BUN 



BUG 



price of our standard gold and silver is 

 tht common rule whereby *o set a value 

 on their bullion, whether the same be in 

 ingots, bars, dust, or in foreign specie; 

 whence it is easy to conceive, that the va- 

 lue of bullion cannot be exactly known, 

 without being- first assayed, that the ex- 

 act quantity of pure metal therein con- 

 tained may be determined, and conse- 

 quently whether it be above or below the 

 standard. 



Silver and gold, whether coined or un- 

 coined (though used for a common mea- 

 sure of other things) are no less a com- 

 modity than wine, tobacco, or cloth ; and - 

 may, in many cases, be exported as much 

 to the national advantage as any other 

 commodity. 



BUMALDA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Digynia. Natural order of Du- 

 mosx. Rhamni, Jussieu. Essential cha- 

 racter: corolla five-petalled ; styles vil- 

 lose , capsule two-celled, two-beaked. 

 There is but one species; viz. B. trifolia, 

 with a shrubby stem ; branches close, in 

 all parts smooth ; branches obscurely an- 

 gular, jointed, purple ; leaves opposite, 

 petioled, ternate, pale underneath, on 

 very short capillary petioles, spreading 

 very much, or reflex ; flowers terminat- 

 ing the branches in racemes, or capillary 

 peduncles. Native of Japan. 



BUMELIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Essential character: corolla five-cleft, 

 with a five-leaved nectary ; drupe one- 

 seeded. There are seven species, all 

 trees or shrubs, and natives of the West- 

 Indies. 



BUNIAS, in botany, a genus of the Te- 

 tradynamia Siliquosa. Natural order of 

 Siliquosa. Cruc'rfer* , Jussieu. Essential 

 character : silicic deciduous, four-sided, 

 muricated with unequal acuminate an- 

 gles. There are nine species, of which B. 

 cornuta, horned bunias, is a very singular 

 plant. It has silicic transversely oval, 

 finishing on each side in a horn, or very 

 long and strong spine, so that the silicic 

 resembles a pair of horns ; in the middle 

 of the silicic are four small spines, direct- 

 ed different ways. It is a native of the 

 Levant and Siberia. B. spinosa, thorny 

 bun>as, is an annual plant, and a native of 

 the South of France, Switzerland, Austria, 

 and Italy. 



BUNIUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Digynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Umbellate, Essential cha- 

 racter : cor. uniform ; umbel crowded ; 

 fruits ovate. There is but one species, 

 viz. B bulbocastanum, earth nut, or pig 

 nut, has a perennial, tuberous root on 



the outside, of a chesnut colour, within 

 white, solid, putting forth slender fibres 

 from the sides and bottom, of an agree a 

 ble sweetish taste, lying deep in the 

 ground, commonly four or five inches 

 deep, the stems from the surface taper- 

 ing towards it, flexuose or bending to and 

 from, and of a white colour; the univer- 

 sal involucre consists seldom of more 

 than one, two, or three very slender 

 leaves, but in most instances is altoge- 

 ther wanting; the partial umbel has. 

 sometimes twenty rays; the petals are 

 lanceolate, entire, but rolled inwards, so 

 as to appear as if they were emarginate ; 

 the filaments are longer than the petals ; 

 the pistils at first close, after divaricate, 

 but never bend back. This description 

 applies to the plant as usually found in 

 Great Britain. That Brunium which is 

 most common in many parts of the conti- 

 nent is somewhat different from ours; 

 the segments of the leaf are not so fine, 

 and nearer to parsly, whereas ours ap- 

 proach to fennel. The root is not so far 

 within the ground, the leaves are larger 

 and greener, and it sends forth leaves 

 from the bulb itself. With us it grows on 

 heaths, in pastures, woods, and among" 

 bushes, in a gravelly or sandy soil : it 

 flowers in May and June. 



BUNT, of a sail, the middle part of it; 

 formed designedly into- a bag or cavity, 

 that the sail may gather more wind. It 

 is used mostly in top sails, because courses 

 are generally cut square, or with but 

 small allowance for bunt or compass. The 

 bunt holds much leeward wind, that is, it 

 hangs much to leeward . 



BUNT lines are small lines made fast to 

 the bottom of the sails, in the middle 

 part of the bolt rope, to a cringle, and so 

 are reeved through a small block, seized 

 to the yard. Their use is, to trice up 

 the bunt of the sail, for the better furling 

 it up. 



BUNTIXG. See EMBEIUZA. 



BUOY, at sea, a short piece of wood, 

 or a close-hooped barrel, fastened so as to 

 float directly over the anchor, that the 

 men who go in the boat to weigh the an- 

 chor may know where it lies. 



BUOT is also a piece of wood, or cork, 

 sometimes an empty cask, well closed, 

 swimming on the surface of the water, 

 and fastened by a chain or cord to a large 

 stone, piece of broken cannon, or the 

 like, serving to mark the dangerous 

 places near a coast, as rocks, shoals, 

 wrecks of vessels, anchors, &c. 



There are sometimes, instead of buoys, 

 pieces of wood placed in form of masts, in 

 conspicuous places ; and sometimes large 



