Baden (or Baden-Baden, to distinguish it from other towns of the same name; German Bad, a bath), a town and watering-place, in the former Grand-Duchy of Baden, 18 miles S.S.W. of Karlsruhe, built in the form of an amphitheatre on a spur of the Black Forest, overhanging a valley, through which runs a little stream Oosbach. Baden has been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for its thermal baths; and it used also to be celebrated for its gaming-saloons. It has many good buildings, and a castle, the summer residence of the former grand-dukes. Pop. 22,066.
Baden, a town of Austria, 15 miles S.W. of Vienna. It has numerous hot sulphurous springs, used both for bathing and drinking, and much frequented. Pop. 19,000.
Baden, a small town of Switzerland, canton Aargau, celebrated for its hot sulphurous baths, which attract many visitors. Pop. 8318.
Baden-Powell. See Powell.
Badge (baj), a distinctive device, emblem, mark, honorary decoration, or special cognizance, used originally to identify a knight or distinguish his followers, now worn as a sign of office or licensed employment, as a token of membership in some society, or generally as a mark showing the relation of the wearer to any person,
occupation, or order. See Cockade, Heraldry, Totems.
Badger (baj´ėr), a plantigrade, carnivorous mammal, allied both to the bears and to the weasels, of a clumsy make, with short thick legs, and long claws on the fore-feet. The common badger (Meles vulgāris) is as large as a middling-sized dog, but much lower on the legs, with a flatter and broader body, very thick tough hide, and long coarse hair. It inhabits the north of Europe and Asia, burrows, is indolent and sleepy, feeds by night on vegetables, small quadrupeds, &c. Its flesh may be eaten, and its hair is used for artists' brushes in painting. The American badger belongs to a separate genus. Badger baiting, or drawing the badger, is a barbarous sport, long a favourite amusement in England, but declared illegal in the middle of last century, and yet to some extent practised, generally as an attraction to public-houses of the lowest sort. A badger is put in a barrel, and one or more dogs are put in to drag him out. When this is effected he is returned to his barrel, to be similarly assailed by a fresh set. The badger usually makes a most determined and savage resistance.
Badger Dog, a long-bodied, short-legged dog, with rather large pendulous ears, usually short haired, black, and with yellow extremities; often called by its German name Dachshund.
Bad´minton, a game closely resembling lawn-tennis, but played with battledore and shuttle-cock instead of ball and racket: named after a seat of the Duke of Beaufort, in Gloucestershire.