BUT 



BUT 



\,Y a charter of Edward I. calkd " Charta Mercatoria," 

 (31 Edw. I. c. 1 & 2. 27Ed\v. III. c. 26,) was exchanged 

 into a duty of 2s. for every ton imported by merchaiit- 

 ftrangtrs, and called btit!ern'^e, becaiile it was paid to the 

 kintr's bntler. See Customs. 



BUTMENTS, in ArchitdJure, thofe fupportcrs or props, 

 on or againll which the feet of arches reil. 



Butments of arches arc the fame with buttrtffcs. They 

 anfiver to what tiie Romans caliy"MW;'iv/ ; the French, cukes 

 and luted. 



Tlie word comes from the French bouter, to abut or ter- 

 minate on any thing ; or rather from buler, to prop. 



The name butmeiit is alfo given to little places taken out 

 of the y.rd, or the ground plot of a honfe, for butteries, 

 fculleries, &c. 



BuTMF.NTS, or Abutmemts of a bridge, denote the 

 two mafTives at the end of a bridge, whereby the two ex- 

 treme arches are fuftained and joined with the (hore on either 

 fide. The butments of bridges next the banks fliould be 

 built more firm and foiid, as ferving to fuftain the whole fe- 

 ries of arches, and hinder them from fpreading. See Bkidge. 



BUTNERIA, in Botany, Duh. See Calvcanthus 

 Jlovidus. 



BUTOA, in Ane'ient Geography^ an ifland placed by 

 Plinv among thofe of Crete, between Opliiufla and Arados. 



BUrOMUS, in Botany, {^ovlofj-of, from P'.v; ox, and 

 ttjjLiiji to cut ; a name given by Theophraftus to an aquatic 

 plant, on account of its being greedily cropt by oxen, or 

 as others think, with lefs probability, bccaufe the (harp 

 edges of its ftem wound their tongues and lips. Hefychius 

 defines it, ^uxoi' (5ova^ dEcoij.iyo'j rpo^Mv oiov ^ofTtjv, a plant given 

 to oxen for food like grafs : and Suidas, (fmcifioy vxfairXnTtot 

 xa^xf^u orip e;SiK(ri 01 /so?;, a plant allied to the reed eaten by 

 oxen. Cafpar. Bauhine fnppofes it to be his juncus flori- 

 dus, the plant before us, to which Linnaeus has fince given 

 the ancient name ; others, the fparganium ramofum of Lin- 

 nsus; and others, a fpecics of iris.) Linn. gen. ^oj, Schreb. 

 693. WiUd. 804. Gxrt. 86. Juff. 46. Vent. vol. 2. 158. 

 Clafs ajid order, enneamlna hexagynia. Nat. crd. tripetalo'idciit, 

 Linn, jfiinci, JnflT. Alifmoiileie, Vent. 



Gen. Cti. Cal. Involucre fimple, three-leaved, fliort. Cor. 

 Petals fix, romidifh, concave, withering ; three outer ones 

 alternate, fmaller, more acute. Slain. Filaments nine, awl- 

 Ihaped ; anthers bilamellate. Pj/l. germs fix, oblong, acu- 

 minate, ending in ftyles ; ftigmas fimple. Perie. Capfules 

 fix, oblong, gradually attenuated, erett, one-valved, open- 

 ing on the inner fide. Seeds numerous, oblong-cylindrical, 

 obtufe at both ends, fixed to the infide of the capfule. 



Efl". Ch. Cal. none. Petals fix. Capfules fix, many- 

 feeded. 



Species. B. umbellalus. Flowering rufli, or water 

 gladiole. Gcert. Tab. 19. f. 3. La Marck, lUuft. PI. ,524. 

 Curt. Flor. Lond. i. 29. Eng. Bot. 651. (Juncus floridus, 

 Matth. Camer, J. Bauh. C. Bauh. Ray. Park. Rudb. 

 Gladiolus aquatilis. Dod. Gerard. Johns.) Root perennial, 

 horizontal, tuberous. Leaves all radical, linear, triangular, 

 very entire, fmootli, flat in the upper part, acute, near three 

 feet long, ereft. Seapus folitary, fimple, round, taller than 

 the leavee. i7;«/W terminal, fimple, many-flowered. In-vo- 

 lucre of three membranaceous, pointed leaflets. Peduneles 

 brafteate at the bafe. Flowers varioudy fliaded with rofe- 

 colour, purple and white. Stamens Ipreading, equal, placed 

 in a regular circle on the receptacle ; filaments white ; an- 

 thers red. Germs keeled, red. Styles fliort ; fl:igmas emar- 

 ginate. A native of watery ditches and ponds in many parts 

 of Europe, and a favourite of the Britiflt botanill, on ac- 

 count of its being the only indigenous plant of its clafs. 



