BUTTBESSES 261 BUXTON Prague. Some are plain and others are painted or printed with patterns. More or less expensive buttons are made of ornamental stone, such as agate, jasper, and marble. Occasionally they are formed of amber, jade, or of still more costly materials, as pearls and gems. In recent years, improved methods and ma- chines have been introduced for the shaping as well as for the polishing and finishing of bone, corozo, and wood but- tons. Machinery is now used also for the ' manufacture of composition buttons, and there are machines for performing auto- matically all the operations in manu- facturing covered buttons. In England, Birmingham is the seat of the button trade, which, however, is much more largely developed in France and in Ger- many, where the manufacture of buttons has made great strides in recent years. In the United States, buttons are princi- pally made in New York and Philadel- phia, but there are also numerous estab- lishments in other localities. BTJTTBESSES, in architecture, es- pecially Gothic, projections on the out- side of the walls of an edifice, extending from the bottom to the top, or nearly, and intended to give additional support to the walls and prevent them from spreading under the weight of the roof. Flying buttresses, of a somewhat arched form, often spring from the top of the ordinary buttresses, leaning inward so as to abut against and support a higher portion of the building, such as the wall of a clear story, thus receiving part of the pressure from the weight of the roof of the central pile. BUTTRICK, WALLACE, an Ameri- can educator, born in Potsdam, N. Y., in 1853. He was educated at the Ogdens- burg Academy and the Potsdam Normal School. He graduated from the Roches- ter Theological Seminary in 1883, and in the same year he was ordained to the Baptist ministry. He filled several pas- torates until 1902, when he was ap- pointed secretary of the General Educa- tional Board. In 1907 he was elected president of the Board. BUTTZ, HENRY ANSON, an Ameri- can educator, born in Middle Smithfield, Penn., April 18, 1835. He was gradu- ated at Princeton, in 1858, and entered the Methodist ministry in 1858. From 1880 to 1912 he was President of Drew Theological Seminary, and since 1912 President Emeritus. He wrote much on polemics, exegetics, and hermeneutics. BUTYL, an organic monad, fatty rad- ical, having the formula (CiHe)'; also called quartyl, or tetryl, from its con- taining four carbon atoms. See Al- cohol. BUTYRIC AOID, an acid obtained from butter; it also occurs in perspira- tion, cod liver oil, etc. Butyric acid is a colorless liquid, having a smell like that of rancid butter; its taste is acrid and biting, vnth a sweetish after taste. BUTYRIC ESTER, a substance ob- tained from butyi-ic acid with the flavor of pineapples, used in flavoring confec- tionery, as an ingredient in perfumes, etc. BUXTON, a town in Derbyshire, Eng- land, 37 miles N. W. of Derby, and 25 S. S. E. of Manchester. Buxton has long been famous for its calcareous springs, the waters being taken for indi- gestion, gout, rheumatism, and nervous and cutaneous diseases. Near Buxton is the Diamond Hill, famous for its crys- tals; and Poole's Hole, a stalactite cav- ern 770 yards long. Mary, Queen of Scots, was at Buxton when in the cus- tody of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Pop. about 15,000. BUXTON, SYDNEY CHARLES, VIS- COUNT, a British statesman; born in 1853. He received his education at Cam- bridge. From 1876 to 1882 he was a member of the London School Board, and of the Royal Commission on Educa- tion from 1886 to 1889. In 1892 he be- came Under-Secretary for the Colonies, which position he held for three years. He was member of Parliament from Pe- terborough in 1883. From 1905 to 1910, he was Postmaster-General, and made his administration notable by the intro- duction of penny postage to the United States. He was largely instrumental in passing the Insurance, Copyright, and Pilotage Acts (1911-1912). In 1914 he was made High Commissioner and Gov- ernor-General of South Africa. He has written a number of works on financial and economic subjects, among which are "Finance and Politics," "Handbook to Death Duties," and "The Fiscal Ques- tion." BUXTON, SIR THOMAS FOWELL, an English philanthropist, born April 1, 1786; educated at Trinity dollege, Dub- lin. In 1811 he joined the firm of Tru- man, Hanbury & Co., brewers, and took an active share in the business. The Spitalfields distress, in 1816, was the oc- casion of his turning his attention to philanthropic efforts, and, along with his sister-in-law, the celebrated Mrs. Fry, he made inquiries which directed public attention to the system of prison disci- pline. In 1818 he was elected to Parlia- ment for Weymouth, and was long the
