BUFFALO BERRY 226 BUFFON length of a full-grown Cape buffalo is about 8 feet from the root of the horns to the tail, and the height is bVz feet. This animal is regarded as more formi- dable than any other in south Africa. The buffalo is still found in large herds in the marshy wooded regions of central and south Africa. It grazes chiefly in the evening, and lies in woods and thickets during the day. It will readily act on the aggressive, and has never been domesticated. The flesh, though coarse, is palatable. For the American buffalo, see Bison. chiefly applied to railroad there being two at each end. carriages. BUFF LEATHER, a strong oil leather, prepared from the hide of the buffalo, elk or ox. Formerly it was largely used for armor. It was said to be pistol-shot proof, and capable of turning the edge of a sword. It was tanned soft and white. Its place is now filled by the leather of cow skins for a common, and of the buffalo or bison of this country for a superior, article. It is still, how- ever, much used in the saber, knapsack. ASIATIC WATER BUFFALO BUFFALO BERRY (shepherdia ar- gentea), a shrub of the oleaster family, a native of the United States and Can- ada, with lanceolate, silvery leaves and close clusters of bright red acid berries about the size of currants, which are made into preserves and used in various ways. BUFFALO BILL. See CODY, WiLLIAM Frederick. BUFFALO GRASS (tripsdcum dacty- loides), a strong growing North Ameri- can grass, so called from forming a large part of the food of the buffalo, and said to have excellent fattening properties; called also gama grass. BUFFER, a cushion or mechanical ap- paratus formed with a strong spring, to deaden the concussion between a body in motion and one at rest. Buffers are and cartridge box belts of armies, as well as occasionally to cover the buffers and buff wheels of the cutler, lapidary, and polisher. BUFFON (bo-fon'), GEORGE LOUIS LECLERC, COUNT DE, a French natu- ralist, born in Montbard, Burgundy, Sept. 7, 1707. In 1739 he was ap- pointed Superintendent of the Royal Garden at Paris (now the Jardin des Plantes) and devoted himself to the great work on "Natural History." It is now obsolete and of small scientific value, but it for long had an extraor- dinary popularity. After an assiduous labor of 10 years the three first volumes were published, and between 1749 and 1767 twelve others, which comprehended the theory of the earth, the nature of animals, and the history of man and the mammalia. The nine following volumes.
