B U I 



ment of Ufa, featod on the Kind j 14S mllc« W.S.W. of 

 Ufa. 



BUGUTCHANI, a town of Slbciia, 168 miles E. of 

 Eiiiloiil<. 



BUHEL, or Buhl, a town of Germany, in tlie circle 

 of Swabia, and margraviate of Baden, 6 miles S.W. of Ba- 

 den-B>iden. 

 / BUHLITZ, a town of Germany, in the circle of Up- 

 per Saxony and Farther Pomerania. 



BUI, a town of Ruflia, in a diflricl of the fame name, 

 pel taininp to the government of Koltroma, feated on the 

 river Koliroma, at its jiinftion with the river Vara. 



Bui, a river of RufTia, which joins the Kama near Mu- 

 levo. 



BUIE, a ftrong town of lllria, belonging to the ftates 

 of Venice, the refidence of a governor ; 9 miles S. of Capo 

 d'Iftria. 



BUILDING, Art of. The art of building is, perhaps, 

 the moll ancient of all arts ; clothing is rejeft(:d or difpenfed 

 with by fome favages, and in fome favoured climates the arts 

 of procuring food are rendered almoft uiuieccifary by the un- 

 folicited bounty of nature ; but we are acquainted with no 

 people that do not form dwellings, places ot (helter and fecu- 

 rity during the night, of alfembly to the family, and ftore- 

 houfes of the property, however trifling, that none are with- 

 out. It is not even confined to man ; birds, beails, and in- 

 feftshave their architefture ; but their modes, infpired by 

 inllinft, are invariable as the operations of nature; to man 

 alone is given the principle of improvement. 



The forms and methods of building depend effentially on 

 the nature of the materials furiildied by the country, and the 

 ftate of fociety among its inhabitants ; and, accordingly, 

 nations very remote in fituation, and dillant in time, have re- 

 fembled one another in thefe particulars. Vitruvius relates 

 that the Colchians, in the kingdom of Pontus, where they 

 abound in forefts, fix trees in the earth clofe together in 

 ranks to the right and left, leaving as much fpaee between 

 them as the length of the trees will permit ; upon the ends 

 others are laid tranfverfely, which enclofe the fpace for habi- 

 tation in the middle ; then at the top the four angles are 

 braced together with alternate beams, and the roof is alfo 

 formed by beams laid acrofs from the extreme angles gra- 

 dually converging, and rifing from the four fides to the mid- 

 dle point at the top, and then covered over with boughs and 

 loam. The interlhces which remain in the walls, on account 

 of the coarfenefs of the materials, are ftopped with chips 

 and loam. The reader will obferve how accurately this 

 paffage defcribes the log-houfes of the American back- 

 fettlers. On the other hand, the Piirygians (continues 

 Vitruvius) who inhabit a champaign country, dellitute of 

 timber, feleft little natural hills, excavate them in the middle, 

 dig an entrance, and widen the fpace within as much as the 

 nature of the place will permit ; above they fix ftakes in a 

 pyramidal form, and cover them with reeds or draw, heaping 

 thereon great piles of earth. This kind of covering renders 

 them very warm in winter and cool in furamer. The habi- 

 tations of the Phrygians thus defcribtd, appear to refemble 

 very nearly the fubterraneous dweUings of the Samoyedes 

 and Grcenlanders. The kind of cabin, however, moft 

 frequently found among barbarous nations, is of a conical 

 fhape, formed by branches of trees interlacing one another, 

 and meeting in a point at the fummit, their exterior furface 

 being covered with reeds, or leaves, or clay. Such are the 

 vvigwams of the North American Indians, and the kraals of 

 the Hottentots and Caffrees. 



But to proceed to civilized nations. The edifices of the 

 Egyptians, which are regarded as the earliell monuments of 

 Vol. V. 



B U I 



wrnujfht ftonf, are alfo the moft diftinguidted in that method. 

