Baguette de fusée volante. Rocket stick. A stick, attached to the rocket, before it is set off.
Baguette en massive. Rods or rammers, which are not bored.
Bague suspendue aux cendres d'un fil. A ring suspended to the ashes of a thread.
Ballon. Balloon; a bomb or shell, made of pasteboard, which is thrown in the air by means of a mortar.
Ballon à bombes. A large globe, filled with bombs, grenades, &c. fired by means of a fuse, and thrown into the works of the enemy.
Ballon d'Artifice. A bomb, or spherical case, containing sundry compositions.
Ballons d'air. Air-Balloons.
Ballons d'eau. Water-Balloons.
Battage. The process of pounding, grinding, and mixing, with water, the three substances, composing gunpowder, to reduce them to a proper consistency. It is performed in wooden mortars, with wooden pestles, furnished with a brass box to agitate the water. The time, employed in the battage in France, is from 14 to 22 hours.