JQuery :: Reading Text Value On <button> Element?

I'm trying to read (and then change) the text on two buttons in my
user interface:

<button class="primary approve">Approve selected</button>
<button class="primary reject">Reject selected</button>

Now depending on how many checkboxes (elsewhere) are selected, I want to change the text to something like "Approve 4 selected" I'm tried in vain to acess:

$("button.primary").each(function(){
console.log( $('this').text() );//fails
console.log( $('this').html() );//fails
});

and for completeness sake I also tried $(this).value -- but of course it returns the .value attribute of the button. 2 questions: How do I access the text and change it?