BARYTA or BARYTES, one of the simple earths. It may be obtained most easily by dissolving the native carbonate of barytes (Witherite) in nitric acid, evaporating the neutral nitrate till crystals be formed, draining and then calcining these in a covered platina crucible, at a bright red heat. A less pure baryta may be obtained by igniting strongly a mixture of the carbonate and charcoal, both in fine powder and moistened. It is a grayish white earthy looking substance, fusible only at the jet of the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe, has a sharp caustic taste, corrodes the tongue and all animal matter, is poisonous even in small quantities, has a very powerful alkaline reaction; a specific gravity of 4·0; becomes hot, and slakes violently when sprinkled with water, falling into a fine white powder, called the hydrate of baryta, which contains 101⁄2 per cent. of water, and dissolves in 10 parts of boiling water. This solution lets fall abundant columnar crystals of hydrate of baryta as it cools; but it still retains one twentieth its weight of baryta, and is called baryta water. The above crystals contain 61 per cent. of water, of which, by drying, they lose 50 parts. This hydrate may be fused at a red heat without losing any more water. Of all the bases, baryta has the strongest affinity for sulphuric acid, and is hence employed either in the state of the above water, or in that of one of its neutral salts, as the nitrate or muriate, to detect the presence, and determine the quantity of that acid present in any soluble compound. Its prime equivalent, according to Berzelius, is 956,880, oxygen being 100; or 76,676, hydrogen being 1,000. Native sulphate of baryta, or heavy spar, is fraudulently used to adulterate white lead by the English dealers to a shameful extent.
BASSORINE. A constituent part of a species of gum which comes from Bassora, as also of gum tragacanth, and of some gum resins. It is semi-transparent, difficult to pulverise, swells considerably in cold or boiling water, and forms a thick mucilage without dissolving. Treated with ten times its weight of nitric acid, it affords nearly 23 per cent. of its weight of mucic acid, being much more than is obtainable from gum arabic or cherry-tree gum. Bassorine is very soluble in water slightly acidulated with nitric or muriatic acid. This principle is procured by soaking gum Bassora in a great quantity of cold water, and in removing, by a filter, all the soluble parts.
BATHS. (Bains, Fr. Baden, Germ.) Warm baths have lately come into very general use, and they are justly considered as indispensably necessary in all modern houses of any magnitude, as also in club-houses, hotels, and hospitals. But the mode of constructing these baths, and of obtaining the necessary supplies of hot and cold water, does not appear to have undergone an improvement equal to the extension of their employment.
The several points in regard to warm baths, are,
- The materials of which they are constructed.
- Their situation.
- The supply of cold water.
- The supply of hot water.
- Minor comforts and conveniences.
1. As to the materials of which they are constructed.—Of these the best are slabs of polished marble, properly bedded with good water-tight cement, in a seasoned wooden case, and neatly and carefully united at their respective edges. These, when originally well constructed, form a durable, pleasant, and agreeable-looking bath; but the expense is often objectionable, and, in upper chambers, the weight may prove inconvenient. If of white or veined marble, they are also apt to get yellow or discoloured by frequent use, and cannot easily be cleansed; so that large Dutch tiles, as they are called, or square pieces of white earthenware, are sometimes substituted; which, however, are difficultly kept water-tight; so that, upon the whole, marble is preferable.
Where there are reasons for excluding marble, copper or tinned iron plate is the usual material resorted to. The former is most expensive in the outfit, but far more durable than the latter, which is, moreover, liable to leakage at the joints, unless most carefully made. Either the one or the other should be well covered outside and inside, with several coats of paint, which may then be marbled, or otherwise ornamented.
Wooden tubs, square or oblong, and oval, are sometimes used for warm baths; and are cheap and convenient, but neither elegant nor cleanly. The wood always contracts a mouldy smell; and the difficulty and nuisance of keeping them water-tight, and preventing shrinkage, are such as to exclude them from all except extemporaneous application.
2. As to the situation of the bath, or the part of the house in which it is to be placed.—In hotels, and club-houses, this is a question easily determined: several baths are usually here required, and each should have annexed to it, a properly warmed dressing-room. Whether they are up stairs or down stairs, is a question of convenience, but the basement story, in which they are sometimes placed, should always be avoided; there is a coldness and dampness belonging to it, in almost all weathers, which is neither agreeable nor salubrious.
In hospitals, there should be at least two or three baths on each side of the house, (the men’s and women’s), and the supply of hot water should be ready at a moment’s notice. The rooms in which the baths are placed should be light and comparatively large and airy; and such conveniences for getting into and out of the bath should be adopted, as the sick are well known to require. The dimensions of these baths should also be larger than usual.