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LEFT BAR-LE-DUC 421 BARMECIDES BAR-LE-DUC, a city in France, the capital of the department of Meuse. It is on the Ornain river and the Marne canal, about 160 miles E. of Paris. Among other notable buildings are a 15th century church, the city hall, a commercial museum, a library, and the- ater. The city suffered severely during the World War. Prior to that time it had important manufactures, including cotton and woolen mills, breweries, paper mills, foundries,, etc. Pop. about 20,000. BARLEY, seeds or grains of various species and varieties of the genus hor- deum. That most commonly in culti- vation is hordeum vulgare, spring, or two-rowed barley, especially the rath- ripe and thanet sorts. H. hexastichon (i. e., with the seeds growing in six rows) is the bear, or bigg barley. H. distichon, two-rowed, or common barley, is preferred for malting, which is one of the chief purposes for which barley is cultivated. H. zeocHton, or sprat-barley, is more rare. Barley is the hardiest of all the cereals, and was originally a native of Asia, but it is now cultivated all over the world, even as far N. as Lapland. In ancient times, it was largely used as an article of food, but the greater proportion now grown is used in the preparation of malt and spirits. For culinary purposes, it is sold in two forms, Scotch or pot barley, and pearl barley, the former partially deprived of its husk; the latter, with all the husk removed. Bread made from barley meal is darker in color and less nutritious than that made from wheat flour. BARLOW, FRANCIS CHANNING, an American military officer, born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1834; graduated from Harvard College in 1855; studied law in New York, and practiced there. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 12th Regiment, New York State National Guard. He was promoted Lieutenant after three months of service; Colonel during the siege of Yorktown; dis- tinguished himself in the battle of Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines, for which he was promoted Brigadier-General; fought in almost every subsequent battle of the Army of the Potomac. He was severely wounded at Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863, and at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. He was mustere^ out of the service with the rank of Major-General of volunteers. In 1860-1868, he was Secretary of State of New York; in 1871 became Attorney- General; and in 1873 resumed law pi'ac- tice in New York. He died in New York City, Jan. 11, 1896. BARLOW, JANE, an Irish poet and story writer, born in County Dublin about 1857. Her popular books in- clude "Irish Idylls" (1892) ; "Bogland Studies," "Kerrigan's Quality," "Walled Out, or Eschatology in a Bog," "The Mockers of the Shallow Waters" (1893); "Strangers at Lisconnel" (1895); "Irish Ways" (1911); "Flaws" (1912) ; etc. She died in 1917. BARLOW, JOEL, an American poet and statesman, born in Reading, Conn., March 24, 1754; published political works and poems, which contain many philosophical and political dissertations. "The Vision of Columbus" (1787) was extended into "The Columbiad," a long epic (1807). He also wrote "The Con- spiracy of Kings" (1792), and the cele- brated poem, "Hasty Pudding." He died near Cracow, Poland, Dec. 24, 1812, while on his way to meet Napoleon I. in his capacity as commissioner to the French Emperor. BARLOW, PETER, an English physi- cist and mathematician, born at Nor- wich in 1776. He was Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Acad- emy at Woolwich for a period of 40 years. In 1823, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1825 re- ceived from it the Copley medal for his researches in magnetism. In 1829, he was admitted a member of the French Institute. His greatest work is the "Mathematical and Philosophical Dic- tionary." He was also the author of "Machinery and Manufactures of Great Britain" (1837) ; "Force and Rapidity of Locomotives" (1838) ; and "Essay and Magnetic Attraction," one of the first works in which the phenomena of mag- netism were distinctly enunciated. He died in 1862. BARMECIDES, an illustrious family of Khorassan, the romance of ■whose his- tory is equally familiar to Europeans and Americans in the "Arabian Nights En- tertainments," and to Orientals in the pages of their historians and poets; and who flourished at the Court of the early Abbasside Caliphs. Barmec, or Barmek, the founder of the family, transmitted the honors conferred on him by the Caliph Abd-al-Malik to his son, Khalid, and from him they passed to his son, Yahia, who, becoming tutor to the fa- mous Haroun-al-Raschid, acquired an in- fluence over that Prince, which carried his sons, Fadl, or Fazl, Giaff'ar, Mo- hammed, and Mousa, to the highest digni- ties of the Court. The virtues and munifi- cence of the Barmecides were, for a long period, displayed under favor of Haroun;