Athens, when a labouring ox was sacrificed to Zeus Polieus
as protector of the city in accordance with a very ancient custom. The ox
was driven forward to the altar, on which grain was spread, by members of
the family of the Kentriadae (from [Greek: kentron], a goad), on whom this
duty devolved hereditarily. When it began to eat, one of the family of the
Thaulonidae advanced with an axe, slew the ox, then immediately threw away
the axe and fled. The axe, as being polluted by murder, was now carried
before the court of the Prytaneum (which tried inanimate objects for
homicide) and there charged with having caused the death of the ox, for
which it was thrown into the sea. Apparently this is an early instance
analogous to deodand (_q.v._). Although the slaughter of a labouring ox was
forbidden, it was considered excusable in the exceptional circumstances;
none the less it was regarded as a murder.

Porphyrius, _De Abstinentia_, ii. 29; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ viii. 3; Schol.
Aristoph. _Nubes_, 485; Pausanias, i. 24, 28; see also Band, _De
Diipoliorum Sacro Atheniensium_ (1873).

BUR, or BURR (apparently the same word as Danish _borre_, burdock, cf.
Swed. _kard-boore_), a prickly fruit or head of fruits, as of the burdock.
In the sense of a woody outgrowth on the trunk of a tree, or "gnaur," the
effect of a crowded bud-development, the word is probably adapted from the
Fr. _bourre_, a vine-bud.

BURANO, a town of Venetia, in the province of Venice, on an island in the
lagoons, 6 m. N.E. of Venice by sea. Pop. (1901) 8169. It is a fishing
town, with a large royal school of lace-making employing some 500 girls. It
was founded, like all the towns in the lagoons, by fugitives from the
mainland cities at the time of the barbarian invasions. Torcello is a part
of the commune of Burano.

BURAUEN, a town of the province of Leyte, island of Leyte, Philippine
Islands, on the Dagitan river, 21 m. S. by W. of Tacloban, the capital.
Pop. (1903) 18,197. Burauen is situated in a rich hemp-growing region, and
hemp is its only important product. The language is Visayan.

BURBAGE, JAMES (d. 1597), English actor, is said to have been born at
Stratford-on-Avon. He was a member of the earl of Leicester's players,
probably for several years before he is first mentioned (1574) as being at
the head of the company. In 1576, having secured the lease of land at
Shoreditch, Burbage erected there the successful house which was known for
twenty years