B U F 
fubdivided ; the fuelling joints more frequent at bottom, 
and become very dillant towards the top; the internodcs 
are round, where there are no branches, but fomewhat 
angular about the origin of the branches, which are an- 
cipital at the bale ; they are fmooth and (lightly hreaked. 
Leaves in pairs at each joint, refembling grafs leaves, co- 
adunate at the bale, with a (hort, Tubvenlricofe, three- 
nerved, (heatli; they are linear-fetaceous, narrowing gra¬ 
dually, entire, fmooth, veYy finely ciliate at bottom ; the 
lower ones are longer, the upper ones (horter than the 
internodes; when the plant is in flower, they are dry and 
fliriveiled, , but permanent. .Rudiments of leaves and 
branches Sometimes burft from the axils. Flowers in thin 
filiform (pikes (or contrasted panicles), preffed clofe to 
the branches, at the bafe of the leaves; the lateral ones 
fellile and axillary, the terminating pedunclea. Calyx 
herbaceous, qttadrifid ; fegments lanceolate, (harp, con¬ 
cave within, white about the edge, diaphanous. Petals 
■obtufe, membranaceous, diaphanous, (ltorter by half than 
the calyx, and fixed to the bafe of it ; they are in pairs, 
approximating and oppofite. Stamens two, fometimes 
four; filaments extremely llender, fhdrter than the corolla, 
fafleoed to the receptacle. Anthers: faftyon-coloured. 
Capfule fplits at top into two parts. Seeds blackifh, re¬ 
ticle at the end. Linnaeus marks it as perennial ; all other 
authors (peak of it as annual. Ray firfl noticed this little 
plant in England : lie alfo found it near Montpellier. It 
is found wild in France, Italy, and Spain: and with us it 
has been obferved by Mr. Ray on the fea-coaft of Lincoln- 
fliire about Boflon ; and by Mr. Doody on Hounflow heath. 
If flowers in May and June. 
BUFFOO'N,/ [■ bovffon , Fr. buffone, Ital. or as Salma- 
fms will have it, from bufo , Lat. a toad, becaufe fuch a 
peri’on fvvells like a toad. Menage, after Salmafuis, de¬ 
rives the word from buffo ; a name given to thole who ap¬ 
peared on the Roman theatre with their cheeks blown up ; 
that, receiving blows thereon, they might make the grea¬ 
ter noife, and let the people a laughing. Others, as Rho- 
diginus, make the origin more venerable"; deriving it from 
a feafl inftituted in Attica by Eriftheus, called buphonia.'] 
A droll, or mimic, who diverts by his pleafantries and fol¬ 
lies. Buffoons are the fame with what we otherwife find 
denominated Jcurrce, gdafiani, mimilogi, minijielii, goliardi, 
joculatores, &c. whofe chief art conlilted in making mirth 
at the tables of great men. Gallienus never fat down to 
meat without a fecond table of buffoons by him ; Tille- 
mont alio renders pantomimes by buffoons, in which fenfe 
lie obferves, the (hows of the buffoons were taken away 
by Domitian, reftored by Nerva, and finally abolilhed by 
Trajan. . •• 
BUFFOON'ERY,/ The practice or art of a buffoon. 
•—Courage, in an ill-bred man, has the air, and elcapes 
not the opinion, of brutality ; learning becomes pedantry, 
and wit buffoonery. Locke. —Low jefts ; ridiculous pranks ; 
fcurrile mirth. Dryden places the accent, improperly, on 
the firfl; lyliable : 
And whilft it lads, let buffoonery fucceed, 
To make us laugh; for never was more need. Dryden. 
BU'FO,/. [from ( 3 s?) an ox, and <pos death.] The 
toad ; fo called becaufe it is faid to be deadly to cattle if 
eaten by them. The toad is of the frog kind, and of the 
number of ihofe animals which have only one ventricle in 
the heart. It is much like the frog, but its belly is more 
inflated, and (kin more full of tubercles ; it is of an a(h 
colour, with brown, blackifh, and yellow, fpots. it does 
nor croak like the frog, but makes an indiftincff noife that 
is obfcure, and like the word geu , or rather bu, from which 
fome fuppofe it is called bufo. It is laid to have its name 
rubeta from rubus, becaufe it is often found under bram¬ 
ble-bullies. There is a very poifonous fpecies in America 
called cururu by the Brafilians, and capo by the Portuguefe. 
