Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/616

BARRACKS. rating the soldiers from the citizens, and placing them in the hands of the ruling power. At first, barracks were built without much regard to the health of the troops, the only consideration ap- parently being their local usefulness. In the United States, great care is taken in the selection of site and in the building of military barracks or forts. Good elevation, water, and clean environ- ment are of the first importance; after which, in the design and construction, an abundant sup- ply of fresh air is made an important factor. Care is taken that each man shall have at least 800 cubic feet of air .space, and in hospitals, 2000 feet or more. In a room to be occupied by 30 men, at least 60,000 cubic feet of fresh air per hour should be admitted, and provision is made for this amount. The name is used as a part of the official designation of a number of important military posts in the United States, the best known of which are: Columbus Bar- racks. Jackson Barracks. JelTerson Barracks, Madison Barracks. Plattsburg Barracks, San Dieco Barracks, and Washington Barracks, which are described under their appropriate heads.

BARRACUDA, bar'ra-koo'da (native name). (1) A large, pike-shaped, predatory, marine fish of the teleost family Sphyrenidse (allied to the mullets), occurring in all tropical and sub- tropical seas, and common on both coasts of America. The great liarracuda or picuda (Sijhy- rwna harrncudci) frequents our Southern coasts. "It sometimes," says Dr. Theodore Gill, "attains a length of 8 feet and a weight of about 40 pounds. Such larf;e fishes are said to be as much dreaded as the great sharks, and their formidable arma- ture [of teeth] renders them capable of inflicting severe and even fatal wounds. It is, of course, a carnivorous fish, and destructive to the finny tribes generally. As a food fish it is under suspi- cion, and is, indeed, a species under the ban in the Cuban markets, as there have been repeated in- stances of severe sickness caused by eating its flesh. It seems, however, only under special con- ditions that the flesh is poisonous, for generally it can be eaten with impunity, and is quite savory." See Piate of Mullets.

The barracuda of the southern California coast (Sphi/rtrnn nrariitea) is 3 feet long, and an im- ]>ortant food fish, caught in summer, and espe- cially esteemed when dried and salted. The species seen in the North Atlantic, the becuaa (iSpltyrcena spet), is smaller.

(2) The snook of the Cape of Good Hope.

BABBA DO RIO NEGEO. biir'ra ilu re'6 lia'gru. See .l...U).s.

BARRAMUNDA. bar'ra-mnn'da (native Australian name). An extraordinary lung-fish (Ceratodus Fosteri) of the rivers of Queensland. Australia, where it is sometimes called native salmon, on account of the reddish hue of its flesh, and also flathead. It is an ugly, dark- colored creature. .3 to 6 feet long, looking more like a huge salamander than a fish, though clothed with large scales. It frequents muddy ponds and streams, feeding on fallen leaves and decayed vegetation, and occasionally goes on shore : and it produces eggs in a gelatinous en- velope like those of amphibians. Its flesh is highly prized by the aborigines. The principal interest of it lies in the fact that its two species represent a family, Ceratodontidie. constituting an order. Jlonopneumona. of dipnoans. Fossil remains show that in tlie early ages the family was distributed nearly all over the world, but now it is restricted to Queensland. See Dii'>"oi.

BARRANDE, ba'riiNd', .Jo.^chim (179i»- 1833). An eminent French geologist and paleon- tologist; born at Saugues, in the Department of Haute-Loire. He made a special study of the Silurian formations in Bohemia, on which he wrote his principal work, tii/sti-me silurieii du centre de la Bnheme (18.52 and 1887), and his investigations brought out much new and valu- able information concerning the trilobites. His works include, Colonie dans le hassin silurien de la Boheme (I860); Documents stir la fauiie primordiale et le systeme taconique en Amcrique (1861); Representation de colonies de la Boheme dans le hassin silurien du nord-ottcst de la France (18.53); and Ccphalopodcs, Etudes ynirritli's.

BARRANQUILLA, bar'ran-ke'lya. A seaport of Colombia, situated on the Magdalena River, near its mouth in the Caribbean Sea (ilap: ('olomliia, C 1). The town is not very well built, but is the terminus of the river traffic, as the Magdalena is not navigable at its entrance into the sea. Barranquilla is con- nected with the' coast by a railroad to the port of Sabanilla. 14 miles to the northwest, and is the seat of a United States consulate. The large number of river steamers bring prosperity to the toTi. Population, 40.000.

HABEAS, ba'ras', Paul Fracois Jean NICOLA.S. Count de ( 1755-1829). A distinguished character of the French Revolution. He was born in Provence, and in his youth served as a lieutenant against the British in India. He eagerly joined the Revolutionary party, but was not, as is generally but erroneously stated, a member of the States-General in 1780. He was actively concerned in the storming of the Bas- tile and the Tuileries, and was appointed ad- ministrator of the Department of Var, and afterwards of the county of Nice. In the Con- vention he voted for the execution of the King, without delay or appeal, and on Hay 31, 1793, declared against the Girondists. The siege of Toulon, and the triumph of the Revolutionary party in the south of France. Avere in a great measure owing to his activity and energ-; and after the victory he was deeply concerned in all the bloody measures that were adopted. Yet he was hated by Robespierre and the Terrorists as one of the less-decided Revolutionists; and their overthrow was accomplished mainly by him, the Convention appointing him comman- der-in-chief, and virtually investing him with a dictatorship for the time. Wliile holding this high oflice. in which he acted with great de- cision and vigor, and on the same day on which Robespierre fell (9 Thermidor, July 27, 17fl4), he paid a visit to the Temple and provided for the better treatment of the King's son. He hastened also to the Palais de .Justice, and sus- pended the order for the execution of a large number of persons who had been condemned to death. On subsequent occasions, as president of the Convention, he acted with decision both against the intrigues of the Royalists and the ex- cesses of the Jacobins; and on 13th Vendt^niiaire (October 5. 17!15). being again appointed com- mander-in-chief by the Convention, he called his young friend Bonaparte to his aid and crushed