BUS 



BUT 



Polygamia Dioecia. Essential character: 

 Herm. calyx three-leaved ; corolla three- 

 peialled; capsule fleshy, three valved, 

 one-seeded. Male, calvx five-toothed ; 

 corolla five-petalled; stamina ten. There 

 is but one species, viz B gummifera, Ja- 

 maica birch tree is very lofty, with an 

 upright, round, smooth trunk, covered 

 with a livid shining 1 bark, peeling 1 off in 

 round pieces, like the European birch ; 

 branches terminating, smooth, horizon- 

 tal ; flowers small and white ; capsule 

 red, resembling 1 a drupe. On the male 

 tre<-s the flowers are more copious, and 

 crowded in the racemes, but are scarcely 

 larger. This tree is common in all the 

 su^-ar islands of the West Indies. The 

 bark is very thick, and exudes a clear 

 transparent resin,which soon hardens in 

 the air tt flowers from May to July. 

 With iis it has not flowered, although it 

 has been cultivated since the year 1690. 



BUSH, burning, that bush wherein the 

 Lord appeared to Moses at the foot of 

 Mo<mt Horeb, as he was feeding his fa- 

 ther-in-law's flocks. As to the person that 

 appeared it the bush, the scripture, in 

 several places, calls him by the name of 

 God r he says of himself, " that he is the 

 Lord, the God who is the God of Abra- 

 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, &c." And Moses, 

 blessing Joseph, says, "let the blessing 

 of him that dwelt Hi the bush come upon 

 the head of Joseph." But the Hebrew 

 and the Greek septuagint import that the 

 ange 7 of the Lord appeared to him. St. 

 Stephen, and several others, read it in 

 the same manner; and, moreover, some 

 say that is was an angel that represented 

 the Lord : yet there are persons who hold 

 the Son of God to be the person that ap- 

 peared in the bush. 



The Mahometans believe that one of 

 Moses's shoes, put off by him as he drew 

 near the burning-bush, was placed in the 

 ark of the covenant, in order to preserve 

 the memory of this miracle. 



BUSHEL, a measure of capacity for 

 dry things, as grain, fruits, dry pulse, &c. 

 containing four pecks, or eight gallons, 

 or one-eighth of a quarter. 



A bushel, by 12 Henry VII. c. 5, is to 

 contain eight gallons of wheat ; the gal- 

 lon eight pounds of troy weight ; the 

 ounce twenty sterlings ; and the sterling 

 thirty-two grains, or corns of wheat grow- 

 ing in the midst of the ear. See MEASURE 

 and WEIGHT. 



BUSKTN, a kind of shoe, somewhat in 

 manner of a boot, and adapted to either 

 foot, and worn by either sex. 



This part of dress, covering both the 

 foot and mid-leg 1 , was tied underneath the 



knee; it was very rich and fine, an< 

 principally used on the stage by actors in 

 tragedy. It was of a quadrangular form, 

 and the sole was so thick, as that by 

 means thereof men of the ordinary stature 

 might be raised to the pitch and elevation 

 of the heroes they personated. The co- 

 lour was generally purple on the stage : 

 herein it. was distinguished from the sock 

 worn in comedy, that being only a low 

 common shoe. The buskin seems to 

 have been worn not only by actors, but 

 by girls, to raise their height ; travellers 

 and hunters also made use of it, to de- 

 fend themselves from the mire. 



In classic authors we frequently find 

 the buskin used to signify tragedy itself, 

 because it was a mark of tragedy on the 

 stage. 



It is also sometimes understood for a 

 lofty strain, or high style. 



BUSS, in maritime affairs, a small sea 

 vessel, used by us and the Dutch in the 

 herring fishery, commonly from forty- 

 eight to sixty tons burden, and sometimes 

 more : a buss has two small sheds or ca- 

 bins, one at the prow, and the other at 

 the stern ; that at the prow serves for a 

 kitchen. Every buss has a master, an 

 assistant, a mate, and seamen in propor- 

 tion to the vessel's bigness ; the master 

 commands in chief, and without his ex- 

 press order the nets cannot be cast nor 

 taken up ; the assistant has the command 

 after him ; and the mate next; whose bu- 

 siness is to see the seamen manage their 

 rigging in a proper manner, to mind 

 those who draw in their nets, and those 

 who kill, gut, and cure the herrings, as 

 they are taken out of the sea. The sea- 

 men generally engage for a whole voy- 

 age in the lump. The provisions which 

 they take on board the busses consist, 

 commonly, in biscuit, oatmeal, and dried 

 or salt fish ; the crew being content for 

 the rest with what fresh fish they catch. 



BUST, or BUSTO, in sculpture, &c. a 

 term used for the figure or portrait of a 

 person in relievo, shewing only the head, 

 shoulders, and stomach, the arms being 

 lopped off: it is usually placed on a pe- 

 destal or console. The burst is the same 

 with what the Latins called herma, from 

 the Greek Hermes, Mercury, the image of 

 that god being frequently represented in 

 that manner by the Athenians. 



BXTST, communicative. See ACCOTTSTICS. 



BUSTARD, in ornithology. See OTIS. 



BUTCHER, a person who slaughters 

 cattle for the use of the table, or who cuts 

 up and retails the same. Among the an- 

 cient Romans there were three kinds of 

 established butchers, whose office was, t<* 



