B A C
gold, filled with all forts of fruit: in thefe confided the molt myfterious part of the lbiemnity; and therefore to amufe the common people, ferpents were put into them, which fometimes crawling out of their places, aftoniftled the beholders. Nexf "was the Oit^xKtex, being a company of men carrying t*c 0»Mh;, which were poles, to the end of which were fixed things in the form of a man's privities. Tllefe perfons were crowned with violets and ivy, and had their faces covered with other herbs \ they were called $«Atopogoij and the fongs re- peated by them Qai^xa atrpaitt. After thefe followed the iSupaXXoi, in women's apparel, with garments ftriped with white, and reaching to their ancles, garlands on their heads, gloves compofed of flowers on their hands, and in their gef- tures imitating drunken men. There were alfo certain per-
. fons called Ai*rafo{;i, whofe bufinefs it was to carry the kion or myftical van of Bacchus, a thing (o elTential to this, and other Solemnities and facrifices of this god ■. Such at leaft were the Athenian Bacchanalia : for the method of celebrating them among the Romans, feems not to have been altogether fo frantic. In reality the Bacchanalia was a Grecian feaft, and never publickly eftablilhed at Rome, though long tolerated, and held in the night-time, in the grove of Simila. After its , prohibition, recorded at large by Livy, particular perfons feem to have continued its ufe. Tacitus gives an elegant defcrip-
, tion of the Bacchanalia-, as celebrated by MeiTalina b . [*Pc-tt. Archicol. Gnec. T. i. 1. 2. c. 20. p. 383. Lakemak. Antiq. Graec. Sacr. P. 4. c. 2. §. 12. p. 6io.feq. Pitifc. T. 1. p. 238. b V.Ta.it. Anal. I[. c. 31.]
There were divers forts of Dionyfia or Bacchanalia, among the Greeks; for the name is frequently given to all the folemn feafts of Bacchus.
The firft held in the fpring, in the month Elaphebolion, call- ed Aioiwrta Ari*« or t« w Arv, becaufe folemnized within the city, fometimes f«7aAa, or the great Bacchanalia; and fome- times abfolutely and by way of eminence &wmrnt , or Baccha- nalia, as being the moll celebrated of all the feafts of this deity at Athens.
The fecond held in autumn, in the month Pofideon,and called more particularly Au^ta, lenaea; fometimes Ta x*t' A? e a<, or the rural feaft, becaufe celebrated in the field; fometimes alfo At/murut gag*, or the lefl'cr Bacchanalia. Lakemak. Antiq. Grarc. Sacr. P. 4. c. z. §.12. Pott. Archa:ol. 1. 2. c. 20. p. 384.
The anthefteria are by fome thought to have been facred to Bacchus, under tire denomination of Aio^trta A^ata, or old Eachanalia. Lakemak. 1. c. See Anthesteria. The others take thefe to have been two different feafts, and the latter no other than the great Bacchanalia, called A fx *,«, or Afgadya, by way of contradiftinction from the lefier, or rural fort, which are denominated IboU/a, or the newer. To thefe may be added the Amonx B P au e »<,j«, held at Brauron, a borough of Attica; Nweiux.a, not to be revealed; Apxixfyxa,
. held by the Arcadians; TjAfiiw, held by the Thebans in me- mory. of Bacchus's three years expedition into India. Pott. I.e. p. 384. Lakemak. , p. 6 14.
Jo. Nicolai and Jac. Herrenfchnidius have difcourfes exprefs on the antient Bacchanalia d , M. du Rondel % has <nven an apology for the Bacchanalia, and flrewn they were not fo bad as they have been reprefented.— [ d V. Fabric. Bibl. Ant. c. 1 0. §. i 0. ' In Diff. de Chxnice Pythag. publiftied in French at Amft. 1 690. 1 2 mo .]
Some writers, call the Romifh carnaval, the Chrijlian Baccha- nalia. flffaV. I C. p, 332. SeeCAKNAVAL.
Bacchanalia, bacchanals, is alfo a name given to piftures, or
. bajja relieve-!, whereon the feaft is reprefented, confifting chief-
, ly of dancings, nudities, and the like.
. There are antique bacchanals ftill fcen on feveral antient friezes. The bacchanals pjinted by Pouffin are excellent ' Felib. ap. Trev. Dift. T. 1. p. 7S2.
BACCHARACH IVinc, a name of a particular kind of wine, by fome eftecmed a kind of Rhcnifh; but Portzius, who has
_ . written cxprefly on the fubject, obferves, that it differs from all the common Rhenifh wine, in colour, odour, tafte and
■ virtue. When the wine is firft made, it is of a yellowifti co- lour, but they take off this by means of iahyocolla cut and fteeped in fair water for ten or twelve hours, and then torn to pieces, and mixed with the wine, but only in a fmall quan- tity. They add only fo much of the wine as they fuppofe capable of diilblving it; and then letting it ftand fix or feven days, they put it into a fieve, and pouring fome more Wine on it, they wafti it through; and thus percolated, they pour it out of one veffel into another till it froths; they then pour the whole into a proper quantity of the wine, to clarify it
. . and take away its colour. Some add, at the fame time, a quan-
. tity of fand, or of powdered white glafs, which being heavy,
and entangling themfelves in the foul matter of . the wine,
carry it to the bottom with them. When they pour this fo-
"Sfi. ' nt f *? vdr f * ey ufe a little flick with a P iece of
they beat
thiu board perforated at the end of it, with which 1 the wine in the veliel, to mix the folution of ifinglafs every- wlere with ^it. Four or five days (landing quiet after this, leparates all the faeces, and the wine is then drawn out into other veffels pure and colourlefs. Portzius de vin. Rhen. 3
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The Baccharcsb wine is of a very agreeable t.tfle, and in its'
qualities is rather incifive than diuretic; it is alfo accounted
ftomachic, and is famous for quickening the {pints more and
fooner than any other wine.
