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BASEL

cltibs and large amounts of capital Invested. Professional players are paid salaries, which in the cases of those who are more expert are very large. During the season, which begins in April or May and runs about six months, some thousands of men are employed in playing professional base ball. Hundreds of amateur clubs play every year also. Every school or college has its team, and many professional ball players receive their training while playing in these clubs. Every professional league plays a championship series in which each club meets the other clubs of the league an equal number of times. Great interest is shown in the result of these games. The scores are telegraphed over the country by innings and the progress of the games in other cities announced.

A piece of ground in the form of a diamond ninety feet square is marked out on a level field of three or four acres. Bases are placed at each corner of the diamond, called home, first, second and third base. Each team has nine players, and in turn are fielders and batters. The fielders are: the pitcher, near the center of the diamond; the catcher, behind home base; the three basemen and shortstop, sometimes called infielders, the first and second basemen being between those bases and the shortstop and third baseman between second and third base; outfielders at right, center and left fields. When the fielders take their places, the pitcher delivers the ball, a fair ball being one that passes over the home plate, not lower than the striker's knee nor higher than his shoulder. Such a ball counts a strike, whether struck at or not, and after three strikes the batsman must run or be put out; but four unfair balls entitle the striker to a base. The batsman tries to knock the ball out of the reach of the fielders, so as to reach at least first base before the ball reaches the baseman, and as many more bases as he can make. Each base is a resting place, but, if he is touched by the ball between bases, he is put out. If he succeeds in reaching home plate, he scores one run* A batsman can only run on a fair hit, which is a ball batted within the lines running from home to first base, and home to third, and beyond; all other hits, even a mere tick are fouls, and a foul fly, if it is caught, puts out the batter. The batters bat in turn until three are put out, when the teams change places. When both sides have been batters once, an inning is ended, and nine innings make a game. The side scoring the most runs wins. The ball is thrown by the pitcher with great swiftness, and this high speed enables him to curve the ball in any direction, and so fool the batter into thinking an unfair ball is good or a fair ball bad. This is brought about by the pitcher's giving the balf a twist, the resisting air forcing the twisting Sphere to curve from a straight line. The ball curves up or down, out or in, according to the kind of twist given by the pitcher. The game is easily understood; yet to be a good player requires not only agility, endurance and strength, together with good throwing and running powers, plenty of courage, pluck and nerve, but quick thinking, control of temper and presence of mind to act promptly at critical points of the game.

Basel (bd'zel), Bale (bdl) or Basle, the capital of the canton of the same name, is, with the exception of Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. It lies on both sides of the river Rhine, 43 miles north of Berne. The river is crossed by a bridge 80 feet long, which was first built in 12 2 9. The cathedral, begun in 1010 and finished some centuries later, is still standing. The city first appears in the 4th century as a Roman military post. In the middle of the loth century it became a free city of the empire. In 1356 nearly all its buildings were overthrown by an earthquake, and in the next century its population was greatly decreased by the plague. It joined the Swiss confederacy in 1501, and was one of the chief seats of the Reformation. There was a long contest between the city of Basel and the rest of the canton. The city claimed all the offices and rights, shutting out the country people. Peace was brought about in 1833 by separating the city entirely from the country district. The city was much more important in the middle ages than now, though it is to-day the wealthiest city in Switzerland. It has a university founded in 1460, with a teaching staff of 129 professors and 806 students. Its population is 131,914.

Basidiomycetes (ba-std'%-d-mi-se'tez). A great group of low plants (Fungi), including such well-known forms as mushrooms, toadstools and puffballs. For the most part they are not destructive parasites, but are harmless and often useful saprophytes. The popular distinction between toadstools and mushrooms has no botanical foundation. The common cultivated mushroom, Agaricus cam-pestris, may be taken as a type. The mycelium occurs in decaying leaves, wood, etc. in

STAGES  IN    THE   DEVELOPMENT OF A MUSHROOM