Chapter 18

See Wallez,Précis historique des négociations entre la France et Saint-Domingue, avec une notice biographique sur le général Boyer(Paris, 1826).

BOYLE, JOHN J.(1851- ), American sculptor, was born in New York City. He studied in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and in the École des Beaux Arts, Paris. He is particularly successful in the portrayal of Indians. Among his principal works are: “Stone Age,” Fairmount Park, Philadelphia; “The Alarm,” Lincoln Park, Chicago; and, a third study in primitive culture, the two groups, “The Savage Age” at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901. His work also includes the seated “Franklin,” in Philadelphia; and “Bacon” and “Plato” in the Congressional library, Washington, D.C.

BOYLE, ROBERT(1627-1691), English natural philosopher, seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard Boyle, the great earl of Cork, was born at Lismore Castle, in the province of Munster, Ireland, on the 25th of January 1627. While still a child he learned to speak Latin and French, and he was only eight years old when he was sent to Eton, of which his father’s friend, Sir Henry Wotton, was then provost. After spending over three years at the college, he went to travel abroad with a French tutor. Nearly two years were passed in Geneva; visiting Italy in 1641, he remained during the winter of that year in Florence, studying the “paradoxes of the great star-gazer” Galileo, who died within a league of the city early in 1642. Returning toEngland in 1644 he found that his father was dead and had left him the manor of Stalbridge in Dorsetshire, together with estates in Ireland. From that time he gave up his life to study and scientific research, and soon took a prominent place in the band of inquirers, known as the “Invisible College,” who devoted themselves to the cultivation of the “new philosophy.” They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College; some of the members also had meetings at Oxford, and in that city Boyle went to reside in 1654. Reading in 1657 of Otto von Guericke’s air-pump, he set himself with the assistance of Robert Hooke to devise improvements in its construction, and with the result, the “machina Boyleana” or “Pneumatical Engine,” finished in 1659, he began a series of experiments on the properties of air. An account of the work he did with this instrument was published in 1660 under the titleNew Experiments Physico-Mechanical touching the spring of air and its effects. Among the critics of the views put forward in this book was a Jesuit, Franciscus Linus (1595-1675), and it was while answering his objections that Boyle enunciated the law that the volume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure, which among English-speaking peoples is usually called after his name, though on the continent of Europe it is attributed to E. Mariotte, who did not publish it till 1676. In 1663 the “Invisible College” became the “Royal Society of London for improving natural knowledge,” and the charter of incorporation granted by Charles II. named Boyle a member of the council. In 1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honour from a scruple about oaths. In 1668 he left Oxford for London where he resided at the house of his sister, Lady Ranelagh, in Pall Mall. About 1689 his health, never very strong, began to fail seriously and he gradually withdrew from his public engagements, ceasing his communications to the Royal Society, and advertising his desire to be excused from receiving guests, “unless upon occasions very extraordinary,” on Tuesday and Friday forenoon, and Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. In the leisure thus gained he wished to “recruit his spirits, range his papers,” and prepare some important chemical investigations which he proposed to leave “as a kind of Hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art,” but of which he did not make known the nature. His health became still worse in 1691, and his death occurred on the 30th of December of that year, just a week after that of the sister with whom he had lived for more than twenty years. He was buried in the churchyard of St Martin’s in the Fields, his funeral sermon being preached by his friend Bishop Burnet.

