halves of a bullet, joined by a bar or chain.

The diameter of a leaden bullet, weighing one pound, is 1.69 inches, according to Sir Jonas Moore; or, by a table in Muller's "Treatise of Artillery," 1.672 inches: and the diameter of any other bullet is found by dividing 1.69 inches by the cube root of the number, which expresses how many of them make a pound; or by subtracting continually the third part of the logarithm of the number of bullets in the pound, from the logarithm .2278867 of 1.69, and the difference will be the logarithm of the diameter required. Thus the diameter of a bullet, of which 12 make a pound, will be found by subtracting 359 270, a third part of 1.0791812 the logarithm of 12, from the given logarithm .2278867; or because this logarithm is less than the former, an unit must be added, so as to have 1.2278867; and then the difference 8681597 will be the logarithm of the

diameter sought, which is .738 inches, observing that the number found will be always a decimal, because the number subtracted is greater than the other. We may also deduce the diameter of any bullet from its given weight, provided that the specific gravity of lead is known; for, since a cubic foot of lead weighs 11325 ounces, and 678 is to 355 as the cube of a foot, or 12 inches, i. e. 1728 to the content of a sphere, which is therefore 5929.7 ounces: and since spheres are as the cubes of their diameters, the weight 59.9.7 is to 16 ounces, or one pound, as the cube 1728 is to the cube of the diameter of a sphere, which weighs sixteen ounces, or one pound; which cube is 4.66.63, and its root is 1.6706, the diameter sought.

By the rule above laid down is calculated the following table, shewing the diameters of leaden bullets, from 1 to 39 in the pound.

The upper horizontal column shews the number of bullets to a pound; the second their diameters; the third, the diameters of those of 10, 11, 12, &c. and the fourth those of 20, 21, 22, &c. and the last, those of 30, 31, 32, &c.

The government allows 11 bullets in the pound for the proof of muskets, and 14.5 in the pound, or 29 in two pounds, for service, 17 for the proof of carabines, and 20 for service; and 28 in the pound for proof of pistols, and 34 for service.

The diameter of musket bullets differs but th part from that of the musketbarrel; for if the shot but just rolls into the barrel, it is sufficient. Cannon bullets or balls are of different diameters and weights, according to the nature of the piece.

BULLION, uncoined gold or silver in the mass.

Those metals are called so, either when melted from the native ore, and not perVOL. III.

To prevent those abuses, which some might be tempted to commit in the making of such alloys, the legislators of civilized countries have ordained, that there shall be no more than a certain proportion of a baser metal to a particular quantity of pure gold or silver, in order to make them of the fineness of what is called the standard gold or silver of such a country.

According to the laws of England, all sorts of wrought plate in general ought to be made to the legal standard; and the

price of our standard gold and silver is the common rule whereby to set a value on their bullion, whether the same be in ingots, bars, dust, or in foreign specie; whence it is easy to conceive, that the value of bullion cannot be exactly known, without being first assayed, that the exact quantity of pure metal therein contained may be determined, and consequently whether it be above or below the standard.

Silver and gold, whether coined or uncoined (though used for a common mea. sure of other things) are no less a commodity than wine, tobacco, or cloth; and may, in many cases, be exported as much to the national advantage as any other commodity.

BUMALDA, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia. Natural order of Dumosæ. Rhamni, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla five-petalled; styles villose; capsule two-celled, two-beaked. There is but one species; viz. B. trifolia, with a shrubby stem; branches close, in all parts smooth; branches obscurely angular, jointed, purple; leaves opposite, petioled, ternate, pale underneath, on very short capillary petioles, spreading very much, or reflex; flowers terminating the branches in racemes, or capillary peduncles. Native of Japan.

BUMELIA, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Essential character: corolla five-cleft, with a five-leaved nectary; drupe oneseeded. There are seven species, all trees or shrubs, and natives of the WestIndies.

BUNIAS, in botany, a genus of the Tetradynamia Siliquosa. Natural order of Siliquosa. Crucifera, Jussieu. Essential character: silicle deciduous, four-sided, muricated with unequal acuminate angles. There are nine species, of which B. cornuta, horned bunias, is a very singular plant. It has silicle transversely oval, finishing on each side in a horn, or very long and strong spine, so that the silicle resembles a pair of horns; in the middle of the silicle are four small spines, directed different ways. It is a native of the Levant and Siberia. B. spinosa, thorny bunias, is an annual plant, and a native of the South of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.

