3pS B O U 
BOUGHT,./ [from to bow.~\ A twift5 a link; a knot: 
Immortal verfe, 
Such as the melting foul may pierce, 
In notes, with many a winding bought 
Of linked fvveetnefs, long drawn out. Milton. 
A flexure.—The flexure of the joints is not the fame in 
elephants as in other quadrupeds, but nearer unto thofe 
of a man ; the bought of the fore-legs not direftly back¬ 
ward, but laterally, and fomewhat inward. Brown. 
BO.UGI'E, f. [bougie, Fr. a wax candle.] The term is 
applied to a machine, which is introduced into the urethra 
for removing ulcers and obftruftions. It is alfo known by 
the term catheter, candela cerea, vel mcdicata. In Dr. Swe- 
diaur’s Pharmacopoeia Syphilitica, there are the following 
prefcriptionS for bougies, called catkcteres, firfh made of 
filver, but they are better formed of elaftic refill, of various 
Jizes. The fecond he calls end, of elaftic refin, or of nru- 
(icaj chords, made from the inteftines of fliecp. The third, 
ccrei mcdicata. 
R Cerre Aavas liquefaftte ft j. fpermatis ceti $iii. afluae 
iythargyris acetati, Ph. Lond.nov. 5 ij.—§'j. thefe being 
mixed together, and removed from the fire, (lips of linen 
cloth are to be dipped in the compofition, of which the 
bougies are to be formed. The fourth are the ccreri me- 
dicata, faid to be the invention of Le Dran. 
Be Herb'sc conii maculati, foliorum Nicotiame tabaci, 
fuminitatum florentium hyperici perforati. radicis iridis 
florentiijte, ana manipulum unum, infunde in decofti nu- 
'ciim julaiidis regiae ft j. adde lierbte anchuffe officinalis 
ft j. axungias porcime, ovillje curatae, ana. ft iij. mifee 
fuper ignem, dein adde cerae flavae ft ij.—Plenck, in great 
conftriftion of the urethra, prefers thofe made of the mu- 
fical cliord, becaufe they fwell and then diftend the paf- 
fage ; and, belides, from their fiexility, remain longer in 
the urethra without occafioning any irritation ; but per¬ 
haps thofe made of the elaftic refin, which are formed hol¬ 
low, are the mod eligible, as they always afford a free paf- 
fage for the urine without removing. M. Daran, a French 
1'urgeon, lately boafted of his introducing bougies as an im¬ 
provement in his art, and acquired confiderable profit by 
making and felling them. Scultetus, about the middle of 
the feventeenth century, ufed them in difeafes of the ure¬ 
thra ; and probably M. Daran took the hint from him. 
Different compofitions have been ufed, and generally mer¬ 
cury was a part in them. Riverius made a plafter as fol¬ 
lows : Be 01. oliv. ft iv. cerae citrin. ft ij. minii & ceruf. 
aa ft i. Is. tereb. Venet. & rez. alb. aa 3 iij. m. 
Whether the bougies are made up of thefe or any other 
compofitions, they muft be of different fizes, from the big- 
nefs of a knitting needle, to that of a goofe quill. They 
are made of linen rags, fpread with a proper matter, and 
then rolled up as follows. Having fpread any quantity of 
linen rag with the compofition that is chofen for the pur- 
pole, cut it into (lips, from fix to ten inches long, and from 
half an inch to an inch broad ; then roll them on a glazed 
tile, into the form of a wax candle. And, as the end of 
the bougie that is to be entered firft into the urethra (fiould 
be fomewhat fmaller than the reft, it would be as well to 
cut the flips a little tapering. It ftiould alfo be obferved, 
that, when the bougies are rolled up, that fide muft be 
outward on which the plafter is fpread. M. Daran, and 
fome others, attributed the aftion of their bougies to the 
compofition made ufe of in forming them. Mr. Sharpe 
apprehended, that as much of their efficacy was owing to 
the compreftion they made on the affefted part, as to any 
other principle. And Mr. Aikin juftly fays, as it is evi¬ 
dent that bougies of very different compofitions fucceed 
equally well in curing the fame diforders in the urethra, 
it is plain that they do not aft by means of any peculiar 
qualities in their compofition, but by means of fome pro¬ 
perty common to them all. This muft be their mechani¬ 
cal form and texture, therefore their mode of aftion muft 
be Ample compreftion. The efficacy of mere compreftion 
ip many cafes of conftriftion is well known, from the ufe 
B O U 
of fponge tents for widening parts that are firaightened by 
cicatrices ; and admitting obftruftions in the urethra to be 
from a conftriftion formed by cicatrized ulcers, or a pro-' 
jeftion of the fpongy fubftance of the urethra into the ca¬ 
nal, we may eaiily conceive that a gentle continued elaftic 
compreftion will, in time, overcome the difeafe. We may 
alfo readily account for the inferior efficacy of metallic and 
whalebone bougies, from their not having the property of 
fwelling with moifture, and therefore not making the com- 
preffion fo equal. 
