BURRAMPOOTER, or BRAMAPOOTRA, is the largest river in India. Its sources, not yet explored, seem to be situated near lake Manasarovara, in Thibet, near those of the Indus. In Thibet, it is called the Sanpoo, flows by Lassa, the residence of the Grand Lama, and, after being lost to European knowledge, re-appears in Assam. In its rise and fall, its periods coincide nearly with those of the Ganges. Its navigation is rendered difficult by shifting sand-banks, and trunks of trees sticking in its bed. After entering Bengal, it joins the Ganges, at Luckipoor, where the united rivers form a wide gulf, communicating with the sea of Bengal. The course of the B. is estimated at about 1650 miles. Rising from opposite sides of the same mountains, and separating to a distance of 1200 miles, the B. and the Ganges are destined to mingle their waters again in the same channel.

enclosed by the ridges of Olympus, and abounds in hot springs. The castle, which is about a mile in circumference, is supposed to be the Prusa of the ancients, built, according to Pliny (v. 22), by Hannibal. In the 14th century, it was taken by the Turks, and became the capital of the Ottoman empire previous to the capture of Constantinople. Its port is Montagna, or Mondania, on the sea of Marmora, 75 miles S. W. of Constantinople. Lon. 29° 12′ E.; lat. 40° 11' N.

BURSCHEN; the name given to one another by the students at the German universities. It is derived from bursales or bursarii, the name which the students bore in the middle ages, from the buildings (bursa) in which they lived in common. (See Universities.)

BURTON, Robert; a writer of the 17th century. He was born at Lindley, in Leicestershire, 1576, educated at Oxford, embraced the ecclesiastical profession, and became rector of Segrave, in Leicestershire. His learning, which was various and extensive, is copiously displayed in the Anatomy of Melancholy, by Democ ritus Junior, first published in 1621, and repeatedly reprinted. B. died in 1640, and was buried at Christ church, with the following epitaph, said to have been his own composition:

Paucis notus, paucioribus ignotus,
Hic jacet Democritus Junior;
Cui vitam pariter et mortem
Dedit Melancholia,

BURRILL, James, a distinguished senator of the U. States, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, April 25, 1772. He received his education at the college in Providence, now Brown university, and was graduated in Sept. 1788. He then pursued the study of the law, and was adimitted to practise in the supreme court of the state before he reached his majority. In a few years, he stood at the head of his profession in Rhode Island. In October, 1797, he was elected, by the general assembly, attorney-general of the state, and annually after, by the people, for seventeen successive elections. The decay of his health, and other causes, induced him He was a man of integrity and benevo to resign that office in May, 1813. In lence, but subject to strange fits of hypo1816, he was appointed, by the general chondriac melancholy, which rendered assembly, chief justice of the supreme his conduct flighty and inconsistent, court, having been, for several years pre- Sometimes he was an agreeable and vious, speaker of the house of represen- lively companion, delighting those around tatives of Rhode Island, In the next him with perpetual sallies of wit and huyear, he was placed in the senate of the mor; while, at other times, devoured with L'. States, of which he remained a highly spleen and ennui, he sought relief by esteemed member until the period of his listening to the jests of the bargemen on decease, December 25, 1820. the river near Oxford. He is reported also to have undertaken the composition of his Anatomy of Melancholy with a view to the dissipation of his morbid feelings. Among those who have been most deeply indebted to B, is the facetious author of Tristram Shandy; who has, however, been perhaps too harshly censured for a fault which every man of general and extensive reading knows to be common to almost all great writ ers.

BURSA, a city of Natolia, in Asiatic Turkey, with a population of about 60,000 Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Jews, engaged in commerce, and the manufacture of satins, silk stuffs, carpets, gauze, &c. The bazars are filled with merchandise, and the caravans, passing from Aleppo and Smyrna to Constantinople, promote its commerce. It contains 140 mosques, two of which are magnificent, and is adorned with an immense number of fountains. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the empire, situated in a fertile and finely-wooded plain, which is

