BULL-FIGHTS BULOW. V 



753 



TRIE, LE, is divided into eight sections, of each of ! 

 which a number is issued monthly. It is published at 

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BULL-FIGHTS are among the favourite diversions of 

 the Spaniards, who, like all the nations of the south 

 of Europe, are passionately fond of public combats, 

 and exhibitions of strength and agility. The excom- 

 munications 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 toreo, 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 tor the benefit of some public institution. They are 

 exhibited at Madrid twice a-week through the sum- 

 mer 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 sta- 

 tioned themselves near him, commence the attack. 

 Sometimes a horse is wounded, and the rider is ob- 

 liged to run for his life. A peculiar kind of foot com- 

 batants, 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 bande- 

 rilleros 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 ; if he is too violent, several horses are often 

 killed. The bull is more furious in proportion as the 

 heat of the weather is greater. Burlesque scenes ac- 

 company the spectacle : apes are trained to spring 

 upon the neck of the bull, without his being able to 

 reach them. Men of straw are set up before him, 

 upon which he exhausts his strength. Some of the 

 foot combatants, likewise, dress themselves gro- 

 tesquely, to irritate the bull, and amuse the specta- 

 tors. See Doblado's Letters from Spain, and A Year 

 in Spain, by a young American, Boston, 1829. 



BULLFINCH (loxia pyrrhula ; L.) ; a well-known 



European bird, which has a short, rounded, robust 

 bill, a black cap, and plumage on the back of an ash 

 or dark blue gray colour : the inferior parts of the 

 body are reddish. The female is of a grayish red 

 beneath. The bullfinch builds its nest in hedges, and 

 various trees, and feeds chiefly on different seeds and 

 buds of fruit-trees, for which its strong thick bill is 

 well adapted. The bullfinch is remarkable for the 

 facility with which it is tamed and taught to sing, or 

 even to articulate words. Its natural tones are soft, 

 and, when taught to repeat tunes, by a bird organ, 

 nothing can be imagined more delightfully sweet and 

 clear than its piping. In captivity, it appears to be 

 rather a dull and quiet bird, though it displays much 

 attachment to its feeder, showing evident marks of 

 pleasure at his approach, and singing at his bidding. 

 Bullfinches thus taught are sold at high prices, as 

 much as 4 or 5 being demanded for a single bird. 

 There are species of finch found in America, which 

 might, without much difficulty, be taught to perform 

 as well. 



BULLFROG. See Frog. 



BULL, JOHN. See John Bull. 



BULLION is uncoined gold or silver, in bars, plate, or 

 other masses. The word bullion was of frequent use 

 in the proceedings respecting the bank of England 

 (see Bank), from 1797, when the order of council was 

 issued that the bank should discontinue the redemp- 

 tion of its notes by the payment of specie to 1823, 

 when specie payments were resumed ; for, by a pre- 

 vious law, the bank was authorized to pay its notes in 

 uncoined silver or gold, according to its weight and 

 fineness. The investigations of the bullion commit- 

 tees, and the various speculations on the subject of 

 bullion, related to the supply of gold and silver, whe- 

 ther coined or not, as the basis of the circulating me- 

 dium. See Currency. 



BULLOCK. Se Ox. 



BULLOCK'S MUSEUM, Piccadilly, London ; a private 

 establishment for the deposit of collections of all sorts, 

 particularly of natural history and ethnography. The 

 following not very scientific classification of the curi- 

 osities there is given in the Picture of London : curi- 

 osities from the south seas, from America, from 

 Africa ; works of art, natural history, specimens of 

 quadrupeds stuffed, birds, reptiles, insects, fish, pro- 

 ductions of the sea, minerals, miscellanea, halls of 

 arms. This museum is open for the inspection of the 

 curious every week-day (admittance, one shilling), 

 and continual additions are made to it. Here Belzoni 

 deposited his Egyptian collections. 



BULLRUSH. See Scirpus. 



BULL'S BAY, or BABOUL BAY ; a well-known bay in 

 Newfoundland, a little to the north of St John's har- 

 bour, on the east side of the island. Lon. 52 20' 

 W. ; lat. 47 25' N. 



BULOW, Frederic William, count von Dennewitz, 

 royal Prussian general of infantry, knight of several 

 military orders, &c., famous for his victories in the 

 last French and German war, was born in 1755, on 

 his father's estate, Falkenburg, in Altmark. In his 

 14th year, he entered the Prussian army, and, in 

 1793, was appointed governor of prince Louis Ferdi- 

 nand of Prussia. In this capacity, he served with 

 distinction in the campaign on the Rhine. In 1795, 

 his charge of the prince ended, and he received a 

 battalion. In the war of 1806, he was a lieutenant- 

 colonel at the siege of Thorn, and distinguished him- 

 self in various battles. In 1808, he was made major- 

 general and general of brigade. When the war 

 against France broke out in 1813, he fought the first 

 successful battle, at Mockern, April 5 ; May 2, took 

 Halle, and protected Berlin from the danger which 

 threatened it, by his victory at Luckau, June 4. After 

 the armistice, he commanded the third division of tl'e 



