Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/492

BALLARAT. distilleries. It is the see of Anglican and Catholic bishops, has many handsome build- ings, churches, city hall, two towTi halls, hos- pitals, two college "free libraries, several schools, and municipal gas and water-works. Its estab- lishment and rise date from the discovery of gold in 1851. The largest gold nuggets ever unearthed were discovered here. Ballarat West was made a municipality in 18.55, and in 1870 was incorporated as a city. Population, in ISlU, Ballarat West, 24,257; Ballarat East, 16,- 592— total, 40,8 iO; in I'JOl, Ballarat West, 25,- 44S; Ballarat East, 18,2U2— total, 43,710.

BAL'LAST (first part of uncertain origin; perhaps Eng. hiire, mere -f last, burden, weight). Weight carried by a ship or boat to secure proper stabilitv, both to avoid risk of capsizing and to secure 'the greatest etl'ectiveness of the propelling power. Slodern steamers have tanks fitted for water ballast, and rarely carry any other kind. The tanks are located forward, aft, and amidships, in order that the vessel may not only be immersed to a safe extent, to avoid danger "of capsizing, but also so that the trim, or inclination of the keel to the surface of the water, may be adjusted. When light (i.e. with little or lio cargo), steamers require trimming by the stern (i.e. to have the stem more deeply immersed than usual), in order to submerge the screw or screws. Sailing vessels require greater stiffness (i.e. power to resist capsizing) than steamers, in order to stand up under the force of wind against their sails, as well as to resist the motion imjiarted by the waves. They usually carry a certain amount of permanent ballast in the form of pig iron. If additional ballast is necessary, any convenient heavy ma- terial, such as gravel, stones, etc., is used. The amount of ballast needed depends not only upon the depth of immersion, but upon the shape of the hull, sor.:e forms of which require more ballast than others. Under average circum- stances, a ship is said to be well ballasted when the water conies up to about her extreme breadth amidships. In ballasting or stowing cariro, the ballast and cargo are considered to- gether, the quantity and distribution of the former being dependent on the latter. The combined effect of both should not place the centre of gravity too low or too high. If too low, the ship will be unduly stiff, and will roll violently and jerkily, though perhaps not deep- ly: and she will sail sluggishly, except in a comparatively smooth sea. If the centre of gravity is too high, the vessel will be cranh, and will be dangerous from lack of power to right herself when heeled over by the wind pressing on her sails or the action of the waves; she may roll deeply, but her rolls will be slow; cr-ankness interferes with s])eed under sail, be- cause it reduces the amount of sail which can be safely carried: furthermore, the back of righting power, or stability, which causes crank- ness, prevents the vessel from I'esponding quick- ly to the action of the waves. A vessel is said to be ill ballnst when she has ballast onlj-, and no cargo, on board.

The term ballast is applied to bags of sand placed in the car of a balloon to steady it and enable the aenmaut to lighten the balloon, when necessary to effect a rise, by throwing part of the sand out. Civil engineers use the term b.il- last to signify the sand or gravelly material •which is laid as a foundation for roads, con- crete floors, etc., or as packing between railway sleepers, in order to give them solidity. No modern railway is considered to be complete or safe for transit until it is dressed and finished by ballasting. The possibility of procuring bal- last at a cheap rate considerably affects the course of railway undertakings.

BALLAST PLANTS. Plants growing on or distributed from the ballast of ships, from seeds which were contained in the ballast when loaded on the vessel, or which have fallen on it in transit. Various kinds of plants have thus been transported from one region to another. Botan- ists have recently made a special study of bal- last plants in relation to the general subject of the transportation of plants by different agencies.

BAL'LATER (Ga>l. haile. town + leiter, slope of a hill). A village and police burgh of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the Dee, 36 miles west-southwest of Aberdeen (Map: Scotland, E 2). It is frequented on account of the medicinal springs in the neighborhood.

BALL CLAY. See Clat.

BALLENSTEDT, bal'len-stet. A town in the Cerman Duchy of Anhalt, situated in the Harz ilountains, about 7 miles by rail from yuedlinburg. it is celebrated chieffj' for its castle, now the residence of the dukes of Anhalt-Bernburg. From the Tenth to the Sixteenth Century the castle was a Benedictine monastery. It has a fine park, an extensive library, ami a number of valuable collections. Population, in 1900, 5423.

BALLENY (biil-la'ne) IS'LANDS. A group of islands in the Antarctic Ocean, situated in about latitude 60° S., and about longitude 163° E. (ilap: Antarctic Kegion, D 10). It consists of five islands, of volcanic origin, and covered with glaciers. One of the group. Young Island, possesses a mountain about 12,000 feet high. The group was discovered by Balleny, in 1830.

BALLESTEROS, baTya-sta'r6s, DoM Feajj- cisco (1770-1832). A "Spanish general and statesman, born at Saragussa. He entered the army and served with distinction against the French. When the Duke of Wellington was appointed to the chief command of the allied armies, Ballesteros resigned, refusing to serve under a foreigner, in consequence of which he w-as banished to Ceuta. Lipon his return he received the command of an army corps, and became Minister of War, in 1815. Appointed Vice-President of the Provisional Government by Ferdinand VII., he opened the prisons of the Inquisition, returned to the municipality of Madrid the rights granted by the Cortes in IS 12, and, at the head of the national militia, dispersed the enemies of the Constitution. In the war against France (1823), he was compelled to retreat and to agree to terms of peace. Excluded from the general amnesty, he was forced, upon the down- fall of the Constitutional Government, to flee to Paris (1824), where he lived in retirement until his death.

BALLESTREM, biil'les-strflm, Franz Xat:r, Count von (1834—), A German statesman. He was born on the family estate of Plawniowitz in Upper Silesia, studied' at Li6ge, and entered the Prussian Army in his twenty-first year. He