Boyle’s great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which Bacon preached in theNovum Organum. Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon or indeed of any other teacher: on several occasions he mentions that in order to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of the modern theories of philosophy, till he was “provided of experiments” to help him judge of them, he refrained from any study of the Atomical and the Cartesian systems, and even of theNovum Organumitself, though he admits to “transiently consulting” them about a few particulars. Nothing was more alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence he gained a wider outlook on the aims of scientific inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which tended to use. He himself was an alchemist; and believing the transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he carried out experiments in the hope of effecting it; and he was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, in 1689, of the statute of Henry IV. against multiplying gold and silver. With all the important work he accomplished in physics—the enunciation of Boyle’s law, the discovery of the part taken by air in the propagation of sound, and investigations on the expansive force of freezing water, on specific gravities and refractive powers, on crystals, on electricity, on colour, on hydrostatics, &c.—chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject wasThe Sceptical Chemist, published in 1661, in which he criticized the “experiments whereby vulgar Spagyrists are wont to endeavour to evince their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury to be the true Principles of Things.” For him chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the alchemist or the physician. He advanced towards the modern view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and understanding the distinction between mixtures and compounds, he made considerable progress in the technique of detecting their ingredients, a process which he designated by the term “analysis.” He further supposed that the elements were ultimately composed of particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however, they were not to be resolved in any known way. Applied chemistry had to thank him for improved methods and for an extended knowledge of individual substances. He also studied the chemistry of combustion and of respiration, and made experiments in physiology, where, however, he was hampered by the “tenderness of his nature” which kept him from anatomical dissections, especially of living animals, though he knew them to be “most instructing.”

Besides being a busy natural philosopher, Boyle devoted much time to theology, showing a very decided leaning to the practical side and an indifference to controversial polemics. At the Restoration he was favourably received at court, and in 1665 would have received the provostship of Eton, if he would have taken orders; but this he refused to do, on the ground that his writings on religious subjects would have greater weight coming from a layman than a paid minister of the Church. He spent large sums in promoting the spread of Christianity, contributing liberally to missionary societies, and to the expenses of translating the Bible or portions of it into various languages. By his will he founded the Boyle lectures, for proving the Christian religion against “notorious infidels, viz. atheists, theists, pagans, Jews and Mahommedans,” with the proviso that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned.

In person Boyle was tall, slender and of a pale countenance. His constitution was far from robust, and throughout his life he suffered from feeble health and low spirits. While his scientific work procured him an extraordinary reputation among his contemporaries, his private character and virtues, the charm of his social manners, his wit and powers of conversation, endeared him to a large circle of personal friends. He was never married. His writings are exceedingly voluminous, and his style is clear and straightforward, though undeniably prolix.

The following are the more important of his works in addition to the two already mentioned:—Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy(1663), followed by a second part in 1671;Experiments and Considerations upon Colours, with Observations on a Diamond that Shines in the Dark(1663);New Experiments and Observations upon Cold(1665);Hydrostatical Paradoxes(1666);Origin of Forms and Qualities according to the Corpuscular Philosophy(1666); a continuation of his work on the spring of air (1669); tracts about theCosmical Qualities of Things, theTemperature of the Subterraneal and Submarine Regions, theBottom of the Sea, &c. with anIntroduction to the History of Particular Qualities(1670);Origin and Virtues of Gems(1672);Essays of the strange Subtilty, great Efficacy, determinate Nature of Effluviums(1673); two volumes of tracts on theSaltness of the Sea, theHidden Qualities of the Air, Cold, Celestial Magnets, Animadversions on Hobbes’sProblemata de Vacuo (1674);Experiments and Notes about the Mechanical Origin or Production of Particular Qualities, including some notes on electricity and magnetism (1676);Observations upon an artificial Substance that Shines without any Preceding Illustration(1678); theAerial Noctiluca(1680);New Experiments and Observations upon the Icy Noctiluca(1682); a further continuation of his work on the air;Memoirs for the Natural History of the Human Blood(1684);Short Memoirs for the Natural Experimental History of Mineral Waters(1685);Medicina Hydrostatica(1690); andExperimenta et Observiationes Physicae(1691). Among his religious and philosophical writings were:—Seraphic Love, written in 1648, but not published till 1660; anEssay upon the Style of the Holy Scriptures(1663);Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects(1665), which was ridiculed by Swift inA Pious Meditation upon a Broomstick, and by Butler inAn Occasional Reflection on Dr Charlton’s Feeling a Dog’s Pulse at Cresham College;Excellence of Theology compared with Natural Philosophy(1664);Some Considerations about the Reconcileableness of Reason and Religion, with aDiscourse about the Possibility of the Resurrection(1675);Discourseof Things above Reason(1681);High Veneration Man owes to God(1685);A Free Inquiry into the vulgarly received Notion of Nature(1686); and theChristian Virtuoso(1690). Several other works appeared after his death, among themThe General History of the Air designed and begun(1692); a “collection of choice remedies,”Medicinal Experiments(1692-1698); andA Free Discourse against Customary Swearing(1695). An incomplete and unauthorized edition of Boyle’s works was published at Geneva in 1677, but the first complete edition was that of Thomas Birch, with a life, published in 1744, in five folio volumes, a second edition appearing in 1772 in six volumes, 4to. Boyle bequeathed his natural history collections to the Royal Society, which also possesses a portrait of him by the German painter, Friedrich Kerseboom (1632-1690).