BUTONES, in Ancient Geography, a people placed by 

 Strabo in Germany, and faid to be fubdued by Marobo- 

 duus. 



BUTONICA, in Botany, Rumph. La Marck, and 



Bofc. See BARRlKGTONIA_/^Cf(/3/(7. 



BuTONiCA, Runiph. See Eugenia (jcw/anftt/a, and /-a- 

 ccmofa. 



BUTORIUS, in OmUhology, a name by which fome 

 have culled tlie common bittern, Ardea steluaris. 



BUTOW, in Geography, a town of Germany, in the cir- 

 cle of Upper Saxony, and Further Pomcrania, 39 miles N. 

 E. of New Stettin. 



BUTRINTO, anciently Buthrotum, a fea port town 

 of Albania, in a gulf to whicli it gives name, in the canal 

 of Corfu, the fee of a Greek bilhop, fuffragan of Janina. 

 It belongs to the Venetians ; 56 miles W. S. W. of Delfino. 

 N. lat. ,;9° 45'. E. long. 20^ 40'. 



BUTRIUM, orBuTRio, in ylneicnl Geography, a town 

 of Italy, in the country of the Cenomani, according to 

 Ptolemy, and placed by M. d'An^ille north of Ravenna. 



BUTSKOPF, (Marten) in Zoology, fynonymous with 

 buts-kooper. 



BUTTS-KOPPER, (Egedc). .See Delphinus orca. 



BUTT, in Agriculture, a provincial term applied to fncli 

 ridges or portions of arable land as run out fliort at the fidc» 

 or other parts of fields. 



Butt, in our Ancient Cujloms, d ;notes a place erefted 

 for archers to flioot at, and in which a mark or white was 

 fixed. 



Butt, in Commerce, is ufcd for a veflel, or meafure of 

 wine, containing two hogflieads, cr 126 gallons. — Other- 

 wife called PIPE. 



A butt of currants is from fifteen to twenty-two hundred 

 weight. 



Butt, in Ship-huilding, the end of a plank, or fl;riflly 

 fpeaking, that end of a pla'.k which was nearell the root of 

 the tree. Each end of a plank is fecurely bolted to a frame 

 or timber, to prevent its rifing from the bottom or fide of 

 the fliip, which, in that cafe, would be faid to have fprung 

 or ftarted a butt. At fea this is very dangerous, and difli- 

 cult to get fecured if the plank is under water. Butt alfo 

 Cgnifies the ground or largefl end of all timbers. 



Butts, or Backs, a denomination given to that fort of 

 tanned leather, which is prepared from the flouteft and hea- 

 viefl; ox hides, and chiefly uied for the foles of Ihoes. For 

 the procefs of preparing it, fee Tanning. 



BUTTA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Africa, fitu- 

 ate between the two Syrtes, N. of Tege. Ptolemy. 



BUTTELSTETT, in Geography, a town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Upper Saxony, and principality of Weimar ; 

 five miles N. of Weimar. 



BUTTEN, a town of Arabia, 28 miles E. of Chamir. 



BUTTER, in Rural Economy, a fat undluous fubftance 

 prepared from milk by the procefs of churning. It is a 

 matter naturally diflributed through the whole lubftance of 

 the milk in very i'mall particles, which are interpofcd be- 

 twixt the cafeous and ferous parts, amongft w hlch it is fuf- 

 pended by a flight adhefion, but without being diflblved. 

 It is in the fame ilate in which oil is, in emnlfions : hence 

 the vvliitenefs of both ; and hence, by rell, th^ oily parts 

 feparate from both thcfe liquors to the furface, and form a 

 cream. When butter is in the ftate of cream, its proper 

 oily parts are not yet fufliciently concentrated to form an 

 huuiogenrous mafs. While feparated by the interpofitiori of 

 a large qnantity of ferous particles, the butter cannot be 

 completely formed ; but by prefung out thefe hetcrogeneons 

 parts by means of continued percuflion, by the well known 

 4 G 2 operation 



