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BASEL. and the more moderate ones, with Natalis Alexander, up to the prorogation to Ferrara.

Consult: Monumenta Conciliorum Generalium Sæculi XV. (Vienna, 1857-96); ''Concilium Basiliense. Studien and Quellen zur Geschichte des Konzils von Basel, edited by von Haller (3 vols., Basel, 1896-1900); also C. J. Hefele, Konziliengeschichte,'' Vol. VII. (Freiburg, 1891).

BASEL, Two important treaties of peace, concluded at Basel on April 5, and July 22, 1795, the first between France and Prussia, the second between France and Spain. Prussia withdrew from the coalition against France, took under her protection all the States of Northern Germany which should, like herself, relinquish the war in which the German Empire was engaged, and gave up her possessions beyond the Rhine. The treaty is important in that it put back for some time all possibility of German unity. Spain gave up her portion of Haiti, and prepared the way for that alliance with France which was afterwards productive of consequences so important during the Napoleonic wars.

BASEL,. A university authorized by a Papal bull in 1459, and opened in 1460. During the Reformation, it was reorganized on a Protestant basis and became the stronghold of Protestant scholarship, and as such exerted an influence throughout the world. Erasmus, who came to Basel in 1520, and Œcolampadius, who came in 1523, were among the famous teachers, and at a later day, Euler and the Bernoullis were renowned professors of mathematics. Basel is now the chief seat of theological study in Switzerland. It has also faculties of law, medicine, and philosophy, a library of 230,000 volumes and 1500 manuscripts, besides other valuable collections and museums.

BASE LEVEL. .

BASEL'LA (probably a native name in Malabar). A genus of tropical plants belonging to the natural order Chenopodicæ. The genus is now believed to consist of but one species — Basella rubra. Various forms of this are cultivated in the tropics as pot-herbs, and in the neighborhood of Paris plants are sometimes raised in hot-beds, and planted out as a substitute for spinach. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamentatal climber in greenhouses. One form yields a rich purple dye, and one twining South American form produces edible fleshy roots.

BASE'MENT (Fr. bas, low; cf. Eng. base, low, mean). In architecture, the lower story of a building (when the lower story is not its main story). It is otherwise architecturally marked off from the rest of the house. In modern architecture we speak of basement houses of various kinds, such as the English basement, the French basement, the American basement. Mediæval and Renaissance palaces, almost invariably, were built with basements, which contained porter's lodge, storerooms, offices, etc. The architecture of the basement was usually more massive and plainer than that of the rest of the house; the windows were smaller than those of the other stories, and often barred. In many cases this basement itself consisted of two stories, the upper one being a mezzanine where the servants had their quarters.

BASE OF OP'ERA'TIONS. The base or point from which active operations against an enemy are directed or organized, and from which are issued such stores and munitions of war as may be required by the force whose base it is. In countries sparsely populated, armies — and particularly the invading army — must be victualed and supplied from their own base. Lines of operation, therefore, follow navigable rivers or railroads; and the base is fixed at such a point on the line or route as to be as secure as possible from inolestation, and yet, if necessary, give protection and shelter to the troops, should they be driven back. The more important field-hospitals are also stationed at the base. To separate or cut off an army from its base, is to practically defeat it; the attainment or defeat of such an end being a consummation ardently sought for. The history of the American Civil War (1861-65) is full of instances of such manœuvering. Grant's operations against Vicksburg in December, 1862, are a case in point. He was prevented from carrying out the movement he had planned, because of the severe attacks made upon his lines by Van Dorn and Forrest, the Confederate raiders. Holly Springs, an important base of Grant's forces, was rushed and captured by Van Dorn, together with large stores of food, arms, and ammunition. Grant's advance was made impossible, for starvation stared him in the face, and he was compelled to fall back to reëstablish his base. In the British-Boer War of 1899-1902, England was forced to keep nearly twice as many troops as there were Boers actually in the field for the sole purpose of guarding the various bases of supplies and operations. This was due to the wide area of the theatre of operations, the absence of available rivers, and the necessity of transporting the large quantities of food and ammunition required for the vast armies in the field.

BASEY, ba'.sa. A town of Samar, Philippines. Population, in 1898, 13,756.

BA'SHAN (Heb., rich soil, in Gk. paadv^ Basan), or BAT'ANÆ'A. A country of Pales- tine, stretching from Mount Hermon in the Antilibanus on the north to the brook of Jabbok on the south, and from the Jordan on the west to the boundaries of the Geshurites and Maacha- thites on the east. Ashtaroth, Edrei, Golan, and Salchah were its chief cities. According to the account in Num. xxi. 33-35, and Deut. iii. 1-3, the last of its Amorite rulers was the giant Og, who, with all his sons, was killed by the Israel- ites under Moses at the battle of Edrei, and the land given to the half tribe of Manasseh (Josh. xiii. 29-31). Bashan. as a rich pasture land, was famed for its sheep and oxen, which, because of their large size, suggested to the prophets types of oppressors (Amos iv. 1). In the days of Greek supremacy in Palestine, Bashan be- longed to the monarchy of Philip, and afterwards, under Roman rule, to that of Agrippa II.

BASH'FORD, (1849—). An American educator, born at Fayette, Wis. He graduated at the University of Wisconsin in 1873, studied at the theological school of Boston University, and in 1875-89 was pastor of Methodist Episcopal churches at Boston and Auburndale, Mass., Portland, Maine, and Buffalo, N. Y. In 1889 he was appointed president of Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, Ohio). He has published a text-book, Outlines of the Science of Religion.