Bass Strait, a channel beset with islands, which separates Australia from Tasmania, 120 miles broad, discovered by George Bass, a surgeon in the Royal Navy, in 1798.
Basswood, or Bass, the American lime tree or linden (Tilia americāna), a tree common in N. America, yielding a light, soft timber.
Bast, a term originally applied to fibrous tissue external to the cambium; now used in two senses: (1) for Phloem (q.v.); (2) commercially, for the fibre of the lime or linden. The manufacture of lime-bast into mats, ropes, &c., is in Russia a considerable industry, bast-mats for packing furniture, covering plants, &c., being largely exported.
Bastar´, a feudatory State in Upper Godavari district, Central Provinces of India; area, 13,062 sq. miles; pop. 433,310. Chief town, Jagdalpur; pop. 4294.
Bas´tard, a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child. By the civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland, a bastard becomes legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. In some of the United States, bastards can be legitimized by subsequent marriage, in addition to which, however, the father must also recognize the child as his. By the laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage; it does not require that the child shall be begotten in wedlock, but it is indispensable that it should be born after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard is that he cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the maintenance of a bastard in the first instance devolves on the mother, while in Scotland it is a joint burden upon both parents. The mother is entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. See Legitimation; Illegitimacy.—Bibliography: Bacquet, Traité de la Bâtardise; Nicholls and Mackay, History of the English Poor Law.
Bastard Bar, more correctly baton sinister, the heraldic mark used to indicate illegitimate descent. It is a diminutive of the bend sinister, of which it is one-fourth in width, couped or cut short at the ends, so as not to touch the corners of the shield.
Bastard Fallow. See Fallow Land.
Bastard Saffron. See Safflower.