The common toad was firft introduced into medicine upon 
a cure being performed on an hydropic perfon, to whom 
powdered toads were given, in order to difpatcii him, but 
Vol, III, No. 143. 
BUG 493 
he voided a large quantity of urine after taking it, a’rtdV 
loon recovered of his diforder. Since this, toads, gently 
dried and powdered, have been ufed as a diuretic, but the 
prefent practice rejects them. They have alfo been ap¬ 
plied alive to cancers, underthe idea of extracting the vi¬ 
rus. See Rana. 
BUFONI'TIS,/. [from buff the toad.] The toad- 
ftone. This has been ranked not only among the native 
(tones'by the generality of authors, but even lias held a" 
place among the gems, and is (till worn in rings; though 
undoubtedly it is an extraneous foflil. There has been a 
vulgar opinion held, that it is generated in the head of a 
toad ; and that this animal voided it at the mouth, on be ¬ 
ing put on a red cloth. The general colour of the-bufo- 
nitte is a deep dufky brown ; bur it varies greatly in this 
refpeft in leveral fpecimens, fome of which are nearly 
black, and others are of an extremely pale Ample brown, 
a chefnut colour, liver colour, black grey, or whitifh. 
They are ufually found iminerl'ed in beds of (tone ; and 
fo litffe doubt is there of what they have originally been, 
viz. the petrified teeth of the lupus pifcis; or wolf-fifh, 
that part of the jaw of the filh has fometimes been found 
■with the teeth petrified in it. The-bufonitaj are faid to 
be cordial and affringent: many other fanciful virtues are 
afcribed to them, which the prefent more enlightened 
times have rejected. 
BUG,/ in entomology, a fpecies of cimex. See Cimex. 
For the deffruftion of tins troublefome in left, many re¬ 
medies have been propofed; but there is fcarcely any fo 
eftedtual as a mixture of corrolive (ublimate (hydragyrus 
muriatus) and lard, in the proportion of half an ounce of 
the former to fix ounces of the latter. The (ublimate 
(hould be firft rubbed extremely fine in a marble mortar, 
adding a few drops of common oil, till its particles are 
minutely divided. The lard (hould then be added by lit¬ 
tle and little, till the whole is well mixed ; and laftly, as 
much more oil as will make the mixture of the confidence 
of a very thick paint. Tire bedffead is to be then taken 
to pieces, brulhcd in the joints, and fome of this unguent 
applied with a (mail brufh all over, and likewife between 
every crevice that can be difcovered. Some recommend 
a mixture of fpirit of wine, oil of turpentine, and cam¬ 
phor ; but thele ingredients evaporate quickly, and, though 
definitive to all the bugs that are alive, this liquid does 
not prevent the nits from being hatched. Beds infefted 
with bugs (hould be taken down and deeded every year for 
at lead two or three years, after which it is probable they 
will no longer need it. 
BUG, a river of Poland, which joins the Viftula, be¬ 
tween Porcz and Warfaw. 
BUG'BEAR,/ [it is derived by fome from big, by 
others from pug ; bug, in Weifh, has the fame meaning.] 
A frightful object; a walking fpetre, imagined to be (een: 
generally now ufed for a falfe terror to frighten babes.—- 
Such bugbear thoughts, once got into the tender minds of 
children, fink deep, fo as not eafily, if ever, to be got out 
again. Locke. 
To the world, no bugbear is fo great, 
As want of figure, and a Email eftate. Pope. 
BU'GEN, a town of Germany, in the circle of Upper 
Saxony, and Middle Mark of Brandenburg : ten miles 
welt of Francfort on the Oder. 
BU'GEY, before the revolution, a province or frpaB 
country of France, of which Belley was the capital; bor¬ 
dered on the eaft by Savoy, on the fouth by Dauphiny, on 
the wed by Breffe, on the north by Franche-Corate ; and 
was dependant on the government of Burgundy; it is about 
twenty leagues in length, and about twelve, broad. 
BUG'GARD, a town of Denmark, in the illand of Fu- 
nen : ten miles wed of Ottenlee. 
BUG'GERS, Bulgarii, [the word is formed of the 
French Bougres, and that from Bougria or Bulgaria, the 
country where they chiefly appeared.] Anciently (ignified. 
a kind of heretics, otherwife called Patcrini , Catbari, and 
6 TC Albigcnjcst. 
