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BACH 375 BACKGAMMON Such as have but polyspermous fruit; that is, containing two or more kernels or seeds within it; as the jesminum, ligustrum. (.4) Such as have their fruit composed of many acini, or round, soft balls, set close together, like a bunch of grapes; as the uva marina. BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN, a celebrated musician, born at Eisenach, upper Saxony, March 21, 1685. When he was 10 years old his father, who was a musician at Eisenach, died, and Bach sought the protection of an elder brother, who, dying soon after, he was again left destitute, and, to earn a livelihood, en- tered the choir of St. Michael's, Lune- burg, as a soprano singer. In 1703 he became court musician at Weimar, the following year organist at Arnstadt, and in 1708 court organist at Weimar. While holding this office he labored to make himself master of every branch of music. In 1717 he was made Director of Con- certs, and six years afterward Director of Music and Cantor to St. Thoma.s' School, Leipsic, an appointment which he held to his death. About 10 years later the distinctions of kapellmeister to the Duke of Weissenfels and court com- poser to the King of Poland were con- ferred upon him. Bach, who had a son in the service of Frederick the Great, re- ceived a pressing request to visit Pots- dam, on the occasion of a concert there. He went, and acquitted himself to the satisfaction of that monarch, some of whose music he played at first sight. Bach's close studies affected his eyes, and an operation left him totally blind and hastened his death, in Leipsic, July 28, 1750. With the exception of Handel, Bach had no rival as an organist. BACHELLER, IRVING, an American novelist, born in Pierpont, N. Y., Sept. 26, 1859. He was graduated at St. Law- rence University in 1879 and became a reporter of the Brooklyn "Times." Sub- sequently he established a newspaper syndicate. His novels include "The Mas- ter of Silence"; "The Unbidden Guest"; "Eben Holden"; "The Master" (1908); "The Light in the Clearing" (1916) ; "A Man for the Ages" (1920). BACHELOR, a term applied anciently to a person in the first or probationary stage of knighthood who had not yet raised his standard in the field. It also denotes a person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, or in divinity, law, or medicine, at a col- lege or university; or a man of any age who has not been married. A knight bachelor is one who has been raised to the dignity of a knight without being made a member of any of the orders of chivalry such as the Garter or the Thistle. BACHELOR'S BUTTONS, the double flowering buttercup (ranunculus acris) , with white or yellow blossoms, common in gardens. BACHIAN (bach'an), or BAT J AN, one of the Molucca Islands, immediately S. of the equator, S. W. of Gilolo; area, 914 square miles. Pop. about 15,000. It is ruled by a native Sultan under the Dutch. BACILLARIA, a genus of microscopic algae belonging to the class diatomaceas, the siliceous remains of which abound in Cretaceous, Tertiary, and more recent geological deposits. BACILLUS, a name given to certain filiform bacteria present in the blood and tissues in malignant pustule, typhus, tuberculosis, and many other diseases. See Bacteria. BACKGAMMON, a game of chance and calculation. It is played by two per- sons, with two boxes, and two dice, upon a quadrangular table, or board, on which are figured 24 points, or fleches, of two colors, placed alternately. The board is divided into four compartments, two in- ner and two outer ones, each containing six of the 24 points (alternate colors). The players are each furnished with 15 men, or counters, black and white. These are arranged upon the board in the fol- lowing manner: To play into the left hand table, two of your men are placed upon the ace-point of your opponent's in- ner table, five upon the sixth point in his outer table, three upon the cinque-point in your own outer table, and five upon the sixth point in your OAvn inner table. The adversary's men are to be placed in corresponding order, in a position dii'ect- ly opposite. The game consists in mov- ing your men from point to point, so as to bring them around into your own inner table (i, e., that on your left hand) , and then moving or bearing them off the board. The player who first clears off his men wins. The moves of the men are determined by the throws of the dice, according to the directions for playing. It will there be seen that the most ad- vantageous throw at the outset is that of aces, as it blocks the bar, or sixth point in your outer table, and secures the cinque-point in your inner table, so that your adversary's two men cannot move if he throw either quarter, cinque, or size. This throw is frequently con- tested by inferior players, at the com- mencement of the game, by way of odds.