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BANTENG. Mahni ArchipeJfino ( Xew York, 1860). I'hiti' "f Wild Catti.k, uiuler Cattle.

BANT'ING SYS'TEM. See Obesity.

BAN'TRY (Ir. Beantraiijhe, descendants of Beann, of the royal race of Ulster). A seaport town and famous summer resort west of Cork County. Ireland, northwest of Cork (Map at the head of Bantry French fleet the south- 44 miles west- Ireland. B 5). It is Bay, where in 1796 a anchored and an aljortive attempt was made to land. The chief trade is the export of agricultural produce. Population, about 3000. Consult Palliser, -Bantry Bay," in United Ser- ,-Ut M<i!ia:iiic, o. XVIII. (London, 1808).

BANTRY BAY. An inlet of Cork County, in the southwest extremity of Ireland (Map: Ireland, B 5). It runs east-northeast, is 25 miles long, from 3 to 5 miles wide, and ati'ords safe anchorage for the largest ocean-going ves- sels.

BANTU, ban'tlio (Ba-ntu, the people). A group of negroes of Central and South Africa, forming Class VI. of Deniker (see African Lan- guages), in which they are divided into Western, Eastern, and Southern. One language unites this people, which otherwise shows considerable di- versity. They are capable and progressive, and t;reat colonizers. The principal subdivisions of the Bantu are the following; Bakalai. BaUuba. I'aluba, Banda, Basuto, Bateke, Bechuanas, Bongo, Congo, Dualla. Fans, Herero, Lunda, Mpongwe, Nyoro. Ovaiupo. Kiia, Sechuana, Swa- hili. and Zuiu. Consult Deniker, liaces of Man (Lon.lon, 1000).

BANVILLE, liax'vel', Theodore Fauli.ain HE ( 1823-91). A French poet, born at Moulins. A pupil of Hugo in prosody and rhetoric, he was a follower of Gautier in his passionless objectivity and hedonistic ethics. The titles of his volumes of poetr.v suggest the impassive nature of the contents: Caruitides ( 1842) ; Htalaclitcfi ( 1840) ; Oflelettcs (18.56) ; Odes funambiilesqueK (18.37) ; and Nouvelles odes ftin(ii)ihiiles(ii(rf: (1809). The Franco-German War stirred him to a more passionate utterance in Idylles prussiennes M871). He wrote also two charming dramatic sketches, Grinf/oire (1806), a sort of defense of poetry against the materialistic spirit of the Napoleonic regime, and Hoerale et sa femme { 188.5 I . His prose pieces are poetry in all but form, whether they call them.selves Fairy Tales (Coiites feeriijues) or Parisian f<ketehes {Esqnis- ses parisiennes, 1859). His critical Traitc de la pocsie francaise (1872) won him the title of "Legislator of Parnassus.' But it is as a poet alone that he survives — a poet of a disillusioned age, a product of the determinist philosophy of Taine and the comical materialism of the linipire. In form, as in ethics, he is a sensualist, reviving the artilicial stanzas of the Fourteenth Century, and in this becoming a forerunner of Austin Oob.son. In his Odes fiinanihulesiiiies his muse dances on the wire that he has stretched for her with an easy assurance that evokes an amused admiration. It is the perfection of fanciful frivolity, inexhaustible in the How of its empty gayety, "with the one idea of expressing no idea" (Lemaltre), but producing the desired imjires- sion by artful interlinking of rhymes and har- monious or peculiar succession of sounds. Ban- ville had a marvelous gift of musical speech that sings itself into the ear with a strange melody, or provokes a cynic laugh by its metallic itera- tion. Such art of poetry is ill-adapted to serious subjects. It closes its eyes deliberately to the sterner half of life and finds its natural element in pagan m3'tlis, renascent ideals, and bohemian manners. Of such subjects he will paint exqui- site pictui'es, cameos whose clear-cut outlines rival the brilliancy of their coloi. He is the most ingrained pagan among modern French poets. Banville's IToc/.-.s are published in 8 vols. (1873-78), with a posthumous volume Dernieres poesies (1893). He died in Paris, March 13, 1891.

BANXRING. bfuiks'ring. A Javan tree- shrew. Sec Thee-Shrew.

BANYAN, ban'yan or ban-yfin' ( Hind, hanya, Beng. haniya. Skt. ranij, merchant, as the tree is used bj' native merchants as a market-place), also spelled B.ixi.N, Ficiis lienghulensis. A tree, native of India, growing to a height of 70 to 100 feet, remarkable for its vast rooting branches. The banyan-tree is extensively plant- ed, but occurs in a wild state onh- in the Lower Himalaas and the Deccan Hills. It is a species of fig (q.v.) ; has ovate, heart-shaped entire leaves, about 5 or 6 Indies long; and produces a fruit of a rich scarlet color, not larger than a cherry, growing in pairs from the axils of the leaves. The branches send shoots downward, which, when they have rooted, become stems, the tree in this manner spreading over a great surface, and enduring for many ages. A famous banyan-tree exists in the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, India. This tree is known to be about a century old. Its main trunk is 40 feet in cir- cumference, and there are 230 additional trunks 6 to 10 feet in circumference. One has been de- scribed as having no fewer than 350 stems, equal to large oaks, and more than 3000 smaller ones, covering a space sufficient to contain 7000 per- sons. The vegetation of the banyan seldom be- gins on the ground. The .seeds are deposited by birds in the crowns of palms, and send down roots which embrace and eventually kill the palm. As the banyan gets old it breaks up into separate masses, the original trunk decaj'ing, and the props becoming separate trunks of the different portions. The wood of the banyan is light, porous, and of no value. The bark is re- garded by the Hindu physicians as a powerful tonic, and is administered in diabetes. The white glutinous juice is used to relieve toothache, iind as an application to the soles of the feet when inllamed. Bird-lime is also made from it. Gum-lac is obtained in abundance from the ban- yan-tree. The banyan-tree is beautifullj' de- scribed by Southej' in his poem, "The Curse of Kehama." The banyan has been successfully con- veyed to other lands, fine specimens being report- ed in Honolulu and elsewhere. The name "bau- yan-tree' is often improperly applied to Ficus In- dica. a somewhat smaller tree.

BANYULS-SUR-MER, bS'nyul'-sur-mfu' (Fr., little baths on the sea). A fi.shing port and summer resort on the Jlediterranean, in the Department of Pyrenees Orientales, France (Map: France, K 9). It exports honey, oranges, and cork, and the famous Roussillon, Guenache, and Ranio wines, which are made in the neigh- borhood. Population, in 1896, 3119.