Buckle (Henry Thomas), philosophical historian, b. Lee, Kent, 24 Nov. 1821. In consequence of his delicate health he was educated at home. His mother was a strict Calvinist, his father a strong Tory, but a visit to the Continent made him a Freethinker and Radical. He ever afterwards held travelling to be the best education. It was his ambition to write a History of Civilisation in England, but so vast was his design that his three notable volumes with that title form only part of the introduction. The first appeared in 1858, and created a great sensation by its boldness. In the following year he championed the cause of Pooley, who was condemned for blasphemy, and dared the prosecution of infidels of standing. In 1861 he visited the East, in the hope of improving his health, but died at Damascus, 29 May, 1862. Much of the material collected for his History has been published in his Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works, edited by Helen Taylor, 1872. An abridged edition, edited by Grant Allen, appeared in 1886. Buechner (Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig), German materialist, b. Darmstadt, 29 March, 1824. Studied medicine in Geissen, Strassburg and Vienna. In '55 he startled the world with his bold work on Force and Matter, which has gone through numerous editions and been translated into nearly all the European languages. This work lost him the place of professor which he held at Tübingen, and he has since practised in his native town. Büchner has developed his ideas in many other works such as Nature and Spirit (1857), Physiological Sketches, '61; Nature and Science, '62; Conferences on Darwinism, '69; Man in the Past, Present and Future, '69; Materialism its History and Influence on Society, '73; The Idea of God, '74; Mind in Animals, '80; and Light and Life, '82. He also contributes to the Freidenker, the Dageraad, and other journals. Buffon (Georges Louis Leclerc), Count de, French naturalist, b. Montford, Burgundy, 7 Sept. 1707. An incessant worker. His Natural History in 36 volumes bears witness to the fertility of his mind and his capacity for making science attractive. Buffon lived much in seclusion, and attached himself to no sect or religion. Some of his sentences were attacked by the Sorbonne. Hérault de Sêchelles says that Buffon said: "I have named the Creator, but it is only necessary to take out the word and substitute the power of nature." Died at Paris 16 April, 1788. Buitendijk or Buytendyck (Gosuinus van), Dutch Spinozist, who wrote an Apology at the beginning of the eighteenth century and was banished 1716. Bufalini (Maurizio), Italian doctor, b. Cesena 2 June, 1787. In 1813 he published an essay on the Doctrine of Life in opposition to vitalism, and henceforward his life was a conflict with the upholders of that doctrine. He was accused of materialism, but became a professor at Florence and a member of the Italian Senate in 1860. Died at Florence 31 March, 1875.