BALDER, a Scandinavian god, the son of Odin or Othin. The story of his death is given in two widely different forms, by Saxo in his Gesta Danorum (ed. Holder, pp. 69 ff.) and in the prose Edda (Gylfaginning, cap. 49).
See F. Kauffmann, Balder: Mythus und Sage (Strassburg, 1902). For other works, see Teutonic Peoples, § 7.
BALDERIC, the name given to the author of a chronicle of the bishops of Cambrai, written in the 11th century. This Gesta episcoporum Cambracensium was for some time attributed to Balderic, archbishop of Noyon, but it now seems tolerably certain that the author was an anonymous canon of Cambrai. The work is of considerable importance for the history of the north of France during the 11th century, and was first published in 1615.
The best edition is in the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores, Bd. vii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826-1892), which contains an introduction by L. C. Bethmann.
See Histoire littéraire de la France, tome viii. (Paris, 1865-1869).
BALDI, BERNARDINO (1533-1617), Italian mathematician and miscellaneous writer, was descended of a noble family at Urbino, in which city he was born on the 6th of June 1533. He pursued his studies at Padua with extraordinary zeal and success, and is said to have acquired, during the course of his life, no fewer than sixteen languages, though according to Tiraboschi the inscription on his tomb limits the number to twelve. The appearance of the plague at Padua obliged him to retire to his native city, whence he was, shortly afterwards, called to act as tutor to Ferrante (Ferdinand) Gonzaga, from whom he received the rich abbey of Guastalla. He held office as abbot for twenty-five years, and then retired to his native town. In 1612 he was employed by the duke as his envoy to Venice, where he distinguished himself by the congratulatory oration he delivered before the Venetian senate on the election of the new doge, Andrea Memmo. Baldi died at Urbino on the 12th of October 1617. He was, perhaps, the most universal genius of his age, and is said to have written upwards of a hundred different works, the chief part of which have remained unpublished. His various works give satisfactory evidence of his abilities as a theologian, mathematician, geographer, antiquary, historian and poet. The Cronica dei Matematici (published at Urbino in 1707) is an abridgment of a larger work, on which he had bestowed twelve years of labour, and which was intended to contain the lives of more than two hundred mathematicians. His life has been written by Affò, Mazzuchelli and others.
BALDINGER, ERNST GOTTFRIED (1738-1804), German physician, was born near Erfurt on the 13th of May 1738. He studied medicine at Erfurt, Halle and Jena, and in 1761 was entrusted with the superintendence of the military hospitals connected with the Prussian encampment near Torgau. He published in 1765 a treatise De Militum Morbis, which met with a favourable reception. In 1768 he became professor of medicine at Jena, whence he removed in 1773 to Göttingen, and in 1785 to Marburg, where he died of apoplexy on the 21st of January 1804. Among his pupils were S. T. Sömmerring and J. F. Blumenbach. Some eighty-four separate treatises are mentioned as having proceeded from his pen, in addition to numerous papers scattered through various collections and journals.
BALDINUCCI, FILIPPO (1624-1696), Italian writer on the history of the arts, was born at Florence. His chief work is entitled Notizie de' Professori del Disegno da Cimabue ... (dal 1260 sino al 1670), and was first published in six vols. 4to, 1681-1728. The capital defect of this work is the attempt to derive all Italian art from the schools of Florence. A good edition is that by Ranalli (5 vols. 8vo, Florence, 1845-1847). Baldinucci's whole works were published in fourteen vols. at Milan, 1808-1812.
BALDNESS[[1]] (technically alopecia, from ἀλώπεξ, a fox, foxes often having bald patches on their coats), the result of loss of hair, particularly on the human scalp. So far as remediable alopecia is concerned, two forms may be distinguished: one the premature baldness so commonly seen in young men, due to alopecia seborrhoica, the other alopecia areata, now regarded as an epidemic disease.
Alopecia seborrhoica is that premature baldness so constantly seen, in which the condition steadily advances from the forehead backwards, until only a fringe of hair is left on the head. It is always due to the underlying disease seborrhoea, and though it progresses steadily if neglected, is yet very amenable to treatment. The two drugs of greatest value in this trouble are sulphur and salicylic acid, some eighteen grains of each added to an ounce of vaseline making a good application. This should be rubbed well into the scalp daily for a prolonged period. Where the greasiness is objected to, the following salicylic lotion may be substituted, though the vaseline application has probably the greater value: ℞ Ac. salicyl. ʒ i-iv; Ol. ricini ʒ ii-iv; Ol. ros. geran. ℳ x; Spt. vini ad ℥ vi. The head must be frequently cleansed, and in very mild cases a daily washing with soap spirit will at times effect a cure unaided.