BURTON-UPON-TRENT; a town of Eng, land, on the north bank of the Trent, which is here crossed by a fine old bridge

of 36 arches. B. is a borough, and the inhabitants have the privilege of exemption from county juries. It is mentioned early in Saxon history, and suffered much in the civil wars. It is chiefly celebrated for its excellent ale, of which vast quantities are made, both for home consumption and exportation. Contrary to common usage, the brewers, in preparing it, employ hard instead of soft water. (See Brewing.) Population, in 1821, 6700. Lon. 1° 36′ W.; lat. 52° 50′ N.

tom was preserved by the Christians. The sepulchres in churches originate from an inclination, common to men of all times and nations, to honor their relations, even in the grave. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans erected over the graves of men of rank, or persons otherwise remarkable, pyramids, mausolea or temples, After the introduction of Christianity, little churches, called chapels, were erect ed over the dead. The early Christian martyrs were buried in caverns, which, by degrees, were enlarged to spacious subterranean vaults, and called chambers of repose. In the sequel, others considered themselves happy if their bones were allowed to repose near the ashes of a martyr. The sepulchres of the martyrs were, on this account, distinguished by a white altar over them. When the Christians were allowed the public exercise of their religion, they erected churches, and the heathen temples became places of Christian worship. As early as the 4th century, they built churches over the sepulchres of the holy martyrs; and, in the belief that a place was sanctified by their ashes, they anxiously sought out, on the erection of new churches in cities, or the transformation of heathen temples into Christian churches, the remains (relics) of the martyrs, and buried them under the altar of the new church, to communicate to it a character of greater sanctity. It gradually came to be universally coa

BURY ST. EDMUND's; a town in Suffolk, England, formerly surrounded with walls. It contains two fine churches, with numerous monuments, and, before the reformation, had five hospitals. Of many benevolent institutions, the principal is a free school founded by Edward VI. It is one of the greatest corn markets in the kingdom, and its great fair, in October, which lasts three weeks, is attended by the nobility and gentry of the neighborhood. The town is a borough, returning two representatives. It is an ancient place, and is supposed to have derived its name from St. Edmund, a king of the East Angles, who was buried here. The barons, in John's reign, met here, and formed a league against him. B. has been the seat of two parliaments, and contains the remains of an abbey, the most wealthy and magnificent in Britain, "with gates of brass, towers and high walls, so that one might think the monastery alone a city." Barren women, desirous of off-sidered, among the Christians, a privilege spring, offered a white bull at the shrine of St. Edmund's. 72 miles N. N. E. of London. Lat. 52° 50′ N.

BURYING-PLACES. The custom of burying the dead in public places prevailed among the most ancient nations. The Romans had this custom in the earliest times. Afterwards, in the flourishing periods of the republic, they burnt their dead, and only buried the ashes, collected in urns (urna). The ancient Germans buried their dead in the groves consecrated by their priests. With the introduction of the Christian religion, consecrated places were appropriated for the purpose of general burial; and it was regarded as ignominious not to be buried in consecrated earth. The deprivation of the rites of burial was, therefore, part of the punishment of excommunication. The Romans were accustomed to provide their sepulchres at least with a stone, upon which was inscribed the name of the deceased, and the wish, May he rest in peace (Sit illi terra levis, that is, May the earth rest lightly upon him). This cus

to be buried in the neighborhood of a saint. The emperor Constantine, who died in 337, was the first person that we know of, who ordered his sepulchre to be erected in a church. This was done in the church of the apostles at Constantinople, of which he was the founder, and therefore, probably, considered himself as peculiarly entitled to this privilege. He was soon imitated by the bishops, and, in the sequel, all those who had enriched the church were distinguished by the honor. The emperors Theodosius and Justinian, indeed, forbade the erection of sepulchres in churches, but in vain. Leo the Philosopher again permitted them to every body. It is only in later times that men have become convinced how injunous it is to the health of the living to remain, for a long time, in the vicinity of the dead; particularly if the corpses remain standing in simple coffins, and are not placed deep in the earth, as is com monly the case in the sepulchral vaults of churches. From these the effluvia of putrefaction escape easily, and diffuse

rodox opinions, he received an invitation to become pastor in a Lutheran church at Petersburg. In 1766, he was made director of the united gymnasiums of Berlin and of the suburb Köln, and discharged his duties with great diligence. He died in 1793. He is chiefly distinguished as a geographer. Before his great work, Allgemeine Erdbeschreibung, which he began to publish in 1754, in separate volumes, and which, though not entirely completed by the author, passed through eight legal editions during his life, neither the Germans nor any other nation had a thoroughly scientific geographical work.

