Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 34 (2/2)

See A. de Blanche-Raffin, _Jacques Balmes, sa vie et ses ouvrages_ (Paris, 1849); and E. Bullon Fernandez, _Jaime Balmes y sus oberas_ (Madrid, 1903).

BALMORAL CASTLE (Gaelic, ”the majestic dwelling”), a private residence of the British sovereign, in the parish of Crathie and Braemar, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, Scotland, on the right bank of the Dee (here spanned by a fine suspension bridge), 9 m. W. of Ballater and at a height of 900 ft. above the sea. The property formerly belonged to the Farquharsons of Inverey, from whom it was acquired by Sir Robert Gordon, whose trustees disposed of the lease in 1848 to the prince consort, by whom the whole estate was purchased in 1852 and bequeathed to Queen Victoria. The castle is built of granite in the Scots baronial style, with an eastern tower 100 ft. high commanding a superb view--Ballochbuie and Braemar to the W., Glen Gairn to the N., Lochnagar and the beautiful valley of the Dee to the S. On Craig Gowan (1319 ft.), a hill 1 m. to the south, have been erected memorial cairns to Queen Victoria, the prince consort, Princess Alice and other members of the royal family of Great Britain. The parish church of Crathie (1903), replacing the kirk of 1806, is 1 m. to the W., and about 2 m. farther west stands Abergeldie Castle, another Highland royal residence, an ancient building to which modern additions have been made, inhabited by King Edward VII. when prince of Wales, and after his accession to the throne used as a shooting-lodge.

BALNAVES, HENRY (1512?-1579), Scottish politician and reformer, born at Kirkcaldy about 1512, was educated at St Andrews and on the continent, where he adopted Protestant views. Returning to Scotland, he continued his legal studies and in 1538 was appointed a lord of session. He married about the same time Christian Scheves, and in 1539 was granted the estate of Halhill in Fife, after which he is generally named. Before 1540 he was sworn of James V's. privy council, and was known as one of the party in favour of the English alliance and of an ecclesiastical reformation. He is also described as treasurer to James (_Letters and Papers_, 1543, i. 64), but the regent Arran appointed him secretary in the new government of the infant Queen Mary (January 1543). He promoted the act permitting the reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and was one of the commissioners appointed to arrange a marriage treaty between the little queen and the future Edward VI. In London he was not considered so complaisant as some of the other commissioners, and was not made privy to all the engagements taken by his colleagues (_ib._ i. 834). But Beton ”loved him worst of all,” and, when Arran went over to the priestly party, Balnaves was, in November 1543, deprived of his offices and imprisoned in Blackness Castle.

Thence he was released by the arrival of Hertford's fleet in the following May, and from this time he became a paid agent of the English cause in Scotland. He took no part in the murder of Beton, but was one of the most active defenders of the castle of St Andrews. He received 100 from Henry VIII. in December 1546, was granted an annuity of 125 by Protector Somerset in 1547 and was made English paymaster of the forces in St Andrews. When that castle surrendered to the French in July Balnaves was taken prisoner to Rouen. Somerset made vain efforts to procure his release and continued his pension. He made himself useful by giving information to the English government, and even Mary Tudor sent him 50 as reward in June 1554. Balnaves also busied himself in writing what Knox calls ”a comfortable treatise of justification,” which was found in MS. with a preface by Knox, among the reformer's papers, and was published at Edinburgh in 1584 under the t.i.tle _The Confession of Faith_.

In 1557 Balnaves was permitted to return to Scotland and regain his property; probably it was thought that Mary Tudor's burnings would have cooled the ardour of his English affections, and that in the war threatening between two Catholic countries, Balnaves would serve his own.

The accession of Queen Elizabeth changed the situation, and Mary of Guise had reasons for accusing him of ”practices out of England” (_Salisbury MSS._ i. 155). He took, in fact, an active part in the rising of 1559 and was commissioned by the Congregation to solicit the help of the English government through Sir Ralph Sadleir at Berwick. He was also selected one of the Scots representatives to negotiate with the duke of Norfolk in February 1560. In 1563 he was restored to his office as lord of session, and was one of those appointed by the General a.s.sembly to revise the _Book of Discipline_. He was one of Bothwell's judges for the murder of Darnley in 1567, and in 1568 he accompanied Moray to the York inquiry into Queen Mary's guilt. He resigned his judicial office in 1574, and died in 1579 at Edinburgh. He has been claimed as a Scots bard on the strength of one ballad, ”O gallandis all, I cry and call,” which is printed in Allan Ramsay's _Evergreen_ (2 vols. 1724-1727).

