Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4

V >> Various >> Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4




[Illustration: FIG. 4.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.]

[Illustration: FIG. 6.]

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

_Buoying and Marking of Wrecks._--(15) Wreck buoys in the open sea, or in
the approaches to a harbour or estuary, shall be coloured green, with the
word "Wreck" painted in white letters on them. (16) When possible, the buoy
should be laid near to the side of the wreck next to mid-channel. (17) When
a wreck-marking vessel is used, it shall, if possible, have its top sides
coloured green, with the word "Wreck" in white letters thereon, and shall
exhibit by day, three balls on a yard 20 ft. above the sea, two placed
vertically at one end and one at the other, the single ball being on the
side nearer to the wreck; in fog a gong or bell is rung in quick succession
at intervals not exceeding one minute (wherever practicable); by night,
three white fixed lights are similarly arranged as the balls in daytime,
but the ordinary riding lights are not shown. (18) In narrow waters or in
rivers and harbours under the jurisdiction of local authorities, the same
rules may be adopted, or at discretion, varied as follows:--When a
wreck-marking vessel is used she shall carry a cross-yard on a mast with
two balls by day, placed horizontally not less than 6 nor more than 12 ft.
apart, and by night two lights similarly placed. When a barge or open boat
only is used, a flag or ball may be shown in the daytime. (19) The position
in which the marking vessel is placed with reference to the wreck shall be
at the discretion of the local authority having jurisdiction. A uniform
system by shape has been adopted by the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board, to
assist a mariner by night, and, in addition, where practicable, a uniform
colour; the fairway buoys are specially marked by letter, shape and colour.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

[Illustration: FIG. 11.]

British India has practically adopted the British system, United States and
Canada have the same uniform system; in the majority of European maritime
countries and China various uniform systems have been adopted. In Norway
and Russia the compass system is used, the shape, colour and surmountings
of the buoys indicating the compass bearing of the danger from the buoy;
this method is followed in the open sea by Sweden. An international uniform
system of buoyage, although desirable, appears impracticable. Germany
employs yellow buoys to mark boundaries of quarantine stations. The
question of shape versus colour, irrespective of size, is a disputed one;
the shape is a better guide at night and colour in the daytime. All
markings (figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11) should be subordinate to the main colour
of the buoy; the varying backgrounds and atmospheric conditions render the
question a complex one.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

London Trinity House buoys are divided into five classes, their use
depending on whether the spot to be marked is in the open sea or otherwise
exposed position, or in a sheltered harbour, or according to the depth of
water and weight of moorings, or the importance of the danger. Buoys are
moored with specially tested cables; the eye at the base of the buoy is of
wrought iron to prevent it becoming "reedy" and the cable is secured to
blocks (see ANCHOR) or mushroom anchors according to the nature of the
ground. London Trinity House buoys are [v.04 p.0808] built of steel, with
bulkheads to lessen the risk of their sinking by collision, and, with the
exception of bell buoys, do not contain water ballast. In 1878 gas buoys,
with fixed and occulting lights of 10-candle power, were introduced. In
1896 Mr T. Matthews, engineer-in-chief in the London Trinity Corporation,
developed the present design (fig. 12). It is of steel, the lower plates
being 5/8 in. and the upper 7/16 in. in thickness, thus adding to the
stability. The buoy holds 380 cub. ft. of gas, and exhibits an occulting
light for 2533 hours. This light is placed 10 ft. above the sea, and, with
an intensity of 50 candles, is visible 8 m. It occults every ten seconds,
and there is seven seconds' visibility, with three seconds' obscuration.
The occultations are actuated by a double valve arrangement. In the body of
the apparatus there is a gas chamber having sufficient capacity, in the
case of an occulting light, for maintaining the flame in action for seven
seconds, and by means of a by-pass a jet remains alight in the centre of
the burner. During the period of three seconds' darkness the gas chamber is
re-charged, and at the end of that period is again opened to the main
burner by a tripping arrangement of the valve, and remains in action seven
seconds. The gas chamber of the buoy, charged to five atmospheres, is
replenished from a steamer fitted with a pump and transport receivers
carrying indicating valves, the receivers being charged to ten atmospheres.
Practically no inconvenience has resulted from saline or other deposits,
the glazing (glass) of the lantern being thoroughly cleaned when
re-charging the buoy. Acetylene, generated from calcium carbide inside the
buoy, is also used. Electric light is exhibited from some buoys in the
United States. In England an automatic electric buoy has been suggested,
worked by the motion of the waves, which cause a stream of water to act on
a turbine connected with a dynamo generating electricity. Boat-shaped buoys
are also used (river Humber) for carrying a light and bell. The Courtenay
whistling buoy (fig. 13) is actuated by the undulating movement of the
waves. A hollow cylinder extends from the lower part of the buoy to still
water below the movement of the waves, ensuring that the water inside keeps
at mean level, whilst the buoy follows the movements of the waves. By a
special apparatus the compressed air is forced through the whistle at the
top of the buoy, and the air is replenished by two tubes at the upper part
of the buoy. It is fitted with a rudder and secured in the usual manner.
Automatic buoys cannot be relied on in calm days with a smooth sea. The nun
buoy (fig. 14) for indicating the position of an anchor after letting go,
is secured to the crown of the anchor by a buoy rope. It is usually made of
galvanized iron, and consists of two cones joined together at the base. It
is painted red for the port anchor and green for the starboard.

