B U X 



of a germ. Female. C;;/. four-leaved. P<7. tliree ; flyles 

 three ; capfiile three-beaked, three-celled ; feeds two in each 

 cell. 



Species, I. B. haharica, I^a Murck. " A tree; leaves 

 oblong-ovate, an inch and half lonff ; (lamens very long." 

 Branches llraight, four-cornered. Leaves oppofite, on (liort 

 decurrent petioles, entire, fuiooth, (hining, coriaceous. 

 Flowers in large bunches ; anthers linear. A native of 

 Majorca, 5:c. Cultivated in the royal garden in Paris, but 

 is tender, and docs not endure fcvcre Irods. 2. B. arhorcfcens 

 (Sempervirens, Linn.}. " Leaves ovate-oblong, attenuated 

 towards the fiimmit ; anthers ovate ; Hem arborefcent." La 

 Marck. A (liriibby tree, from twelve to fixteen feet high. 

 Stem twilled, branched. Leaves oppofite, pern-.anent, very 

 entire, emarginate, fiiiiiing, often reddilh in winter. Flo'u.'crs 

 in fmall or moderate b\inehes ; filaments not more than the 

 fixth of an inch long. There is a variety with narrow leaves 

 which, as well as the ne.tt fptcies, is laid by Miller to be 

 fpecificallv diftinft. Its wood is of a clofe grain, very hard 

 and heavy, and on that account is much ufed by the turner, 

 engraver, carver, matheinatieal iidlmiTient maker, comb, and 

 pipe, or (lute maker, and a variety ot other artizans. A na- 

 tive of mod parts of Eu-ope, from Britain fonthward. It 

 is found abundantly in the louth of France, iSavoy, and 

 Italy, and in the temperate parts ;if Afia and America. In 

 England it has given name to Box-hill in Surrey, Boxwell 

 in Glouceilerfliire, and Boxley in Kent, all which are men- 

 tioned by R?.y as producing it ; but on account of the value 

 of the wood, the quantity is now much d niin.flied. Mr. 

 Woodward has more recently obferved it on the chalk hills 

 near Dunllable. 3. 'Q.fuJf'rKt'icnjh, dwarf box. " Leaves 

 fmall, obovate ; Item a low under ihrub." La Marck 

 agrees with Miller in treating this as a dillinft fpecies, 

 though nearly related to the preceding. When fuffered to 

 grow freely, it never rifes to a greater height than about 

 three feet, and grows in thick, m\ich branclied tufts. Its 

 leaves alio are fmall, and rather ovate or roundiflioval, with 

 a white line on their back, more ftrongly marked than in the 

 preceding fpecies. It grows wild in many parts of France, 

 by the road fides, about villages, and in itony walle places. 

 It is fingular that it does not flower when cultivated in Eng- 

 land, and was never feen in that (late by Mr. Miller, though 

 encouraged to grow many years in the greatell luxuriance. 

 La Marck does not mention this circumllance, nor, indeed, 

 can it be fuppofed to be thus barren in France, where it is 

 faid to be truly indigenous. 4. B. myrlifolia, myrtle-leaved 

 box. " Leaves fmall, oblong, rather narrow ; ftem a low 

 under (hrub." La Marck. It refembles the preceding in its 

 fize, but dilFers both in habit and foliage, not forming a 

 thick tuft or bu(h, but having an elongated ftem like a tree, 

 with open branches ; its leaves are rather narrow, with 

 fcarcely any appearance of a white line on their furface. 

 A fmall branch in flower, communicated to La Marck, had 

 no female flowers. Native place not known. Encyc. Me- 

 thodique. Box was formerly employed as a medicine in 

 various difeafes, but in Ray's time was grown into difufe on 

 account of its off^enlive fmell ; and before his time even its 

 medical virtues began to be called in quedion. Dr. Withering, 

 however, has recently recommended it ; obferving, that an 

 empyreumatic oil diftilled from its fhavings is often ufed as a 

 topical application for the piles ; that it frequently relieves 

 the tooth-ach, and hai been given internally in epilepfies, 

 and that the powdered leaves dellroy worms. 



