Barrackpur (-pör'), a town and military cantonment, Hindustan, on the left bank of the Hughli, 10 miles N.N.E. of Calcutta. The suburban residence of the Viceroy is in Barrackpur Park. Pop. 31,907.
Barracoon´, a negro barrack or slave depot, formerly plentiful on the west coast of Africa, in Cuba, Brazil, &c.
Barracu´da, a name for certain large and ferocious fishes of the genus Sphyræna, and allied to the mullets, inhabiting southern seas, and caught in abundance for food.
Barrafran´ca, a town of Sicily, province Caltanissetta. Pop. 11,170.
Barramun´da. See Ceratodus.
Barranquilla (ba˙r-ra˙n-kēl'ya˙), a port of S. America, in Colombia, on a branch of the River Magdalena, near its entrance into the Caribbean Sea, connected by rail with the seaport Puerto Colombia. Pop. 64,543.
Barras (ba˙-rä), Paul François Jean Nicholas, Comte de, member of the French National Convention and of the Executive Directory, born in Provence 1755, died 1829. After serving in the army in India and Africa, he joined the revolutionary party and was a deputy in the tiers état. He took part in the attack upon the Bastille and upon the Tuileries, and voted for the death of Louis XVI. In the subsequent events he displeased Robespierre, and on this account joined the members of the committee, who foresaw danger awaiting them, and being entrusted with the chief command of the forces of his party he made himself master of Robespierre. On 4th Feb., 1795, he was elected president of the Convention, and on 5th Oct., when the troops of the sections which favoured the royal cause approached, Barras for a second time received the chief command of the forces of the Convention. On this occasion he employed General Bonaparte, for whom he procured the chief command of the army of the interior, and afterwards the command of the army in Italy. From the events of the 18th Fructidor (4th Sept., 1797) he governed absolutely until the 13th June, 1799, when Siéyès entered the Directory, and in alliance with Bonaparte procured his downfall in the revolution of the 18th Brumaire (9th Nov., 1799). He afterwards resided at Brussels, Marseilles, Rome, and Montpellier under surveillance. His Memoirs (in four volumes) were published in French and in English in 1895-6.
Bar´ratry, in commerce, any fraud committed by the master or mariners of a ship, whereby the owners, freighters, or insurers are injured; as by deviation from the proper course of the voyage, by the captain, for his own private purposes; fraudulent negligence; embezzlement of any part of the cargo, &c.
Barratry, Common, in law, the stirring up of lawsuits and quarrels between other persons, the party guilty of this offence being indictable as a common barrator or barretor. The commencing of suits in the name of a fictitious plaintiff is common barratry. In old Scots law it denotes the taking of bribes by a judge.
Barrel, a well-known variety of wooden vessel; but the term is also used as a definite measure and weight. A barrel of beer is 36 gallons, of flour 196 lb., of beef or pork 200 lb. The Italian barile varies from 7 to 31 English gallons; the French barrique of Bordeaux contains 50 English gallons = 228 French litres.