Mooring buoys (fig. 6) for battleships are built of steel in four
watertight compartments, and have sufficient buoyancy to keep afloat should
a compartment be pierced; they are 13 ft. long with a diameter of 61/2 ft.
The mooring cable (bridle) passes through a watertight 16-in. trunk pipe,
built vertically in the centre of the buoy, and is secured to a "rocking
shackle" on the upper surface of the buoy. Large mooring buoys are usually
protected by horizontal wooden battens and are fitted with life chains.

(J. W. D.)

[1] In carrying out the above system the Northern Lights Commissioners have
adopted a red colour for conical or starboard-hand buoys, and black colour
for can or port-hand buoys, and this system is applicable to the whole of
Scotland.

[2] Useful where floating ice is encountered.

[3] St George and St Andrew crosses are principally employed to surmount
shore beacons.

BUPALUS AND ATHENIS, sons of Archermus, and members of the celebrated
school of sculpture in marble which flourished in Chios in the 6th century
B.C. They were contemporaries of the poet Hipponax (about 540 B.C.), whom
they were said to have caricatured. Their works consisted almost entirely
of draped female figures, Artemis, Fortune, the Graces, whence the Chian
school has been well called a school of Madonnas. Augustus brought many of
the works of Bupalus and Athenis to Rome, and placed them on the gable of
the temple of Apollo Palatinus.

BUPHONIA, in Greek antiquities, a sacrificial ceremony, forming part of the
Diipolia, a religious festival held on the 14th of the month Skirophorion
(June-July) at Athens, when a labouring ox was sacrificed to Zeus Polieus
as protector of the city in accordance with a very ancient custom. The ox
was driven forward to the altar, on which grain was spread, by members of
the family of the Kentriadae (from [Greek: kentron], a goad), on whom this
duty devolved hereditarily. When it began to eat, one of the family of the
Thaulonidae advanced with an axe, slew the ox, then immediately threw away
the axe and fled. The axe, as being polluted by murder, was now carried
before the court of the Prytaneum (which tried inanimate objects for
homicide) and there charged with having caused the death of the ox, for
which it was thrown into the sea. Apparently this is an early instance
analogous to deodand (_q.v._). Although the slaughter of a labouring ox was
forbidden, it was considered excusable in the exceptional circumstances;
none the less it was regarded as a murder.

Porphyrius, _De Abstinentia_, ii. 29; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ viii. 3; Schol.
Aristoph. _Nubes_, 485; Pausanias, i. 24, 28; see also Band, _De
Diipoliorum Sacro Atheniensium_ (1873).

BUR, or BURR (apparently the same word as Danish _borre_, burdock, cf.
Swed. _kard-boore_), a prickly fruit or head of fruits, as of the burdock.
In the sense of a woody outgrowth on the trunk of a tree, or "gnaur," the
effect of a crowded bud-development, the word is probably adapted from the
Fr. _bourre_, a vine-bud.

BURANO, a town of Venetia, in the province of Venice, on an island in the
lagoons, 6 m. N.E. of Venice by sea. Pop. (1901) 8169. It is a fishing
town, with a large royal school of lace-making employing some 500 girls. It
was founded, like all the towns in the lagoons, by fugitives from the
mainland cities at the time of the barbarian invasions. Torcello is a part
of the commune of Burano.

BURAUEN, a town of the province of Leyte, island of Leyte, Philippine
Islands, on the Dagitan river, 21 m. S. by W. of Tacloban, the capital.
Pop. (1903) 18,197. Burauen is situated in a rich hemp-growing region, and
hemp is its only important product. The language is Visayan.

