cost than the same in soft woods could have been had a few years ago. Hard wood for mantels, of all grades from the simple and cheap to the elaborate and costly, has, to a great extent, taken the place of marble and slate. The advance in wood-working machinery and in carving by machinery enables very artistic and elaborate work in wood to be obtained at very reasonable prices, and architects and builders have not been slow in availing themselves of their opportunities. Improved fillers and varnish coatings for hard woods are on sale in every paint store, and cabinet finish is easily and cheaply produced. Ready-mixed paints for interior and exterior use are extensively used, the grinding being done by machinery, the mixing, therefore, being more thorough than by hand. Paint mixed with such ingredients that fire is repelled from wood or other materials coated with it is a comparatively new article of manufacture, but is being largely used for protecting frame factories and other buildings where the danger of burning is great. Wirecloth, in place of wood lath, is much used, not only because it keeps the plaster better and prevents cracks, but because it makes a good fireresisting surface for ceiling under wood beams and on the sides of wood studs. A variety of solid, thin, light, and strong partitions of iron and plaster are used in place of the wood stud, lath, and plaster partitions, so dangerous in case of fire. Mortar and plaster mixed by machinery are supplied to masons in any quantity required. The mixing being more perfectly done by machinery than by the hoe, the blisters so often seen on finished wall surfaces, due to bad mixing, are obviated. To ordinary plaste. other ingredients are now added, these plaster mixtures being known in the market under several different names, but all having for their object hardness and durability. A few years ago American hydraulic cements were looked upon with extreme suspicion by engineers and architects, and imported Portland cements were demanded for use in important foundation work. Now American cements are recognized as having equal strength with the English and German cements, and are sold at lower prices than the imported brands.

In appearance the streets in our great cities are taking on a lighter hue, due to the lightcolored brick so generally used for the fronts of new buildings. Twenty-five years ago in New York red was the universal color for front brick, the choice brick being brought from Philadelphia and Baltimore. The clays of New Jersey give us brick in white, lemon, buff, mottled, and other hues, and these are used to the exclusion of red for fronts. Terra-cotta, in a variety of colors and artistically executed, enters largely into the ornamental treatment of the fronts of buildings.

In the post-office building in New York, hollow tile flat arches between iron floor beams were introduced for the first time in this or any other country. This was the invention of Mr. B. Kreischer, a manufacturer of fire-brick in New York. The flat arch system provided a level ceiling at once, at a less cost and with much less weight of material than filling in between iron beams with segmental arches of common brick, and then furring down with wood or iron to obtain a level ceiling surface. The new system came into general use for fire

proof buildings all over the United States. A long litigation ensued over the patent, but under the crucial test of publications from all parts of the globe, the courts finally decided the Kreischer patent void for want of originality. Abroad the system of flat arches whose end sections abut against rolled iron or steel beams for floorings is recognized as an American invention, and at a meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects, held in 1882, this method of constructing floors was commented upon, the chairman of that meeting going on to say that when a man in the United States brought out a good invention connected with building or anything else, it was straightway adopted all over the country, remaining in use until something better was provided, when that, in its turn, was taken up.

Another American invention the merit of which has been recognized everywhere is illumirated tiles-the placing of small disks of glass in iron plates which form a walking surface and at the same time transmit light to a vault or room beneath the sidewalk. The name Hyatt will always be associated with this invention in America and Europe.

Iron for the frame and bars of skylights has superseded wood in all large cities, in part because modern building laws will not permit the use of wood for any but very small skylights. Twenty-five years ago iron skylight bars were of solid rolled iron. An American inventor, Hayes, introduced skylight bars of sheet iron, bent by machinery to a proper shape, and these light, strong, and cheap bars are now everywhere in use. Galvanized sheet-iron for cornices on the fronts of buildings has taken the place of wood in cities, and in the manufacture of them an enormous amount of sheet-metal is used annually.