See _Letters and Papers of Henry VIII._ (1540-1545); Bain's and Thorp's _Cal. of Scottish State-Papers_; English _Domestic and Foreign Cals._; _Acts of Engl. Privy Council_; _Reg. P.C._, Scotland; _Reg. Great Seal of Scotland_; _Hamilton Papers_; _Border Papers_; Knox, _Works_; Burnet, _Reformation_; Froude, _Hist._

(A. F. P.)

BALNEOTHERAPEUTICS (Lat. _balneum_, a bath, and Gr. [Greek: therapeuein], to treat medically). The medical treatment of disease by internal and external use of mineral waters is quite distinct from ”hydrotherapy,” or the therapeutic uses of pure water. But the term ”balneotherapeutics” has gradually come to be applied to everything relating to spa treatment, including the drinking of waters and the use of hot baths and natural vapour baths, as well as of the various kinds of mud and sand used for hot applications. The princ.i.p.al const.i.tuents found in mineral waters are sodium, magnesium, calcium and iron, in combination with the acids to form chlorides, sulphates, sulphides and carbonates. Other substances occasionally present in sufficient quant.i.ty to exert a therapeutic influence are a.r.s.enic, lithium, pota.s.sium, manganese, bromine, iodine, &c.

The chief gases in solution are oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen. Argon and helium occur in some of the ”simple thermal” and ”thermal sulphur waters.” There are few doctors who would deny the great value of special bathing and drinking cures in certain morbid conditions. In the employment of the various mineral waters, many of the spas adopt special means by which they increase or modify their influence, _e.g._ the so-called ”aromatic” or ”medicated” baths, in which substances are mixed to exert a special influence on the skin and peripheral nerves.

Of these the ”pine-needle” bath has the greatest repute; it is made by adding a decoction of the needles or young shoots of firs and pines. Fir wood oil (a mixture of ethereal oils) or the tincture of an alcoholic extract acts equally well. The volatile ethereal const.i.tuents are supposed to penetrate the skin and to stimulate the cutaneous [v.03 p.0284]

circulation and peripheral nerves, being eliminated later by the ordinary channels. Similar effects follow the addition to the bath of aromatic herbs, such as camomile, thyme, &c. For a full-sized bath 1 to 2 lb of herbs are tied in a muslin bag and infused in a gallon of boiling water; the juices are then expressed and the infusion added to the bath.

Astringent baths are prepared in a similar way from decoctions of oak bark, walnut leaves, &c. In many spas on the European continent baths are prepared from peat or mud mixed with hot mineral water. Mineral peat consists of decomposing vegetable soil that has been so long in the neighbourhood of the medicinal spring that it has undergone peculiar and variable chemical changes. This is mixed with the hot mineral water until the bath has the desired consistency, the effect on the patient being in almost direct proportion to the density. These baths vary greatly in composition. Mud baths are chiefly prepared from muddy deposits found in the neighbourhood of the springs, as at St Amand. They act like a large poultice applied to the surface of the body, and in addition to the influence of the temperature, they exert a considerable mechanical effect.

The pulse is accelerated some 6 to 12 beats a minute, the respiration number rises, and the patient is thrown into a profuse perspiration. They have very great value in gouty and rheumatic conditions and in some of the special troubles of women.

There are certain conditions in which mineral water treatment is distinctly contra-indicated. Advanced cardiac disease and cardiac cases with failure of compensation must pre-eminently be treated at home, not at a spa.

Advanced arterio-sclerosis, any form of serious organic visceral disease, advanced cirrhosis, pulmonary tuberculosis with a tendency to haemoptysis, much elevation of temperature or emaciation, are all entirely unsuited for this form of treatment. Serious organic nervous diseases, great nervous depression and old cases of paralysis are all contra-indicated. Any trouble, however suited in itself for spa treatment, must be considered inapplicable if complicated with pregnancy.

