a merchant at Amsterdam, but early
discovered so strong a genius for painting that he relinquished business
and devoted himself to art. He studied first under Allart van Everdingen
and then under Hendrik Dubbels, two eminent masters of the time, and soon
became celebrated for his sea-pieces. He was an ardent student of nature,
and frequently exposed himself on the sea in an open boat in order to study
the effects of tempests. His compositions, which are very numerous, are
nearly all variations of one subject, and in a style peculiarly his own,
marked by intense realism or faithful imitation of nature. In his later
years Backhuysen employed his time in etching and calligraphy. He died in
Amsterdam on the 17th of November 1708.

BACKNANG, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Wuerttemberg, 19 m. by rail
N.E. from Stuttgart. Pop. (1900) 7650. It has an interesting church, dating
from the 12th century, and notable tanneries and leather factories, woollen
and cloth mills. In 1325 Backnang was ceded to Wuerttemberg by Baden. In
the vicinity is the Wilhelmsheim sanatorium for consumptives.

BACKSCRATCHER, a long slender rod of wood, whalebone, tortoiseshell, horn
or cane, with a carved human hand, usually of ivory, mounted at the
extremity. Its name suggests the primary use of the implement, but little
is known of its history, and it was unquestionably also employed as a kind
of rake to keep in order the huge "heads" of powdered hair worn by ladies
during a considerable portion of the 18th and the early part of the 19th
centuries. The backscratcher varies in length from 12 to 20 in., and the
more elaborate examples, which were occasionally hung from the waist, are
silver-mounted, and in rare instances the ivory fingers bear carved rings.
The hand is sometimes outstretched, and sometimes the fingers are flexed;
the modelling is frequently good, the fingers delicately formed and the
nails well defined. As a rule the rod is finished off with a knob. The hand
was now and again replaced by a rake or a bird's claw. The hand was
indifferently dexter or sinister, but the Chinese variety usually bears a
right hand. Like most of the obsolete appliances of daily life, the
backscratcher, or scratch-back, as it is sometimes called, has become
scarce, and it is one of the innumerable objects which attract the
attention of the modern collector.

BACK'S RIVER (_Thlewechodyeth_, or "Great Fish"), a river in Mackenzie and
Keewatin districts, Ca