Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/406

BABISM. Babis to assassinate the Shah, led to a terrible persecution, in which the beautiful 'consolation of the eyes' perished.

The Babi doctrines are essentially a system of pantheism, with additions from gnostic and other sources, and they may be regarded as a development of the mystic or Sufiistic movement against the orthodox Mohammedanism of the Sunnis, which has lasted with great persistence since the first introduction of Islam into Persia. All individual existence is regarded as emanating from the Supreme Deity, by whom it will ulti- mately be reabsorbed. Great importance is at- tached to the number 7, as indicating the at- tributes supposed to be displayed in the act of creation; and to the number 19, which mystically expresses the name of the Deity himself, and is, moreover, the sum of the prophets among whom the latest incarnation of the divine nature is conceived to be distributed in the present dis- pensation, and of whom the Bab himself is the chief. The sacred college cannot become extinct until the final judgment, the death of any of its members being immediately followed by a re- incarnation. Moses, Christ, and Mohammed are considered to be prophets, but merely precursors of the Bab and inferior to him. The morals of the sect are good: polygamy and concubinage are forbidden; the veiling of woman's face is omitted, and the equality of sex is so far recog- nized that at least one of the nineteen prophets nuist always be a female. Among the Babis women have a position of honor. They join in social intercourse, and are freed from many of the degradations to which orthodox Mohamme- danism subjects them, such as the extreme facil- ity of divorce on the part of the husband. Asceti- cism is discountenanced, mendicancy forbidden, and hospitality, charity, generous living, and abstinence from intoxicating liquors and drugs and tobacco, as well as prohibition of slave- dealing, are taught and practiced. The Babis live in outward conformity to the religion of Mohammed. The faith of the Bab has found a few adherents in America, like other Oriental religions which have sent their apostles to this country.

Consult: Browne, A Traveler's Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Bab (Cambridge, 1892); Huart, La religion de Bab (Paris, 1889); and Andreas, Die Babis in Persien (Leipzig, 1896).

BABOO, b-ilioo, or BABU (Hind, bubtl; Canarese hfihfi, father). A Hindu title of respect equal to 'Mr.' in English, given in India to educated and wealthy natives or persons of distinction, but used nowadays by Anglo-Indians in a slightly disparaging sense, implying merely superficial cultivation, or simply as designating a native clerk who writes English.

BABOON, bab-oon' (OF, baboin, Fr. babouin, Med. Lat. babewynus; ef. Ger. Pavian; origin unknown). An African or Arabian cercopithecid monkey of the 'dog-faced' genus Cynocephalus. Baboons are of large size, covered with long, dark hair, and have very large, brilliantly colored callosities upon the buttocks: but are chiefly dis- tinguished by the elongated, blunt muzzle, with the nostrils in the end, giving the profile a re- semblance to that of a dog. This is heightened by the prominence of the canine teeth, which in adult males become most formidable tusks,

effective against the largest of their enemies among the wild beasts. This physiognomy, often gaudily colored, is repulsive and fear-inspiring, and seems to indicate the fierceness of their character; yet baboons rarely, if ever, have at- tacked human beings unprovoked. The fore and hind limbs in this group are of similar size, so that they walk easily and gallop swiftly on the ground, and move about rocks with extreme agility; they climb trees with greater difficulty, and as a rule keep on the ground and away from forested regions. All the species are gregarious, assembling in large troops, conducted and guarded by the elders, who are exceedingly watch- ful against danger. They feed mainly on fruits, berries, buds, roots, and the soft wood of certain trees, but vary this fare with insects, grubs, snails, bird's eggs, lizards, etc. By raiding plan- tations in troops they may do immense damage to crops, ruthlessly destroying more than they eat, and stuffing their capacious cheek-pouches full of food to carry away. Such bands are too formidable to be easily driven away by half- armed natives. Baboons are rarely hunted for sport, and still less often captured, though partly domesticable when young; and the ancient Egyp- tians seem to have trained them to pick fruit, etc. Nevertheless, no monkeys are less tractable or fierce than these; and in the safety of large troops they will resist and sometimes vanquish even the leopard. In fighting they usually stand erect, but otherwise keep always upon all fours. Of the various species the following are best known:

Arabian, or Sacred Baboon, or Hamadryad (Cynocephalus hamadryas). This is the great ashy-gray baboon, represented upon Egyptian monuments and supposed to have been the mon- key to which divine honors were paid. The wor- ship of baboons according to Petrie, was very primitive in Egypt, and was due to the solemn faces of these animals, which gained them credit for great wisdom, and also to their habitual activity at sunrise, leading to the supposition that they were then adoring the sun-god. The body was frequently embalmed, and baboon mum- mies are still found. It lives in Arabia, but more commonly in Abyssinia and the Sudan, where, in open rocky regions, it congregates in herds sometimes numbering 250, and where its habits have been described at length by Sir Samuel Baker. The huge grizzled mane so characteristic of this species belongs to the old males alone. A closely allied species or variety of Abyssinia (Cynocephahis doguera) is yellow- ish-olive in color.

The Chacma (Cynocephalus porcarius) of feouth Africa is even larger, being about the size of a mastiff, and exceedingly strong; it is still common on the mountain and. sea-cliffs of the wilder parts of Cape Colony, going in troops, which might be dangerous to humanity were they not so timid. This species is dark-brown, with long shaggy hair, but without any mane, and the naked part of the face is purplish. The tail is rather more than half the length of the body, and is terminated by a tuft of long black hair. Their food is as miscellaneous as that of other species, but they are especially fond of an iris-like bulb known as ixiu, which they dig and peel before eat- ing. This is the species most often seen in menageries, but all the others endure captivity