height, and depth of it, and trying them at
home upon an exact scale of Bossu's, 'tis out, my
lord, in every one of its dimensions.—Sterne
(1768).
Bossut (Abbé Charles), a celebrated mathematician (1730-1814).
(Sir Richard Phillips assumed a host of popular names, among others that of M. l'Abbé Bossut in several educational works in French.)
Bosta'na, one of the two daughters of the old man who entrapped prince Assad in order to offer him in sacrifice on "the fiery mountain." His other daughter was named Cava'ma. The old man enjoined these two daughters to scourge the prince daily with the bastinado and feed him with bread and water till the day of sacrifice arrived. After a time, the heart of Bostana softened towards her captive, and she released him. Whereupon his brother Amgiad, out of gratitude, made her his wife, and became in time king of the city in which he was already vizier.—Arabian Nights ("Amgiad and Assad").
Bostock, a coxcomb, cracked on the point of aristocracy and family birth. His one and only inquiry is "How many quarterings has a person got?" Descent from the nobility with him covers a multitude of sins, and a man is no one, whatever his personal merit, who "is not a sprig of the nobility."—James Shirley, The Ball (1642).
Bot'any (Father of English), W. Turner, M.D. (1520-1568).
J.P. de Tournefort is called The Father of Botany (1656-1708).