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ary volumes, of which the last did not appear until after his death, in 1789, the 5th formed an independent whole, the most celebrated of all his works. It contains his Epochs of Nature, in which the author, in a style truly sublime, and with the triumphant power of genius, gives a second theory of the earth, very different from that which he had traced in the first volumes, though he assumes, at the commencement, the air of merely defending and developing the former. This great labor, with which B. was occupied during 50 years, is, however, but a part of the vast plan which he had sketched, and which has been continued by Lacépède, in his history of the different species of cetaceous animals, reptiles and fishes, but has remained unexecuted as far as regards the invertebral animals and the plants. There is but one opinion of B. as an author. For the elevation of his views, for powerful and profound ideas, for the majesty of his images, for noble and dignified expression, for the lofty harmony of his style in treating of important subjects, he is, perhaps, unrivalled. His pictures of the sublime scenes of nature are strikingly true, and are stamped with originality. The fame of his work was soon universal. It excited a general taste for natural history, and gained for this science the favor and protection of nobles and princes. Louis XV raised the author to the dignity of a count, and d'Argivilliers, in the reign of Louis XVI, caused his statue to be erected, during his life, at the entry of the royal cabinet of natural curiosities, with the inscription Majestati naturæ par ingenium. The opinions entertained of B. as a natural philosopher, and an observer, have been more divided. Voltaire, d'Alembert, Condorcet, have severely criticised his hypotheses, and his vague manner of philosophizing from general views. But although the views of B. on the theory of the earth can no longer be defended in detail, he will always have the merit of having made it generally felt, that the present state of the earth is the result of a series of changes, which it is possible to trace, and of having pointed out the phenomena which indicate the course of these changes. His theory of generation has been refuted by Haller and Spallanzani, and his hypothesis of a certain inexplicable mechanism to account for animal instinct, is not supported by facts; but his eloquent description of the physical and moral developement of man, as well as his ideas on the influence which the delicacy

and developement of each organ exert on the character of different species of animals, are still of the highest interest. His views of the degeneracy of animals, and of the limits prescribed to each species by climates, mountains and seas, are real discoveries, which receive daily confirmation, and furnish to travellers a basis for their observations, which was entirely wanting before. The most perfect part of his work is the History of Quadrupeds; the weakest, the History of Miner als, in which his imperfect acquaintance with chemistry, and his inclination to hypothesis, have led him into many errors. His last days were disturbed by the painful disease of the stone, which did not, however, prevent the prosecution of his great plan. He died at Paris, April 16, 1788, at the age of 81 years, leaving an only son, who perished, in the revolution, by the guillotine. B. was of a noble figure, and of great dignity of manners. His conversation was remarkable for a simplicity but little in accordance with the style of his writings. The best edition of his Natural History is that published from 1749 to 1788, in 36 vol

umes.

BUFFONE (Italian); buffoon; a comic singer in the opera buffa, or the Italian intermezzo. The Italians, however, distinguish the buffo cantante, which requires good singing, from the buffo comico, in which there which there is more acting. Buffoonery is the name given to the jokes which the buffoon introduces. The word is, no doubt, borrowed from the Low Latin, in which the name buffo (cheeked), was given to those who appeared on the theatre, with their cheeks puffed up, to receive blows on them, and to excite the laughter of the spectators. Hence buffa, cheeks; buffare, to puff up the cheeks. Afterwards, the name came to signify a mimic, a jester in general.

BUGENHAGEN, John, also Pomeranus, doctor Pommer, was of great service to Luther in the reformation. He was born in 1485, at Stettin, and, in 1505, was made rector of the school in Treptow. He fled from his Catholic superiors to Wittenberg, in 1521, where he was made, in 1522, professor of theology. Luther derived assistance from his profound exegetical learning, in preparing his translation of the Bible. In 1525, he gave occasion for the controversies about the sacrament, by a work against Zwinglius, on the communion. He acquired more reputation by his excellent Interpretatio in Librum Psalmorum (Nuremberg, 1523).

