G36 



BUBO BUCCO. 



BUBO, Cuvier's generic name for the great horned, 

 eared, or tufted owl. See the article OWL. 



BUBON (Wildenow). The meaning of the name 

 is uncertain, being employed by Pliny. A family 

 of plants chiefly herbaceous, natives of Europe, Asia, 

 and Southern Africa. They are pentandrious, and 

 belong to the order UmbeHifcrts. From the B. gai- 

 banum, the drug of that name is obtained. It is 

 collected from the spontaneous exudation of the stem, 

 or from an incision made in the stalk a little above 

 the root, from which it immediately flows, and soon 

 becomes sufficiently concreted for gathering. Medi- 

 cinally considered, this gum-rosin is said to hold a 

 middle place between asafcetida and ammoniacum; 

 but is less fetid than the former. The B. Macedo- 

 nicum, cut and dried, is put among clothes to give a 

 pleasant scent. They are plants of no beauty. 



BUCCINUM (Linna3us, Lamarck). The extremely 

 confused and widely extended genus Buccinum, as 

 constituted by Linnaeus, like many others of that great 

 naturalist, required reformation ; and Bragniere ap- 

 pears to have been the first to separate from it his 

 genera Cassis and Terebra. There yet remained a 

 great number of distinct species intermingled, render- 

 ing the generic characters of the buccinum still very 

 vague and inconsistent. Lamarck, therefore, farther 

 classified the enormous number of molluscs called 

 buccina, and established the additional genera of 

 Harpa, JDolium, Monoceros, Concholepas, and Eburna, 

 each presenting distinctive and peculiar anatomical 

 structures, very different from the Linnaean genus 

 Buccinum. As it now stands, there are still a great 

 variety and diversity of species, allied to each other 

 nevertheless by characteristic assimilation. 



The animal is well known, and will be described 

 under Entomostomata, the second family of the order 

 Siphonobranchiata. First class Cephalophora, of De 

 Blainville's system of malacology, in which they are 

 now subdivided as follows: First, those that are 

 smooth, the spire rather elevated, with the aperture 

 enlarged in front, as in the Buccinum achatinum. 

 Secondly, such as are more or less tuberculated, with 

 the edges of the aperture separated by a notch or 

 sinus backward, rather deep, the right side dentated 

 in front, as in the B. papillonum. Thirdly, the oval 

 species, which are rather globular and subcoronated 

 on the whorls of the spire, as in the B. glaciate, and 

 B. undatum. Fourthly, those species that are short, 

 rotund and subglobular, as the B. reticulatum. Fifthly, 

 such as are nearly similar in form, with a large cal- 

 losity on the internal edge, as the B. arcularia, con- 

 stituting Lamarck's genus Nassa, in which the thick- 

 ened lip, and great callosity of the columella, with 



Buccinum tuberculatum. 



the irregular lump or tuberculations on the back of 

 some species, are remarkably characteristic. Lastly, 

 all the anomalous species, such as the B. neritcum, 

 &c. ; they all possess an operculum, which is oval, 



horny, and formed of subconcentric circles, its sum- 

 mit marginal and slightly marked. 



The general characters of this mollusc are its being 

 slightly covered with an epidermis, oval shaped, 

 lengthened, and the spire moderately elevated ; an 

 oblong-oval aperture, notched, and sometimes ante- 

 riorly subcanaliculated, the right lip thickened, not 

 turned over, the columella plain, and nearly all seen. 

 They are found in every part of the globe, and many 

 of them constitute a nutritious food, particularly in 

 the northern countries. These molluscs are not very 

 remarkable for the brilliant lustre of their colours, 

 being for the most part of sombre tints, and inhabit- 

 ants of cold climates ; but their great diversity of form, 

 delicacy of sculpture, and pencilled markings, render 

 them highly interesting to the mere collector of natu- 

 ral history, without a reference to their more scientific 

 examination. They nevertheless possess many useful 

 purposes, which the rapidlj increasing study of natu- 

 ral history may reasonably be expected to develope, 

 some of which will be enumerated under the leading 

 article CONCHOLOGY. De France mentions thirty-six 

 fossil species, but there is not so great a number as 

 the genus is now constituted, and it is yet capable of 



Buccinum undatuu'. 



further alteration to great advantage. The name is 

 derived from a trumpet (buccinum'), and in the South 

 Seas a large species B. giganteum, of Linnaeus ; 

 Triton variegatum, Lamarck is used for that instru- 

 ment. 



BUCCO (Barbet, or bearded bird). A very nume- 

 rous, but not very interesting genus of Zygodactylic, 

 or yoke-toed climbing birds, combining some of the 

 haracters and appearances of the magpies and jays, 

 with some of those of the more showy and elegant 

 climbers. They are heavy birds for their size, and 

 not swift either on the wing or in climbing. They 

 are found only in the woods, and there upon the 

 lower branches of the trees, and they move with 

 some difficulty. Their bills, heads, and necks, are 

 disproportionably large for the rest of their bodies. 

 The base of the bill is surrounded by hairs or bristle- 

 shaped feathers, from which they get their common 

 English name of " barbet," and trie generic name of 

 bucco (puffy-cheek) is given them on account of an 

 enlargement or tumefaction at the base of the bill, 

 which consists partly in the cheek itself, and partly in 

 the retroflexure of the hairs at the bottom of the 

 gape. The beards or bristles form five tufts, one 

 directed over each nostril, one at each side of the 

 base of the lower jaw, and one under the chin. The 