In bank and safe deposit buildings the bur glar-proof work for vaults and strong rooms represents a very large manufacturing industry in providing what is deemed essential to the equipment of such structures. Bank vaults of chilled iron and steel were used a long time ago, but the increase in the demand for burglar-proof work resulted in improved methods of construction, and in the invention of better time locks and alarm appliances to give warning of attempts at burglary

Wood necessarily enters into the construction of buildings of every character. Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in the work of handling this material and several hundred thousand artisans are employed in preparing it for use from the time the logs are gathered in the forests until they are fashioned into the required shapes. This industry is among the most important in the United States, but there are no reliable data extant from which anything approaching an accurate estimate of the capital invested or the number of timber workers employed can be determined. Some idea of its magnitude may be formed when it has been estimated by builders of wide experience that out of some 12,000,000 dwelling-houses in the United States, nearly 11,000,000 are built mainly of wood.

In the great number of fire-proof buildings the stairs, of course, are made of incombustible materials-iron for the strings, risers, and railings, and slate or marble for the treads. Several large iron works devote their attention solely to this class of manufacture. The variety of

designs and the coating of the iron with other metals by electro processes, or by a process that preserves iron against rust without paint, go to make up in extent and beauty a branch of iron manufacture that has developed from very small beginnings to extensive proportions. The enclosure of elevator shafts in fire-proof buildings is generally of iron grille work, which has the same characteristics as iron stair work in points of design and workmanship.

In putting the different kinds of materials in place in the building a saving of time and labor is sought. Even in ordinary buildings, brick and mortar are no longer carried on men's backs up a ladder. Hod-hoisting machinery has taken the place of manual labor in this respect. On important buildings power derricks lift all heavy weights from the ground to the uppermost story- stone, iron, and everything else. It is not an unusual sight to see a cartload of brick brought to a building, the horse then unhitched, the cart hoisted by the derrick to an upper story, and the brick dumped, after which the cart is lowered to the ground. The riveting of connecting parts of ironwork in important · buildings is done by machine instead of by hand. (See PNEUMATIC MACHINES.) Foundations for high buildings, where the soil is uncertain or inadequate to bear enormous loads, are carried down to rock by means of cylinders of iron sunk to the required depth and then filled in with masonry or concrete. In other cases a framing of iron beams covering the whole area of the building, much like a raft, is laid and covered with concrete.

Architecture has played a most important part in the development of the modern building. Consequently a slight departure from the main thread of this subject may be allowable in order better to trace the progress of the century in the building line. The origin of architecture is wrapped in obscurity. Caves and huts of branches were the first buildings made by man. Examples of a second stage of development are found in the stone monuments of various islands in the Pacific and in the ancient monuments of America. The ruins of Mexico show no foreign influence in their artistic workmanship, and are therefore regarded as an independent national development. Some of these show an advanced and highly ornamental form of the pyramid. Of Oriental architecture the Egyptian examples are perhaps the most striking. The numerous monuments of India can be compared in extent and magnificence only with those of Egypt. China received its architecture from India. Grecian, Roman, and Gothic architecture furnishes high examples of the art, and many of its features are interwoven with modern architecture.

A new period in the development of architecture began about the close of the 18th century, when a reaction against the rococo style made itself felt. Important examples are the Mint in Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate, built at the close of the 18th century. The age and conditions of American civilization do not admit of an indigenous architectural development, as in older countries, and therefore we find in the United States examples of almost every known national style. The building operations of the settlers of the 17th century were modeled upon those of the countries whence they had emigrated.

Thus the early buildings of New England and Virginia are essentially English; those of New York and Pennsylvania are Dutch_and German; while Florida shows thoroughly Spanish architecture, and New Orleans is practically a transplanted French city. With the beginning of the 18th century the increased intercourse between the individual colonies gave rise to a more homogeneous architecture. The more important buildings of the period are all the works of English architects, among them being King's Chapel, Boston (1749), by Harrison, and Saint Michael's, Charleston, S. C. (1752), by Gibson, a pupil of Wren. To the same period belong Christ Church, Philadelphia, and the old State-houses of Boston and Philadelphia. The dwelling-houses of the colonial period were simple in style and usually of wood, depending for their external effect principally upon the use of columns, and with interiors of great plainness, the ornamentation being concentrated in the staircases, of which some artistic examples are still in existence.

