olland in the 'fifties was
dazzling enough to produce a sort of awe and stupefaction. The posthumous
correspondence of Busken-Huet has been published, and adds to our
impression of the vitality and versatility of his mind.

(E. G.)

BUSKIN (a word of uncertain origin, existing in many European languages, as
Fr. _brousequin_, Ital. _borzacchino_, Dutch _brozeken_, and Span,
_borcegui_), a half-boot or high shoe strapped under the ankle, and
protecting the shins; especially the thick-soled boot or _cothurnus_ in the
ancient Athenian tragedy, used to increase the stature of the actors, as
opposed to the _soccus_, "sock," the light shoe of comedy. The term is thus
often used figuratively of a tragic style.

BUSLAEV, FEDOR IVANOVICH (1818-1898), Russian author and philologist, was
born on the 13th of April 1818 at Kerensk, where his father was secretary
of the district tribunal. He was educated at Penza and Moscow University.
At the end of his academical course, 1838, he accompanied the family of
Count S.G. Strogonov on a tour through Italy, Germany and France, occupying
himself principally with the study of classical antiquities. On his return
he was appointed assistant professor of Russian literature at the
university of Moscow. A study of Jacob Grimm's great dictionary had already
directed the attention of the young professor to the historical development
of the Russian language, and the fruit of his studies was the book _On the
Teaching of the National Language_ (Moscow, 1844 and 1867), which even now
has its value. In 1848 he produced his work _On the Influence of
Christianity on the Slavonic Language_, which, though subsequently
superseded by Franz von Miklosich's _Christliche Terminologie_, is still
one of the most striking dissertations on the development of the Slavonic
languages. In this work Buslaev proves that long before the age of Cyril
and Methodius the Slavonic languages had been subject to Christian
influences. In 1855 he published _Palaeographical and Philological
Materials for the History of the Slavonic Alphabets_, and in 1858 _Essay
towards an Historical Grammar of the Russian Tongue_, which, despite some
trivial defects, is still a standard work, abounding with rich material for
students, carefully collected from an immense quantity of ancient records
and monuments. In close connexion with this work in his _Historical
Chrestomathy of the Church-Slavonic and Old Russian Tongues_ (Moscow,
1861). Buslaev