a strong town with a castle, about three leagues from Sedan, on the river Semoys: It is capital of a duchy of the same name, situated between the duchy duchy of Luxemburg and bishoprick of Liege: E. lon. 5°, and N. lat. 49° 49'.

Bouillon, in the menage, a lump or excrescence of flesh, that grows either upon, or just by, the frush, insomuch that the frush shoots out, just like a lump of flesh, and makes the horse halt; and this we call the flesh blowing upon the frush. Menage horses, that never wet their feet, are subject to these excrescences, which make them very lame. See Frush.

Bovines, a small town in the province of Namur, in the Austrian Netherlands, about ten miles south of Namur: E. long. 4° 50', and N. lat. 50° 20'.

Bovino, a small city of the Capitoline, in the kingdom of Naples, about sixty miles east of the city of Naples: E. long. 16° 15', and N. lat. 41°.

Bovista, in botany, a synonyme of the lycoperdon. See Lycoperdon.

Boulder-wall, a kind of wall built of round flints or pebbles, laid in a strong mortar, and used where the sea has a beach cast up, or where there are plenty of flints.

Boulette, in the menage. A horse is called boulette, when the fetlock, or pastern-joint, bends forward, and out of its natural situation; whether through violent riding, or by reason of being too short jointed, in which case the least fatigue will bring it.

Boulogne, or Pologne, a port-town of France, situated in the province of Picardy, on the English channel: E. long. 1° 30', and N. lat. 50° 40'.

Boulting, a term which workmen use for a moulding, the convexity of which is just one fourth of a circle, being the member next below the plinth in the Tuscan and Doric capital.

Bounce, in ichthyology, the English name of a species of squalus. See Squalus.

Bounds of lands. See Abutts.

Bounty, in commerce, a premium paid by the government to the exporters of certain British commodities, as sail-cloth, gold and silver lace, silk stockings, fish, corn, &c.

The happy influence which bounties have on trade and manufactures is well known: Nor can there be a more convincing proof of the good intentions of the government under which we live, than the great care that is taken to give all possible encouragement to those who shall establish, or improve, any hazardous branch of trade.

Bourbon, or Mascarenha, an island in the Indian ocean, about one hundred miles east of Madagascar, and subject to France: E. long. 54°, and S. lat. 21°.

Bourbon-Archebaut, the capital of the duchy of Bourbon, in the Lyonnaise, in France: E. long. 3° 10', and N. lat. 46° 35'.

Bourbon-Lancy, a town of Burgundy, in France; in 3° 46' E. long. and 46° 33' N. lat.

Bourbourg, or Bourbouch, a town of the French Netherlands, about ten miles south-west of Dunkirk; in 2° 10' E. long. and 50° 50' N. lat.

Bordeaux, the capital of all Guienne and Gascony, situated on the river Garonne, in 40° W. long. and 44° 50' N. lat.

Bourdines, a town of the Austrian Netherlands, 10 miles north-east of Namur; in 5° E. long. and 50° 35' N. lat.

Bourdone'e, in heraldry, the same with pomée. See Pomé'e.

Bourg, the capital of the island of Cayenne, a French colony on the coast of Guiana, in South America; in 52° W. long. and 5° N. lat.

Bourg-en-Bresse, the capital of Bresse, in the province of Burgundy, in France, 36 miles W. of Geneva, and 32 north of Lyons; in 5° 5' E. long. 46° 20' N. lat.

Bourg-sur-Mer, a town of Guienne, in France, 15 miles north of Bordeaux, in 3° W. long.

Bourges, the capital of the territory of Berry, in the Orléanais, in France, situated about 50 miles southeast of Orleans; in 2° 30' W. long. and 47° 10' N. lat.

Bourget, a town of Savoy, six miles north of Chamberry; 5° 55' E. long. and 45° 45' N. lat.

Bourignonists, the name of a sect among the Low Country Protestants, being such as follow the doctrine of Antoinette Bourignon, a native of Lisle, an apostate of the Roman Catholic religion.

The principles of this sect bear a very near resemblance to those of the Quietists or Quakers.

Bouro, an island in the Indian Ocean, subject to the Dutch; E. long. 124°, and S. lat. 3° 30'.

Bout, in the menage. A horse is said to be a-bout, when he is overdone, and quite spent with fatigue.

Boutant, or Arch-boutant, in architecture, an arch, or part of an arch, abutting against the reins of a vault to prevent its giving way.

A pillar Boutant is a large chain or pile of stone, made to support a wall, terrace, or vault.