BURBAGE, JAMES (d. 1597), English actor, is said to have been born at
Stratford-on-Avon. He was a member of the earl of Leicester's players,
probably for several years before he is first mentioned (1574) as being at
the head of the company. In 1576, having secured the lease of land at
Shoreditch, Burbage erected there the successful house which was known for
twenty years as _The_ Theatre from the fact that it was the first ever
erected in London. He seems also to have been concerned in the erection of
a second theatre in the same locality, the Curtain, and later, in spite of
all difficulties and a great deal of local opposition, he started what
became the most celebrated home of the rising drama,--the Blackfriars
theatre, built in 1596 near the old Dominican friary.

His son RICHARD BURBAGE (c. 1567-1619), more celebrated than his father,
was the Garrick of the Elizabethan stage, and acted all the great parts in
Shakespeare's plays. He, too, is said to have been born at
Stratford-on-Avon, and made his first appearance at an early age at one of
his father's theatres. He had established a reputation by the time he was
twenty, and in the next dozen years was the most popular English actor, the
"Roscius" of his day. At the time of his father's death, a lawsuit was in
progress against the lessor from whom James Burbage held the land on which
The Theatre stood. This suit was continued by Richard and his brother
Cuthbert, and in 1569 they pulled down the Shoreditch house and used the
materials to erect the Globe theatre, famous for its connexion with
Shakespeare. They occupied it as a summer playhouse, retaining the
Blackfriars, which was roofed in, for winter performances. In this venture
Richard Burbage had Shakespeare and others [v.04 p.0809] as his partners,
and it was in one or the other of these houses that he gained his greatest
triumphs, taking the leading part in almost every new play. He was
specially famous for his impersonation of Richard III. and other
Shakespearian characters, and it was in tragedy that he especially
excelled. Every playwright of his day endeavoured to secure his services.
He died on the 13th of March 1619. Richard Burbage was a painter as well as
an actor. The Felton portrait of Shakespeare is attributed to him, and
there is a portrait of a woman, undoubtedly by him, preserved at Dulwich
College.

BURBOT, or EEL-POUT (_Lota vulgaris_), a fish of the family Gadidae, which
differs from the ling in the dorsal and anal fins reaching the caudal, and
in the small size of all the teeth. It exceeds a length of 3 ft. and is a
freshwater fish, although examples are exceptionally taken in British
estuaries and in the Baltic; some specimens are handsomely marbled with
dark brown, with black blotches on the back and dorsal fins. It is very
locally distributed in central and northern Europe, and an uncommon fish in
England. Its flesh is excellent. The American burbot (_Lota maculosa_) is
coarser, and not favoured for the table.

BURCKHARDT, JAKOB (1818-1897), Swiss writer on art, was born at Basel on
the 25th of May 1818; he was educated there and at Neuchatel, and till 1839
was intended to be a pastor. In 1838 he made his first journey to Italy,
and also published his first important articles _Bemerkungen ueber
schweizerische Kathedralen_. In 1839 he went to the university of Berlin,
where he studied till 1843, spending part of 1841 at Bonn, where he was a
pupil of Franz Kugler, the art historian, to whom his first book, _Die
Kunstwerke D. belgischen Staedte_ (1842), was dedicated. He was professor of
history at the university of Basel (1845-1847, 1849-1855 and 1858-1893) and
at the federal polytechnic school at Zurich (1855-1858). In 1847 he brought
out new editions of Kugler's two great works, _Geschichte der Malerei_ and
_Kunstgeschichte_, and in 1853 published his own work, _Die Zeit
Constantins des Grossen_. He spent the greater part of the years 1853-1854
in Italy, where he collected the materials for one of his most famous
works, _Der Cicerone: eine Anleitung sum Genuss der Kunstwerke Italiens_,
which was dedicated to Kugler and appeared in 1855 (7th German edition,
1899; English translation of the sections relating to paintings, by Mrs
A.H. Clough, London, 1873). This work, which includes sculpture and
architecture, as well as painting, has become indispensable to the art
traveller in Italy. About half of the original edition was devoted to the
art of the Renaissance, so that Burckhardt was naturally led on to the
preparation of his two other celebrated works, _Die Cultur der Renaissance
in Italien_ (1860, 5th German edition 1896, and English translation, by
S.G.C. Middlemore, in 2 vols., London, 1878), and the _Geschichte der
Renaissance in Italien_ (1867, 3rd German edition 1891). In 1867 he refused
a professorship at Tuebingen, and in 1872 another (that left vacant by
Ranke) at Berlin, remaining faithful to Basel. He died in 1897.

See Life by Hans Trog in the _Basler Jahrbuch_ for 1898, pp. 1-172.

(W. A. B. C.)