The first and chief of the government buildings at Washington was the Capitol. In its present form the capitol is a monumental edifice with a dome 135 feet in diameter, rising 217 feet above the roof. The architectural effect is secured by the free use of porticos and colonnades, and by the striking approaches. The other government buildings are of a similar style. Since that period a style founded on the Italian Renaissance has been employed in nearly all public buildings, sometimes with great success. To this period, also, belongs the New York City Hall (1803-12), built of marble and freestone, which at the time of its erection surpassed all buildings in the city in material and conception. For a time Greek architecture became the fashion, and it was applied to many buildings. To this development belong the custom-houses in Philadelphia and New York (with monolithic columns), and Boston and Girard College, Philadelphia.

The first successful attempt in Gothic architecture was the erection, in 1839-45, in New York, of Trinity Church, by Richard Upjohn, which has since remained the accepted type of American church buildings. From the church the Gothic style was for a time carried to all other classes of buildings, but was soon abandoned. With the rapid growth of the country in wealth and ambition there succeeded crazes for various architectural styles. Egyptian, Moorish, Swiss, and other types were employed, but finally all of them were abandoned. Subsequently a revival of Gothic architecture, under the influence of Ruskin, produced some buildings of merit, among them the National Academy of Design, New York (lately taken down), largely in the Venetian style; the State capitol of Connecticut, at Hartford; and the Harvard Alumni Memorial Hall, at Cambridge.

During recent years the prevailing style for municipal buildings has been that of the French Renaissance. Imposing examples of this style are seen in the new municipal buildings of Philadelphia and in the new buildings of the State and war departments at Washington. Many of the newer capitol buildings of the various States are of architectural merit, the most elaborate being the capitol at Albany. In church architecture, New York, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and some western cities

possess good examples of Gothic and other styles. The largest and most costly existing church edifice on the Continent is Saint Patrick's Cathedral, in New York, where the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, now in course of construction, will, when completed, rank as one of the great cathedrals of the world. A notable departure from the Gothic style is seen in Trinity Church, Boston, where the Romanesque has been employed with great artistic success.

Every one of the group of subjects referred to occupies a relationship more or less intimate to the others. A modern building is something more than merely the walls and roof. It includes the products of trades that a century ago had no existence, others that have lived less than half a century, and still others that less than a quarter a century ago were unknown. With the growth of population the number of buildings proportionately increases. In our great cities many families living independently of one another occupy together a single building, while the former rule was one family to a house. New conditions of living have arisen, not merely for the poor in tenement houses, but for the well-to-do and affluent, in the aggregation of many homes under one roof. Increasing the size of buildings vertically instead of horizontally called for the working out of new problems not only in engineering but in sanitary science. American ingenuity and skill have, however, kept pace with every requirement or necessity. The achievements and progress in every direction which have added so much to the welfare and greatness of our country during the past one hundred years have nowhere been more marked than in the materials used and the knowledge of their proper applications in the construction of buildings. WILLIAM H. JACKSON, Pres. Jackson Architectural Iron Works, N. Y. Building Societies. See BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS.

Building Stone, stone suitable for building construction. The best building stones are found among crystalline silicious rocks, such as granite for example; among calcareous rocks, which include the various limestones and marbles; or among fragmentary rocks, such as slates and sandstones. To be available for purposes of construction, a stone should possess certain physical and chemical properties; such as durability, permanency of color, crushing strength, elasticity, and cheapness, and should be easily quarried. Stones vary greatly in their durability, depending upon their chemical composition and the particular purposes for which they are used. As soon as a stone is quarried, it becomes exposed to changes in temperature, causing expansion and contraction of its particles and ending ultimately in its disintegration; to the chemical action of rain and atmosphere; and to frost and various mechanical forces, all tending to weaken it.

Granite.- The best building stones have a compact formation, are not susceptible of chemical changes, and are easily worked. Granite comes nearest to perfection in this line. It is the strongest stone in use, and, having been employed for ages, is found to withstand severer tests than any other stone. It is a very hard silicious rock, having a massive and granular crystalline structure, containing the minerals

quartz, feldspar, mica, horneblende, and, occasionally, a little iron. The general color is gray, due to the presence of black mica or horneblende in the white quartz and feldspar. The red and pink varieties are caused by the presence of a red feldspar. The greatest granite beds in the United States are found in Maine and Massachusetts. These granites are chiefly gray. A large amount of red granite is quarried in Nova Scotia, Scotland, and Sweden.

