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BASRA 439 BASSEIN during the second half of the 19th cen- tury to South America. BASRA. See BassoRA. BASS, in music. (1) The string which gives a bass sound. (2) An in- strument which plays the bass part; es- pecially of the violoncello or bass-viol, and the contrabasso or double bass. Both this and the previous sense are found in the following example: (3) The lowest of the principal human voices; those higher in pitch being, respectively, bari- tone, tenor, alto or contralto, mezzo- soprano, soprano. (4) The portion of a choir singing the bass part ; also the por- tion of string band playing the bass part. (5) The lowest instrument of any class or family of instruments; as bass clario- net, bass flute, bass horn, bass trombone;, bass tuba, bass viol or base viol. (6) The string of lowest pitch on a string instrument having deep sounds. (7) Bass clef: The lowest sign of absolute pitch used in music; the F clef. A fundamental bass: The supposed generator or foundation of any har- monic combination. Thus C is said to be the fundamental base of the chord G, C, E. Thorough or continuous bass: Origin- ally the bass part figured for the player on a harpsichord or organ. Hence, the art of adding chords to a figured bass; the art of harmony. BASS, the name of a number of fishes of several genera„ but originally belong- ing to a genus of sea fishes (labrax) of the perch family, distinguished from the true perches by having the tongue cov- ered by small teeth and the preopercu- lum smooth. L. lupus, the only British species, called also seadace, and from its voracity sea-wolf, resembles somewhat the salmon in shape, and is much es- teemed for the table, weighing about 15 pounds. L. lineatus (roccua lineatus),, or striped bass, an American species, weighing from 25 to 30 pounds, is much used for food, and is also known as rock- fish. Two species of black bass (micyrop- terus salmonides and M. dolomieu), American fresh water fishes, are ex- cellent as food and give fine sport to the angler. The former is often called the large mouthed black bass, from the size of its mouth. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs and young. The centropristis nigricans, an American sea fish of the perch family, and weighing two to three pounds, is known as the sea bass. BASS, JOHN FOSTER. American war correspondent, born in Chicago, 1866; graduated at Harvard University, 1891. He served as a newspaper cor- respondent during the Cretan insurrec- tion (1895); traversed the country where the Armenian massacres took place (1896); was at the front in the Greek war of 1898, and in the Spanish- American war of the same year. He was in China during the Boxer rebellion in 1900, and was for several months with Kuroki's army in the Russo-Jap- anese war of 1904. During the World War he followed the Russian campaigns of 1914-1915, was on the French and Balkan fronts 1915-1917, and covered the Italian military operations in 1918. BASS A. Striped Bass. B. Black Bass. C. Rock Bass. BASSANO (bas-a'no), a commercial city of north Italy, province of Vicenza, on the Brenta. It nas lofty old walls, an old castle, various industries, and an active trade. Near Bassano, Sept. 8, 1796, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians. Pop. about 20,000, BASSEIN. (1) A thriving town in Burma, India, capital of a district of the same name, on the left bank of the Bas- sein river, one of the mouths of the Ira- wadi, 90 miles from the sea, but ac- cessible to the largest ships. It is an important center of the rice trade, has considerable trade with Madras, and in a military view also is important, as it completely commands the navigation of