558 CABLE 



Mr. Lcbojuf of Broil, they are sold very cheaply. Bagatorasso has greatly improved 

 the process by striking several hundred buttons at once, instead of doing them singly 

 as by Prosser's original process. See TILES and TESSEEJE: 



In 1872 we imported of Buttons and Studs not of metal to the value of 134.015J. ; 

 chiefly from Germany and Holland. 



BUTTY. A miner who contracts to raise coal at a certain price per ton. He 

 employs men to do his work, and they have usually an overlooker engaged by the 

 butty, and called the ' Doggy.' 



BUTYLAMINE, C 8 H''N (C*H"W). A volatile organic base, homologous with 

 methylamine. It is found in the more volatile portion of bone-oil. It may be pre- 

 pared artifically by processes analogous to those employed for methylamine, amyla- 

 mine, &c., substituting the butylic cyanate, urea, or iodine, for those of mothyle and 

 amyle. See AJTTLAMINB. C. G. W. 



BUTYKXC ACID. A volatile fatty acid, discovered by Chevreul, who obtained 

 it by saponifying butter with an alkali. Rancid butter owes its smell to the forma- 

 tion of this acid. See Watts's ' Dictionary of Chemistry.' 



BUTYRIC ETHERS. Compounds formed by the direct action of butyric acid 

 on alcohols. To the presence of small quantities of these ethers, the peculiar flavour 

 of pine apples, melons, and some other fruits is due. Pine-apple rum owes its flavour 

 to the presence of the butyrate of ethyl. ' A solution of butyric ether is very ex- 

 tensively used in perfumery, and in confectionery, under the name of pine-apple oil. 

 It is prepared for this purpose by the following process : Butter is saponified by a 

 strong solution of potash-ley ; the soap is dissolved in very little absolute alcohol, 

 and to the solution is added a mixture of alcohol and sulphuric acid, until a 

 strongly acid reaction is set up. The whole is then distilled ; heat being applied as 

 long as anything comes over with a fruity odour.' See "Watts's 'Dictionary of 

 Chemistry.' 



BUXUS. The box tree. The value of the box wood sent from Spain to Paris 

 is given as 10,000 francs a year. The box-wood tree formerly grew abundantly at 

 Boxhill, in Surrey. In 1815 the trees were cut down and produced upwards of 

 10,000 Baird. See Box WOOD. 



BUZZING, or BUSTLING. Terms sometimes applied to the process of work- 

 ing scrap iron in the charcoal hearth (Percy). See lit ON. 



CABBAGE BARK. The bark of the cabbage tree of the West Indies (Andira 

 inermis), formerly used in medicine as a purgative and anthelmintic. It has been 

 supposed that this tree furnishes the partridge-wood of the cabinet-maker. 



CABBAGE P AXiXK. The young leaf-buds of this palm, the Arcca oleracea, are 

 boiled and eaten as a vegetable in India. 



CABBXiXXrG. A term used amongst metallurgists. In Gloucestershire it is 

 called Scabbling. Finery iron is smelted with charcoal, and when a soft mass of 

 about two hundredweight is formed it is hammered out into a flat oval from two to 

 four inches in thickness ; this is allowed to cool, and is then broken up into small 

 pieces, which is the process of cabbling or scabbling. 



CABXiE. (Cable, FT. ; Ankertau, Ger.) A strong rope or chain, connecting the 

 ship with the anchor for the purpose of mooring it to the ground. The sheet anchor 

 cable is the Wrongest, and is used at sea after the bower, which is in constant use, goes, 

 gives way, or requires help : the stream cable is smaller, being used chiefly in rivers. 

 A cable's length is 100 to 140 fathoms in the merchant service ; in the Eoyal Navy, 4 

 cables are employed each of 100 fathoms, 2 cables being attached end to end. The 

 greatest improvement in mooring vessels has been the introduction of the chain cable, 

 which, when duly let out, affords in the weight of its long catenary curve, an elastic 

 tension, and play to the ship under the pressure of the wind. The dead strain upon 

 the anchor is thus greatly reduced, and the sudden pull, by which the flukes or arms 

 are readily snapped, is in a great measure obviated. The best iron cables are chains 

 made of links, whose sides are stayed by cross bars or stud, welded across the 

 middle of the link. Experience has taught that the ends of these links wear out 

 much sooner than the sides. To remedy this evil, Mr. Hawkes, iron manufacturer, 

 obtained a patent in July 1828, for constructing these anchor chains with links con- 

 siderably stouter at the ends than in the middle. With this view he forms the short 

 rods of iron, of which the links are to bo made, with swells or protuberances about 

 one-third of their length from each of their ends, so that when these are welded to- 