Propagation and Culture. Tile arborefcent box was much 

 admired by our ance.dors on account of its heng eafily 

 clipped into the fliape of animals, and other fantalbc appear- 

 ances. It was in equal requeft with the Romans for the 

 feme purpofe. The younger Pliny, in particular, gives a 



Vol. V. 



BUY 



florid dcfcription of the pleafure grounds at one of his 

 country feats, in which, among other curious devices, the 

 letters of his own name, and of other words, were ordeiiy ex- 

 prefTed in rows of (horn box. Thefe extravagancies have 

 now given way to a juller talle in ornamental gardening ; but 

 box i,s llill cultivated in our nurferies as a biautifnl evergreen ; 

 and. left to its natural growth, is a pleafing addition to the 

 (hrubbery. It has the additional recommendntion of thriving 

 under the ihickell fliade, aid is ;,ble to withlland the ftvereft 

 weather of our climate. The dwarf box n ufed to divide 

 the beds from the walks of flower-gardens ; and thou|?h it 

 has been condemned as affording flielter for noxious infecls, 

 tlie fame objedlion will lie, in fome degree, againft every 

 other kind of vegetable bordering ; but fuppoliiig it to be 

 peculiarly liable to this inconvenience, the evil isconfiderably 

 counterbalanced by its clofentfs and durabilitv. It may be 

 propagated by cuttings, layers, and feed. The cuttings 

 fliould be planted, about the time of t!ie autumnal rains, at 

 the diftance of four inches from each other; they flunild be 

 a foot bug, and rather more than half of the length (hould 

 he covered by the foil. A flip of the lail year's growth, 

 (hipped from the wood, is an excellent fet. The cuttings or 

 (lips may (land thric years, and (liould then be tranfplanted 

 into the nurfery in moid weather, any time between Angufl: 

 and April. The layers fliould be earthed between Michael- 

 mas and March. This, as profelFor Martyn obfervcs, is one 

 of its natural methods of propagation, for when it breaks 

 dowii by its own weight, or by a fall of fnow, it fends out 

 fibres foon after it has come into contadl with the ground. 

 The feed fliould be fowii, as foon as it is ripe, on a light 

 loam or fand in a Iliady border, and reguiaily watered. Some 

 will come up the next fpriug, but fomc will lie in the 

 ground till the next fcafon. They fnould then have the 

 fame treatment as the cuttings. This is faid to be the 

 only method in which large trees can be raifed. The 

 bed time for removing the tree is Odobcr. Martyn's 

 Miller. 



BUXY, in Geography, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Saone and I.,oiie, and chief place of a canton in 

 the dirtrift of Chalons-fur-Saone, and 8 mdes S.W. of it. 

 The place contains j6o2, and the canton 14,085, inhabit- 

 ants; the territory includes 277^ kiliometres and Jl com- 

 munes. 



BUY Dr; Morn AS, Claude, in Biography, was born at 

 Lyons and died at Paris i-i I7,S3. He is priucipdUy known 

 as the author of an inflruftive and ufcfnl Atlas of Geo- 

 graphy and Hiftory, Paiis, 17(^2 and 1770, 4 vols. 410. 

 He alfo publiflied a Colmography, on the fame plan, in 

 1770. 



Buy, in Geography. See Bius. 



BUYING, the act of making a purchafc, or of acquiring 

 the property of a thing for a certain price. 



Buying dands oppofed to felling, and difl'ers from bor. 

 rowing or hiring, as in the former the property of the 

 thing is alienated for perpetuity, which in the latter is not. 

 By the civil law, perfons are allowed to buy hope, ^<bi 

 prelio emere, that is, to purchafc the event or expedation of 

 any thing : e. gr. the (ifli or birds a perfon fliall catch, or the 

 money he fliall win in gaming. 



There are divers fpecies o( buying in ufe .imong traders ; 

 as buying on one's own account, oppofed to buying on com- 

 miflion ; buying for ready money, which is when the pur- 

 chafer pays in adual fpecie on the fpot ; buying on credit, 

 or for a time certain, is when the payment is not to be pre- 

 fently made, but, in lieu thereof, an obligation given by tlie 

 buyer for payment at a time future ; buying on delivery, is 

 when the good^ puichafed are only to be delivered at a cer- 

 taiu future time. 



4 1 Buying 



