BASILICUS. A name of Regulus or the Lion's Heart, α Leonis; a star of the first magnitude. BASILISK. An old name for a long 48-pounder, the gun next in size to the carthoun: called basilisk from the snakes or dragons sculptured in the place of dolphins. According to Sir William Monson its random range was 3000 paces. Also, in still earlier times, a gun throwing an iron ball of 200 lbs. weight. BASILLARD. An old term for a poniard. BASIN. A wet-dock provided with flood-gates for restraining the water, in which shipping may be kept afloat in all times of tide. Also, all those sheltered spaces of water which are nearly surrounded with slopes from which waters are received; these receptacles have a circular shape and narrow entrance. Geographically basins may be divided, as upper, lower, lacustrine, fluvial, Mediterranean, &c. BASIS. _See_ BASE. BASKET. In field-works, baskets or corbeilles are used, to be filled with earth, and placed by one another, to cover the men from the enemy's shot. BASKET-FISH. A name for several species of _Euryale_; a kind of star-fish, the arms of which divide and subdivide many times, and curl up and intertwine at the ends, giving the whole animal something of the appearance of a round basket. BASKET-HILT. The guard continued up the hilt of a cutlass, so as to protect the whole hand from injury. BASKING SHARK. So called from being often seen lying still in the sunshine. A large cartilaginous fish, the _Squalus maximus_ of Linnæus, inhabiting the Northern Ocean. It attains a length of 30 feet, but is neither fierce nor voracious. Its liver yields from eight to twelve barrels of oil. BASS, OR BAST. A soft sedge or rush (_Juncus lævis_), of which coarse kinds of rope and matting are made. A Gaelic term for the blade of an oar. BASSE. A species of perch (_Perca labrax_), found on the coast and in estuaries, commonly about 18 inches long. BASSOS. A name in old charts for shoals; whence bas-fond and basso-fondo. Rocks a-wash, or below water. BAST. Lime-tree, linden (_Tilia europea_). Bast is made also from the bark of various other trees, macerated in water till the fibrous layers separate. In the Pacific Isles it is very fine and strong, from _Hibiscus tiliaceus_. BASTA. A word in former use for _enough_, from the Italian. BASTARD. A term applied to all pieces of ordnance which are of unusual or irregular proportions: the government bastard-cannon had a 7-inch bore, and sent a 40-lb. shot. Also, a fair-weather square sail in some Mediterranean craft, and occasionally used for an awning. BASTARD-MACKEREL, OR HORSE-MACKEREL. The _Caranx trachurus_, a dry, coarse, and unwholesome fish, of the family _Scombridæ_, very common in the Mediterranean.