As to bougies procuring a difeharge of matter, there is 
no doubt but the mechanical ftimulus of a foreign body, 
in fuch a tender part, though free from difeafe, muft pro¬ 
duce it in fome degree ; and that this will be varied ac¬ 
cording to the chemically ftimulating quality of the com¬ 
pofition, and the irritable date of the urethra; but it feem's 
an abfurdity to apply a topic made uniform throughout, 
to the whole length of a canal, with a view of producing 
extraordinary effefts upon a particular part of it, by means 
of fome powerful quality in the ingredients. As to that 
part of the bougie which was in contact with thedifeafed 
part, being particularly covered with matter, this circum- 
ftance is owing to the greater irritation of the urethra, where 
the diforder is, than in the other parts of it. To forming 
bougies of very aftive materials, there certainly exifts a 
very proper objection ; becaufe tlie healthy as well as the 
difeafed parts are expofed to their aftion ; and may, thetn- 
felves, become difeafed by the application. Surgeons, 
therefore, have given up the ufe of them, and confine 
themfelves to the fimple kinds, and fuch as aft by com- 
preffion chiefly.—See Sharp’s Critical Enquiry, c. iv. and 
Aikin’s Obfervations on the external Ufe of Preparations 
of Lead. Bell’s Surgery, vol. ii. 201, &c. and White’s 
Surgery, 371. 
BOUGLON', a town of France, in the department of 
the Lot and Garonne, and chief place of a canton, in the 
diftrift of Caftel Jaloux : four miles north of Cartel Jaloux. 
BOUGUER' (Peter), born at Croifie, Feb. 10, 1698. 
His father was profeffor-royal of hydrography, who culti¬ 
vated his early difpofition for the fciences. The royal 
academy of Paris adjudged the prize, in 1717, to his paper 
on the mailing of fhips, and admitted him of their body 
in 1731. He was chofen, in 1736, with Meffrs. Godin and 
de la Condamine, to go to Peru, for determining the figure 
of the earth : this journey added new lights to the fciences, 
to the arts, and to navigation. The relation of his voyage 
to Peru, is in the memoirs of the academy of fciences of 
the year 1744. Bouguer ftudied with fuch intenfity, that 
it brought upon him a multitude of evils, under which he 
funk, at the age of fixty-one, the 15th of Auguft, 1758. 
He left feveral vrorks, the principal of which are, 1. La 
Conftruftion du Navire, 1746, 4to. 2. La Figure de la 
Terre, 1749, 4to. 3. Traite d’Optique, 1760, 4to. 4. La 
Manoeuvre des Vaiffeaux, 1757, 4to. republifhed lince by 
M. de la Caille, 1761, 8vo. 
BOUHOU'RS (Dominic), a celebrated French critic, 
born at Paris in 1628. He was entered in the college of 
Jefuits at the age of fixteen ; and was appointed to read 
leftures upon polite literature in the college of Clermont 
at Paris, where he had ftudied; but he was fo cruelly af- 
flifted with the head-ach, that he could not purfue the 
deftined talk. He afterwards undertook the education of 
two fons of the duke of Longueville, which he difeharged 
with great applaufe. The duke had fuch a regard for 
Bouhours, that he diedin his arms; and the “Account 
of the Pious and Chriftian Death” of this great perfonage, 
was the firft work which Bouhours gave the public. He 
was fent to Dunkirk to the popifft refugees from England ; 
and, in the midft of his mifllonary occupations, found means 
to compofe and publiftt books. Among thefe were, Entre- 
tiens d' Arijle 0 d'Eugene, or “ Dialogues between Ariftus 
and Eugenius ;” a work of a critical nature, and concern¬ 
ing the French language. His book was printed no lefs 
than five times at Paris, twice at Grenoble, at Lyons, at 
Bruffels, at Amfterdam, at Leyden, &c, Tjie fame of this 