BUNIUM, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia class and order. Natural order of Umbellatæ. Essential character: cor. uniform; umbel crowded; fruits ovate. There is but one species, viz. B. bulbocastanum, earth nut, or pig nut, has a perennial, tuberous root on

the outside, of a chesnut colour, within white, solid, putting forth slender fibres from the sides and bottom, of an agreeable sweetish taste, lying deep in the ground, commonly four or five inches deep, the stems from the surface tapering towards it, flexuose or bending to and from, and of a white colour; the univer sal involucre consists seldom of more than one, two, or three very slender leaves, but in most instances is altogether wanting; the partial umbel has sometimes twenty rays; the petals are lanceolate, entire, but rolled inwards, so as to appear as if they were emarginate; the filaments are longer than the petals; the pistils at first close, after divaricate, but never bend back. This description applies to the plant as usually found in Great Britain. That Brunium which is most common in many parts of the continent is somewhat different from ours; the segments of the leaf are not so fine, and nearer to parsly, whereas ours approach to fennel. The root is not so far within the ground, the leaves are larger and greener, and it sends forth leaves from the bulb itself. With us it grows on heaths, in pastures, woods, and among bushes, in a gravelly or sandy soil: it flowers in May and June.

BUNT, of a sail, the middle part of it; formed designedly into a bag or cavity, that the sail may gather more wind. It is used mostly in top sails, because courses are generally cut square, or with but small allowance for bunt or compass. The 1 holds much leeward wind, that is, it ngs much to leeward.

BUNT lines are small lines made fast to the bottom of the sails, in the middle part of the bolt rope, to a cringle, and so are reeved through a small block, seized to the yard. Their use is, to trice up the bunt of the sail, for the better furling it up.

BUNTING. See EMBERIZA.

BUOY, at sea, a short piece of wood, or a close-hooped barrel, fastened so as to float directly over the anchor, that the men who go in the boat to weigh the anchor may know where it lies.

Buor is also a piece of wood, or cork, sometimes an empty cask, well closed, swimming on the surface of the water, and fastened by a chain or cord to a large stone, piece of broken cannon, or the like, serving to mark the dangerous places near a coast, as rocks, shoals, wrecks of vessels, anchors, &c.

There are sometimes, instead of buoys, pieces of wood placed in form of masts, in conspicuous places; and sometimes large

To BUOY up the cable, is to fasten some pieces of wood, barrels, &c. to the cable, near the anchor, that the cable may not touch the ground, in case it be foul or rocky, lest it should be fretted and cut off.

BUPHAGA, the African beaf-eater, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order of Picæ. Generic character: its bill is straight and somewhat square; its mandibles are gibbous, entire, more gib. bous externally, and its legs well formed for walking. It is found not only in Senegal, but near Caffraria. Its manners much resemble those of the starling. It feeds on various kinds of insects, and alighting on the backs of antelopes, sheep, and oxen, and by pressure on the elevated part of the hide, which contains the larvæ of the oestrus, forcing this out, greatly relieves the animal, and procures itself an exquisite banquet.

BUPHTHALMUM, in botany, a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua. Natural order of Composite Oppositifo. lix. Corymbiferæ, Jussieu. Essential character: stigma of the hermaphrodite floscules undivided: seeds have the sides, especially in the ray, edged; down an obscure edge; receptacle chaffy. There are twelve species, of which, B. frutescens, shrubby ox-eye, rises with several woody stems from the root, and grows to the height of eight or ten feet, furnished with leaves very unequal in size, some of which are narrow and long, others broad and obtuse. The foot-stalks of the larger leaves have, on their upper side, near their base, two sharp teeth standing upward, and a little higher there are generally two or three more growing on the edge of the leaves. The flowers are produced at the ends of the branches single: these are of a pale yellow colour, and have scaly calyxes. It grows naturally in America. B. arborescens, tree ox-eye, seldom grows higher than three feet, sending out many stalks from the root, which are succulent; it has spear-shaped leaves, placed opposite; the flowers are produced upon foot-stalks, which are two inches long. These flowers are larger than those of the first sort, of a bright yellow colour. They appear in July, Au gust, and September. Some of these plants are shrubs, but most of them are herbs. The flowers are commonly terminating, and mostly of a yellow colour.