In advising balneotherapeutic treatment in any case, all the conditions and habits of the patient--pecuniary, physical and psychical--must be considered, as the spa must be fitted to the patient, not the patient to the spa. Besides the particular disease, the idiosyncrasy of the patient must be considered, the same morbid condition in different people requiring very different treatment. r.e.t.a.r.ded convalescence is a condition often treated at the spas, although hygienic surroundings, both mental and physical, are usually all that is necessary to ensure complete recovery.

After rheumatic fever, however, if the joints remain painful and the heart is dilated, the thermal gaseous saline water of Nauheim, augmented by Schott's resistance movements, will often appear to work wonders. Chronic rheumatism, where there is much exudation round a joint or incipient stiffness of a joint, may be relieved by hot thermal treatment, especially when combined with various forms of ma.s.sage and exercises. Simple thermal waters, hot sulphur springs and hot muriated waters are all successful in different cases. Chronic muscular rheumatism can also be benefited in a similar manner. Diseases of the nervous system are on the whole treated by these means with small success. Mental diseases other than very mild cases of depression should be considered inapplicable. Neurasthenics are sometimes treated at chalybeate or thermal muriated saline spas; but such treatment is entirely secondary to the general management of the case.

Neuralgic affections and the later stages of neuritis, especially when dependent on gout or rheumatism, are often relieved or cured. Abdominal venosity (abdominal plethora), a feature of obesity, glycosuria, &c., are extremely well fitted for this form of treatment. The alkaline sulphated waters, the bitter waters and the common salt waters can all be prescribed, and after a short course can be supplemented with various forms of active and pa.s.sive exercises. Diseases of the respiratory organs are far more suited for climatic treatment than for treatment by baths. Anaemia can usually be better or equally well treated at home, or by seaside residence or a sea voyage, though many physicians prescribe chloride of sodium waters, followed by a course of iron waters at some suitably situated spa.

In the anaemia dependent on malarial infection, the muriated or alkaline sulphated waters at spas of considerable elevation and combined with iron and a.r.s.enic are often very beneficial. Gravel and stone, if of the uric acid variety, can be treated with the alkaline waters, but the case must be under constant observation lest the urine become too alkaline and a deposition of phosphates take place on the already formed uric acid stone.

Gout is so variable both in cause and effect that much discrimination is required in its treatment. Where the patient is of ”full habit,” with portal stagnation, the sulphated alkaline or mild bitter waters are indicated, especially those of Carlsbad and Marienbad; but the use of these strong waters must be followed by a long rest under strict hygienic conditions. Where this is impossible, a milder course must be advised, as at Homburg, Kissingen, Harrogate, Wiesbaden, Baden-Baden, &c. For very delicate patients, and where time is limited, the simple thermal waters are preferable.

For radiant heat and light baths and electric baths of all kinds, see ELECTROTHERAPEUTICS; and for compressed air baths, AEROTHERAPEUTICS. (See also BATHS, THERAPEUTICS, and the articles on diseases.)

BALQUHIDDER (Gaelic, ”the farm in the back-lying country”), a village and parish of Perths.h.i.+re, Scotland. Pop. of parish (1901) 605. The village lies 2 m. W. of the station of the same name on the Caledonian railway from Callander to Oban, and 27 m. N.W. of Stirling. It is situated at the east end of Loch Voil, a lake at the foot of the Braes of Balquhidder. The Maclaurins acquired the district as early as the 9th century and occupied it for several hundred years until ousted by the Macgregors, a neighbouring clan, who had repeatedly raided their lands, and in 1558 slew the chief and many of his followers. Balquhidder was the scene of some of the exploits of Rob Roy, who died there in 1734. His grave in the old kirkyard is marked by a stone ornamented with rude carving, executed probably centuries before his time. Another ancient stone is said traditionally to cover the grave of Angus, the Columban missionary, who was the first to carry on Christian work in this part of the Highlands.

BALRAMPUR, a town of British India near the river Rapti, 28 m. from Gonda, in the Gonda district of the United Provinces. Pop. (1901) 16,723. It gives its name to one of the largest _talukdari_ estates in the province. The raja, Sir Drigbijai Singh K.C.S.I., was conspicuously loyal during the Mutiny, and was rewarded with accessions of territory and hereditary privileges. His death in 1882 gave rise to prolonged litigation and the estate was thrown into chancery. The income is estimated at 120,000, paying a revenue of 46,000. Numerous schools and hospitals are supported.

