BUTTER BUXTON. 



771 



peared the Genuine Remains, la Prose and Verse, of 

 Mr Butler, from the original Manuscripts, formerly in 

 the Possession of W. Longueville, Esquire, (2 vols. 

 8vo.) . 



BUTTER ; an oily substance, produced from the milk 

 of kine. Cream is composed of an oily substance, a 

 caseous matter, and serum or whey. If it be agitated 

 about an hour in a churn, a separation of these parts 

 takes place, and a solid, called butter, and a liquid, 

 called butter-milk, consisting of the whey and the ca- 

 seous matter, are the products. The proportions of 

 these products, in 100 parts of cream, are, 



Butter, 

 Cheese, 

 Whey, 



4-5 



35 



92-0 



1000 



Chemical analysis gives stearine, elaine, and a small 

 quantity of acid and colouring matter, as the compo- 

 nent parts of butter. Beckmann (History of Inven- 

 tions, 372) comes to the conclusion that butter is not 

 of Grecian nor of Roman invention ; but that the 

 Greeks received it from the Scythians, Thracians, and 

 Phrygians, and that the Romans derived it from the 

 people of Germany, and used it as a medicine, rather 

 than as a culinary luxury. In warm countries the 

 place of butter is still, for the most part, supplied by 

 oil. In Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the south of 

 France it is to be purchased in the apothecaries' 

 shops. The difficulty of keeping it any length of time 

 is, indeed, an effectual barrier to its general use. The 

 ancients appear to have been wholly deficient in the 

 art of giving it consistency. The European countries, 

 in which oil or butter is used, says Malte-Bruii (Geog., 

 liv. xcv.), may be separated by a line extending along 

 the Pyrenees, the Cevennes, the Alps, and mount 

 Haemus. To the north the pasturage is better; cattle 

 abound, and the food is chiefly derived from them. 

 The olive groves to the south supersede the use of 

 butter by that of oil. The butter, beer, and animal 

 food of the north of Europe, give way to oil, 

 wine, and bread, in the wanner regions. The 

 word chameah, translated butter, in the English ver- 

 sion of the Bible, means some liquid preparation 

 of milk or cream. It was in general use among the 

 Celts : Spuma id est lactis, concretiorque quam quod 

 serum vocatur, barbarantm gentium lautissimus cibus. 

 (Pliny, ix., 41, and xxviii, 9.) The Hindoos make 

 use of ghee, which means butter clarified by boiling. 

 They boil the milk two or three hours, which, when 

 cool, is fermented with curdled milk, left to sour, 

 churned, and, when it is sufficiently rancid, is boiled, 

 and mixed with salt, or betel-leaf, and ruddle, to im- 

 prove its taste and colour. 



B0TTERFLY. See PupUio. 



BUTTONS are of almost all forms and materials 

 wood, horn, bone, ivory, steel, copper, silver, similor, 

 &c. The tailor covers them with stuffs, and the 

 female artisan envelops them with a texture of thread, 

 silk, cotton, and gold or silver thread. The non-me- 

 tallic buttons, called also moulds, are made of the 

 substances first mentioned, by sawing them into little 

 slips, of the thickness of the button to be made, which 

 are then cut into the form required, by an instrument 

 adapted to the purpose. Metallic buttons are cast in 

 moulds, or cut by a fly-press. Any figure or inscrip- 

 tion may be impressed on them at the same time that 

 they are cut. The little wire ring, by which they are 

 attached to a garment, is called shank, and is soldered 

 separately on each button. The details of smoothing, 

 polishing, boiling, &c., would occupy too much room. 

 The lace of the button is generally plated or gilt. 

 Dr Church, an American, obtained a patent, in Bri- 

 tain (1829), for an improved manufacture of but- 

 tons with a metallic sliank, the face being either of 



polished metal, or covered with any fabric. The va- 

 rious operations of shaping the disks, forming the 

 shanks, cutting the cloth, and covering the faces of 

 the buttons, are all effected by one revolving shaft. 



BUTTRESSES, in Gothic architecture, are lateral pro- 

 jections on the outside of the walls of an edifice, ex- 

 tending from the top to the bottom, at the corners 

 and between the windows. They are necessary to 

 support the walls, and prevent them from spreading 

 under the weight of the roof. 



BOXHOWDEN, Frederic William, count of; descend- 

 ed from an ancient Livonian family ; born on the isle 

 of Moen, near Osel; was educated at St Petersburg, 

 and engaged in the war against the Turks in 1769, 

 and for some time subsequent. In 1783, he was made- 

 colonel, owing his promotion chiefly to his marriage 

 with Natalia Alexijeff, 1777. In 1790, he defeated 

 the Swedish generals Hamilton and Mayerfeld, and 

 rescued Fredericksham and Viborg. In Poland, he 

 commanded a Russian division in 1792 and 1794. 

 At the storming of Praga, he restrained, as far as he 

 was able, the fury of the soldiers. Suwaroff intrusted 

 him with the command of Warsaw and the adminis- 

 tration of Poland. His moderation and disinterested- 

 ness gained him the esteem of the Poles. While 

 military governor in Petersburg, he fell into disgrace 

 under the emperor Paul. Alexander made him in- 

 spector of the troops in Livonia, Esthonia, and Cour- 

 land, with the dignity of governor-general. In 1805, 

 he commanded the left wing at Austerlitz, which ad- 

 vanced, whilst the centre and the right wing were 

 beaten. In 1806, he commanded 50,000 Russians, 

 and withstood the French in the eastern part of Prus- 

 sia. After the defeat of Pultusk, he was unjustly 

 superseded by count Bennigsen. After the battles 

 of Eylau and Friedland, he was again made com- 

 rnander-in-chief. In 1808, with 18,000 Russians, he 

 conquered Finland, obliged Sweaborg to capitulate,, 

 and terminated the war at Tornea. In 1809, he re- 

 signed on account of his health, and died in 1811. 



BuxTON ; a market-town in the county of Derby, 

 England, situated in a valley, celebrated for its mineral 

 waters. The springs discharge 60 gallons a minute : 

 the temperature of the water is 82. It is colourless, 

 and devoid of taste or smell. It contains calcareous 

 earth, vitriolic selenite, and sea-salt, and is an active 

 remedy in nephritic and bilious complaints. It is 

 used both externally and internally. The Crescent 

 is an extensive edifice, divided into three hotels, und 

 a private lodging-house. The lowest story forms a 

 colonnade, extending the whole length of the front, 

 the span of which is 257 feet. The season for the 

 Buxton waters is from June to the end of October. 

 It was known to the Romans; and the unfortunate 

 Mary Stuart, while in captivity, resided some time at 

 the Hall. She left it with the farewell, 



Buxtona, 

 Forte mihi posthac non adeunda, vale I 



B. is 1 59 miles N. N. W. of London. Population in 

 1831, 1211. 



BCXTON, Jedidiah, an extraordinary calculator, was 

 born in Eberton, in Derbyshire. His education was 

 wholly neglected : he. was never taught to read or 

 write ; and how he first learned the proportions of 

 numbers, their powers and denominations, he never 

 could remember. His power of abstraction was so 

 great, that no noise whatever could disturb him ; and, 

 when asked any question, he would reply, and imme- 

 diately return to his calculation, without the least 

 confusion. He was once asked this question: -In 

 a body, whose three, sides are 23,145,789 yards, 

 5,642,732 yards, and 54,965 yards, how many cubical 

 eighths of an inch ? He immediately set to work, 

 though in the midst of a hundred labourers, and in 



