Bunion
a term applied in surgery to enlarged bursæ, or synovial sacs, situated on any part of the foot; but most common over the metatarso phalangeal joint of the first or the fifth toe (see FOOT), and accompanied by more or less distortion of the joint. In the great majority of cases, bunions are directly produced by the pressure of badly fitting boots; and if the boots are constructed of patent leather, or any material which stops the excreting action of the skin, this, too, may be regarded as an indirect cause of their formation. Sometimes, however, the tendency to suffer from bunions is hereditary, and almost irremediable. A bunion begins as a painful and tender spot at some point exposed to pressure; the part gradually enlarges, and there are indications of an effusion into a natural bursa or a newly formed sac. The progress of the affection may stop here, the enlarged bursa remaining, and serving to protect the subjacent parts from pressure; but far more frequently the bunion undergoes repeated attacks of inflammation, causing further increase in size; or becomes the seat of corns or of suppuration. The last action may be followed either by obliteration of the cyst and a cure; or, especially in persons of languid circulation, by a troublesome form of ulcer. The one great thing, when there is a tendency to bunions, is the wearing of roomy boots or shoes, of soft and pervious material, and so shaped as not to
BUNDESRAT (bön'des-rät), the Federal Council of the former German Empire which represented the individual states of the Empire, as the Reichstag represented the German nation. It consisted of 61 members, and its functions were mainly those of a confirming body, body, although it had the privilege ege of rejecting press upon susceptible points. measures passed by the Reichstag. It went out of existence when Germany became a republic in 1918.