BOYLE,a market town of Co. Roscommon, Ireland, in the north parliamentary division, on the Sligo line of the Midland Great Western railway, 106¼ m. N.W. by W. from Dublin and 28 m. S. by E. from Sligo. Pop. (1901) 2477. It is beautifully situated on both banks of the river Boyle, an affluent of the Shannon, between Loughs Gara and Key. Three bridges connect the two parts of the town. There is considerable trade in agricultural produce. To the north of the town stand the extensive ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1161, including remains of a cruciform church, with a fine west front, and Norman and Transitional arcades with carving of very beautiful detail. The offices of the monastery are well preserved, and an interesting feature is seen in the names carved on the door of the lodge, attributed in Cromwell’s soldier, who occupied the buildings. Neighbouring antiquities are Asselyn church near Lough Key, and a large cromlech by the road towards Lough Gara. Boyle was incorporated by James I., and returned two members to the Irish parliament.

BOYNE,a river of Ireland, which, rising in the Bog of Allen, near Carbery in Co. Kildare, and flowing in a north-easterly direction, passes Trim, Navan and Drogheda, and enters the Irish Sea, 4 m. below the town last named. It is navigable for barges to Navan, 19 m. from its mouth. Much of the scenery on its banks is beautiful, though never grand. About 2 m. west of Drogheda, an obelisk, 150 ft. in height, marks the spot where the forces of William III. gained a celebrated victory over those of James II., on the 1st of July11690, known as the battle of the Boyne.

1This was the “old style” date, which in the new style (seeCalendar) would be July 11th (not 12th, as Lecky says,Hist, of Ireland, iii. p. 427). The 12th of July is annually celebrated by the Orangemen in the north of Ireland as the anniversary, but this is a confusion between the supposed new style for July 1st and the old style date of the battle of Aughrim, July 12th; the intention being to commemorate both.

BOYS’ BRIGADE,an organization founded in Glasgow by Mr (afterwards Sir) W.A. Smith in 1883 to develop Christian manliness by the use of a semi-military discipline and order, gymnastics, summer camps and religious services and classes. There are about 2200 companies connected with different churches throughout the United Kingdom, the British empire and the United States, with 10,000 officers and 100,000 boys. A similar organization, confined to the Anglican communion, is the Church Lads’ Brigade. Boys’ and girls’ life brigades are a more recent movement; they teach young people how to save life from fire and from water, and hold classes in hygiene, ambulance and elementary nursing.

BOZDAR,a Baluch tribe of Rind (Arab) extraction, usually associated with the mountain districts of the frontier near Dera Ghazi Khan. They are also to be found in Zhob, Thal-Chotiali and Las Bela, whilst the majority of the population are said to live in the Punjab. They are usually graziers, and the name Bozdar is probably derived from Buz, the Persian name for goat. Within the limits of their mountain home on the outer spurs of the Suliman hills they have always been a turbulent race, mustering about 2700 fighting men, and they were formerly constantly at feud with the neighbouring Ustarana and Sherani tribes. In 1857 their raids into the Punjab drew upon them an expedition under Brigadier-General Sir N.B. Chamberlain. The Sangarh pass was captured and the Bozdars submitted. Since Baluchistan has been taken over they have given but little trouble.