BURCKHARDT, JOHN LEWIS [JOHANN LUDWIG] (1784-1817), Swiss traveller and
orientalist, was born at Lausanne on the 24th of November 1784. After
studying at Leipzig and Goettingen he visited England in the summer of 1806,
carrying a letter of introduction from the naturalist Blumenbach to Sir
Joseph Banks, who, with the other members of the African Association,
accepted his offer to explore the interior of Africa. After studying in
London and Cambridge, and inuring himself to all kinds of hardships and
privations, Burckhardt left England in March 1809 for Malta, whence he
proceeded, in the following autumn, to Aleppo. In order to obtain a better
knowledge of oriental life he disguised himself as a Mussulman, and took
the name of Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah. After two years passed in the
Levant he had thoroughly mastered Arabic, and had acquired such accurate
knowledge of the Koran, and of the commentaries upon its religion and laws,
that after a critical examination the most learned Mussulmans entertained
no doubt of his being really what he professed to be, a learned doctor of
their law. During his residence in Syria he visited Palmyra, Damascus,
Lebanon and thence journeyed via Petra to Cairo with the intention of
joining a caravan to Fezzan, and of exploring from there the sources of the
Niger. In 1812, whilst waiting for the departure of the caravan, he
travelled up the Nile as far as Dar Mahass; and then, finding it impossible
to penetrate westward, he made a journey through the Nubian desert in the
character of a poor Syrian merchant, passing by Berber and Shendi to
Suakin, on the Red Sea, whence he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca by way
of Jidda. At Mecca he stayed three months and afterwards visited Medina.
After enduring privations and sufferings of the severest kind, he returned
to Cairo in June 1815 in a state of great exhaustion; but in the spring of
1816 he travelled to Mount Sinai, whence he returned to Cairo in June, and
there again made preparations for his intended journey to Fezzan. Several
hindrances prevented his prosecuting this intention, and finally, in April
1817, when the long-expected caravan prepared to depart, he was seized with
illness and died on the 15th of October. He had from time to time carefully
transmitted to England his journals and notes, and a very copious series of
letters, so that nothing which appeared to him to be interesting in the
various journeys he made has been lost. He bequeathed his collection of 800
vols. of oriental MSS. to the library of Cambridge University.

His works were published by the African Association in the following
order:--_Travels in Nubia_ (to which is prefixed a biographical memoir)
(1819); _Travels in Syria and the Holy Land_ (1822); _Travels in Arabia_
(1829); _Arabic Proverbs, or the Manners and Customs of the Modern
Egyptians_ (1830); _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys_ (1831).

BURDEAU, AUGUSTE LAURENT (1851-1894), French politician, was the son of a
labourer at Lyons. Forced from childhood to earn his own living, he was
enabled to secure an education by bursarships at the Lycee at Lyons and at
the Lycee Louis Le Grand in Paris. In 1870 he was at the Ecole Normale
Superieure in Paris, but enlisted in the army, and was wounded and made
prisoner in 1871. In 1874 he became professor of philosophy, and translated
several works of Herbert Spencer and of Schopenhauer into French. His
extraordinary aptitude for work secured for him the position of _chef de
cabinet _under Paul Bert, the minister of education, in 1881. In 1885 he
was elected deputy for the department of the Rhone, and distinguished
himself in financial questions. He was several times minister, and became
minister of finance in the cabinet of Casimir-Perier (from the 3rd of
November 1893 to the 22nd of May 1894). On the 5th of July 1894 he was
elected president of the chamber of deputies. He died on the 12th of
December 1894, worn out with overwork.

BURDEN, or BURTHEN, (1) (A.S. _byrthen_, from _beran_, to bear), a load,
both literally and figuratively; especially the carrying capacity of a
ship; in mining and smelting, the tops or heads of stream-work which lie
over the stream of tin, and the proportion of ore and flux to fuel in the
charge of a blast-furnace. In Scots and English law the term is applied to
an encumbrance on real or personal property. (2) (From the Fr. _bourdon_, a
droning, humming sound) an accompaniment to a song, or the refrain of a
song; hence a chief or recurrent topic, as "the burden of a speech."

BURDER, GEORGE (1752-1832), English Nonconformist divine, was born in
London on the 5th of June 1752. In early manhood he was an engraver, but in
1776 he began preaching, and was minister of the Independent church at
Lancaster from 1778 to 1783. Subsequently he held charges at Coventry
(1784-1803) and at Fetter Lane, London (1803-1832). He was one of the
founders of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Religious Tract
Society, and the London Missionary Society, and was secretary to the
last-named for several years. As editor of the _Evangelical Magazine_ and
author of _Village Sermons_, he commanded a wide influence. He died on the
29th of May 1832, and a Life (by H. Burder) appeared in 1833.