He effected the union of the Protestant free cities with the Saxons, and introduced into Brunswick, Hamburg, Lübeck, Pomerania and Denmark, and many other places, the Lutheran service and church discipline. For the Lower Saxons, he translated the Bible into Low German (Lübeck, 1533). He was a faithful friend to Luther, and delivered his eulogy. Together with Melancthon, he composed the Interim of Leipsic. He died in 1558. He wrote also a History of Pomerania.

BUGGE, Thomas, born in 1740, at Copenhagen, professor of mathematics and astronomy at the university in that city, and in the royal marine, has rendered much service to astronomy and geography by his own observations, and by the education of young men, from many of whom we have valuable observations in Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and several parts of the East and West Indies. He caused more correct surveys to be made in Denmark, for the equalization of the landtaxes, and had the principal part in the preparation of the excellent map of Denmark. His works are, Elementary Principles of spherical and theoretical Astronomy (1796), Elementary Principles of pure Mathematics (Altona, 1797), Description of the Method of Measurement in the Construction of the Danish Maps and Charts. He died in 1815.

BUGLE-HORN. (See Horn.)
BUHRSTONE. (See Quartz.)

BUILTH; a small town of Wales, on the Wye, 171 miles W. N. W. of London. It was probably the Roman station Bullæum, and Roman relics are yet occasionally discovered there. The Britons built a castle there, when driven from their country by the Saxons, which was occupied by the English after the conquest. Llewellyn, the last Welsh prince, was slain in the neighborhood, in an engagement between the Welsh and English. Lon. 3° 16' W.; lat. 52° 8' N.

BUINAAH POINT; a cape on the west coast of Ireland, in the county of Mayo, on the south side of the entrance into Newport bay. Lon. 9° 45′ W.; lat. 53° 46' N.

BUKHARIA. (See Bucharia.) BUKOWINA. (See Galicia.) BULAC, OF BOULAC, in Egypt; the port of Grand Cairo, on the Nile, where vessels which bring goods to that city abide; one mile W. of Cairo. It is a large, irregular town, and contains a customhouse, magazines, and a large bazar. In 1799, it was almost destroyed by the French. Niebuhr seems to fix on this

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as the site of the ancient Litopolis. The baths are fine.

BULAMA; an island on the west coast of Africa, one of the Bissgoes. It is 24 miles long and 12 broad, and is situated about two miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande. It is very fertile, but not easy of access. The Bulama association attempted to colonize it, in 1792, but it was soon abandoned. Lon. 14° 38′ W.; lat. 11° N.

BULGARIA, European or Little, a Turkish province, which owes its name to the Asiatic race of Bulgarians (q. v.), who overran it, was the Masia Inferior of the Romans. Its capital is Sophia, and it is divided, by the Turks, who conquered it in 1392, into four sangiacats, forming a part of the pachalic of Romelia. It is nearly in the form of a triangle, enclosed by the Danube on the north, the Black sea on the east, the Balkan (q. v.) or mount Hamus on the south and west. It is 36,870 square miles in extent, with a population of 1,800,000 inhabitants, engaged in agricultural labors, peaceful and industrious, and mostly members of the Greek church. The whole province, except in the neighborhood of the Danube and the Black sea, is rugged and mountainous. From the eastern extremity of the Balkan, a branch runs north-easterly nearly parallel with the Euxine, and the streams flow northerly and westerly to the Danube, or south-easterly to the sea. The soil is very productive; all sorts of grain cattle, wool, iron and wine are raised in abundance, and the province is considered by the Turks the granary of Constantinople. About Philippopoli are large rice farms. A very fine wool is brought from the pastures near Nicopoli, and silk, honey, wax and tobacco are important articles of produce. Dobrudsha, the sandy plain on the Black sea, is famous for its horses, which are small, but strong and well-shaped. Some of the principal towns, besides those already mentioned, are Silistria, taken by the Russians, June 28, 1829, 216 miles N. of Constantinople, Brailow (q. v.), Varna (q. v.), Chumla or Schumla (q. v.), which have been the objects of violent contest between the Russians and Turks in the war now existing between them.

