HI 



BULIMIA. 



BULL-FIGHTS. 



430 



use as a name ; and it is curious, though possibly an accidental coin- 

 cidence merely, that the second month in the ancient Assyrian calendars 

 from Nineveh, now in the British Museum, which there are independent 

 reasons for believing to correspond with the month under consideration, 



is written generally 



a character which was certainly read nl or 



ral. Sometimes the angular stroke at the left of the character was 

 doubled, and sometimes omitted, but the sound was probably the same 

 in all. 



The names of the Jewish months now in use, include neither of the 

 four above-mentioned ; and any account of the fasts and festivals 

 connected with these months will be given under their ordinary 

 names. 



BULI'MIA (Bov\ifitt), canine appetite, insatiable desire for food. 

 The statement of the quantities of food consumed by some persons 

 labouring under this disease is scarcely credible, yet it rests on testi- 

 mony the veracity of which there is no reason to question. In the 

 third volume of the ' Medical and Physical Journal ' an account is 

 given, by Dr. Cochrane of Liverpool, of a man placed under his own 

 personal inspection, who, in one day, consumed of raw cow's udder, 

 41b., raw beef lOlbs., candles 21b., in all 16 lb., besides 5 bottles of 

 porter. M. Percy, a surgeon-in-chief to the French army, made a 

 report to the National Institute of the case of a soldier who was in the 

 constant habit of devouring enormous quantities of broken victuals, 

 baBketsful of fruits, and even living animals ; the details given of the 

 quality as well as of the quantity of articles consumed by this man, 

 without ever satisfying his ravenous appetite, are too disgusting to be 

 related. Dr. Copland gives an account of two cases of this disease, 

 which occurred in his own practice in children, one seven years of age 

 and the other nine. ' In both these, but in the younger especially, the 

 quantity of food devoured was astonishing. Everything that could be 

 laid hold of, even in its raw state, was seized upon most greedily. 

 Besides other articles an uncooked rabbit, half a pound of candles, and 

 Home butter, were taken at one time. The mother stated that this 

 little girl, who was apparently in good health otherwise, took more 

 food, if she could possibly obtain it, than the rest of her family, con. 

 sisting of six besides herself. In both this and the other case the 

 digestion seemed to be good. A nauseous smell emanated from the 

 bodies. These children, who were both very intelligent, complained of 

 no other uneasiness than a constant gnawing or craving at the pit of 

 the stomach, which was never altogether allayed, but which, shortly 

 after a meal, impelled them irresistibly to devour everything that 

 came in their way, however disgusting." 



The real nature of the morbid condition of the stomach and of the 

 system in this disease is very imperfectly known. In several cases the 

 health in other respects has appeared good, but in most cases there has 

 been evident disease in various organs, and death has usually taken 

 place at an early age. On the examination of the body after death the 

 stomach hag commonly been found enormously distended and some- 

 times misplaced ; the duodenum and the rest of the intestines are 

 usually in the same state of distension ; the coats of all these organs 

 are commonly thickened, and the valvula; conniventes (the folds of the 

 inner or mucous membrane of the intestines) as large as in carnivorous 

 animals. Various organic changes have at the same time been found 

 in the mesentery and its glands, as well as in the liver, the pancreas, 

 and the spleen. 



There can be no question that most cases of this disease might be 

 greatly mitigated, if not wholly removed, by the firm and constant 

 restriction of the food to that quantity only which the wants of the 

 system really require. Unless the individual have strengthj>f mind to 

 submit to the necessary privation, or unless, in the case of children, 

 a steady and undeviating restraint be imposed, every attempt to 

 remedy the evil will be vain. If a rigid regulation of the diet be 

 enforced, the cure will be materially assisted by a course of nauseating 

 purgatives, as oil of turpentine rendered more active by castor oil. 

 Several cases of great intensity have been completely cured by a steady 

 treatment conducted on these principles. 



When inordinate appetite is merely the resxilt of some other unusual 

 or morbid condition of the system, that is, when it is what is called 

 symptomatic ; when, as is often the case, it is the consequence of great 

 fatigue, or of inanition, from long-continued acute disease, or of 

 some malady attended with an extraordinary degree of secretion and 

 excretion, and therefore with the removal from the system of a pro- 

 portionate quantity of its nutrient matter, the disease can be cured 

 only by the restoration of the system to its ordinary and sound state. 



BULL-FIGHTS, a very ancient and barbarous amusement, which, 

 under different modifications, has descended to modern times, and is 

 found in many of the countries of Kurope, though the English form of 

 it (bull-baiting) may almost be said to have gone out of fashion. 



