Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/509

BABBERINI 417 BABCA ways put in the van of the drive pro- jected by the Allies, and entanglements, however strong, could not succeed in stopping them. BARBERINI, a celebrated Florentine family^ which, since the pontificate of Maffeo Barberini (Urban VIIL, 1623 to 1644) , has occupied a distinguished place among the nobility of Rome. During his reign he seemed chiefly intent on the ag- grandizement of his three nephews, of whom two were appointed cardinals, and the third Prince of Palestrina, The Bar- berini Palace in Rome contains a famous picture gallery. BARBERRY, or BERBERRY, the English name of the berberis, a genus of plants constituting the typical one of the order berberidacese (berberids). The common barberry (barbeHs vulgaris) is planted in gardens or in hedges, being an ornamental shrub, especially when covered with a profusion of yellow flowers or loaded with fruit. The flowers are much frequented by bees. The juice of the berries is acid, hence they are used for preserves and confectionery. The root, boiled in lye, and the inner bark of the stem, dye a fine yellow. BARBERRY BLIGHT, the English name of a minute fungal, the xcidium berberidis of Persoon. It occurs on leaves of the barberry, forming roundish, bright red spots, consisting of the fruits of the xcidium, which form little cups full of spores when they burst. These spores germinate on the leaves or stems of wheat, send out mycelium into the plant, and produce the disease called rust. BARBERTON, a mining town of the province of Transvaal Union of South Africa, in the De Kaap gold fields. It is situated at the base of a high range of hills 2,500 feet above sea-level, 180 miles E. of Pretoria, and 100 N. W. of Delagoa Bay, with both of which it is connected by railway. In 1886-1887, owing to the discovery of rich gold reefs, there was a rush to the place, and the population soon rose to 8,000 or more; but the su- perior attraction of the Witwatersrand reefs and the growth of Johannesburg reduced Barberton to a subordinate place. Pop. about 3,000. BARBERTON, a city of Ohio, in Sum- mit CO. It is on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Erie, the Northern Ohio, and the Pennsylvania railroads, and on the Ohio canal. It has important industries, in- cluding the manufacture of matches, chemicals, sewer pipes, rubber, paint, etc. Pop. (1910) 9,410; (1920) 18,811. BARBIZON (bar-be-z6n'), a village on the outskirts of the forest of Fon- tainebleau, a great artists' resort, the home of Millet; Corot, Diaz, Daubigny, Dupre, Troyon, and Rousseau were also of the "Barbizon school" of painters. They were really not a "school," but simply a group of painters of animal, landscape, and peasant subjects having similar aims and painting in accordance with similar principles: a close study of nature, an individual expression of the painter's mood of sentiment. They belonged to the Romantic school of painting. BARBOUR. RALPH HENRY, an American writer, born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1870. He received an academic education and began early in life to con- tribute to periodicals and magazines under the pen name of Richard Stillman Powell. He was a prolific writer of boys' story books, which include "The Junior Trophy" (1908) ; "Benton's Ven- ture" (1914) ; "The Brother of a Hero" (1914); "The Lucky Seventh (1915); "Hearts Content" (1915); etc. BARBUDA (bar-bo'da), one of the Leeward Islands, West Indies, annexed by Great Britain in 1628; about 15 miles long and 8 wide; lying N. of Antigua. It is flat, fertile, and healthy. Corn, cot- ton, pepper, and tobacco are the prin- cipal produce. There is no harbor, but a well sheltered roadstead on the W. side. It is a dependency of Antigua. Pop. about 1,000, mostly colored. BARCA, or BENGAZI, a country extend- ing along the N. coast of Africa, between the Great Syrtis (now called the Gulf of Sidra) and Egypt. Bounded on the W. by Tripoli, and on the S. by the Libyan Desert, it is separated from Egypt on the E. by no definite line. It nearly corresponds with the ancient Cyrenaica; and a great part of it is a high plateau. The climate is healthful and agreeable in the more elevated parts, which reach a height of almost 2,000 feet. Rice, dates, olives, and saffron flourish; the horses are celebrated as in ancient times. But the good soil extends over only about a fourth of Barca. Many ruins in the N. W. parts attest its high state of cultiva- tion in ancient times, when its five pros- perous cities bore the title of the Libyan Pentapolis. As early as the time of Cyrus, Barca became a state, which proved dangerous to the neighboring state of Cyrene; but within a single cen- tury it sank, and became subject to Egypt. In the Roman period, its inhabit- ants were noted for their predatory ex- cursions. It was afterward a province of the Greek Empire, and had declared