Boute'e, in the menage. A horse is called boute'e, when his legs are in a straight line from the knee to the coronet: Short-jointed horses are apt to be boute'e; and, on the other hand, long-jointed horses are not.

Bouton, an island in the Indian Ocean: E. long. 121° 30', and lying between 4° and 5° S. lat.

Bouvillon, a city of Luxemburg, in the Austrian Netherlands, about 40 miles west of Luxemburg: E. long. 5° and N. lat. 49° 55'.

Bow, a weapon of offence made of steel, wood, horn, or other elastic substances, which, after being bent by means of a string fastened to its two ends, in returning to its natural state, throws out an arrow with prodigious force.

The use of the bow is, without all doubt, of the earliest antiquity. It has likewise been the most universal of all weapons, having obtained amongst the most barbarous and remote people, who had the least communication with the rest of mankind.

The figure of the bow is pretty much the same in all countries, where it has been used; for it has generally two inflexions or bendings, between which, in the place where the arrow is drawn, is a right line. The Grecian bow was in the shape of a Ξ, of which form we meet with many, and generally adorned with gold or silver. The Scythian bow was distinguished... distinguished from the bows of Greece and other nations, by its incursion, which was so great, as to form an half moon or semicircle. The matter of which bows were made, as well as their size, differed in different countries. The Persians had very great bows made of reeds; and the Indians had also, not only arrows, but bows made of the reeds or canes of that country; the Lycian bows were made of the cornel tree; and those of the Ethiopians, which surpassed all others in magnitude, were made of the palm-tree.

Though it does not appear, that the Romans made use of bows in the infancy of their republic, yet they afterwards admitted them as hostile weapons, and employed auxiliary archers in all their wars.

In drawing the bow, the primitive Grecians did not pull back their hand towards their right ear, according to the fashion of modern ages, and of the ancient Persians, but, placing their bow directly before them, returned their hand upon their right breast. This was also the custom of the Amazons.

The bow is a weapon of offence amongst the inhabitants of Asia, Africa, and America, at this day; and in Europe, before the invention of fire-arms, a part of the infantry were armed with bows. Lewis XI. first abolished the use of them in France, introducing, in their place, the halbard, pike, and broad sword. The long bow was formerly in great vogue in England, and many laws were made to encourage the use of it. The parliament under Henry VII. complained of the disuse of long bows, heretofore the safeguard and defence of this kingdom, and the dread and terror of its enemies.

Bow is also an instrument formerly used at sea for taking the sun's altitude; consisting of a large arch of ninety degrees graduated, a shank or staff, a shade vane, a sight vane, and an horizon vane. It is now out of use.

Bow, among builders, a beam of wood or brass, with three long screws, that direct a lath of wood or steel to any arch; chiefly used in drawing draughts of ships, and projections of the sphere; or wherever it is requisite to draw large arches.

Bow, in music, a small machine, which, being drawn over the strings of a musical instrument, makes it resound. It is composed of a small stick, to which are fastened eighty or a hundred horse-hairs, and a screw which serves to give these hairs the proper tension. In order that the bow may touch the strings briskly, it is usual to rub the hairs with rosin.

Bow, among artificers, an instrument so called from its figure; in use among gunsmiths, locksmiths, watchmakers, &c. for making a drill go. Among turners, it is the name of that pole fixed to the ceiling, to which they fasten the cord that whirls round the piece to be turned.

Bows of a saddle are two pieces of wood laid archwise to receive the upper part of a horse's back, to give the saddle its due form, and to keep it tight.

The fore-bow, which sustains the pommel, is composed of the withers, the breasts, the points or toes, and the corking. See Withers, &c.

The hind-bow bears the troupéquin or quilted roll. The bows are covered with sinews, that is, with bulls pizzels beaten, and so run all over the bows to make them stronger. Then they are strengthened with bands of iron to keep them tight, and, on the lower side, are nailed on the faddle-straps, with which they make fast the girths.

Bow of a ship, that part which begins at the loof, and compassing ends of the stem, and ends at the sternmost part of the fore-castle.

If a ship have a broad round bow, they call it a bold bow. If she has a narrow thin bow, they say she has a lean bow.

Bow-line. See Bowling.

Bow-pieces are the pieces of ordinance at the bow of a ship.

Rain-bow. See Rain-bow, and Optics.

Bow-bearer, an inferior officer of the forest, who is sworn to make inquisition of all trespasses against venison, and to attack offenders.