See MAMMALIA, and AGRICULTURE.

(Italian bollo, Latin bulla), among ecclesiastics, a letter written on parchment, sealed with lead, and issued by order of the pope, from the Roman rota or chancery. It is a kind of apostolical rescript or edict, and is chiefly in use in matters of justice or grace. If the former be the intention of the bull, the lead is hung by a hempen cord; if the latter, by a silken thread. It is this pendent lead or seal which is, properly speaking, the bull, and which is impressed on the one side with the heads of St Peter and St Paul, and on the other with the name of the pope and the year of his pontificate. The bull is written in an old round Gothic character, and is divided into five parts, the narrative of the fact, the conception, the clause, the date, and the salutation, in which the pope styles himself *episcopus, servus servorum*, or the servant of servants. This instrument has about it a cross, with some text of Scripture, or religious motto. Bulls are granted for the consecration of bishops, the promotion to benefices, the celebration of jubilees, &c., &c.

*Bull in Cena Domini*, a particular bull read in the pope's presence every year, on the day of the Lord's Supper, or Maundy Thursday, and containing excommunications and anathemas against heretics, and all who disturb or oppose the jurisdiction of the holy see. After the reading of the bull, the pope throws a burning torch in the public place, to denote the thunder of this anathema.

Golden Bull, a statute or enactment published A.D.1356, by the Emperor Charles IV., and hence called Caroline, reputed to be the magna charta or the fundamental law of the German empire. It is called golden because it has a golden seal, in the form of a pope's bull, tied with yellow and red cords of silk; while on one side the emperor is represented sitting on his throne, and on the other the capitol of Rome. Till the publication of the golden bull, the form and ceremony of the election of an emperor were unsettled, and the number of the electors was not fixed. This solemn edict regulated the functions, rights, privileges, and precedence of the electors. The original, which is in Latin, on vellum, is preserved at Frankfort. This ordinance, containing thirty articles or chapters, was approved by all the princes of the empire.

Silver Bulls were not usual, though instances of them occur.

Leaden Bulls were sent by the emperors of Constantinople to patriarchs and princes; and they were also used by the grandees of the imperial court, as well as by the kings of France, Sicily, and other countries; and by bishops, patriarchs, and popes. It is to be observed that the leaden bulls of these last had, on one side, the name of the pope or bishop inscribed. According to Polydore Virgil, Pope Stephen III. was the first who used leaden bulls, about the year 772; but instances of them are to be met with as early as the times of Silvester, Leo I., and Gregory the Great. The latter popes, besides their own names, strike the figures of St Peter and St Paul on their bulls, a practice first introduced by Pope Paschal II. But why, in these bulls, the figure of St Paul is on the right, and that of St Peter on the left side, is a question which has occasioned many conjectures and disputes.

Waxen Bulls are said to have been first brought into England by the Normans. They were of two sorts, red and green, and were frequently used by the Greek emperors, who thus sealed letters to their relations.

Bull, George, bishop of St David's, was born at Wells in 1634, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford. The first benefice he enjoyed was that of St George's near Bristol, from which he rose successively to be rector of Sudington in Gloucestershire, prebendary of Gloucester, archdeacon of Llandaff, and in 1705 bishop of St David's. He died Feb. 17, 1710. During the time of the Commonwealth he adhered steadily, though with great prudence, to the forms of the Church of England; and in the reign of James II. preached very strenuously against the errors of Popery. His principal works are, *A Defence of the Nicene Faith*; *Apostolical Harmony*; *Primitive Apostolical Tradition*; besides which he wrote many others. His collected works were published in 1703 by the learned Dr Grabe, in 1 vol. folio.

Bull, John, a distinguished English composer and organist, was born in Somersetshire about 1563. In 1591 he was appointed organist in the Queen's chapel; in 1592 received his degree of Doctor of Music at Cambridge University; and in 1596 was made music-professor to Gresham College, London. As he was unable to lecture in Latin, according to the foundation-rules of that college, the executors of Sir Thomas Gresham made a dispensation in his favour by permitting him to lecture in English. He gave his first lecture on 6th October 1597. He afterwards visited France and Germany, and was everywhere received with the respect due to his talents. The absurd story told by Anthony Wood of Dr Bull's feet in composition at St Omer, is simply impossible. Honourable employments were offered to him by various continental princes; but he declined them, and returned to England, where he was appointed organist to James I. in 1607, and in the same year resigned his Gresham professorship. In 1613, he again went to the continent on account of his health; and, in the Netherlands, entered into the service of the archduke. According to some writers, he died in 1623 at Hamburg; according to others, at Lubeck. Little of his music has been published, and the opinions of critics differ much as to its merits.

Bull-fight, a favourite amusement among the Spaniards and Portuguese, consisting in a kind of combat between an armed man or torreador and a wild bull, either on foot or on horseback. This sport the Spaniards received from the Moors, among whom it was celebrated with great pomp. Some think that the Moors might have received the custom from the Romans, and the latter from the Greeks. Dr Plot is of opinion that the *Trapezophylax* *tyrpea* among the Thessalians, who first instituted this game, and of whom Julius Cesar learned and brought it to Rome, were the origin both of the Spanish and Portuguese bull-fighting, and of the English bull-running. See Spain.

Bull-Head. See Ichthyology, Index.