Bulgarians, or Voulgarians; an ancient Turkish or Tartar nation, which, in the fourth century, was settled on the Volga. The ruins of their former capital may still be seen in the neighborhood of Kazan. Their kingdom, which occupied a part of the Asiatic Sarmatia of the Greeks, is

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called Great Bulgaria, and is now comprehended in the Russian government of Orenburg. They afterwards removed to the countries between the Bog and the Danube, and called their territories Second Bulgaria. They passed the Danube in 539, made themselves masters of the coasts of the Black sea, as far as mount Hæmus, subdued the Sclavonic tribes of that region, and founded the kingdom of Black Bulgaria. They penetrated Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly, and their wars with the Greek empire were very sanguinary. Whole provinces were reduced to deserts, called Bulgarian forests, and the Greeks, not less barbarous, put out the eyes of 15,000 Bulgarian prisoners in one day. Their kingdom, which extended, in 1010, over Macedonia, Albania and Servia, was destroyed by the emperor Basil II, and the dispersed tribes took refuge in Turkey, in 1185. Those who remained in B. revolted, and formed, with the Walachians, a new kingdom, which was sometimes the ally and sometimes the vassal of the Byzantine empire, until it was finally conquered by the Ottomans, in the 14th century.

BULIMIA. The persons attacked by this disorder are tormented with an insatiable hunger. When their stomach is surfeited, they are seen to faint, and throw off the food which they have taken, half digested, and with violent pain. It usually appears as a concomitant of other diseases. It occurs during certain intermittent fevers, in certain diseases of the stomach and bowels, particularly in such as are produced by the tape-worm; and is also common after fevers, by which the strength of the patient is exhausted. In this last case, it arises from the effort of all parts of the body to supply the lost flesh and strength. In certain cases, however, the extraordinary desire for food seems to be caused by a particular condition of the stomach, which digests with too great rapidity. This This is observed sometimes in women during their pregnancy, in young people who exercise too violently, and in persons who take much high-seasoned and heating food. In this case, the desire is not to be considered as a disease, but only as an excessive appetite. As a disease, its consequences are dreadful-leanness, pulmonary fevers, consumption, constipation, dropsy.

BULKH, OF BALKH. (See Afghanistan.)

BULK-HEADS; certain partitions or walls built up in several places of a ship between two decks, either lengthwise or

across, to form and separate the various apartments.

BULL; the name applied to the males of all the species of ox (bos, L.) (See Ox., BULL; an instrument, ordinance or decree of the pope, treating of matters of faith or the affairs of the church, written on parchment, and provided with a lead seal. The word was originally the name of the seal itself. The papal bulls are commonly designated by the words with which they begin; e. g., the bulls In cana Domini, Cum inter, Unigenitus, Ascendente, &c. A collection of bulls is called bullary. Certain ordinances of the German emperors are also called bulls. The golden bull, emphatically so called, from the seal attached to it being in a gold box, is that fundamental law of the German empire enacted by the emperor Charles IV, in two diets, held in succession, in 1356, at Nuremberg and at Metz, with the assistance of the electors, and, in part, with the assent of the empire. The chief design of the golden bull was to fix,with certainty, the manner of electing the emperor, and whatever was connected with it. Another object was to check the lawless violence of the times, which was not, however, then effected. (For an account of the particular bulls of importance, see the separate articles.)

BULL-BAITING; the barbarous and unmanly sport of setting dogs on a bull, who is tied to a stake, with the points of his horns muffled, and torn to death for the amusement of the spectators. Bears and badgers are baited, even at the present day, in the cock-pits in London, and dog-fights also are exhibited in the same places.

BULL-DOG; a variety of the common dog, called, by naturalists, canis molossus, remarkable for its short, broad muzzle, and the projection of its lower jaw, which causes the lower front teeth to protrude beyond the upper. The condyles of the jaw are placed above the line of the upper grinding teeth. The head is massive and broad, and the frontal sinuses large. The lips are thick and pendulous; the ears pendant at the extremity; the neck robust and short; the body long and tout, and the legs short and thick. The bull-dog is a slow-motioned, ferocious animal, better suited for savage combat, than for any purpose requiring activity and intelligence. For this reason, he is generally employed to guard houses, especially by the butchers, tanners, &c., and this office he performs with great fidelity. The butchers use bull-dogs in catching and throwing

down cattle; and it is surprising to see the apparent ease with which the dog will seize an ox by the nose, and hold him perfectly still, or throw him on his side, at his master's command. In fighting with other dogs, or in attacking animals capable of exciting their fury, bulldogs display the most ferocious and indomitable spirit. It It is stated, in the Sporting Calendar, that they have suffered their limbs to be cut off, while thus engaged, without relinquishing their hold on the enemy. They become very vicious, and sometimes extremely dangerous, as they advance in years, inflicting dreadful bites for the slightest provocation. Indeed, at no period of their lives, will bull-dogs allow even their masters to take liberties with them.

