BUD 



46 



BUD 



Buda. 



Bucquet abregee de ces differens Jluides aeriformes OK gaz. 

 8vo. 1778. 



During all these occupations, M. Bucquet found 

 sufficient leisure for the practice of medicine. His 

 reputation as a lecturer, induced many of the most 

 opulent persons in Paris to employ him as a physician, 

 and from constantly associating with that class of so- 

 ciety, he acquired too great a predilection for the 

 manners and luxuries of the great. 



This mode of life contributed, probably, along 

 with his severe application to study, and his extreme 

 sensibility, both of body and mind, to bring upon 

 him those bodily sufferings which embittered the last 

 years of his life. A dreadful depression of spirits, 

 and an obstinate watchfulness, deprived him of that 

 rest, which was necessary to his exhausted frame ; 

 and he was frequently obliged to rise in the middle 

 of the night, and fix his rr.ind upon some particular 

 subject, in order to withdraw it from the impulses of 

 a vigorous iinagiu.'.tion, which overwhelmed him 

 with too rapid a succession of objects. In April 17?9 

 he was attacked with the most alarming convulsions, 

 and fainting- fits, which greatly reduced his bodily 

 strength ; bat, in spite of his extreme debility, his 

 ardour for the sciences made him resolve to give his 

 course of chemical lectures at the Faculty of Medi- 

 cine. The heroism with which he fulfilled this re- 

 solution, is perhaps unparalleled in the history of 

 science, and scenes more truly affecting were perhaps 

 never witnessed, than those which occurred during 

 the delivery of his last course of lectures. When 

 ihe hour of lecture approached, the cries wrung from 

 him by bodily pain gradually subsided ; his counte- 

 nance assumed a serene aspect ; he tore himself from 

 his bed, and repaired, with a tottering step, to his 

 amphitheatre. In the course of his lecture his ut- 

 terance was alternately hastened and interrupted, by 

 the excruciating torments which he suffered, and he 

 4 vas often seen to press himself against the table of his 

 laboratory, to smother the cries of an ur.sufferable 

 agony, without ever losing sight of the subject of his 

 lectures. His pupils listened to him with affection 

 and admiration, and, with their eyes bathed in tears, 

 they received the last words of a master whom they 

 esteemed and loved. When this course of lectures 

 was completed, a settled melancholy preyed upon the 

 mind of Bucquet : he saw that his talents could no 

 longer be exerted, and that the short period which 

 he had to live must be a period of unexampled suf- 

 fering. To relieve his bodily agonies, he often took 

 a 'pint of ssther, and more than a hundred grains of 

 opium in a day, but he did not long sustain these 

 violent excitements. He died on the 24th of January 

 1780. The principal seat of his disorder was in the 

 colon, which was obstructed, schirrous, and ulcerated. 

 His stomach, and other intestines, were inflamed and 

 .-.oftened by the effects of asther. (o) 

 BUD. See BOTANY, Part II. p. 56. 

 BUDA, the Acinium of the Romans, the capital 

 of the circle of Pest, and metropolis of Hungary, is 

 beautifully situated on an eminence on the west bank 

 of the Danube, about 125 miles south-east of Vien- 

 na, and 150 north-west of Belgrade. It is supposed 

 to have received its name from Buda, the brother of 

 Attila : this, however, seems only to be the Turkish 

 2 



name, as it is called Offen by the inhabitants, and Buda. 

 throughout Germany. On the opposite side of the ' 

 river stands Pest, the Contra- Acinium uf the Ro- 

 mans, which is connected with Buda by a bridge of 

 boats across the Danube, above 300 yards in length, 

 and consisting of 63 large pontoons. In statistical 

 descriptions, they are in general considered as one ci- 

 ty, and are spoken of in the same way as we do of 

 London and Westminster. The city of Buda has 

 neither fortifications nor gates. The castle stands at 

 the extremity of the hill towards the east, and com- 

 mands the greatest part of the city. It is encompas- 

 sed with a deep moat, and is defended by an old-fa- 

 shioned tower, and other fortifications. The suburbs, 

 or " Jews town," extends from the city to the Da- 

 nube. The houses an- mostly built of square stones, 

 but the whole town has an ancient and s,o<nbre ap- 

 pearance. When Buda was the residence of the sove- 

 reign, in conjunction with Pest, it formed the lar- 

 gest and finest city of Hungary. But while it was 

 under the dominion of the Turks, who possessed it 

 above 1.50 years, its best buildings were suffered to 

 fall into decay. Of the remains of these, the prin- 

 cipal is the church of the Ascension of the Virgin 

 Mary ; and in their stead arose many mosqr.es and 

 minarets ; several of which were, in their turn, de- 

 stroyed in the last war by the German artillery. 

 There is here a convent of Carmelite nuns, and se- 

 veral churches belonging to the Franciscans. It 

 has also a considerable number of caravanseras and 

 mosques, some of which are very elegant buildings ; 

 but the finest edifices of Buda are its warm baths, 

 which vie with the most magnificent in Europe. 

 These warm springs were considered by the Turks 

 as the most valuable luxuries, which they found in 

 Hungary; and several remains cf baths, built in the 

 Turkish fashion, are still to be traced. They were 

 generally circular rooms, of considerable dimensions, 

 with cupolas closely perforated, and studded over with 

 small hemispherical glasses. The baths of Buda 

 have been long famous, and in many cases are esteem- 

 ed specific. The water is impregnated with sulphur, 

 glauber-salt, and iron ; and the heat is 49 degrees by 

 the thermometer of Reaumur. The chief public 

 and private buildings, however, are in Pest, which, 

 from being principally inhabited by foreign mer- 

 chants, has more of the modern style in it, and of 

 resemblance to other large towns. It is surrounded 

 with a wall and moat, and contains the royal palace, 

 which is a large and respectable edifice, a military 

 hospital, six convents, and several churches. The 

 university of Pest is the first school of learning in 

 the kingdom. It was founded at Tyrnau in 1655, 

 by Peter Pazmann, the primate of Hungary, who 

 endowed it with 100,000 florins, and put it under 

 the direction of the Jesuits. It was some time ago 

 transferred to Pest, and, by the suppression of the 

 Jesuits, and the confiscation of their property, its 

 funds were increased lo nearly half a million of flo- 

 rins. The original institution consisted only cf 

 schools for philosophy and theology ; a school of 

 law was added in 1667, and one for medicine in 1770, 

 by the Empress Maria Theresa. The university at 

 present is composed of 32 professors, besides assist- 

 ants, independent of the theological classes; 6 for 