Limestone.- Next to granite, the most durable building stones are the limestones. These vary greatly in both structure and color. Marble and chalk are the purest limestones, but it will be convenient to notice first those more or less composite limestones which are sufficiently hard and strong for building, yet not highly crystalline like marble. One of the best varieties of this stone is the Indiana limestone. It has a white or cream color, is of fine granular structure, and is readily worked. Many of the largest buildings in New York and Chicago are built of this stone. One of the best English building stones is the dolomite, or magnesian limestone of the Permian formation, which ranges from Nottingham to Tynemouth. It is a double carbonate of lime and magnesia, containing a varying proportion of silica. The Houses of Parliament are built of this dolomite, which unfortunately decays rapidly under the influence of the London atmosphere. Among ancient buildings, some parts of York Minster show its perishable nature. Yet in Conisborough Castle, built in the 12th century, and in some country churches nearly as old, it has stood the effects of time very well.

Marble.- Marble is a purer grade of limestone, of a finely crystallized structure. It is composed almost entirely of calcium carbonate. Its color varies from a pure white to a black, and it often occurs with a red, yellow, or brown color. These colors are due to the presence of carbonaceous matter and iron oxides. Marbles occur in the United States in the beds of the Silurian limestone, which border the Appalachian Mountains, and also in the Rocky Mountains. The best grades are quarried in Vermont, and a very good marble for building use is found in western Massachusetts and in Connecticut. In Europe, the principal sources of marble are Northern Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. The Numidian marble from Algeria has an international reputation.

Sandstone.- Sandstones are composed of consolidated sand, and vary in color, structure, and composition. They are, as a rule, composed principally of quartz, some English sandstones containing as much as 97 per cent. The other substances they contain are chiefly carbonate of lime, alumina, and oxide of iron. It is hardly possible to tell a good sandstone merely by chemical analysis. A hard, non-porous stone is, of course, more likely to be lasting than one which is soft and porous. In color they vary from a gray, through buff and red, to brown; this coloration being due to the presence of iron as an oxide or carbonate. The sandstones mostly used in the United States are the Ohio freestones, or Berea grits, from the Subcarboniferous formation of Ohio, and the red and brown freestones of Triassic formation on the Atlantic coast. A blue-gray sandstone, containing a large amount of alumina, occurs in New York State, and, on account of

Serpentine.

its thin stratification, it is split in slabs and used for flagging purposes. This stone is composed of silica and magnesium in about equal portions. It is a greenish color and of massive structure. It is rather soft, and is not very durable; but is used to a large extent in interiors and in the trimmings of churches and other places where a pleasing color effect is desired.

It

Trap.- Trap, or basalt, is one of the most durable stones known; but, on account of its extreme hardness, is little used in building. is of igneous origin, and will withstand great changes in temperature and extreme frost. It ranges from gray to black in color, is massive in structure, very heavy, and of irregular cleavage. It occurs in almost all parts of the world, and is used to a considerable extent in the United States in the building of asylums, prisons, and other State institutions. Its sombre color seems to make it quite appropriate for this purpose.

Besides these commoner stones, many others are employed for interior and ornamental work, among them various colored slates, onyx, alabaster, and a great variety of artificial stone, brick, and tile. Government reports show the value of the best known building stones quarried in the United States to be some $50,000,000 annually. Consult: Hall, Treatise the Building and Ornamental Stones of Great Britain (1872); Merrill, Stones for Building and Decoration) (1891); Johnson, The Materials of Construction' (1899).

on

Building of the Ship, The, a well-known poem by Longfellow, published in 1849.

Builth, boolth, a small town of Wales, in Brecknockshire, situated on the Wye, in the midst of some of the finest mountain scenery of South Wales. The parish church is a building in the Norman style, with a tower of the 14th century. It was probably the Roman station Bullaum, and Roman relics are yet occasionally discovered there. Llewellyn, the last Welsh prince, was slain in the neighborhood in an engagement between the Welsh and English. There are here remains of an old castle surrounded by a moat. Builth has mineral springs which are much frequented. Pop. (1901) 1805.