The Eaccaharach wine agrees with the other wines, in that
more fpirit is obtained from it than from the Greek, Mufco-
dine, or any other of the fweet wines.
'I he fpirit diddled from this and other thinner wines is alfo
more fine than the richer wines.
BACCHARIS,Bacchar, in botany, commonly called plczum.'ni's jpikenard, a fweet fcented fnrubby plant. The leaves arc rough, and of afize between thofe of the violet and mullein. The ftalk is bent into angles,, and rifes to the height of a cubit, h fomewhat rough, and not without fuckers. The flowers are of a purple colour inclining to white, and have a fragrant fmell; and the roots are like hellebore, and fmell like cinna- mon. It delights in a rough dry foil. See Conyza. This plant is but rarely ufed in medicine; though fome reckon it a good vulnerary, and ufeful in bruifes, &c. The Ba.cbaris is the Conyza?najor vulgaris of C. Bauhin. V. Ray's S\ nopf. & Hift. Plant. Boerbaav. index, &c. See allb Aimer's Gard. Diet. voc. Conyza.
Monf. Vaillant makes the Baccharis, (in French, Bacchante) a genus of the corymbiferous clafs, and enumerates its fpecies in Mem. Acad, des Sciences, Anno 1719. He fuppofes Baccbarts to be derived from Bacchus, 'Bax^oq, the god of wine; becaufe the plants to which the ancients gave this name had a vinous fmell, or perhaps, becaufe they were ufed as a prefervative againft the diftempcr called B««x c >" by the Greeks, which they confidered as an inchantment.
Baccharis, B«Kx«ps, was alfo the name of a fweet ointment among the ancients, perhaps from this herb's being a princi- pal ingredient in it.
BACCHI, in mechanics, a kind of antient machines, inform of goats, ufed by Jupiter in his wars againft the giants. Rubeck defcribes two kinds of Bacchi, one made like the battering ram, wherewith Jupiter demolifhed the enemies for- tifications; the other contrived to caft fire out of; from whence the Greeks are conjectured to have framed their idea of chimera. Rudbeck, Atlant. P. 3. c. 13. Phil. Tianf. N°. 302. p. 2078.
BACCHIC, fomething relating to the ceremonies of Bacchus. The celebrated intaglia, called Michael Angelo's ring, is a re- prefentation of a Bacchic feaft.
Bacchic Song, Bacchicum carmen, is fometimes ufed for a chan- fan a hire, or compofition to infpire jollity. But in a more proper fenfe, it is reftrained to a dithyrambic ode, or hymn. V. Mem. Acad. Infcrip. T. 7. p. 293.
Bacchjca, in botany, is ufed for ivy, hedera. . Blancard Lex. Med.
BACCOFOE, in botany, the name of a fruit very common in Guinea. It is like the banana, except that it is whiter, thick- er, and fhorter. The tafte and fmell are both very agreeable; and fome pretend, that on cutting it through tranfverfely, there is the figure of a crucifix reprefented on each fide of it. Phil.Tranf. N°. 108.
BACCHUS, in zoology, a name given by fome to the myxon, a fifti of the mullet kind, remarkable for the red colour of its lips, and the extremity of the covering of the gills. Wil- tugbbyHiR.'PiCc. p. 276. SeethearticlesMyxoN andMuciL.
BACHARIS, in botany. See Baccharis.
BACK, in the manege, and among farriers. A hcrfe's Back fhould be ftreight, not hollow, which is called fadde backed: horfes of this kind are generally light, and carry their heads high, but want in ftrength and fervice. A horfe with a weak back is apt to ftumble. Ruft. Diet, in voc. Reins. In the French riding fchools, to mount a horfe a das, is to mount him bare-backed, without a faddle. GuilL Gent Diet, p. r.
Back, of a chimney, the hind part between the jaumbs and the hearth, ufually formed of brick, fometimes tiles.
Iron Back, is a large plate of caft-iron, frequently adorned with figures in low relievo, ferving not only to preferve the ftone- work of the chimney back, but alfo to reflect the heat of the fire forwards. V. Davil. Courf. d' Archit. P. 1. pi. 57. and 58.
Back of a hip, among builders, denotes the two planes on the outfide of the hip, lyingparallel with the adjoining fide and end of the roof. Neve, Build. Die!:, in voc. Hip. See Hip.
Back painting, is ufed by fome for the art of parting of prints, and other defigns on glafs. Smith. Art of Paint, c 19.
BACKS, among dealers in leather, denote the thickeft and beft tanned hides ufed chiefly for foles of Ihoes. Houghi. Collect. T. 1. N°. 123. p. 322,
Backs, in diftillery. See Bac.
BACKBEROND, or Backber -end, in law writers, denotes a cri- minal caught carrying off fomething on his back. Spelman. p. 55. a. Skinner, Etym. voc. Forens.
In this Senfe. Bractpn ufes it for a fpecies of what the civi- lians call manifeft theft, furtum manifejiwn. BraSi. 1. 3. Trac. 2. c. 32.
In the foreft laws, Backherond is one of the four circumftances, or cafes, wherein a forefter may arreft the body of an offen- der againft vert, orvenifon in the foreft. The others are
'jlalle-