BOZRAH.(1) A capital of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 33; Amos i. 12; Is. xxxiv. 6, lxiii. 1), doubtfully identified withel-Buseireh, S.E. of the Dead Sea, in the broken country N. of Petra; the ruins here are comparatively unimportant. It is the centre of a pastoral district, and its inhabitants, who number between 100 and 200, are all shepherds. (2) A city in theMishoror plain country of Moab, denounced by Jeremiah (xlviii. 24). It has been identified (also questionably) with a very extensive collection of ruins of various ages, now called Bosrā (the RomanBostra), situated in the Hauran, about 80 m. south of Damascus. The area within the walls is about 1¼ m. in length, and nearly 1 m. in breadth, while extensive suburbs lie to the east, north and west. The principal buildings which can still be distinguished are a temple, an aqueduct, a large theatre (enclosed by a castle of much more recent workmanship), several baths, a triumphal and other arches, three mosques, and what are known as the church and convent of the monk Boheira. InA.D.106 the city was beautified and perhaps restored from ruin by Trajan, who made it the capital of the new province of Arabia. In the reign of Alexander Severus it was made a colony, and in 244, a native of the place, Philippus, ascended the imperial throne. By the time of Constantine the Great it seems to have been Christianized, and not long after it was the seat of an extensive bishopric. It was one of the first cities of Syria to be subjected to the Mahommedans, and it successfully resisted all the attempts of the Crusaders to wrest it from their hands. As late as the 14th century it was a populous city, after which it gradually fell into decay. It is now inhabited by thirty or forty families only. Another suggested identification is with Kusūr el-Besheir, equidistant (2 m.) from Dibon and Aroer. This is perhaps the same as the Bezer mentioned in Deuteronomy and Joshua as a levitical city and a city of refuge.

In 1 Macc. v. 26 there is mention of Bosor and of Bosora. The latter is probably to be identified with Bosra, the former perhaps with the present Busr el-Hariri in the south-east corner of the Lejā.

(R. A. S. M.)

BRABANT,a duchy which existed from 1190 to 1430, when it was united with the duchy of Burgundy, the name being derived from Brabo, a semi-mythical Frankish chief.

The history of Brabant is connected with that of the duchy of Lower Lorraine (q.v.), which became in the course of the 11th century split up into a number of small feudal states. The counts of Hainaut, Namur, Luxemburg and Limburg asserted their independence, and the territory of Liége passed to the bishops of that city. The remnant of the duchy, united since 1100 with the margraviate of Antwerp, was conferred in 1106 by the emperor Henry V., with the title of duke of Lower Lorraine, upon Godfrey (Godefroid) I., “the Bearded,” count of Louvain and Brussels. His title was disputed by Count Henry of Limburg, and for three generations the representatives of the rival houses contested the possession of the ducal dignity in Lower Lorraine. The issue was decided in favour of the house of Louvain by Duke Godfrey III. in 1159. His son, Henry I., “the Warrior” (1183-1235), abandoned the title of duke of Lower Lorraine and assumed in 1190 that of duke of Brabant. His successors were Henry II., “the Magnanimous” (1235-1248), Henry III., “le Debonnair” (1248-1261), and John I., “the Victorious” (1261-1294). These were all able rulers. Their usual place of residence was Louvain. John I., in 1283 bought the duchy of Limburg from Adolf of Berg, and secured his acquisition by defeating and slaying his competitor, Henry of Luxemburg, at the battle of Woeringen (June 5, 1288). His own son, John II., “the Pacific” (1294-1312), bestowed liberties upon his subjects by the charter of Cortenberg. This charter laid the foundation of Brabantine freedom. By it the imposition of grants (beden) and taxes was strictly limited and regulated, and its execution was entrusted to a council appointed by the duke for life (four nobles, ten burghers) whose duty it was to consider all complaints and to see that the conditions laid down by the charter concerning the administration of justice and finance were not infringed. He was succeeded by his son, John III., “the Triumphant” (1312-1355), who succeeded in maintaining his position in spite of formidable risings in Louvain and Brussels,and a league formed against him by his princely neighbours, but he had a hard struggle to face, and many ups and downs of fortune. He it was to whom Brabant owed the great charter of its liberties, calledLa joyeuse entrée, because it was granted on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Johanna (Jeanne) with Wenzel (Wenceslaus) of Luxemburg, and was proclaimed on their state entry into Brussels (1356).