Buisson, Ferdinand Edouard, făr-de-non a-doo-är bwe-son, French educational administrator: b. Paris, 20 Dec. 1841. After completing his studies at Paris he went to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where he taught from 1866 to 1870. His appointment by Jules Simon in 1871 as inspector of elementary schools aroused much agitation on account of his advocacy of the secularization of the schools. The opposition of the Church party led to his resignation. In 1873 he was sent to the exposition in Vienna, to represent French educational interests; in 1876 he came to Philadelphia on a similar mission, and in 1878 was in charge of the educational section of the Paris Exposition. In 1879 he was made director of elementary instruction and became prominent for the reforms introduced during his administration. After resigning from this post in 1896 he accepted the professorship of pedagogy in the Faculté des Lettres. His strong stand on the Dreyfus question attracted much attention. He is the author of an authoritative 'Dictionary of Peda

Bukowina, boo-kō-vē'nä ("beech land"), Austria-Hungary, a province in the extreme east of the empire, surrounded by Galicia, Russia, Moldavia, and Hungary. Area, 4,035 square miles. It is traversed by offsets of the Carpathians, culminating at 6,077 feet; gives rise to many rivers flowing toward the Black Sea; and abounds in wood, along with considerable mineral riches. Pop. (1900) 729,921, of whom 42 per cent are Ruthenians, 32 Moldavians, and 13 Jews, while 70 per cent belong to the Greek Church.

Bul-tso ("borax lake"), Thibet, a lake situated 100 miles northwest of Lassa. It has an area of 24 square miles.

Bulacan, boo-lä-kan', Philippines, a town in Luzon, about 22 miles northwest of Manila, with which it is connected by railway. The town is composed mainly of native huts, although there are factories in which silk matting is made. Sugar-boiling is also an industry of importance. The place has strategic advantages, which caused it to become a theatre of military operations after the Spanish-American war. It was fully pacified in 1900, and thorities. Pop. about 14,000. made a military post by the United States au

Bulak, boo-läk', or Boulac, Egypt, the port of Cairo, on the Nile, about one mile distant from that city. It is irregularly built, and contains a custom-house, a fine palace, a school of languages, a celebrated printing-office, set up by Mehemet Ali in 1822, a large bazaar, etc. Goods are brought here from many parts of northeastern Africa, and the Cairo merchants come here every morning to make purchases. Its narrow streets present a busy and characteristically Oriental scene. Pop. about 13,000.

Bulama, boo-lä'ma, an island on the west coast of Africa, one of the Bissagos. It is 18 miles long and 9 broad, and is situated about two miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande. It is very fertile, but not easy of access. The Bulama Association of Great Britain attempted to colonize it in 1792, but it was soon abandoned. It is now occupied by the Portuguese. See BISSAGOS.

Bulan, boo-län, Philippines, a town of the province of Albay, situated in the southeastern part of the island of Luzon. Pop. about

11,000.

Bulau, boo'low, or Tikus, tī'koos, an animal of the mole family (Talpida) and genus Gymnura (G. rafflesii), a native of Sumatra and Malacca, bearing a considerable resemblance to the opossum. The muzzle is much prolonged, the fur pierced by a number of long hairs or bristles, and the tail naked. It is possessed of glands which secrete a kind of musk.

Bulawayo, boo-lä-wä'yō, Rhodesia, the principal town and chief commercial centre of Matabeleland, South Africa, 490 miles northeast of Mafeking, 1,360 miles from Cape Town, with which it is connected by railroad. It has several hotels, good business blocks and residences, banks, and telephone service, and is rapidly growing in size and importance. A few years ago it was the chief town of the Matabele tribe, though only a collection of rude huts, in an enclosure of wattles, whose inhabitants were savages of the lowest type. The royal kraal is now replaced by the government house, which communicates by an avenue a mile and a half long with the town proper. Pop. (white) about 5,000.