BURDETT, SIR FRANCIS (1770-1844), English politician, was the son of
Francis Burdett by his wife Eleanor, daughter of William Jones of Ramsbury
manor, Wiltshire, and grandson of [v.04 p.0810] Sir Robert Burdett, Bart.
Born on the 25th of January 1770, he was educated at Westminster school and
Oxford, and afterwards travelled in France and Switzerland. He was in Paris
during the earlier days of the French Revolution, a visit which doubtless
influenced his political opinions. Returning to England he married in 1793
Sophia, daughter of Thomas Coutts the banker, and this lady brought him a
large fortune. In 1796 he became member of parliament for Boroughbridge,
having purchased this seat from the representatives of the 4th duke of
Newcastle, and in 1797 succeeded his grandfather as fifth baronet. In
parliament he soon became prominent as an opponent of Pitt, and as an
advocate of popular rights. He denounced the war with France, the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the proposed exclusion of John Horne
Tooke from parliament, and quickly became the idol of the people. He was
instrumental in securing an inquiry into the condition of Coldbath Fields
prison, but as a result of this step he was for a time prevented by the
government from visiting any prison in the kingdom. In 1797 he made the
acquaintance of Horne Tooke, whose pupil he became, not only in politics,
but also in philology. At the general election of 1802 Burdett was a
candidate for the county of Middlesex, but his return was declared void in
1804, and in the subsequent contest he was defeated. In 1805 this return
was amended in his favour, but as this was again quickly reversed, Burdett,
who had spent an immense sum of money over the affair, declared he would
not stand for parliament again.

At the general election of 1806 Burdett was a leading supporter of James
Paull, the reform candidate for the city of Westminster; but in the
following year a misunderstanding led to a duel between Burdett and Paull
in which both combatants were wounded. At the general election in 1807
Burdett, in spite of his reluctance, was nominated for Westminster, and
amid great enthusiasm was returned at the top of the poll. He took up again
the congenial work of attacking abuses and agitating for reform, and in
1810 came sharply into collision with the House of Commons. A radical named
John Gale Jones had been committed to prison by the House, a proceeding
which was denounced by Burdett, who questioned the power of the House to
take this step, and vainly attempted to secure the release of Jones. He
then issued a revised edition of his speech on this occasion, and it was
published by William Cobbett in the _Weekly Register_. The House voted this
action a breach of privilege, and the speaker issued a warrant for
Burdett's arrest. Barring himself in his house, he defied the authorities,
while the mob gathered in his defence. At length his house was entered, and
under an escort of soldiers he was conveyed to the Tower. Released when
parliament was prorogued, he caused his supporters much disappointment by
returning to Westminster by water, and so avoiding a demonstration in his
honour. He then brought actions against the speaker and the
serjeant-at-arms, but the courts upheld the action of the House. In
parliament Burdett denounced corporal punishment in the army, and supported
all attempts to check corruption, but his principal efforts were directed
towards procuring a reform of parliament, and the removal of Roman Catholic
disabilities. In 1809 he had proposed a scheme of parliamentary reform, and
returning to the subject in 1817 and 1818 he anticipated the Chartist
movement by suggesting universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts,
vote by ballot, and annual parliaments; but his motions met with very
little support. He succeeded, however, in carrying a resolution in 1825
that the House should consider the laws concerning Roman Catholics. This
was followed by a bill embodying his proposals, which passed the Commons
but was rejected by the Lords. In 1827 and 1828 he again proposed
resolutions on this subject, and saw his proposals become law in 1829. In
1820 Burdett had again come into serious conflict with the government.
Having severely censured its action with reference to the "Manchester
massacre," he was prosecuted at Leicester assizes, fined L1000, and
committed to prison for three months. After the passing of the Reform Bill
in 1832 the ardour of the veteran reformer was somewhat abated, and a
number of his constituents soon took umbrage at his changed attitude.
Consequently he resigned his seat early in 1837, but was re-elected.
However, at the general election in the same year he forsook Westminster
and was elected member for North Wiltshire, which seat he retained, acting
in general with the Conservatives, until his death on the 23rd of January
1844. He left a son, Robert, who succeeded to the baronetcy, and five
daughters, the youngest of whom became the celebrated Baroness
Burdett-Coutts. Impetuous and illogical, Burdett did good work as an
advocate of free speech, and an enemy of corruption. He was exceedingly
generous, and spent money lavishly in furthering projects of reform.

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