BUSEMBAUM, Hermann, a Jesuit, famous for his Medulla Theologia moralis, ex variis probatisque Auctoribus concinnata, born at Nottelen, in Westphalia, 1600, rector of the Jesuits' colleges at Hildesheim and Münster, died in 1668. His work was much used in the seminaries of the Jesuits, and had passed through 50 editions, when father Lacroix published it, increased from a single duodecimo to two folios by his own commentaries and the additions of father Collendall. It was published at Lyons, in 1729, with further additions by father Montausan. The latter edition was reprinted, in 1758, at Cologne. It was now found to contain principles concerning homicide and regicide, which appeared the more reprehensible on account of the recent attempt on the life of Louis XV, by Damiens. The parliament of Toulouse caused the work to be publicly burnt, and summoned the superiors of the Jesuits to appear at their bar for trial. They disavowed the doctrines of the book, declared themselves ignorant of the author, and denied that any Jesuit had any share in it. The parliament of Paris was satisfied with condemning the book. Against both these sentences, father Zacharia, an Italian Jesuit, with the permission of his superiors, stepped forward as the defender of B. and Lacroix; but his defence was condemned by the parliament of Paris, B. was also the author of Lilium inter Spinas, de Virginibus Deo devotis eique in Saculo inservientibus,

BUSHEL; an English dry measure, containing 8 gallons or 4 pecks. It is also used in the North American U. States. The standard English bushel (12 Henry VII) contains 8 gallons of wheat, each of 8 pounds troy, each of 12 ounces, each of 20 pennyweights, each of 32 corns of wheat that grew in the middle of the ear. In 1696, a duty being laid upon malt, it

became necessary to ascertain the exact contents of the Winchester bushel, as that of Henry VII was called. It was found that the capacity was 2151.7 cubic inches of pure water, equivalent to 1131 oz., 13 dwts. troy. (See J. Q. Adams's Report upon Weights and Measures, Washington, 1821.) The capacity of the Imperial bushel, prescribed by the act of uniformity (5 Geo. IV, c. 74), which took effect Jan. 1, 1826, is, for coal, potatoes, fruits, and other goods sold by heaped measure, 2815 cubic inches, the goods to be heaped up in the form of a cone, to a height above the rim of the measure of at least three fourths of its depth. The imperial bushel for all liquids, and for corn and other dry goods not heaped, contains 2218.20 cubic inches, and holds 80 lbs. avoirdupois of pure water.

BUSHIRE, OF ABUSHEHR; the principal seaport of Persia, situated on the Persian gulf, with 5000 inhabitants. The principal exports are carpets, wine of Shiraz, rose-water, drugs, pearls and cotton. The English East India company have a factory here. Lon. 50° 43′ E.; lat. 280 59 N.

BUSHMEN, or BOSHMEN; the common name of that wild race of people, who dwell in the western part of South Africa, in the immense plains bordering ou the north side of the colony of the cape of Good Hope, and are lost in the unknown regions of the interior. Janssens, formerly Dutch governor at the cape, gives the following account of them:-The Bushmen are a wild, rude, cruel and miserable people. So far from forming a nation, they do not even form societies. They live together in single families, and unite in great numbers only for defence or for pillage. They do not cultivate the land, and have no domestic animals except the dog. Their usual food is locusts. They endure hunger for a long time, but indemnify themselves by their voracity if they are so fortunate as to kill any wild game, or steal an ox or a sheep. They are entirely destitute of huts and household furniture. The scorching heaven is their tent, and the hot sand their bed. Their weapons consist of a small bow and poisoned arrows, which they shoot, with astonishing accuracy, to a great dis tance, Their language is exceedingly poor. It consists of a certain rattling with the tongue, and harsh, gurgling tones, for which we have no letters. They are, for the most part, of low sta ure; their skin is of a dark-yellow; and their hair, which resembles wool, is twist