BACON, SIR NICHOLAS, the father of Francis, Lord Bacon, Privy Councillor and Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth; a prudent and honourable man and minister, and much honoured and trusted by the queen (1510-1579).

BACSANYI, JANOS, a Hungarian poet; he suffered from his liberal political opinions, like many of his countrymen (1763-1845).

BACTE`RIA, exceedingly minute organisms of the simplest structure, being merely cells of varied forms, in the shape of spheres, rods, or intermediate shapes, which develop in infusions of organic matter, and multiply by fission with great rapidity, fraught, as happens, with life or death to the higher forms of being; conspicuous by the part they play in the process of fermentation and in the origin and progress of disease, and to the knowledge of which, and the purpose they serve in nature, so much has been contributed by the labours of M. Pasteur.

BAC`TRIA, a province of ancient Persia, now BALKH (q. v.), the presumed fatherland of the Aryans and the birthplace of the Zoroastrian religion.

BACTRIAN SAGE, a name given to Zoroaster as a native of Bactria.

BACUP (23), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, about 20 m.  NE. of Manchester.

BADAJOZ` (28), capital of a Spanish province of the name, on the Guadiana, near the frontier of Portugal; a place of great strength; surrendered to Soult in 1811, and taken after a violent and bloody struggle by Wellington in 1812; the scene of fearful outrages after its capture.

BADAKANS, a Dravidian people of small stature, living on the Nilghiri Mountains, in S. India.

BADAKHSHAN` (100), a Mohammedan territory NE. of Afghanistan, a picturesque hill country, rich in minerals; it is 200 m. from E. to W. and 150 from N. to S.; it has been often visited by travellers, from Marco Polo onwards; the inhabitants, called Badakhshans, are of the Aryan family and speak Persian.

BADALO`NA (15), a seaport 5 m.  NE. of Barcelona.

BA`DEN (4), a town in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, 14 m.  NW. of Zurich, long a fashionable resort for its mineral springs; also a town near Vienna.

BAD`EN, THE GRAND-DUCHY OF (1,725), a German duchy, extends along the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Mannheim; consists of valley, mountain, and plain; includes the Black Forest; is rich in timber, minerals, and mineral springs; cotton fabrics, wood-carving, and jewellery employ a great proportion of the inhabitants; there are two university seats, Heidelberg and Freiburg.

BADEN-BADEN (13), a town in the duchy of Baden, 18 m. from Carlsruhe and 22 from Strassburg, noted for its hot mineral springs, which were known to the Romans, and is a popular summer resort.

BAD`ENOCH, a forest-covered district of the Highlands of Scotland, 45 m. long by 19 broad, traversed by the Spey, in the SE. of Inverness-shire; belonged originally to the Comyns, but was forfeited by them, was bestowed by Bruce on his nephew; became finally the property of the Earl of Huntly.