BUCCĬNA (βυκάνη), a kind of horn trumpet, anciently made out of a shell (_buccinum_), the form of which is exhibited in the specimen annexed. The _buccina_ was distinct from the _cornu_; but it is often confounded with it. The buccina seems to have been chiefly distinguished by the twisted form of the shell, from which it was originally made. In later times it was carved from horn, and perhaps from wood or metal, so as to imitate the shell. The _buccina_ was chiefly used to proclaim the watches of the day and of the night, hence called _buccina prima_, _secunda_, &c. It was also blown at funerals, and at festive entertainments both before sitting down to table and after. [Illustration: Buccina, Trumpet. (Blanchini, De Mus. Instrum. Vet.)] BULLA, a circular plate or boss of metal, so called from its resemblance in form to a bubble floating upon water. Bright studs of this description were used to adorn the sword belt; but we most frequently read of _bullae_ as ornaments worn by children, suspended from the neck, and especially by the sons of the noble and wealthy. Such an one is called _heres bullatus_ by Juvenal. The bulla was usually made of thin plates of gold. The use of the bulla, like that of the praetexta, was derived from the Etruscans. It was originally worn only by the children of the patricians, but subsequently by all of free birth. [Illustration: Bulla. (From the Collection of Mr. Rogers; the gold chord added from a specimen in the Brit. Mus.)] BŪRIS. [ARATRUM.] BUSTUM. It was customary among the Romans to burn the bodies of the dead before burying them. When the spot appointed for that purpose adjoined the place of sepulture, it was termed _bustum_; when it was separate from it, it was called _ustrina_. From this word the gladiators, who were hired to fight round the burning pyre of the deceased, were called _bustuarii_. BUXUM or BUXUS, probably means the wood of the box-tree, but was given as a name to many things made of this wood. The tablets used for writing on, and covered with wax (_tabulae ceratae_), were usually made of box. In the same way the Greek πυξίον, formed from πύξος, “box-wood,” came to be applied to any tablets, whether they were made of this wood or any other substance. Tops and combs were made of box-wood, and also all wind instruments, especially the flute. BYSSUS (βύσσος), linen, and not cotton. The word byssus appears to come from the Hebrew _butz_, and the Greeks probably got it through the Phoenicians.