BUS 



173 



BUT 



the students bore in the middle ages, 

 from the buildings (bim-s<e} in which they 

 lived in common. 



BUR'SCHENSOHAFT, a secret association 

 of students, formed in 1815, for the poli- 

 tical reformation of Germany ; afterwards 

 suppressed by government order. 



BURSCHEN COMMENT, the code of laws 

 adopted by the students for their internal 

 regulation. 



BURSE'RA, a genus of West India plants 

 of two species, one of which is the Ja- 

 maica birch (B.gummifera], which yields 

 the gum elemi. Hexandria 3Ionogynia. 

 Earned from j3v$ff, and a-ti^'.u, to drain. 



BUR'TON, in a ship, a small tackle con- 

 sisting of two single blocks. Named from 

 the inventor 



BUSH, a circular piece of iron or other 

 metal let into the sheaves of such blocks 

 as have iron pins, to prevent their wear- 

 ing. In America, the bush in the nave of 

 a cart or coach- wheel is called, a box. 



BUSH'EI,, an English dry measure of 8 

 gallons or 4 pecks. The standard English 

 bushel (12 Henry VII.), contains 8 galls, 

 wheat, each 8 Ibs. troy, each of 12 oz., each 

 of 20 dwts. , each of 32 corns of wheat that 

 grew in the middle of the ear. In 1696 

 the capacity of the "Winchester bushel 

 was fixed at 215T7 cubic inches of pure 

 water, equivalent to 1131 oz., 13 dwts. 

 troy. The capacity of the imperial bushel, 



Prescribed by act of uniformity (5 Geo. 

 V., c. 74), is for coal, potatoes, fruits, 

 and other goods sold by heaped measure, 

 2815 cubic inches, the goods to be heaped 

 up in the form of a cone, to a height 

 above the brim of the measure of at least 

 three-fourths its depth. The Irish bushel 

 for all liquids, and for corn and other dry 

 goods, not heaped, contains 2218'2 cubic 

 inches, and holds 80 Ibs. avoirdupois of 

 pure water. The word bushel is low Lat. 

 bussellus, dim. of biiza. 



BUSH-HARROW, an implement of hus- 

 bandry for harrowing grass-lands and 

 covering grass and clover-seeds. It con- 

 sists of a frame with three or more bars, 

 among which bushes are interwoven. A 

 ight harrow with small tines serves 

 oetter. 



BCSH'MEN, Dut. bosjesmannen, men of 

 the wood. A name given by the Dutch 

 colonists to some roaming tribes akin to 

 the Hottentots, in the vicinity of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



BCS'KIN, in Lat. cothurnvt. A kind of 

 high shoe or boot worn by the ancient 

 tragedians upon the stage, to give them a 

 more heroic appearance. In classic au- 

 thors the word is used for tragedy, and 

 for a lofty and elevated style. The buskin 

 was also worn by both sexes, especially 

 by the ladies, for ornament. Hunters 

 and soldiers use a buskin much resembling 

 a half boot. 



Bi-ss, Dut. buis, Ger. bvse, Iluss. 6u. 

 A small sea-vessel used by the English, 

 and Dutch in the herring fishery, com- 

 monly from 50 to 60 tons burden, and 

 sometimes more. A buss has two small 

 sheds or cabins, one at the prow and the 

 other at the stern : that at the prow serves 

 for a kitchen. 



BUST, that part of the human figure 

 which comprises the head, neck, breast, 

 and shoulders. By this term, busto is ap- 

 plied to the human figure as low as the 

 hips, with or without the head and arms ; 

 which definition agrees with that speciea 

 of sculpture which represents the por- 

 traits of illustrious Romans, either'en- 

 tirely round and mounted on pedestala, 

 or in alto relievo on the sides of sarco- 

 phagi or other sepulchral monuments. 

 The Italian busto is probably from Lat. 

 IttffMm, a figurative expression for any 

 kind of tomb, but originally applied to 

 the pile on which a dead body had been 

 burned, as the bustum in the Campm 

 Martius, on which the bodies of the em- 

 peror Augustus and his successors were 

 burned. 



BUS'T.VRD, a name common to all the 

 birds of the genus Otis, Lin. The great 

 bustard (0. tarda, Lin.), is the largest of 

 European land birds, the male weighing 

 on an average 25 Ibs. It is 4 feet la 

 length, and sometimes measures 9 feet 

 from tip to tip of the wings. 



BCTCHER-BIRD, a species of shrike. The 

 Lanitis collurio, Germ., which destroys 

 small birds, young frogs, and great num- 

 bers of insects, which it, butcher-like, 

 sticks upon the thorns of bushes in order 

 to devour them at leisure, or to find them 

 again when wanted. 



BnTCH'ERsBRooM, a name common to all 

 the plants of the genus Knscus, but parti- 

 cularly applied to the -R. aculeatus, an 

 evergreen shrub which grows in woods 

 and thickets in this country , and is known 

 also by the names knee- holly, Alexan- 

 drian laurel, and wild myrtle. It is used 

 by butchers for brooms to sweep their 

 blocks. 



BU-TEO, the bvzzard: a subgenus of birds 

 of the order Aecipitres and family Diurriy. 

 The buzzard is ranked among the ignoble 

 birds of prey, and is called in some parta 

 of America the hen-hawk, from its depte- 

 dations among the poultry. Name origi- 

 nally applied to a species of the falco tnbe 

 (Pliny 10. 8). 



BCT'MENTS, supports or props by which 

 the feet of arches or any other bodies 



Sressing in an oblique direction to the 

 orizon are sustained in their places. See 

 ABUTMENTS. 



BUT'MENT-CHEEKS, in carpentry, the two 

 solid parts on each side of a mortise : the 

 thickness of each cheek is commonly 

 equal to the thickness of the mortue. 