Bulb, the name given to a leaf bud belonging to certain perennial herbaceous plants, and particularly to the monocotyledons. It is always underground, and is supported by a kind of solid and horizontal plate lying between it and the true root. To this flattened portion the fleshy scales of which the bulb is externally formed are fixed by their base. The interior contains the rudiments of the flower-stalks and leaves. The outermost scales are thin and dry like paper, but they become more fleshy and succulent in the interior. Sometimes the scales are of one piece, a single scale embracing the whole circumference of the bulb, as in the onion and the hyacinth. They are then named "coated" or "tunicated bulbs." At other times the scales are smaller and free at the sides, and cover one another only in the manner of tiles on a roof, as in the white lily. Lastly, the coats are sometimes so close as to be confounded together, so that the bulb seems as if formed of a solid and homogeneous substance. Such bulbs are called "solid," and they are exemplified in the common saffron. Bulbs again are either "simple," as in the tulip or squill, or they are "multiple," or formed of several small bulbs collected under the same envelope, as in garlic. Bulbs are reproduced every year, but differently in different species, the new bulbs sometimes being formed in the centre, sometimes at the side, sometimes above, sometimes below the old bulbs.

Bulbul, bulbul, a small, brilliantly plumaged thrush-like bird of the family Pycnonotida, species of which are found in Asia, Persia, India, and South Africa. The South African one (Pycnonotus tricolor) is remarkable for becoming intoxicated by syringa berries and similar fruits, at which time it is easily captured and caged. The common Indian bulbul (P. hæmorrhous) is a familiar and favorite bird of European residents, and often builds its nest in their gardens and on the verandas. The pugnacity of the males is utilized by the

natives for their amusement, the birds being caught and trained to fight for small prizes. The name "bulbul" was applied to the little Persian nightingale (q.v.), and first introduced into English poetry by Lord Byron, after which its praises were much sung by the poets of the day.

Bulfinch, Charles, American architect: b. Boston, 8 Aug. 1763; d. there, 15 April 1844. He was graduated from Harvard in 1781, for several years traveled in Europe, studying architecture, which he adopted as a profession upon his return in 1786. In 1793 he built the first theatre in Boston. In the course of his career he designed more than 40 churches and public buildings in New England. Among them were: the State house, Suffolk county courthouse, Massachusetts General Hospital, and remodeled Faneuil Hall in Boston; the State prison and MacLean Asylum, at Charlestown; the county jail and University Hall in Cambridge; and the State house in Augusta, Me. From 1817 until its completion in 1830 he was the architect of the national capitol at Washington. Consult: Ellen Bulfinch, 'Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch, Architect' (1896).

Bulfinch, Thomas, American author: b. Boston, Mass., 15 July 1796; d. there, 27 May 1867. He graduated at Harvard University in 1814. Although engaged in business he managed to devote considerable time to literature. Among his best-known works are "The Age of Fable) (1855); The Age of Chivalry) (1858); Legends of Charlemagne) (1864); Oregon and Eldorado' (1866).

Bulgaria, bul-gãr'ēa, or bool-gä'rēa, a principality in Europe, bounded north by the Danube and Rumania; east by the Black Sea; south by Turkey; and west by Servia; capital, Sofia. It has an area of 38,080 square miles. Its surface is a gradually sloping plain, broken by occasional mountains, which give rise to many rapid tributaries to the Danube. There is little mining, although the mountains are rich in minerals. The soil is excellent and the slopes of the mountains are richly wooded. The inhabitants, though not skilled in agriculture, export a considerable quantity of grain, chiefly wheat. Fruit and vegetables are raised in abundance. Roses are largely cultivated for the production of the attar; 80,000 gallons of wine are made annually; silk worms are bred in some regions; and tobacco forms an important crop. Domestic industries are chiefly carpets, cloths, hosiery, and ribbons. The roads are very bad, and there is but a single line of railroad, about 500 miles, on the route between Vienna and Constantinople. All traffic is carried on by the rivers, and the export trade by the Black Sea. The government is Christian. There is a national militia, and military service is compulsory. The Bulgarians were originally a Tartar nation, which in the 4th century was settled on the Volga. The ruins of their former capital may still be seen in the neighborhood of Kazan. Their kingdom, which occupied a part of the Asiatic Sarmatia of the Greeks, was called Great Bulgaria, and is now comprehended in the Russian government of Orenburg. They afterward removed to the countries between the Bog and the Danube, and called their territories Second Bulgaria. The first Bulgarian kingdom south of the Danube was founded in the latter