BUR
BUR
lemy f .— [ c Utfi Karawlfai xctvnxw. { Fabric. Bibl. Grsec. 1. 3. c. 22. §. 11. T. 2. p. 548.]
Burning of land, in hufbandry, is the fetting fire to the fod or turf of fome particular forts of land, by way of improving them.
This is a very great means of improvement of land, and is not only at this time ufed in many parts of this and other king- doms, but it has been practifed from the earlier! times of huf- bandry that we have any account of. Virgil very exprcfsly mentions, and greatly recommends it, and all the old writers of hufbandry fay much in its praife.
It does not take effect, however, in all forts of ground. It is not proper for rich foils, nor for ftony or chalky ones ; nor is it a practice to be often repeated on any land, cfpcciallv where the furface is {hallow ; nor muff corn be fown too long upon the land afterwards ; for burning exhaufts the good juices of the land, in fome degree, as well as the bad ones. It is mod profitably uled to fuch lands as have lain a long time unculti- vated, and are over-run with rank weeds, fuch as fowre-grafs, fern, heath, furze, and the like. Some lands, when corn is fown upon them, run it up into ftraw, and make the ears but poor and light ; thefe are, beyond all others, improved by burn- ing. The ufual method of plowing up for this is with a breafr- plow, which a man pufhes before him, and cuts the turf off the furface, turning it over when he has cut it to about eighteen or twenty inches long. The common way is only to pare it about half an inch thick ; hut if it be very full of weeds, with iftubborn roots, it is better to go deeper.
If the fcafon proves dry, the turf needs no more turning, but dries as it lies. If it be wet, it is neceflary to fet it on edge, and keep it hollow till the wind and air have fufficiently dried it. It is then to be piled up in little heaps, about the quan- tity of two wheel-barrows full in each heap ; and if there be much roots and a good head upon it, there needs no farther care but the letting it on fire, and the whole heap will be re- duced to allies ; but if it be earthy and too dead to burn out by itfelf, there muft be a heap of furze or heath laid under every parcel.
When the heaps arc reduced to afhes, they are left upon the place till fome rain comes to wet them ; otherwife, in the fpreading, they would all blow away. When they are wetted, the farmer takes the opportunity of a calm day, and fpreads them as equally as poflible over the whole land, cutting away the earth a little under the heaps, to abate its over great fertility there. After this, the land is to be plowed but very fhallow, and the corn is to he fown upon it only in half the quantity that it is upon other land, and the later this is fown the better. If it be wheat, the beft time is the latter end of October ; for, if fown fooner, it is apt to grow too rank. The beginning of May is the proper time for cutting the turf off from thefe lands, becaufe there is then time fufficient to get the land in order for fowing at the proper feafon. The whole charge of cutting, carrying, and burning the turf, is generally about twenty-four millings an acre.
The turf is not to he burnt to white afhes, for this waftes a great part of its fait ; it is only to be burnt fo as to crumble all to pieces, and be in a condition to fpread well upon the land ; and it is better that the heaps of it mould burn flowly and gra- dually than furiouily.
Some farmers flub up furze, heath, and the like, and, covering heaps of them with the parings of the earth, fet fire to them ; others burn the ftubble of the corn-fields, and others the ftalks of all forts of weeds, and add half a peck of unflaked lime to every bufhel of the allies. They cover the lime with the aflics, and leave the heaps in this manner till there comes fome rain to flake the lime ; and, after this, they fpread the mixture care- fully over the field. There is one great advantage attending this fort of manure, which is, that it does not breed weeds like the common way with dung, but only fills the ears of the corn, not running them up intoftalk; but it is proper to add fome dung to thefe lands at the time of plowing them up for a fecond or third crop of corn. Mortimer's Hufbandry.
Burning_/^7«£-, in natural hiftory. See the article Spring.
Burning zone, in geography. See Torrid zone, Cycl.
BURNISHED gold or fiver, denotes thofe metals laid on any work or leaves, and afterwards paffed over with a burnifher to heighten their luftrc. Park. Treat. Japann. c. 20. p. 61, feq
BURNISHERS (Cycl.)-Bumijhers for gold and Giver are com- monly made of a dog's or wolf's tooth, fet in the end of an iron or wooden handle. Of late, agates and pebble.; have been introduced, which many prefer to the dog's tooth. FeUb. Princ. dcFArchit. p. 363. voc. BrunifJ'oir. The burvifoers ufed by engravers in copper, ufually ferve with one end to burnifli, and with the other to fcrape. Park, Treat. Japann. c. 19. p. 60. Felib. ibid. 1.2. c. 10, p. 281. Item, p. 263 & 284.
BURNT, (Cycl.) in fpeaking of medicines, imports as much as imperfc&Iy calcined. Libav, Synt. Arc. Chym. T. 2. p. 147. See Calcination, Cycl. and Suppl.
Burnt bodies are generally dry and aftringent. The other me- dicinal qualities belonging to bodies are frequently deftroyed, at lean: impaired by the burning. Cajl. Lex. Med. p. 751. voc. Uftus.