 The immense quarrita of Egypt probably infpired the talle, 

 as they furniflied the material's, while the periodical overflows 

 of the Nile facilitated their tranfport. Thus favoured by- 

 nature, the energetic irduiliy of the ancient Egyptians de- 

 lighted in every thing wonderful and gigantic ; the pyramids, 

 immortf.l as the country, proud tombs which have long out- 

 lived the memory of the mighty kings whofe aflies they 

 contain ; granite temples, extenfive as towns, and laboured 

 as cabinets, temples which enclofe in their courts, crfupport 

 ujjon their roofs villages of the modern inhabitants ; mile 

 long avenues of fphinxes, colofl"al flatvies, and obdiflts. The 

 art of building, among the Egyptians, was reduced to the 

 iimpleft principles ; unacquainted with arches, the doorways 

 and other openings were covered with folid lintels, and the 

 temples roofed with maffy flabs, the walls, columns, and en- 

 tablatures were formed of ftoncs of the largell fize, perfeftly ' 

 vyroiight, and laid in horizontal courles, without cement or 

 ligatures ; tlie walls were of tnormous thicknefs, and generally 

 diminifliing upwards, with a regular flope, in the manner of 

 fortifications. The paflige within the great jiyramid is 

 roofed in a lingular manner with courfesof Hones projcfting 

 over one another, hke inverted dtps, till they meet at the 

 fummit ; thus flicwing a method of celling with (lone which 

 may be regarded as intermediate between the ufe of lintels 

 and of arches. Some of the tombs alfo prcfent examples of 

 vaults hollowed in the folid rock, and of niches. So far, 

 and, according to our prefent information, no farther did the 

 Egyptians proceed towards the difcovery of arches. But 

 we expeft with impatience the account to be publifhed by 

 the National Inftitute of France, when accurate meafure- 

 ments, correft drawings, and minute refearch, conduced 

 under all the advantages of leifure and protedlion, will re- 

 place the hafty flcetchesand imperfeft remarks of individuals, 

 who, though deferving of applaufe and gratitude for having 

 done fo much, under circumllances of danger and difcourage- 

 ment, have left Hill more to be defired. The fize of the 

 mafles of ilone employed in thefe conftruclions is altogether 

 allnnifliing, and dlfplays mechanical fl<lll and energy, which 

 leave far behind all the fimllar enterprifcs of modern nations. 

 Thus, in the temple of Hermopolls, one of the leall of the 

 remains, the columns are 9 feet 6 inches in diameter, the 

 architrave is compofed of five fl;ones, each 23 feet long, and 

 the frieze of as many ; the only remaining llone of the cor- 

 nice is in length 36 feet. Of the hundred columns of the 

 portico of the temple at Karnac, the leall is in diameter 8 

 feet, and the greatell I2i feet. The two obeliflcs at Luxor, 

 of rofe-coloured granite, are flill 70 feet above the ground, 

 and to judge by the depth to which the coloffal ftatues 

 which accompany them are buried, we may reckon about 

 30 feet more concealed from the eye, making in all 100 feet 

 for the height of thefe monuments. Their prefervation is 

 perfeft ; the hieroglyphics with which they are covered are 

 cut in deep and in relief at the bottom, and fliew the bold 

 hand of a mailer, and a beautiful finifli. (Denon's Travels in 

 Egypt.) But the account which Herodotus gives of the 

 monolythic chapel of the temple of Latona, at Buttis, is the 

 molt extraordinary ; it was 40 cubits in every dlmenfion, and 

 was covered by anotlier fmgle ftone, 40 cubits fquare, and 

 4 cubits thick. The fame hillorian alfo informs us, that this 

 enormous load was brought on rafts from the idandof Philoe 

 to Buttis, a dillancc of 200 leagues. This is undoubtedly 

 the greatell weight that has ever been moved by the power 

 of man. 



The wonders of human induftry alfo charafterife the mo. 

 numcnts of the ancient inhabitants of India ; but their ef- 

 forts were dire£led, aUnoll exclufively, to excavation. The 

 3 Q_. cave* 



