Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/786

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BURMA.
700
BURNABY.

the capital, Amaurapoora, for the new city Mandalay. Mindohn Min died in 1878, and the principal Queen, having no sons, married one of her daughters, Supayah Lat, to Theebaw, one of the youngest of the late King's sons. The other princes were seized and executed. Theebaw, arrogant, cruel, and weak, was a tool of his sanguinary Queen, who put all her rivals to death. The disorder resulting from the tyranny of their rule affected British trade, and led to new troubles with Great Britain; while an effort was made to establish a favorable connection with France. Trouble between the Burmese Government and the Bombay-Burma Company, which held a concession in the teak forests, presented an excuse for British intervention, which seemed necessary to prevent French influence from becoming paramount. The British invaded Burma, and on November 28, 1885, occupied Mandalay. The King and Queen were made captive and taken to Madras; all of Burma passed into British control, and in 1886 the annexation of Upper Burma to the dominions of the Queen-Empress Victoria was formally proclaimed. For several years there was much lawlessness, chiefly in the form of brigandage by the dacoits, or robbers, but by 1895 the country was practically pacified, and entered upon a new era under British rule. It is incorporated as a province of the Indian Empire under a Lieutenant-Governor. An agreement was concluded with France on January 15, 1896, making the Mekong River the boundary between the Shan States of Burma and French Indo-China. This boundary agreement gave France some territory east of the Upper Mekong, which formerly belonged to Burma. The development of railroads in Burma has now begun, and will open the resources of the country. The connection of Shanghai with India by way of the Upper Yangtse Valley and Upper Burma is claimed by some students of the Far Eastern situation to be essential to the maintenance of Great Britain's position in the East. See Far Eastern Question.

Bibliography. Spearman, The British-Burma Gazetteer, compiled by authority (Rangoon, 1880); Schmitz, “Birma, die östlichste Provinz des indischen Kaiserreichs,” in Mitteilungen der geographischen Gesellschaft (Vienna, 1898); Mason, Burma: its People and Productions, notes on the fauna, flora, and minerals, etc., rewritten and enlarged by Theobald (Hertford, 1882-83); Bird, Wanderings in Burmah (London, 1897); Ferrar, Burmah (London, 1898); Hart, Picturesque Burma—Past and Present (London, 1897); Yoe, The Burman, his Life and Notions (2d ed., London, 1890); Smeaton, The Loyal Karen of Burma (London, 1886); Phayre, History of Burma (London, 1883); Harmer, The Story of Burma (London, 1901); Yule, Narrative of the Mission in 1855 (London, 1858); Geary, Burmah After the Conquest (London, 1886). The writings of Archibald Colquhoun deal with the railway and frontier problems affecting Burma. An account of missionary activity in Burma will be found in Wayland, Life of Adoniram Judson (Boston and London, 1853).

BURMANN, bo͞or′mȧn, Peter (1668-1741). A Dutch philologist. He was born in Utrecht, and studied law at the universities of Utrecht and Leyden, taking his degree in 1688. After practicing as an advocate for some years, he was appointed professor of history and rhetoric, and later became professor of Greek in Utrecht. In 1715 he removed to the University of Leyden. His chief works are editions of the Latin classics—Petronius, Velleius Paterculus, Quintilian, Valerius Flaccus, Phædrus, Ovid, the Poëtæ Minores, Suetonius, Lucan, Horace, and Vergil. They are characterized less by critical acumen than by learning and fullness.

BUR-MARIGOLD. A popular name of the widely distributed genus Bidens, of the order Compositæ. This genus includes a large number of annuals and perennial plants among which, in America, are the weeds called ‘beggar-ticks,’ ‘Spanish needles,’ and ‘stick-tights.’ Some species have very showy flowers, one of the finest in cultivation being the Bidens grandiflora, a native of South America. The botanic name Bidens is descriptive of the bidentate top of the seed or pappus.

BURMEISTER, bo͞or′mī̇s-tẽr, Hermann (1807-92). A German naturalist, born in Stralsund. He studied medicine and natural history at Halle, and in 1837 became professor of zoölogy there. In 1848 he was a deputy to the German National Assembly, and afterwards was a representative in the Prussian First Chamber. In 1850 he traversed part of Brazil in the interest of science, and visited other parts of South America a few years later, becoming in 1861 director of the National Museum at Buenos Ayres, where he died. He published many elaborate works on zoölogy, among them Handbuch der Entomologie (1832-55); Systematische Uebersicht der Tiere Brasiliens (1854-56); and Physikalische Beschreibung der Argentinischen Republik (1875).

BURMEISTER, Richard (1860—) . A German-American pianist and composer, born in Hamburg. He studied under Liszt in 1881-84, made concert tours through Europe in 1883-85, and from 1885 to 1897 was the head of the piano department of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. From 1897 to 1899 he was director of the Scharwenka Conservatory in New York City. His compositions include a concerto in D minor for pianoforte and orchestra, a ballade for pianoforte, an arrangement for pianoforte and orchestra of Liszt's Concerto pathétique for two pianofortes, The Chase After Fortune (described as a ‘symphonic fantasy’) for orchestra, and a reorchestration of Chopin's F-minor concerto.

BURMESE (bûr-mēz′ or -mēs′) WARE (first imported from Burma). Small cups and other vessels, made of strips of bamboo woven like fine basketwork, with the interstices filled with paste made of wood-oil and fine powders. When sufficiently hardened, the surface is smoothed with pumice-stone and water.

BURMESTER, bo͞or′me-stẽr, Willy (1869—). A German violinist, born in Hamburg. He studied in 1882-85 under Joachim at the musical high school in Berlin, became known for the brilliancy of his technique, and in 1890-91 was an instructor in the conservatory of Sondershausen. In 1895, at the instance of Georg Henschel, he appeared in England.

BUR′NABY, Frederick Gustavus (1842-85). An English traveler and soldier. He was born