Burnt way, comli/fiavia, among aftrologers, that part of the zodiac from the beginning of Libra to the middle of Scorpio ; or, according to others, from the middle of Libra to the end of Scorpio, comprehending 45 degrees : a fpace fuppofed very un- fortunate, and in which the planets arc much enfeebled in their virtues, efpecially the moon. Vital. Lex. Math. p. 118. voc. Combujla. Burnt planet. — A planet is faid to beburnt, combuflus, when it is in conjunction, or nearlv fo, with the fun. Thus Saturn is faid to be burnt, when not above five degrees diflant from the fun, Jupiter, when fix, csV. Planets, in this fituation, are fuppt fed to be much weakened or enfeebled in their influences. Vital. Lex. Math. p. 117, feq. Wolf. Lex. Math. p. 402. voc. Combuflus. BURRS, denote bits of flefh adjoining to the horns of a beefs hide, cut off by poor women after it is brought to market. Hcugbt. CoflecE. T. 1. N° 12R. p. 337. EURRAS-^/?V, an infrrument ufed by goldfmiths, cenfifting of a copper box, with a fpout, having teeth like a faw ; fometimes alfo ufed by furgeons for the application of certain folid medi- cines by infperfion. Horn. Introd. Chirurg. feci:. 1. p. 72. BURREL-_/?y, in natural hiftory, the name given by the people of many parts of England to the cwvicauda, or wringle-tail ; a fpecics of bee-fly, very trouhlefome to horfes. It is very like the common bee, but lias only two wings, and has no iVing. See the article We iNCLi;-to7. BURROCK, a fmall wear or dam, where wheels are laid in a river for the taking of fiih. Diet. Ruft. in voc. iee the ar- ticle Wear, Cycl. BUR ROUGH- duck, in zoology, a common Emi'iifh name for the tadonw, afpeciesof duck of many beautiful colours, called alfo thence the fhell-drake. It is common on the coaft of Lan- cashire, and in fome other places, and feems to have obtained its name borrough-duck from its often lying in deferted rabbet- holes, ^ee the article Tadoma. BURROWS, holes in a warren, fei;ving as a covert for rabbets, C3Y. DicE Ruft. T. 1. in voc. See the article Warren, Cycl. and Suppl.
A coney's coming out of her burrow, is called bolting. To catch coneys, they fometimes lay purfe-nets over the burrows, then put in a terrier clofe muzzled, which making the creature bolt, flic is caught in the net. Cox, Gent. Recr. P. 1. p. 93. Burrow, or Barrow, is alfo a denomination given by our Saxon anceftors to what the Romans called tu?nulus. Plot, Nat. Hift. Oxford, c. ic. §. 48. p. 332. See the article Barrow. BURSA, Burfe, originally fignifies a purfe. Spebn. GlofT p. 95. DuCange, GlofE Eat. T. J. p. 654. Cafcn. Orig. Franc, p. 28. Revocatio per Bursam, in the Norman laws, is a right belong- ing to the next akin, to redeem or purchafe back, within a year after fale, a fee or tenement alienated by his kinfman, on pay- ing the price it had been fold at. Du Cange, ubi fupra. Bursa is more particularly ufed in middle age writers for a little college or hall in an univerlity, for the refidence of fludents, called burjales, or burfaru. Scboet. Lex. Ant. p. 245. Bursa, Burfe, or Bourfe, in the French univerfities, frill de- notes a foundation for the maintenance of poor fcholars in their ftudies.
The nomination to burfes is in the hands of the patrons and founders thereof. The burfes of colleges are not benefices, but mere places affigned to certain countries and perfons. A burfe becomes vacant by the burfars being promoted to a cure, as be- ing incompatible. In the college of cardinal Maine at Paris, there are two forts of burfes, leffer, for young fcholars, who can only enjoy them fix years, that is, as long as fufnees for their rifing to the degree of mafter of arts ; and greater, which may beheld nine years, or till the iEudents obtain -the degree of doctors. Trev. DicE Univ. T. 1. p. 1 182. voc. Bourfe. Bursa pajloris, Shepherd's purfe, in botany, the name of a ge- nus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The flower confifts of four leaves, and is of the cruciform kind. The piftil arifes from the cup, and finally becomes a flat triangular feed-vefTel, filled with fmall feeds, and divided into two cells by an intermediate membrane, to which there adhere valves on each fide. The fpecies of burfa pajloris, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe: 1. The larger jbepherd's purfe, with whole leaves. 2. The larger fepherd's purje, with finuatcd leaves. 3. The hrgzr jbepberd' s purfe, with elegantly divided leaves, like thofe of buckshorn plantain. 4. The ledery?;^- berd's pnrp. 5. The daify-leaved mountain foepberd's purfe. Tourn. Irift. p. 2 r 6.
This is an officinal plant; its juice is reputed aftringent and vulnerary, and as fuch is ufed againft haemorrhages, dyfente- ries, diarrharas, &c.
The country people apply it to cuts and frefh wounds ; and fome hold it of great virtue when made up into a cataplafm, and applied to the wrifts againft tertians and quartans, ^tdnc. Difpenf. P. 2. fedE 2. n. 99. p. 94. Jwuk. Confp. 'i her. P-437- BURSALIS ?nufculus, in anatomy, a name given by Cowper and others to a mufcle of the thigh, called alfo viarfupialis by the fame authors. It is the obturator internus of Winflow and Alb't-
