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BALANCE 389 BALCH (Oct. 25, 1854) , ending in the repulse of the Russians by the British. The charge of the Light Brigade was part of this battle. BALANCE, an instrument for deter- mining the relative weights or masses of bodies. It consists of a beam with its fulcrum in the middle, and its arms pre- cisely equal. From the extremities of the arms are suspended two scales, the one to receive the object to be weighed, and the other the counterpoise. A false balance of this type is one in which the arms are unequal in length. As the balance is really a lever, it is evi- dent that a smaller weight than that in the scale will put the beam into equili- brium. The fraud may at once be de- tected by putting the article to be weighed into the scale containing the weight, and vice versa. Hydrostatic balance: A balance de- sigTied for the weighing of bodies in water, with the view of ascertaining their specific gravity. A Roman balance, the same as the steel-yard. Of this type the Chinese, the Danish or Swedish, and the bent lever balances are modifications. In mechanics and natural philosophy: Balance of torsion : An instrument in- vented by Coulomb for comparing the intensities of very small forces. It con- sists of a metallic wire suspended verti- cally from a fixed point, to the lower end of which a horizontal needle is attached with a small weight desig:ned to keep the wire stretched. The magnitude of a small force acting on the end of the needle is measured by the amount of tor- sion, or twisting of the wire — in other words, by the arc which the needle passes over measured from the point of repose. In horology: 1. Balance of a watch: The circular hoop or ring which takes the place of the bob of a pendulum in a clock. The ac- tion of a hair-spring causes it to vibrate. 2, Compensating balance of a chron- ometer: A balance, or wheel, furnished with a spiral spring, with metals of dif- ferent expansibility so adjusted that, in alterations of temperature, they work against each other and render the move- ments of the chronometer uniform. In astronomy: A constellation, one of the signs of the zodiac, generally desig- nated by its Latin name. Libra. In book and account keeping: The ex- cess on the debtor or ci'editor side of an account, which requires to be met by an identical sum entered under some head- ing on the other side if an equilibrium is to be established between the two. In commercial and political economy: Balance of trade, properly an equili- brium between the value of the exports from, and the imports into, any country, but more commonly the amount required on one side or other to constitute such an equilibrium. In politics: Balance of power, such a condition of things that the power of any one state, however great, is balanced by that of the rest. BALBEC. See BAALBEK. BALBOA, VASCO NUNEZ DE, a Spanish explorer, bom at Xeres de los Caballeros, in 1475. He accompanied Rodrigo de Bastidas in his expedition to the New World, and first settled in Haiti (or, as it was then termed, Hispaniola). Though an adventurer in search of for- tune, his great ambition seems to have been to discover another great ocean. He proceeded to the American continent, and there founded a colony. Accom- panied by a small band of followers, he began to thread the almost impenetrable forests of the Isthmus of Darien. At length, after a toilsome and dangerous journey, Balboa and his companions approached, on Sept. 25, 1513, the sum- mit of the mountain range, when Balboa, leaving his followers and advancing alone to the W. declivity, was the first to behold the vast unknown ocean, which he named the Pacific. Surrounded by his followers, he walked into it, carrying in his right hand a naked sword, and in his left the banner of Castile, and de- clared the sea of the South, and all the regions whose shores it bathed, to belong to the crown of Castile and Leon. During his absence, hov/ever, a new govei-nor had been appointed to supersede Balboa in Haiti; where, on his return, jealousy and dissensions springing up between them, Balboa, accused of a design to rebel, was beheaded in 1517. BALBRIGGAN, a watering place in County Dublin, Ireland, 21 miles N. by E. of Dublin. It is a seat of linen, cot- ton, calico, and stocking manufactures. Many women are employed in embroider- ing muslin. The term "Balbriggan" is now used to describe certain varieties of cotton-knit goods. BALCH, EMILY GREENE, an Ameri- can economist, born in Jamaica Plain, Mass., in 1867. She was graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1889, studied economics in Paris and Berlin, and after- ward carried on settlement work in the Denison House in Boston in 1892-1893. She was assistant in economics at Wel- lesley College in 1896-1897, instructor from 1897 to 1903, associate professor from 1903 to 1913, and professor of po- litical economy and social science from