Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/686

BATTALION. battalion. It also is reflected in the difficulty of obtaining a rapid ammunition supply along the firing-line, and renders more arduous the task of the hospital corps and stretcher-bearers. The reader is referred to the infantry drill regulations of the various armies, and also to such reports as have been made public of the foreign military attaches serving with the belligerents in Cuba (1898) and South Africa (1890-1902).

In the United States Regular Army there are three battalions to a regiment, each, when possible, commanded by a major. The following instances show the battalion strength in the armies of the greater European Powers:

England. — Battalion consists of 8 or 10 companies, corresponding in strength to the United States regiment.

France. — Battalion consists of 4 companies; 3 battalions to a regiment.

Germany. — Battalion consists of 544 men, raised in war to 1002, and divided into 4 companies. There are 3 battalions in a regiment.

Russia. — The battalion consists of 4 companies; the regiment of 4 battalions, or 17 companies in all.

Italy. — Four companies to a battalion; 3 battalions to a regiment.

The name battalion is also given to engineers and various departmental corps, consisting of two or more companies. See, and ; also.

BAT'TELS (perhaps allied to battel, fertile, fruitful, batten, fatten, nourish lavishly). A term in use at Oxford University to denote provisions obtained from the buttery and kitchen, hence the accounts for board and provisions, and so coming to be applied finally to the whole of college accounts for board, lodging, tuition, and incidentals. One who stands indebted on the college books for such provisions is said to 'battel,' which has come to be equivalent to residing at the university; hence a battler usually means a student in residence, though formerly applied to any student of a rank below that of a commoner. At Eton, battels are small food allowances in addition to that supplied by the college.

BAT'TEN (by form of baton, Fr. bâton, stick). The name given in commerce to a squared timber, 6 feet or more — usually 12 feet or 14 feet — long, 7 inches broad, and 2½ inches thick, used for various purposes in carpentry and building. The name is also given to strips of wood of any size nailed across boards to hold them together, to cover the cracks or joints of boarding, to support the laths for a plastered wall, to fasten down tarpaulin or roof-coverings, etc. In ship-building, battens are long slips of timber used for setting fair the sheer lines of a ship, for staying the lower masts, and for laying off distances. The name is also applied to wooden strips fastened to masts, yards, or rigging to protect them from chafing.

BATTENBERG, biit'tenberK (anciently, Mons priscus Batavæ gentis, 'ancient hill of the Batavian tribe'). A town of Prussia in Hesse-Nassau, on the Eder, 15 miles north-northwest of Marburg (Map: Prussia, C 3). Before 1866 it belonged to Hesse-Cassel. The title of Prince of Battenberg dates from 1858, when it was conferred on the issue of a morganatic marriage of Prince Alexander of Hesse with the Countess von Hauke. Their second son, Prince Alexander, was called to occupy the throne of Bulgaria. (See .) Population, in 1900, 950.

BATTENBERG,, Prince of (1858-96). Son of Prince Alexander of Hesse by a morganatic marriage with the Countess von Hauke. In 1885 he married Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. He was made Governor of the Isle of Wight, took part in the Ashanti Expedition in 1895, and died of fever on his way home.

BAT'TENHALL, (1851-91). An American chemist, born in Troy, N. Y. He studied chemistry at the School of Mines, Columbia College, New York, also under Wöhler, Kolbe, and Fittig, in Germany, and under Marignae, in Switzerland. In 1879 he was appointed analytical chemist to the United States Laboratory in New York. His publications include a translation of Naquet's Legal Chemistry (New York, 1876); a work on Adulteration of Food and Drink (New York, 1886); and several scientific papers.

BAT'TERING-RAM' (Engl. batter, Fr, battre, to strike.) An engine of war used in ancient times, and in the Middle Ages. It consisted of a beam of wood, with a mass of bronze or iron on one end, resembling the head of a ram (in Lat. aries). In its simplest form, it was borne and impelled by the hands of the soldiers; afterwards it was suspended in a frame, and made to swing. Another form moved on rollers. The alternating motion was communicated by ropes. To protect those working it, a wooden roof (testudo) was constructed over it, and the whole was mounted on wheels. The beam of the ram varied from 60 to 120 feet in length, the head sometimes weighed above a ton, and as many as 100 men were at times employed in impelling the machine. When the blows were long enough continued, hardly any wall could resist. When or where it was invented is unknown. It is mentioned by Ezekiel. The Romans received it from the Greeks.

BAT'TERSEA (Saint Peter's Isle, from AS. éj, island). A metropolitan borough of Greater London (Map: London and Vicinity, E 6).

BAT'TERSEA PARK. A park of 185 acres in the southwestern part of London, on the Thames, laid out in 1852-58. It contains a sub- tropical garden of four acres, in which tropical plants are displayed; artificial lakes, and other attractions.

BAT'TERSON, (1827-1903). An American Episcopalian clergyman. He was born at Marbledale, Litchfield County, Conn., and was educated privately. In 1860 he was ordained to the ministry. He was pastor of Saint Mark's Church, at San Antonio, Tex., rector of Grace Church, Wabasha, Minn., of Saint Clement's and of the Church of the Annunciation, Philadelphia, and of the Church of the Redeemer, New York. He was the author of several works, all of which have been frequently reprinted, such as the following: The Missionary Tune-Book (1868); ''Christmas Carols and Other Verses (1877); Sketch-Book of the American Episcopate (1876); Pathway of Faith; Vesper Bells.''

BAT'TERY (Fr. batterie, from battre, Lat. batuere, to batter, beat), A term pertaining to the artillery arm of the military service. A