BULLEN, Anne. (See Boleyn.)

BULLERS OF BUCHAN, or BOILERS OF B.; a large oval cavity in the rocks on the coast of Aberdeenshire, 150 feet deep. Boats enter under a natural arch, near which is a large rock, separated by a deep chasm from the land. Through an aperture, in the middle of this rock, the waves rush with a tremendous noise.

BULLETIN (French; diminutive of bulla); an official report, giving an account of the actual condition of some important affair; thus the bulletin of the army, of his majesty's health, &c. It has acquired great celebrity by the brilliant despatches Issued from the French head-quarters, under this name, during the imperial domination. All Europe and America echoed with their accents of blood and victory, until the 29th bulletin of the grand army announced that the tide was rolled back, and that Paris was to share the fate of the other capitals of Europe.

BULLETIN UNIVERSEL DES SCIENCES ET DE L'INDUSTRIE, LE, is divided into eight sections, of each of which a number is issued monthly. It is published at Paris, by the French society for the promotion of useful knowledge, under the general direction of the baron Ferussac, assisted by eight editors, one for each section. These divisions are-1. mathematical, physical and chemical sciences; 2. natural history and geology; 3. the medical sciences; 4. agriculture, horticulture, fishing and hunting; 5. technology; 6. geography, statistics, political economy, voyages and travels; 7. philology, antiquities and history; 8. military. (See Periodicals.)

BULL-FIGHTS are among the favorite diversions of the Spaniards, who, like all the nations of the south of Europe, are pas

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sionately fond of public combats, and exhibitions of strength and agility. The excommunications of the popes have not been sufficient to induce them to abandon this amusement. Charles IV abolished it; but it was revived again by Joseph. The assailants are seldom killed in these sports. The splendid bull-fights formerly exhibited by the king on festival days were very costly. The Spaniards distinguish the toréo, in which the bull is killed, from the corrida de novillos, where he has his horns tipped with leaden balls (novillo embolado), and is only irritated. Bull-fights, in the capital, and in all the larger cities of Spain, are got up by private persons, or for the benefit of some public institution. They are exhibited at Madrid twice a week through the summer regularly, for the benefit of the general hospital. The income from such a spectacle is commonly about 2000 dollars, and the outlay, which goes principally to the combatants, who have their fixed wages, about 1000. The bull-fights are held, at Madrid, in the Coliseo de los Toros, an amphitheatre having circular seats, rising one above another, and a row of boxes over them. All the spectators are dressed in their best. The combatants, who make bull-fighting their profession, march into the arena in procession, with some magistrate at their head. They are of various kinds--the picadores, combatants on horseback, in the old Spanish knightly garb; the banderilleros, combatants on foot, in short, variegated frocks, with banners; and, lastly, the matador (the killer). As soon as the corregidor gives the signal, the bull is loosed from the stall. The picadores, who have stationed themselves near him, commence the attack. Sometimes a horse is wounded, and the rider is obliged to run for his life. A peculiar kind of foot-combatants chulus, assist the horsemen, by drawing the attention of the bull with their banners and, in case of danger, they save themselves by leaping over the wooden fence, which surrounds the arena. The banderilleros then come into play. They try to fasten on the bull their banderillas— hollow tubes filled with powder, having strips of paper wound round them, and small hooks at the ends. If they succeed, the squibs which are attached to them are discharged, and the bull races madly about the arena. The matador now comes in gravely, with a naked sword, and aims a fatal blow at the animal. If it is effectual, the slaughtered bull is dragged away, and another is let out from the stall. If a bull is too inactive, the dogs are set upon him,