BURNT ALUM. 



lU'TTKU. 



whether Uie cooling or the stimulating. khouM be pcnoted in until 

 the pun coifs ; the put* should then be dressed, ** some ircoimm n.l. 

 with tin- yrllow huilicon ointment, noftcnnl with tin- oil <>f turjx ntinc ; 

 or, M others prefer, with emollient |mltic.TK c.ft.n icm-wed. It if 

 ingiiUr that, common as thin piece of surgery i. practitioners are not 

 agreed whkh of thc*e two plans, the cooling or the stimulating, is the 

 most efficient ; and comparative trial* hare not yet been made on a 

 scale of sufficient extent to determine the question. It is probable 

 that the one may be more advantageous than the other under <i 

 circumstance*, which the unprofessional person cannot be expected to 

 discriminate. All that is neorasary to be stated here is the moot 

 judicious thing to be done, in the very first instance, until professional 

 assistance can be procured ; and with this view, perhaps, the only 

 thing that should determine the choice between either t tin- cooling 

 or stimulating articles ju.-t nu-mii>nl is the facility with which tiny 

 can be got. It is probable that the chief effect of all them appl i 

 is to prevent the air from coming into contact with the true skin : that 

 is, to perform the office of the cuticle which is destroyed. Accordingly, 

 some of the most distinguished surgeons state thjit they have produced 

 the very best effects by merely covering the affected parts with old 

 linen saturated with oil, by which the air is effectually excluded. On 

 the same principle the part may be enveloped in cotton, or powdered 

 over with flour. 



WHXT ALUM. [Aum.] 



BURNT -KAlt. ltrnt-tar, in corn, is a disease in which the fructifi- 

 cation of the plant is destroyed and, as it were, burnt up ; hence its 

 English name, and the corresponding terms of rhurlmn in French and 

 brand in German. Burnt-ear has often been confounded with mint, 

 which is a similar but distinct disease. They differ in this, that in the 

 burnt-tar the black powder which appears in the ear is external, and 

 the grain has either never been formed, or its coat has been destroyed, 

 BO that the whole ear appears black or burnt. The powder also has no 

 smell, and, being easily blown away by the wind, or shaken off in the 

 reaping, little of it adhen-a to the corn or is mixed with it when ground ; 

 and except the Ion of so much grain as would have been contained in 

 the sound ears, no great detriment arises to the quality of the corn. 

 The smut, or pepper-brand, on the contrary, is contained in the body 

 of the grain, which retains nearly its natural form, and is carried along 

 with it into the barn. It is only in the threshing or grinding that the 

 diseased grain commonly called smut-ball is broken, when a fetid black 

 powder is dispersed over the sound grain, which greatly deteriorates 

 the flour, and renders the corn unfit for seed, the disease being per- 

 petuated by this black substance. [SMUT.] Burnt-ears are generally 

 observed in particular moist situations, and some lands are more subject 

 to them than others. The disease has been often attributed to damp 

 and warm fogs succeeding very dry weather : and hence it has been 

 imagined that it was caused by the dews lodging in the ears and pro- 

 ducing a species of rottenness. But microscopic observations have 

 decidedly proved that the black powder consists of the minute germs 

 or seeds of a. parasitical fungus, which are developed in the gi owing 

 ears and live on its substance. 



The plants attacked by this disease may be distinguished long before 

 the ear makes its appearance out of the (sheath in which it is enveloped 

 in its early state. There is a peculiar greenness of the leaf observable ; 

 and when the plant is examined, the young ear may already be seen 

 attacked by the disease and beginning to put on a spotted and black 

 appearance, which increases as it grows, and is perfected when the ear 

 arrives at the state in which the flower should appear. In some cases 

 the plant flowers partially or completely, and the fecundation takes 

 place, so that the germ is developed ; but it never approaches to 

 maturity. Its outer skin is soon destroyed by the parasitical fungus, 

 and the whole substance converted into a black powder. 



I '< Candolle, one of the best modern authorities on the physiology 

 of plants, has named this peculiar minute fungus the t'rnlo carbo, 

 which he distinguishes from that which produces the smut, and which 

 he calls I'rtdo earia. They are easily distinguished by the size and 

 smell. The Undo carbo {I'rtdo ugetum) is composed of much smaller 

 globules, and destitute of smell ; both seem to be propagated like other 

 cryptogamous plants by means of extremely minute germs, which are 

 carried along with the sap into the circulation and vegetate in the car, 

 where alone it appears that they find the conditions necessary to their 

 growth. 



It i doubted liy some whether the disease is contagious, because 

 they have never been able to produce it by shaking the black dust of 

 burnt-ears over the sound plants. The reason of this is probably that 

 the exhaling vessels of the surface are not so well calculated to absorb 

 extraneous matter, which can only enter by the spongioles of the roots. 

 Although it is much less dangerous than the smut, because it is readily 

 dispersed by the winds, yet it must more or leas infect the soil, and 

 hence the disease is more frequent where it has appeared before, and 

 where those grains which are most subject to the disease, such ao 

 wheat, barter, and oaU, have been sown in too rapid succession. As it 

 does not adhere to the grain, stepping and washing are not to certain 

 mnedUs against tin- infection n in the case of smut; but the best 

 preservative is to drain the land well and keep it in good heart, so that 

 the planU may be vigorous and able to resist the alt... k- ,,f tin 

 parwite ; for it is a well known fact, that weak plant*, ns well a* 

 animal* are much more exposed to the attacks of parasitical plants or 



animals than those which are vigorous and robust. A judicious change 



.. or a wi-ll "ii. will in gun-mi st-cun- tbc 



which isMiwn in its proper court' 



til,.'. podded the prciaration of the land be such as to ensure a 

 healthy vegetation.* 



As this disease is extremely common, it has obtained various name* 

 in ilitii 1 1 M jnrts of the country. In England it is best know u by tliu 

 names of blacks, brand, or burnt-ear; and it is often called nm-i. from 

 the supposition that it is a variety of the same disease win li 

 the external part of the fructification before the akin of the grain is 

 formed. 