BUPLEURUM, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia. Natural order of Umbellatæ. Essential character: involucres of the umbellule larger, fiveleaved; petals involuted; fruit roundish, compressed, striated. There are 19 species, of which B. rotundifolium, common thorough wax, so called from the singular circumstance of the stalk waxing or growing through the leaf; the root is annual, small and fibrous; the stem a foot high, upright, round, perfectly smooth, alternately branched; every part of the plant is remarkably hard and rigid, and has a slight aromatic smell. It is a native of most parts of Europe. B. stellatum, starry hare's ear, has a perennial root, with a stem about 18 inches high, with long grass-like root-leaves, some ending obtusely, others drawing to a point; scarcely any on the stem, except one embracing leaf under a branch. Universal involucre of one, two, or three leaves. Partial involucre, coloured, longer than the flowers, eight or nine-cleft at the edge, but united at bottom, so as to form a sort of basin, in which the flowers are lodged. It is a native of the Alps, of Switzerland, and Dauphine. Most of the Bupleurums are herbaceous plants, some of them are shrubby, and one is thorny; the leaves are mostly simple and entire. The little flowers are yellow, and but few in an umbel. The involucre is many-leaved and short, though it has sometimes only three or five leaves. They are almost all of them natives of Switzerland and the south of France.

BUPRESTIS, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera. Generic character: antennæ setaceous, of the length of the thorax; head half withdrawn beneath the thorax. This genus of insects is very conspicuous, on account of the superior brilliancy of its colours, with which many of the larger species shine with a metallic lustre It is a very numerous genus, consisting, according to Gmelin, of 156 species. Among these we shall notice the B gigantea, which is the largest hitherto discovered, measuring two inches and a half in length: the thorax is smooth, resembling the colour of polished bell-metal, and the wingsheaths are of a gilded copper colour, with a cast of blue-green. It is a native of India, China, and many other parts of Asia, and is also found in South America. Its beauty is so very singular, that the Chinese attempt to imitate it on bronze, in which they have sometimes succeeded so well, that the copy has been mistaken for the reality. This insect proceeds

er. Of the European insects of this genus, the B. rustica is one of the largest, measuring about an inch and a half, and of a coppery colour, with several longitudinal furrows along the wing-shells; the thorax of a deep blue-green, with numerous impressed points: it is found in the woods. The European Buprestes fall far short of the Indian and American species, both in point of size and splendour, though among them may be numbered several elegant insects.

BURCARDIA, in botany, so narned in honour of Henry Burckhard, a genus of the Pentandria Pentagynia class and order.

Essential character: calyx fiveleaved; corolla five-petalled; capsule angular, one-celled, three-valved; seven or eight seeded. There is but one species, viz B. villosa, an annual plant, with a branched stem two feet high, hirsute, with reddish brown hairs. Flowers at the end of the stem and branches, axillary, solitary, on long hairy peduncles. The whole plant is covered with stiff hairs. It is found on the sandy coasts of Cayenne and Guiana.

BURDEN, or BURTHEN, in a general sense, implies a load or weight, supposed to be as much as a man, horse &c. can well carry. A sound and healthy man can raise a weight equal to his own. An able horse can draw 350lb. though for a length of time 300lb. is sufficient. Hence calculations are formed by the artillery officers. One horse will draw as much as seven men.

BURDEN of a ship is its contents, or num ber of tons it will carry. The burden of a ship may be determined thus: multiply the length of the keel, taken within board, by the breadth of the ship within board, taken from the midship-beam, from plank to plank, and multiply the product by the depth of the hold, taken from the plank below the keelson to the under part of the upper deck plank, and divide the last product by 94, then the quotient is the content of the tonnage required.

BURGAGE, in law, a tenure proper to boroughs and towns, whereby the inhabitants hold their lands and tenements of the King, or other lord, at a certain yearly rate. This tenure is described by Glanvil, and is expressly said by Littleton to be but tenure in socage. It is indeed only a kind of town socage; as common socage, by which other lands are holden, is usually of a rural nature. A borough is usually distinguished from other towns

is by burgage tenure, that alone is a proof of the antiquity of the borough. Tenure in burgage, therefore, or burgage tenure, is where houses, or lands which were formerly the scite of houses, in an ancient borough, are held by some lord in common socage, by a certain establishment. The free socage in which these tenements are held, seems to be plainly a remnant of Saxon liberty; and this may account for the great variety of customs, affecting many of these tenements so held in ancient burgage; the principal and most remarkable of which is that called borough English; which see. There are also other special customs in different burgage tenures; as in some, that the wife shall be endowed of all her hus band's tenements, and not of the third part only, as at the common law : and in others, that a man might dispose of his tenements by will, which in general was not per mitted after the conquest till the reign of Henry VIII.; though in the Saxon times it was allowable. A pregnant proof, says Judge Blackstone, that these liberties of Socage tenure were fragments of Saxon liberty.

BURGESS, an inhabitant of a borough, or one who possesses a tenement therein. In other countries, burgess and citizen are confounded together; but with us they are distinguished: the word is also applied to the magistrates of some towns. Burgess is now ordinarily used for the representative of a borough-town in parliament.

BURGH-bote signifies a contribution towards the building or repairing of castles or walls, for the defence of a borough or city.