Henry, the only legitimate son of John III., having died in 1349, the ducal dignity passed to his daughter and heiress, the above-named Johanna (d. 1406). She had married in first wedlock William IV., count of Holland (d. 1345). Wenzel of Luxemburg, her second husband, assumed in right of his wife, and by the sanction of the charterLa joyeuse entrée, the style of duke of Brabant. Johanna’s title was, however, disputed by Louis II., count of Flanders (d. 1384), who had married her sister Margaret. The question had been compromised by the cession to Margaret in 1347 of the margraviate of Antwerp by John III., but a war broke out in 1356 between Wenzel supported by the gilds, and Louis, who upheld the burgher-patrician party in the Brabant cities. The democratic leaders were Everhard Tserclaes at Brussels and Peter Coutercel at Louvain. In the course of a stormy reign Wenzel was taken prisoner in 1371 by the duke of Gelderland, and had to be ransomed by his subjects. After his death (1383) his widow continued to rule over the two duchies for eighteen years, but was obliged to rely on the support of the house of Burgundy in her contests with the turbulent city gilds and with her neighbours, the dukes of Jülich and Gelderland. In 1390 she revoked the deed which secured the succession to Brabant to the house of Luxemburg, and appointed her niece, Margaret of Flanders (d. 1405), daughter of Louis II. and Margaret of Brabant (seeFlanders), and her husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, her heirs. Margaret of Flanders had married (1) Philip I. de Rouvre of Burgundy (d. 1361) and (2) Philip II., the Bold, (d. 1404), son of John II., king of France (seeBurgundy). Of her three sons by her second marriage John succeeded to Burgundy, and Anthony to Brabant on the death of Johanna in 1406. Anthony was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 and was succeeded by his eldest son by Jeanne of Luxemburg St Pol, John IV. (d. 1427). He is chiefly memorable for the excitement caused by his divorce from his wife Jacoba (q.v.), countess of Holland. John IV. left no issue, and the succession passed to his brother Philip I., who also died without issue in 1430.

On the extinction of the line of Anthony the duchy of Brabant became the inheritance of the elder branch of the house of Burgundy, in the person of Philip III., “the Good,” of Burgundy, II. of Brabant, son of John. His grand-daughter Mary (d. 1482), daughter and heiress of Charles I., “the Bold,” (d. 1477) married the archduke Maximilian of Austria (afterwards emperor) and so brought Brabant with the other Burgundian possessions to the house of Habsburg. The chief city of Brabant, Brussels, became under the Habsburg régime the residence of the court and the capital of the Netherlands. In the person of the emperor Charles V. the destinies of Brabant and the other Netherland states were linked with those of the Spanish monarchy. The attempt of Philip II. of Spain to impose despotic rule upon the Netherlands led to the outbreak of the Netherland revolt, 1568 (seeNetherlands).

In the course of the eighty years’ war of independence the province of Brabant became separated into two portions. In the southern and larger part Spanish rule was maintained, and Brussels continued to be the seat of government. The northern (smaller) part was conquered by the Dutch under Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange. The latter captured ’s Hertogenbosch (1629), Maastricht (1632) and Breda (1637). At the peace of Münster this portion, which now forms the Dutch province of North Brabant, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces and was known as Generality Land, and placed under the direct government of the states-general. The southern portion, now divided into the provinces of Antwerp and South Brabant, remained under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs until the death of Charles II., the last of his race in 1700. After the War of the Spanish Succession the southern Netherlands passed by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. During the whole period of Austrian rule the province of Brabant succeeded in maintaining, to a very large extent unimpaired, the immunities and privileges to which it was entitled under the provisions of its ancient charter of liberty, the Joyous Entry. An ill-judged attempt by the emperor Joseph II., in his zeal for reform, to infringe these inherited rights stirred up the people under the leadership of Henry van der Noot to armed resistance in the Brabançon revolt of 1789-1790.

