Part 69

Interred or sunk BUILDING, one whose area is below the surface of the place where it stands, and of which the lowest courses of stone are concealed.

In building there are three things to be considered, viz. commodity or conveniency; secondly, firmness or stability; thirdly, delight.

To accomplish which ends, Wotton considers the whole subject under two heads, namely, the seat or situation, and the work.

1. As for the seat, either that of the whole is to be considered, or that of its parts.

2. As to the situation, regard is to be had to the quality, temperature, and salubrity or healthiness of the air; that it be a good healthy air, not subject to foggy noisomeness from adjacent fens or marshes; also free from noxious mineral exhalations; nor should the place want the sweet influence of the sun-beams, nor be wholly destitute of the breezes of wind, that will fan and purge the air; the want of which would render it like a stagnated pool, and would be very unhealthy.

In the foundations of buildings, Vitruvius orders the ground to be dug up, to examine its firmness; that an apparent solidity is not to be trusted, unless the whole mould cut through be sound and solid: ’tis true, he does not say to what depth it should be dug: but Palladio determines it to be a sixth part of the height of the building.

The great laws of walling are:--1. That the walls stand perpendicular on the ground-work, the right angle being the foundation of all stability. 2. That the largest and heaviest materials be the lowest, as more proper to sustain others than be sustained themselves. 3. That the work diminish in thickness, as it rises, both for the ease of weight and to lessen the expence. 4. That certain courses, or lodges, of more strength than the rest, be interlaid, like bones, to sustain the wall from total ruin, if some of the under parts chance to decay. 5. Lastly, that the angles be firmly bound, they being the nerves of the whole fabric. These are sometimes fortified on each side the corners, even in brick buildings, with square stones; which add both beauty and strength to the edifice. See STONE, BRICKS, LIME, SAND.

BULLETIN, Fr. any official account which is given of public transactions. See GAZETTE.

BULLETS, are leaden balls, wherewith all kinds of small fire-arms are loaded. The diameter of any bullet is found, by dividing 1.6706 by the cube root of the number, which shews how many of them make a pound; or it may be done in a shorter way. From the logarithm .2228756 of 1.6706 subtract continually the third part of the logarithm of the number of bullets in the pound, and the difference will be the logarithm of the diameter required.

Thus the diameter of a bullet, whereof 12 weigh a pound, is found by subtracting .3597270, a third part of the logarithm of 12, from the given logarithm .2228756, or, when the logarithm is less than the former, an unit must be added, so as to have 1.2228756, and the difference .8631486 will be the logarithm of the diameter sought, which is .7297 inches; observing that the number found will always be a decimal, when the logarithm, which is to be subtracted, is greater than that of one pound; because the divisor is greater than the dividend in this case.

Hence, from the specific gravity of lead, the diameter of any bullet may be found from its given weight: for, since a cube foot weighs 11325 ounces, and 678 is to 355 as the cube 1728 of a foot, or 12 inches, is the content of the sphere, which therefore is 5929.7 ounces: and since spheres are as the cubes of their diameters; the weight 5929.7 is to 16 ounces, or 1 pound, as the cube 1728 is to the cube of the diameter of a sphere which weighs a pound; which cube therefore is 4.66263, and its root 1.6706 inches, the diameter sought.

The diameter of musket bullets differs but ¹⁄₅₀th part from that of the musket bore; for if the shot but just rolls into the barrel, it is sufficient. The English allow 11 bullets in the pound for the proof of muskets, and 14 in the pound, or 29 in two pounds, for service; 17 for the proof of carbines, and 20 for service; and 28 in the pound for the proof of pistols, and 34 for service. The proof bullet of the U. S. musket made at Harper’s ferry in Virginia, the barrel of which is 3 feet 8³⁄₄ inches, is one fifteenth of a pound; the service ball one nineteenth. The Rifle of Harper’s ferry, the barrel of which is 2 feet 10 inches; the proof ball is one twenty-eighth of a pound; the service ball is one thirty-secondth part of a pound. See GUN and RIFLE.

Hollow BULLETS, or shells, of a cylindrical shape. These have an opening and a fuze at the end, by which fire is communicated to the combustibles within, and an explosion takes place, similar to that occasioned by the blowing up of a mine.

Chain BULLETS, are two balls which are joined together by a chain, at any given distance from each other.

Branch BULLETS, two balls joined together by an iron bar.

Two-headed BULLETS, sometimes called angles, are two halves of a bullet which are kept together by means of a bar or chain.

BULWARK, the ancient name for bastion or rampart, which words see.

BURDEN, BURTHEN, in a general sense, implies a load or weight, supposed to be as much as a man, horse, &c. can well carry. A sound healthful man can raise a weight equal to his own, can also draw and carry 50lb. a moderate distance. An able horse can draw 350lb. though in length of time 300 is sufficient. Hence all artillery calculations are made. One horse will draw as much as 7 men, and 7 oxen will draw as much as 11 or 12 horses. Burthen likewise in a figurative sense means impost, tax, &c.

BURGANET, or BURGONET, Fr. a kind of helmet used by the French.

BURIALS, as practised by the military, are as follows, in the British service, viz. The funeral of a field-marshal shall be saluted with 3 rounds of 15 pieces of cannon, attended by 6 battalions, and 8 squadrons.

That of a general, with 3 rounds of 11 pieces of cannon, 4 battalions, and 6 squadrons.

That of a lieutenant-general, with 3 rounds of 9 pieces of cannon, 3 battalions, and 4 squadrons.

That of a major-general, with 3 rounds of 7 pieces of cannon, 2 battalions, and 3 squadrons.

That of a brigadier-general, 3 rounds of 5 pieces of cannon, 1 battalion, and 2 squadrons.

That of a colonel, by his own battalion, or an equal number by detachment, with 3 rounds of small arms.

That of a lieutenant-colonel, by 300 men and officers, with 3 rounds of small arms.

That of a major, by 200 men and officers, with 3 rounds of small arms.

That of a captain, by his own company, or 70 rank and file, with 3 rounds of small arms.