Bull-fights were known to the ancient Egyptians ; and also to the 

 Greeks more than 300 years before Christ. The Thessalians had their 

 ir festivals or days of bull-fighting. As the Thessah'ans were 

 (.]rl.r;it'"l for their skill in horsemanship, it is probable their combats 

 resembled those of the Spaniards, the most celebrated of modern 1 iull- 

 fighters, and the only European people that have presei ved the sport in 

 its perfection. It appears to have been introduced by the Moors, who 

 are generally said to have introduced it with the djerid and other 

 equestrian and warlike sports into Spain in the 8th century. Origi- 



AHTB A.ND Sf 1. DIV. VOL. II. 



nally it gave occasion to a display of clever horsemanship, dexterity 

 with the lance, and personal courage, when high-born cavaliers were 

 the combatants ; but when, on the accession of the Bourbons to the 

 throne of Spain, it ceased to be patronised by the court, it became 

 unfashionable, and was only maintained by the popular interest in its 

 favour ; and being so left, it soon became vulgarised, and the pro- 

 fessional actors, like the boxers of our prize-ring, are now of a low 

 class, though occasionally patronised by those of a higher class, par- 

 ticularly since the sport has again been sanctioned by the presence of 

 the sovereigns. Though disgusting from the quantity of blood of 

 bulls, horses, and men that frequently flows in the arena, a true 

 Spanish bull-fight like those exhibited at Madrid, Seville, Cadiz, and 

 the great cities of the south, is a gallant and imposing spectacle. It 

 has often been described in prose and verse. In the first canto 

 of Lord Byron's Childe Harold, there is a description of one at 

 Cadiz, which is not more poetical than it is correct. A few 

 words in plain prose may convey some notion of the game, to 

 which Spaniards of both sexes and of all ranks are passionately 

 attached. 



The amphitheatre, or plaza de toros, in the great cities, is an exten- 

 sive edifice, partly built of stone and partly of wood ; it is open at top, 

 with seats running round it and rising above each other, and is capable 

 of accommodating from 5000 to 10,000 spectators. The lower tier of 

 seats is protected by a parapet, in front of which a very strong wooden 

 fence, about six feet high, is erected ; this fence runs (like the seats) 

 all round the arena, at the distance of from twelve to twenty feet from 

 the lowest tier of seats. The ground-plan of the plaza thus describes 

 two circles ; No. 1, or the inner circle, being the battle-ground, and 

 No. 2, or the outer circle, being the place where the men on foot take 



shelter when hard pressed by the bull. To allow of the latter move- 

 ment, openings just large enough to admit a man sideways are made in 

 the strong fence which separates the two circles. 



The actors on the arena are, first, the bull, which ought to be of the 

 fierce Andaluslan breed ; second, the picadores, or men who attack the 

 bull on horseback ; third, the banderilleros, who attend on the pica- 

 dores, and are armed with sharp goads furnished with coloured 

 streamers ; fourth, the chulos, or men with glaring coloured cloaks, 

 with which they distract the bull's attention ; and fifth, the matador, 

 who directs most of the movements, gives the bull his finishing-stroke, 

 and who, in reality, may be considered as the chief performer. Kach 

 matador, as well as each picador, has generally two chu'.os attached to 

 his person. When all is ready, there is a flourish of trumpets ; then 

 the picadores, with lances in rest, caracole within the barricade, and the 

 banderilleros and chulos, in their old Spanish and bespangled dresses, 

 step lightly into the arena. The trumpets sound again the com- 

 batants take up their places, and all is quiet in the amphitheatre. 

 Another flourish, and the bolts of the bull-stall are withdrawn, the 

 gate in the barrier is thrown open, and the spectators shout El toro ! 

 (the bull !) who, if he be a good one, gets into the midst of the arena 

 at a single bound. The picadores await his furious onset, their object 

 being to wound him with the lance, and then give him the go-by, 

 avoiding the shock of his charge, which is sometimes fatal both to 

 man and horse. Generally speaking, however, the horses used for the 

 sport are of the most miserable description ; and the skill of the rider 

 is only shown in exposing the horse to the attack of the bull, while ho 

 avoids it himself. The horse is frequently gored, yet succeeds in bearing 

 his rider away in safety, then drops, and is hauled out of the arena, "No 

 vale na " (he is worth nothing) being the reply to any expressions of pity 

 for his fate. When any picador is closely pressed, the footmen, both ban- 

 derilleros and chulos, rush to his assistance, anil, by pricking him with 

 their darts, and waving their red, scarlet, and yellow scarfs before his 

 eyes, nearly always succeed in drawing off the bull's attention. These 

 attacks and defences are repeated until successive wounds from the 

 lance and the shorter goads of the banderilleros cause the poor bull's 

 flanks and shoulders to stream with blood. At fir.it these wounds 

 madden him, but the loss of blood and his furious exertions gradually 

 weaken and dispirit him. In most approved bull-fights, at a certain 

 stage, the picadores or horsemen withdraw, and leave the combat to 

 the banderilleros, each of whom carries a bauderilla or dart, about two 

 feet long, ornamented with a pennant, in each of his hands, but no 

 cloak, or dazzling scarf of any kind on his arm. Thus armed, the 

 banderillero runs up to the bull, and stopping short when he sees the 

 animal's head lowered to attack him, he fixes the two shafts, without 

 flinging them, behind the horns of the bull, at the very moment that 

 it is preparing to toss him. The pain thus occasioned makes the bull 

 throw back his head and lose his blow, on which the nimble-footed 

 banderillero retreats, one of hjs comrades comes up to the charge, or a 

 chulo throws a cloak over the bull's horns, and so, by blinding it, 

 prevents the renewal of the combat for some seconds. Should the 

 banderillero fail in fixing his darts, and should the bull be still fresh, he 

 must rush to one of the openings left in the wooden fence, ,ind creep 



G r. 