Since the French conquest of 1794 the history of Brabant is merged in that of Belgium (q.v.). The revolt against Dutch rule in 1830 broke out at Brussels and was in its initial stages largely a Brabançon movement. The important part played by Brabant at this crisis of the history of the southern Netherlands was marked in 1831 by the adoption of the ancient Brabançon colours to form the national flag, and of the lion of Brabant as the armorial bearings of Belgium. The title of duke of Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of the king of the Belgians.

(G. E.)

BRABANT,the central and metropolitan province of Belgium, is formed out of part of the ancient duchy. From 1815 to 1830, that is to say, during the existence of the kingdom of the Netherlands, Belgian Brabant was distinguished from Dutch by the employment of the geographical terms South and North. The surface of Brabant is undulating, and the highest points, some 400 ft. in altitude, are to be found at and near Mont St Jean. The province is well cultivated, and the people are well known for their industry. There are valuable stone quarries, and many manufactures flourish in the smaller towns, such as Ottignies, as well as in the larger cities of Brussels and Louvain. Brabant contains 820,740 acres or 1268 sq. m. Its principal towns are Brussels, Louvain, Nivelles, Hal, Ottignies, and its three administrative divisions are named after the first three of those towns. They are subdivided into 50 cantons and 344 communes. In 1904 the population of the province was 1,366,389 or a proportion of 1077 per sq. m.

BRABANT, NORTH,the largest province in Holland, bounded S. by Belgium, W. and N.W. by the Scheldt, the Eendracht, the Volkerak and the Hollandsch Diep, which separate it from Zealand and South Holland, N. and N. E. by the Merwede and Maas, which separate it from South Holland and Gelderland, and E. by the province of Limburg. It has an area of 231 sq. m. and a pop. (1900) of 553,842. The surface of the province is a gentle slope from the south-east (where it ranges between 80 and 160 ft. in height) towards the north and north-west, and the soil is composed of diluvial sand, here and there mixed with gravel, but giving place to sea-clay along the western boundary and river-clay along the banks of the Maas and smaller rivers. The watershed is formed by the north-eastern edge of the Belgian plateau of Campine, and follows a curved line drawn through Bergen-op-Zoom, Turnhout and Maastricht. The landscape consists for the most part of waste stretches of heath, occasionally slightly overlaid with high fen. Between the valleys of the Aa and the Maas lies the long stretch of heavy high-fen called the Peel (“marshy land”). Deurne, a few miles east of Helmond, the site of a prehistoric burial-ground, was an early fen colony. The work of reclamation was removed farther eastwards to Helenaveen in the second half of the 19th century. Agriculture (potatoes, buckwheat, rye) is the main industry, generally combined with cattle-raising. On the clay lands wheat and barley are the principal products, and in the western corner of the province beetroot is largely cultivated for the beet sugar industry, factories being found at Bergen-op-Zoom, Steenbergen and Oudenbosch. There is a special cultivation of hops in the district north-west of ’s Hertogenbosch. The large majority of the population is Roman Catholic. The earliest development of towns and villages took place along the river Maas and its tributaries, and the fortified Roman camps which were the origin of many such afterwards developed in the hands of feudal lords. The chief town of the province, ’s Hertogenbosch, may be cited as an interesting historical example. Geertruidenberg,Heusden, Ravestein and Grave are all similarly situated. Breda is the next town in importance to the capital. Bergen-op-Zoom had originally a more maritime importance. Rozendaal, Eindhoven and Bokstel (or Boxtel) are important railway junctions. Bokstel was formerly the seat of an independent barony which came into the possession of Philip the Good in 1439. The castle was restored in modern times. The precarious position of the province on the borders of the country doubtless militated against an earlier industrial development, but since the separation from Belgium and the construction of roads, railways and canals there has been a general improvement, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Helmond all having risen into prominence in modern times as industrial centres. Leather-tanning and shoe-making are especially associated with the district called Langstraat, which is situated between Geertruidenberg and ’s Hertogenbosch, and consists of a series of industrial villages along the course of the Old Maas.

