or Bucks, an inland county of England, lying between 51.25. and 52.10. N. Lat. and 0.28. and 1.12. W. Long., is bounded on the N. and N.W. by Northamptonshire, west by Oxfordshire, south by Berkshire, and east by Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Middlesex. It is the thirty-third in size of the English counties, measuring 53 miles at its greatest length and 27 at its greatest breadth, and containing, according to the last ordnance survey, 472,320 acres, or 738 square miles. The aspect of the country is agreeably diversified by the distribution of forests, rivers, hills, pasture, and arable land. In the southern portion of the county the forests, consisting chiefly of beeches (from the Saxon name of which, buccen, the county is said to derive its name), were at one time very extensive, but these have of late years been greatly thinned; woods of considerable extent are still to be found in the northern parts. The principal rivers of Buckinghamshire are the Thames, which separates it from Berkshire and Surrey, and receives as tributaries the Colne and the Thame; and the Ouse, with its tributary the Ousel, which belongs to the north of the county. The only hills in Bucks worth mentioning are the Chilterns, which cross it in a north-westerly direction, and rise at two or three points to the height of about 900 feet. Of the roads which pass through the county the most important arc, that which connects London with Chester and Holyhead, by which the mails were forwarded to Ireland before the introduction of railways; the great western road connecting the metropolis with Bath and Bristol; and the roads to Oxford and Birmingham. The only canal of any importance is the Grand Junction, from which branches proceed to several of the larger towns. The North-Western railway passes through the east of the county, and a branch line from it terminates at Aylesbury. Another branch intersects the north-western district, and after passing Winslow, divides into two branches, one of which terminates at Banbury and the other at Oxford. The Great Western railway passes through the south. A branch to Windsor quits the trunk line at Slough.

The agricultural capacities of Bucks vary considerably in different parts of its extent. The Vale of Aylesbury, lying between hills on either side, is one of the most fertile and valuable districts in England, and is divided in nearly equal proportions between pasture and tillage. Towards the north of the county, however, the soil greatly degenerates, and sometimes does little more than pay the expenses incurred in its cultivation. These natural defects are enhanced by the extremely backward condition of agriculture in many of the more remote districts. In the north and west of the county, the rent of land ranged in 1850 from ten shillings an acre for the lowest quality of undrained lands under tillage, to fifty shillings for prime old grazing lands. In the southern and eastern districts, which lie chiefly upon clay, the rent varied from fifteen to thirty shillings an acre. The farms are not generally large. The largest do not exceed 500 acres, while there are many of not more than 20 or 30 acres. The average size is about 180 or 200 acres. Leases are sometimes though not generally given, and never for more than 14 years. The quantities of cattle reared and fed in Bucks are very considerable. The number of milk cows is estimated at upwards of 20,000, yielding on an average about 4,000,000 lb. of butter, which is rapidly despatched to London by rail, where it finds a ready market. Various breeds of oxen are found serviceable, partly for ploughing the soil and partly to be fattened for the London market. Hogs are extensively reared on many farms, and are found to be a source of considerable profit to the farmer. In many parts of the county, especially at Aylesbury, great numbers of ducks are fattened and sold in the early London markets.

Bucks was originally divided into eighteen hundreds: it is now divided into eight. These are Newport, Buckingham, Ashendon, Cottlesloe, Aylesbury, Burnham, Stoke, and Desborough, the last three forming what is well known as "The Chiltern Hundreds." That of Aylesbury, still retains its ancient designation of the "three hundreds of Aylesbury." The number of parishes in the entire county is computed at 202. The market-towns are Amersham, Aylesbury (in all respects the most important town in the county, though Buckingham is the capital), Beaconsfield, Buckingham, Chesham, Great Marlowe, High Wycombe, Ivinghoe, Newport-Pagnell, Olney, Prince's Risborough, Sony Stratford, Wendover, and Winslow. There are many other interesting, though not very important places in Buckinghamshire, of which we may mention Chalfont-Saint-Giles—the residence for a time of the poet Milton, and where he completed the Paradiso Lost, and began the Paradiso Regained; Hampden, the manor-house of which was for many generations the abode of the family of that name, and in the churchyard of which the patriot (who fell at Chalgrave in 1643) is buried; Medmenham, in the old abbey of which a celebrated club of "Franciscans," of which John Wilkes, Bubb Doddington, and other political notoriety of last century were members, held their convivial meetings; Pitstone, in the abbey of which Queen Elizabeth used frequently to reside in her younger days; Buckler, Stoke Poges, celebrated by Grey in his Elegy and Long Story; Slough, for many years the residence of Sir William Herschel, and the place where his great telescope was constructed; not far from Slough Salthill, where the Eton Montem, recently abolished, used to be held; Olney, familiar to all the readers of Cowper, near which is Weston Underwood, for some years the residence of that poet; and Butler's Court or Gregory's, the seat of Edmund Burke. The principal seats in Buckinghamshire, are Stowe, once the residence of the dukes of Buckingham, and celebrated for its grounds, and its collections of pictures and statues, which were sold a few years ago; Bulstrode, once a seat of the dukes of Portland, now the property of the Duke of Somerset; Wootton House, belonging to the Marquis of Chandos; Hampden House to the Earl of Buckinghamshire; Penn House to Earl Howe; Eythorpe to the Earl of Chesterfield; Ashridge to Lord Ellesmere; Dropmore to Lady Grenville; Ashton Clinton to Lord Lake; Morton House to Lord Godolphin; Dilton Park to Lord Montague; Lillies to Lord Nugent. Bucks is in the Norfolk circuit. The quarter-sessions are always held at Aylesbury: the assizes used to be held alternately at that town and Buckingham, but are now held only at Aylesbury. Before the passing of the Reform bill, Bucks returned in all fourteen members to the House of Commons. It now returns eleven, three of whom represent the county and eight the parliamentary boroughs. The result of the county elections is always announced at Aylesbury. Bucks is governed by a lord-lieutenant and custos, 60 deputy-lieutenants, a high sheriff, and about 200 magistrates. It lies in the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury, in the diocese of Oxford, and archi-deaconry of Buckingham, which comprises the deaneries of Bucks, Burnham, Muresey, Newport, Waddesden, Wendover, and Wycombe, in all about 180 benefices. The total number of places of worship in Bucks is 499, of which 266 belong to the Church of England; 56 to the Independents; 72 to the Baptists; 8 to the Society of Friends; 120 to the Wesleyan Methodists; 12 to isolated congregations; 4 to the Roman Catholics; and 1 to the Latter-Day Saints. The entire population of the county in 1851 was 163,554, of whom 80,990 were males and 82,564 females. The parliamentary boroughs returning each two members to parliament are Aylesbury, pop. 26,794; Buckingham, pop. 8069; Chipping Wycombe, pop. 7179; Great Marlow, pop. 6523. The towns of more than 2000 inhabitants, not corporate towns, nor included in any parliamentary borough, are Amersham, pop. 2093; Chesham, pop. 2496; Newport-Pagnell, pop. 3312. The manufactures of Buckinghamshire are neither very extensive nor very important. The principal are those of lace and straw-plait. The number of persons chiefly engaged in agriculture is about 14 per cent.; in trade and manufactures about 12 per cent. The number of inhabited houses in the county is 33,160; uninhabited, 1206; building, 98.