Bagasse´, the sugar-cane in its dry crushed state as delivered from the mill, and after the main portion of its juice has been expressed; used as fuel in the sugar factory, and called also cane-trash.
Bagatelle´, a game played on a long flat board covered with cloth like a billiard-table, with spherical balls and a cue or mace. At the end of the board are nine cups or sockets of just sufficient size to receive the balls. These sockets are arranged in the form of a regular octagon, with the ninth in the middle, and are numbered consecutively from one upwards. Nine balls are used, generally one black, four white, and four red, the distinction between white and red being made only for the sake of variety. In the ordinary game, at starting, the black ball is placed on a point in the longitudinal middle line of the board, a few inches in front of the nearest
of the sockets, and the player places one of his eight balls on a corresponding point at the other end of the board, and tries to strike the black ball into one of the sockets with his own. After this his object is to place as many of his balls as possible in the sockets. Each ball so placed counts as many as the socket is numbered for, and the black ball always counts double. He who first makes the number of points agreed on wins.
Bagdad´, or Baghdad, a city of a vilayet of same name (54,540 sq. miles; pop. 900,000) in what was anciently Mesopotamia. The greater part of it lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris, which is crossed by a bridge of boats; old Bagdad, the residence of the caliphs (now in ruins), was on the western bank of the river. The city occupies a large area. The houses are mostly built of brick, the streets unpaved and very narrow, and there are few buildings of any note. The palace of the governor is spacious. Of the mosques only a few attract notice, many are in ruins; the bazaars are large and well stocked; that of Dawd Pasha still ranks as one of the most splendid in the world. Manufactures: leather, silks, cottons, woollens, carpets, &c. Steamers ply on the river between Bagdad and Bassorah, and the town exports wheat, dates, galls, gums, mohair, carpets, &c., to Europe, the chief import being cotton goods. The estimated population is over 200,000; of these about 86,000 are Mahommedans, 52,000 Jews, and 7000 Christians. The city has been frequently visited by the plague. Bagdad was founded in 762 by the Caliph Almansur, and raised to a high degree of splendour in the ninth century by Harun Al Rashid. It is the scene of a number of the tales of the Arabian Nights. It was long the chief city of the Mahommedan world, and at one time is said to have had two millions of inhabitants. In the thirteenth century it was stormed by Hulaku, grandson of Genghis-Khan, who caused the reigning caliph to be slain, and destroyed the caliphate. It was again laid waste by Timur in 1401. For a considerable period it was the object of contention between the Persians and the Turks, until it was besieged and captured by Sultan Murad IV in 1638. Since that date it remained a part of the Turkish Empire. It was captured by the British on 11th March, 1917.
Bagdad Railway, a railway which, under arrangement with the Turkish Government, was intended to run from Konia, which is the terminus of the Anatolian railway system, to Bagdad, Basra (Bassorah), and the Persian Gulf. It was built chiefly by means of funds provided by German and French financiers, in association with the Anatolian Railway Company, a German company. The line has been constructed continuously as far as Kara Bunar in Cilicia. Farther on, the following sections have been completed: Dorak to Bagtché, on the Ordana side of the Taurus Mountains; Radjun, via Muslimié, to Jerablus, on the Euphrates, with a branch from Muslimié to Aleppo; Jerablus to El-Abiad, and Bagdad to Samara. A branch line has also been completed from Alexandretta to Toprak Kalé. Of the distance from Konia to Bagdad (1509 miles), 1117 miles (with gaps) are already working. In 1919 the railway system passed to the Allies, and in 1920 it was announced that the line between Basra and Bagdad had been completed.
Bagehot (bag´ot), Walter, English economist and journalist, born at Langport, Somerset, 1826, died at the same place 1877. He studied at Bristol, and at University College, London, and graduated as B.A. and M.A. at the London University (1848). He was for some time associated with his father in the banking business at Langport, and for a number of years he acted as London agent for the bank. He was one of the editors of the National Review (1855-64), and from 1860 till his death he was editor and part proprietor of the Economist. His chief works are: Physics and Politics; The English Constitution; Lombard Street; and Studies, Literary, Biographic, and Economic. He was a high authority on economics, banking, and finance, and was often consulted by public men.
Bag´gala, a two-masted Arab boat, generally 200-250 tons burden, used for trading in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, &c.
Baggesen (bag´e-sen), Jens, a Danish poet, who also wrote much in German, born 1764, at Korsör, died at Hamburg, 1826. He led a rather wandering and unsettled life, spending some time in England as well as in France and Germany.
He tried lyric, epic, and dramatic poetry, but was most successful as a humorist and satirist. One of his best poems is his famous song There was a Time when I was very Little.