BUSHEL. This word seems to be a diminution of an old I 

 word //MM, signifying a box or vessel, and still used for small fishing- 

 boats. Fleta describes the bushel as containing eight pounds (libra;) of 

 corn, and eight bushels as making a quarter (quarterium) ; Spelman, 

 as containing four gallons (galones) of wine. 1 >r. llernard assci 

 bushel to be 72 |>ouuds troy of common com (triticum), or ." 

 avoirdupois. By the act of lii'.'T tin- \\iiuhotcr round bushel was to 

 be 18J inches in internal diai< im-hes deep, or '.'I/id 4i cubic 



inches. The standard of length implied was the old e.v i:<l,inl. 



By the Act of 1S24 the standard gallon contains 10 pound 

 of pure water ; eight such gallons make a bushel, and eight bu 

 quarter. This, by the other provisions of the Act, made it i 

 2218-2 cubic inches very nearly. The content of the bushel sc< 

 have been gradually increasing. Arbuthnot (1727) makes it "i. > 

 cubic inches ; Kisenschmidt (1737) 2180'4 cubic inches. The bushel in 

 now 86*347 French Him. Tin A-ci/,../ bushel, for goods which worn 

 heaped above the measuring vessel, such as coals, fruit, Ac., ami \\ Inch 

 was estimated at 2815-5 cubic inches, was abolished by 4 & .1 Will. IV. 

 cap. 49, an Act which took effect from the 1st of January, 1635. The 



D which the " iiii|-rinl " bushel, as it is now called, bears ! 

 measures of capacity, and to certain weights, will be found notio cl in .1 

 later article. (Win. ins AND MKASVHI s. ] 



BUSKIN, a covering for the foot, coming some distance up the leg, 

 fit for a defence against dirt, thorns, &c. This word is 

 English as the translation of the Greek and Latin wc.nl mil, 

 signifies a sandal with a high cork si lc u.-ed by tin die. k ,-md I 

 tragic actors to give an appearance of * !'. r are, in con- 



junction with the mask and other stage properties. The cothurnus 

 was also used by perrons of high station in hunting, Ac., and was often 

 richly ornamented. The cothurnus was worn by ladies to odd I 

 to their stature. In Greek art, Diana is usually represc nt.-d with the 

 cothurnus. The colours of the buskins were varied ; purple for l>i"iiy 

 sus, white for ladies, and red for warriors. I'litfiurnm in Latin is em- 

 ployed in contradistinction to tnmti, the flat-soled shoo worn b\ 

 and comedians. Hence, in English authors the words butkin and tt-rl- 

 are often used for the tragic and comic drama. So 1 Myden, 



11 Great Fletcher never tread* in bu>kin< here, 

 Nor greater Jonson dares in socks appear." 



BUST, in Sculpture, means a statue truncated below the breast. 

 The etymology of the word is not very clear. The Romans called 

 ' liustum ' the place where they burnt the bodies of the dead 

 ' bustum,' burnt Bustum was afterwards used for the grave in which 

 the body was buried ; and lastly, in the latinity of the lower &. 

 the dead body itself: 'Sanctorum busta,' the bodies of in 

 (Ducange). Bustum seems to have been used more especially for the 

 trunk of the body without the head : " Quinque hominum busta sine 

 capite cicsa." ('Annal. Mediolan.' in Muratori.) In the old I'icncli, 

 'bu' meant the trunk: "Car Us ont bien ormo lc chef et le bu." 

 (Old French Romance, Ducange:) ' Busto,' in Spanish and Italian, 

 has a similar meaning. The Italians call also ' busto ' the stays which 

 embrace and support the breast. In Sculpture, however, bust includes 

 the head, shoulders, and breast, with the arms truncated above the 

 elbow, and an such, it forms a large dcput incut , f the art. Busts 

 were mostly used l>v the ancit i nt liken. MM of individuals, 



and were placed either upon scpulchial monuments, or in the interior 

 of houses, or in gardens. The Greek word Herman bos been some- . 

 times considered as synonymous with the modern bust, but the 

 Hermic were merely heads placed on a quadrangular pillar. Portrait 

 busts are of all kinds of sculpture what most employ the chi-< 1 of the 

 modem sculptor, especially in tlii- c.n.ntry; and this is consequently a 



of the art in which Kngli.-h srulpt.cis exi-el. ( 'haul rev c pcoi.illy 

 was famous for his skill in this line ; prol ably as much smpascini; must 



I'orary European sculptors in the execution of ]ci trait busts 

 as he was inferior to several of the more eminent in the higher branches 

 of statuary. 



II TIC ACID (C..,H .().). One of the acids contained in cows' 

 butter. It is distinguished from stcaric acid by being less soluble in 

 alec. hoi. and by being more easily precipitaUd by acetate of magnesia. 



BUTTER. Butter is the fat or oleaginous part of the milk of various 

 animals, principally of the ilc i milk of the cow is com- 



i tlucc lii.-.tMiet ingredients, the curd, the ln\.aiid the butter; 



Steering (he >cc<d In brine or stale urine, iftid drying it with freidi 

 limr, as i usually done with wheat, is however a u c-!nl prc caution, which 



l.cKilil be r.dopted til^o wilh iSnrlcy ni:d rats, wherrtei buint.f ar have appeared 

 in |ircce<linr ere pt>. A tvlntinn if Milphato of copper is also generally used, 

 and is certainly more efficacious than common salt. 