Balrampur contains a large palace, a handsome modern temple and an Anglo-vernacular school.

BALSAM (from Gr. [Greek: balsamon], through Lat. _balsamum_, contracted by popular use to O. Fr. _basme_, mod. Fr. _bame_; Eng. balm), a term properly limited to such resins or oleo-resins as contain benzoic acid or cinnamic acid or both. Those balsams which conform to this definition make up a distinct cla.s.s, allied to each other by their composition, properties and uses. Those found in commerce are the balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu, liquid storax and liquidambar. _Balsam of Peru_ is the produce of a lofty leguminous tree, _Myroxylon Pereirae_, growing within a limited area in San Salvador, Central America and introduced into Ceylon. It is a thick, viscid oleo-resin of a deep brown or black colour and a fragrant balsamic odour.

It is used in perfumery. Though contained in the pharmacopeias it has no special medicinal virtues. _Balsam of Tolu_ is produced from _Myroxylon toluiferum_. It is of a brown colour, thicker than Peru balsam, and attains a considerable degree of solidity on keeping. It also is a product of equatorial America, but is found over a much wider area than is the balsam of Peru. It is used in perfumery and as a const.i.tuent in cough syrups and lozenges. _Liquid storax_ or _styrax preparatus_, is a balsam yielded by _Liquidambar orientalis_, a native of Asia Minor. It is a soft resinous substance, with a pleasing balsamic odour, especially after it [v.03 p.0285] has been kept for some time. It is used in medicine as an external application in some parasitic skin diseases, and internally as an expectorant. An a.n.a.logous substance is derived from _Liquidambar Altingia_ in Java. _Liquidambar balsam_ is derived from _Liquidambar styraciflua_, a tree found in the United States and Mexico. It contains cinnamic acid, but not benzoic acid.

Of so-called balsams, entirely dest.i.tute of cinnamic and benzoic const.i.tuents, the following are found in commerce:--_Mecca balsam_ or _Balm of Gilead_, from _Commiphora opobalsamum_, a tree growing in Arabia and Abyssinia, is supposed to be the balm of Scripture and the [Greek: balsamon] of Theophrastus. When fresh it is a viscid fluid, with a penetrating odour, but it solidifies with age. It was regarded with the utmost esteem among the nations of antiquity and to the present day it is peculiarly prized among the people of the East. For _balsam of copaiba_ see COPAIBA. Under the name of _wood oil_, or _Gurjun balsam_, an oleo-resin is procured in India and the Eastern Archipelago from several species of _Dipterocarpus_, chiefly _D. turbinatus_, which has the odour and properties of copaiba and has been used for the same purposes. Wood oil is also used as a varnish in India and forms an effective protection against the attacks of white ants. _Canada balsam_ or _Canada turpentine_ is the oleo-resin yielded by _Abies balsamea_, a tree that grows in Canada and the northern parts of the United States. It is a very transparent substance, somewhat fluid when first run, but thickening considerably with age, possessed of a delicate yellow colour and a mild terebinthous odour. It contains 24% of essential oil, 60% of resin soluble in alcohol, and 16% of resin soluble only in ether. Its chief uses are for mounting preparations for the microscope and as a cement for gla.s.s in optical work.

The garden balsam is an annual plant, _Impatiens balsamina_, and the balsam apple is the fruit of _Momordica balsamina_, nat. order Cucurbitaceae.

BALSHAM, HUGH DE (d. 1286), English churchman, appears first as sub-prior of the monastery of Ely. On the death of William of Kilkenny in 1256 the monks elected him bishop of Ely, to the annoyance of Henry III. who had handed over the temporalities of the see to John de Waleran. The election was confirmed by the pope in 1257 and Hugh set to work to repair the harm done to the diocese by the intruder. In 1280 the bishop obtained a charter allowing him to replace the secular brethren residing in his hospital of St John at Cambridge by ”studious scholars”; a second charter four years later entirely differentiated these scholars from the brethren of the hospital, and for them Hugh de Balsham founded and endowed the college of Peterhouse.

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