islands, constitutes a separate residency.
BANCA, bjin'ka. A small boat, used in the
Philippine Islands. It is shaped from a single
log, and therefore belongs to the class called
"dugouts.' Practically all of them are fitted with
outriggers like the proas. The crosspieces are
usually of bamboo, and the float is often of the
same material. A few of the boats are of rather
large size, are built with frames and planking,
and have a schooner rig.
BANCO, biin'ko (It., bench, counter, bank).
.4 commercial tenn meaning the standard money
in which a bank keeps its accounts, as distin-
guished from the current money of the place.
The distinction Avas more necessary when the
currency consisted, as it often did, of clipped,
worn, and foreign coins. These the early banks
(at Venice or Amsterdam, for instance) received
at their intrinsic worth, and credited the de-
positor in their books with this bank value.
The term was chiefly applied to the money in
which the Hamburg bank kept its accounts,
before the adoption of the new universal coinage
of the German Empire. It was not represented
by any coinage.
BANCROFT, Imn'kroft or ban'kroft, Cecil
Franklin Patch (1839-1901). An American
educator, born at New Ipswich, N. H. He
graduated in 1860 at Dartmouth College, and in
1867 at Andover Theological Seminary, and in
the latter year was ordained to the Congrega-
tionalist ministry. In 1860-64 he was principal
of the Appleton Academy at Jlount Vernon,
X. H., and in 1867-72 of the Lookout Mountain
Educational Institutions, Tenn. In 1873 he was
appointed principal. of Phillips Academj", Ando-
ver, Mass. It is said that he prepared for col-
leges and scientific schools more students tlian
any other secondary school instructor in the
L^nited States. He published many contributions
in periodicals, and made numerous public ad-
dresses.
BANCROFT, Edward (1744-1820). An
American naturalist, traveler, and author, most
widely known as a traitor to the American
cause in France during the Revolutionary War.
He was born at Westheld. Mass., ran away to
sea, and after a time settled in Guiana, where
he practiced medicine. Afterwards he moved
to England, published a yatural Historij of
Guiana (1769), and was on the staff' of the
Monthly Review, for which he wrote articles
advocating the cause of the American Colonies.
Charged with arson in 1777. he fled to Paris, and
there became a spy, first of the Americans, and
then of the British. Soon after arriving he
seriously injured the American Government,
then much in need of arms and supplies, by
lietraying to the British information of a
prospective shipment of materials of war from
France to the United States, he haying received
the information from his fonner schoolmaster,
Silas Deane, then a commissioner of the Conti-