BURGLARY, in law, or nocturnal house-breaking, an unlawful entering into another man's dwelling, wherein some person is, or into a church, in the nighttime, in order to commit some felony, or to kill some person, or to steal something thence, or do some other felonious act, whether the same be executed or not. This crime has been always regarded as very heinous partly on account of the terror which it occasions, and partly because it is a forcible invasion and distur bance of that right of habitation, which every individual might require, even in a state of nature, and against which the laws of civil society have particularly guarded. Whilst they allow the possessor to kill the aggressor, who attempts to break into a house in the night time, they also protect and avenge him, in case the

assailant should be too powerful. Such regard, indeed, has the law of England to the immunity of a man's house, that it stiles it his castle, and will never suffer it to be violated with impunity; for this reason no outward doors can in general be broken open to execute any civil process; though, in criminal cases, the public safety supersedes the private. Hence, also, in part, arises the animadversion of the law upon eves-droppers, nuisancers, and incendiaries; and to this principle it must be assigned, that a man may assemble people together lawfully (at least if they do not exceed eleven) without danger of raising a riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, in order to protect and defend his house; which he is not permitted to do in any

other case.

The definition of a burglar, as given by Sir Edward Coke, is," he that by night breaketh and entereth into a mansion-house, with intent to commit a felony." In this definition, says Judge Blackstone, there are four things to be considered; the time, the place, the manner, and the intent. 1. The time must be by night, and not by day; for in the daytime there is no burglary. In considering what is reckoned night, the day was anciently accounted to begin at sun-rising, and to end immediately upon sun-set: but the better opinion seems to be,thatif there be daylight or twilight sufficient begun or left for discerning a man's face, it is no burglary. But this does not extend to moon-light: for then many midnight burglaries would go unpunished; and besides, the malignity of the offence does not so properly arise from its being done in the dark, as at the dead of night, when the whole creation, except beasts of prey, is at rest; when sleep has disarmed the owner, and rendered his castle defenceless. 2. As to the place. It must be, by the definition, a mansion-house; and, therefore, in order to account for the reason why breaking open a church is burglary, as it undoubtedly is, Sir Edward Coke quaintly observes, that it is " domus mansionalis Dei." But it is not necessary that it should in all cases be a mansionhouse; for it may he committed by breaking the gates or walls of a town in the night. 3. As to the manner of committing burglary; there must be both a breaking and an entry, to complete this offence. But they need not be done at once for if a hole be broken one night, and the same breakers enter the next night through the same,they are burglars. There must in general be an actual breaking, so that it may be regarded as a sub

:

stantial and forcible irruption. Such are, breaking or taking out the glass of, or otherwise opening a window, and taking out goods; picking a lock, or opening it with a key; and lifting up the latch of a door, or loosing any other fastenings which the owner has provided. But if a person leaves his doors or windows of his house open, and a man enters by them, or with a hook or by any other means draws out some of the goods of the owner, it is no burglary; but if, having entered, he afterwards unlocks an inner or chamber door, or if he comes down a chimney, he is deemed a burglar. If a person enters by the open door of a house, and breaks open a chest and steals goods, this is no burglary, by the common law, because the chest is no part of the house. 4. As to the intent: it is clear that such breaking and entry must be with a felonious intent, otherwise it is only a trespass. And it is the same, whether such intention be actually carried no execution, or only demonstrated by some attempt or overt act, of which the jury is to judge.

BURGOMASTER,the chief magistrate of the great towns in Flanders, Holland, and Germany. The power and jurisdiction of the burgomaster is not the same in all places, every town having its particular customs and regulations at Amsterdam there are four, chosen by the voices of all those people in the Senate who have either been bur. omasters or echevins. Their authority resembles that of the lord-mayor and aldermen; they dispose of all under offices that fall in their time, keep the key of the bank, and enjoy a salary but of 500 guilders, all feasts, public entertainments, &c. being defrayed out of the common treasury.

BURGUNDY pitch, in medicine, the juice of the pinus abies, boiled in water, and strained through a linen cloth. It is chiefly employed for external purposes in inveterate coughs, &c. Plasters of this resin, by acting as topical stimulants, are frequently found of considerable service.

BURIAL, the interment of a deceased person. The rites of burial make the greatest and most necessary care, being looked upon in all countries, and at all times, as a debt so sacred, that such as neglected to discharge it were thought accursed: hence the Romans called them justa, and the Greeks voima, dixaiα, oσiα, &c. words implying the inviolable obligations which nature has laid upon the liv ing, to take care of the obsequies of the dead. Nor are we to wonder that the ancient Greeks and Romans were extreme