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BANAT. the three counties, Temes, Torontal, ami Krasso (Map: Hungary, G 41. It has a total area of over 10.000 square miles, and is one of the most fertile and best-cultivated districts of Hungary. Owing to its mild climate and the rich soil yields, abundant crops of grain and southern fruits are raised, while the mountains contain rich mineral deposits, especially coal. Among its numerous mineral springs the best known are those of Jlehadia. The district, which was at one time under the Turkish dominion, was un- inhabited and covered with impassable forest and marshes, but was reclaimed under Maria Theresa in the Eighteenth Century, who drained the land by means of canals, and by free grants of land induced a considerable immigration from Germany, Turkey, and Servia, thereby laying the foundations of the present prosperity of the region. The population is naturally extremely heterogeneous, and amounted, in 1S90, to 1,433- 424. The principal town is TemesvSr. From l(i52 to 171G the" district was in the possession of the Turks. In 1770 it was united with Hun- gary. It was formed into an Austria crown- land in 1840, but was restored to Hungary in ISUO. See Ban.

BAN'BRIDGE. A town in County Down, Ireland, built on a steep slope on the left bank of the Bann, 70 miles north of Dublin (Map: Ire- land, E 2). It is a thriving seat of the linen manufacture in all its stages, from the prepara- tion of the soil for the flaxseed to the finishing of the finest linen. Miles of bleaching-greens exist in the vicinity, while there are numerous facto- ries along the Bann. Population, in 1801, 4001.

BANBURY, banljer-i (anciently Berenburig, Bera's fort). A market-town in Oxfordshire, England, on the Cherwell, and the Oxford Canal, 23 miles north of O.xford (Map: England, E 4). Banbury is the centre of the famous ricli red land of Oxford County. This land is among the most fertile in the kingdom. Banbury is noted for its manufactire of agricultural implements, and for its malt liquors, cheese, and cakes. It was a strongliold of Puritanism in the Seventeenth Century, and the term 'Banbury man' came to be applied, as a term of derision, to the typical Puritan. The old "Banbury Cross.' famous in the nursery rhyme, is replaced by a modern one. Population, in 1801, 12,767; in 1901, 12,967. Consult Beesley, History of Banliunj (London, 1841).

BANC (OF. lane. Low Lat. lancus, MHG. hnnc, Ger. Bank, bench). In law, the bench or seat of judgment. Hence, the sittings of a superior court of common law, composed of more than one judge, to determine questions of law: or the sit- tings of a full court or quorum, as distinguished from the sittings at nisi prius (q.v.), or by one judge, for the purpose of trying issues of fact, are called 'sittings in banc' or 'in banco.' The term is in use in the United States as well as in England. See Bench; Common Bench; and CorRT.

BANCA, biln'ka, or BANKA. One of the Dutcli East Indian islands, northeast of Sumatra, from which it is separated by the Banca Strait. It is of an oblong shape and covers an area of about 4446 square miles. (Map: East Indies. C 5). Its surface is generally flat, although it has some elevations on the northern and south- ern ends. The climate is moist and unlicalthful for Europeans. The most important product of the island is tin, which has been mined by the Government since 1832. The annual export of that metal is about 5000 tons. The flora is remarkable. The principal articles of import are rice and salt. The population of Banca is esti- mated at 94.000. of which aliout 200 are Europeans and over 25,000 Chinese. Administratively, Banca. together with a few' adjacent small islands, constitutes a separate residency.

BANCA, bjin'ka. A small boat, used in the Philippine Islands. It is shaped from a single log, and therefore belongs to the class called "dugouts.' Practically all of them are fitted with outriggers like the proas. The crosspieces are usually of bamboo, and the float is often of the same material. A few of the boats are of rather large size, are built with frames and planking, and have a schooner rig.

BANCO, biin'ko (It., bench, counter, bank). .4 commercial tenn meaning the standard money in which a bank keeps its accounts, as distin- guished from the current money of the place. The distinction Avas more necessary when the currency consisted, as it often did, of clipped, worn, and foreign coins. These the early banks (at Venice or Amsterdam, for instance) received at their intrinsic worth, and credited the de- positor in their books with this bank value. The term was chiefly applied to the money in which the Hamburg bank kept its accounts, before the adoption of the new universal coinage of the German Empire. It was not represented by any coinage.

BANCROFT, Imn'kroft or ban'kroft, Cecil Franklin Patch (1839-1901). An American educator, born at New Ipswich, N. H. He graduated in 1860 at Dartmouth College, and in 1867 at Andover Theological Seminary, and in the latter year was ordained to the Congrega- tionalist ministry. In 1860-64 he was principal of the Appleton Academy at Jlount Vernon, X. H., and in 1867-72 of the Lookout Mountain Educational Institutions, Tenn. In 1873 he was appointed principal. of Phillips Academj", Ando- ver, Mass. It is said that he prepared for col- leges and scientific schools more students tlian any other secondary school instructor in the L^nited States. He published many contributions in periodicals, and made numerous public ad- dresses.

BANCROFT, Edward (1744-1820). An American naturalist, traveler, and author, most widely known as a traitor to the American cause in France during the Revolutionary War. He was born at Westheld. Mass., ran away to sea, and after a time settled in Guiana, where he practiced medicine. Afterwards he moved to England, published a yatural Historij of Guiana (1769), and was on the staff' of the Monthly Review, for which he wrote articles advocating the cause of the American Colonies. Charged with arson in 1777. he fled to Paris, and there became a spy, first of the Americans, and then of the British. Soon after arriving he seriously injured the American Government, then much in need of arms and supplies, by lietraying to the British information of a prospective shipment of materials of war from France to the United States, he haying received the information from his fonner schoolmaster, Silas Deane, then a commissioner of the Conti-