[Baiæ], a small town near Naples, now in ruins and nearly all submerged; famous as a resort of the old Roman nobility, for its climate and its baths.
[Baïf], a French poet one of a group of seven known in French literature as the "Pléiade," whose aim was to accommodate the French language and literature to the models of Greek and Latin.
[Baikal], a clear fresh-water lake, in S. of Siberia, 397 m. long and from 13 to 54 wide, in some parts 4500 ft. deep, and at its surface 1560 ft. above the sea-level, the third largest in Asia; on which sledges ply for six or eight months in winter, and steamboats in summer; it abounds in fish, especially sturgeon and salmon; it contains several islands, the largest Olkhin, 32 m. by 10 m.
[Baikie, W. Balfour], an Orcadian, born at Kirkwall, surgeon in the Royal Navy; was attached to the Niger Expedition in 1854, and ultimately commanded it, opening the region up and letting light in upon it at the sacrifice of his life; died at Sierra Leone (1825-1864).
[Bailey, Nathan], an early English lexicographer, whose dictionary, very popular in its day, was the basis of Johnson's; d. 1742.
[Bailey, Philip James], English poet, born in Nottingham; author of "Festus," a work that on its appearance in 1839 was received with enthusiasm, passed through 11 editions in England and 30 in America, was succeeded by "The Angel World," "The Mystic," "The Universal Hymn," and "The Age"; he has been rated by some extravagantly high; b. 1816.
[Bailey, Samuel], an English author, born in Sheffield, a liberal-minded man, a utilitarian in philosophy, who wrote on psychology, ethics, and political economy, and left a fortune, acquired in business, to his native town (1787-1870).
[Baillie, Joanna], a poetess, born at Bothwell, child of the Presbyterian manse there; joined a brother in London, stayed afterwards with a sister at Hampstead; produced a series of dramas entitled "Plays of the Passions," besides many others, both comedies and tragedies, one of which, the "Family Legend," was acted in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, under the auspices of Sir Walter Scott; she does not stand high either as a dramatist or a writer (1762-1851).
[Baillie, Lady Grizel], an heroic Scotch lady, famous for her songs, "And werena my heart licht I wad dee" is well known (1665-1740).
[Baillie, Matthew], physician, brother of Joanna, wrote on Morbid Anatomy (1761-1823).