BRACCIANO,a town in the province of Rome, Italy, 25 m. N.W. of Rome by rail, situated on the S.W. shore of the Lake of Bracciano, 915 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3987. It is chiefly remarkable for its fine castle (built by the Orsini in 1460, and since 1696 the property of the Odescalchi) which has preserved its medieval character. The beautiful lake is the ancientLacus Sabatinus, supposed to derive its name from an Etruscan city of the name of Sabate, which is wrongly thought to be mentioned in the Itineraries; the reference is really to the lake itself, which bore this name and gave it to one of the Roman tribes, thetribus Sabatina, founded in 387B.C.(O. Cuntz inJahreshefte des Österr. Arch. Instituts, ii., 1899, 85). It is 22 sq. m. in area, 538 ft. above sea-level, and 530 ft. deep; it is almost circular, but is held to be, not an extinct crater, but the result of a volcanic subsidence. The tufa deposits which radiate from it extend as far as Rome; various small craters surround it, while the existence of warm springs in the district (especially those of Vicarello, probably the ancientAquae Apollinares) may also be noted. Many remains of ancient villas may be seen round the lake: above its west bank is the station of Forum Clodii, and on its north shore the village of Trevignano, which retains traces of the fortifications of an ancient town of unknown name. About half-a-mile east of it was a post station called Ad Novas. The site of Anguillara, on the south shore, was occupied by a Roman villa. The water of the lake partly supplies the Acqua Paola, a restoration by Paul V. of the Aqua Traiana.

(T. As.)

BRACCIOLINI, FRANCESCO(1566-1645), Italian poet, was born at Pistoia, of a noble family, in 1566. On his removing to Florence he was admitted into the academy there, and devoted himself to literature. At Rome he entered the service of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, with whom he afterwards went to France. After the death of Clement VIII. he returned to his own country; and when his patron Barberini was elected pope, under the name of Urban VIII., Bracciolini repaired to Rome, and was made secretary to the pope’s brother, Cardinal Antonio. He had also the honour conferred on him of taking a surname from the arms of the Barberini family, which were bees; whence he was afterwards known by the name ofBracciolini dell’ Api. During Urban’s pontificate the poet lived at Rome in considerable reputation, though at the same time he was censured for his sordid avarice. On the death of the pontiff he returned to Pistoia, where he died in 1645. There is scarcely any species of poetry, epic, dramatic, pastoral, lyric or burlesque, which Bracciolini did not attempt; but he is principally noted for his mock-heroic poemLo Scherno degli Dei, published in 1618, similar but confessedly inferior to the contemporary work of Tassoni,Secchia Rapita. Of his serious heroic poems the most celebrated isLa Croce Racquistata.

For the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini seePoggio.

BRACE, CHARLES LORING(1826-1890), American philanthropist, was born on the 19th of June 1826 in Litchfield, Connecticut. He graduated at Yale in 1846, studied theology there in 1847-1848, and graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1849. From this time he practically devoted his life to social work among the poor of New York, and to Christian propaganda among the criminal classes; and he became well known as a social reformer, at home and abroad. He started in 1852 to hold “boys’ meetings,” and in 1853 helped to found the Children’s Aid Society, establishing workshops, industrial schools and lodging-houses for newsboys. In 1872 he was a delegate to the international prison congress which met in London. He died at Campfer, in Tirol, on the 11th of August 1890. He published from time to time several volumes embodying his views on practical Christianity and its application to the improvement of social conditions.

SeeThe Life and Letters of Charles Loring Brace(New York, 1894), edited by his daughter, Emma Brace.

BRACE, JULIA(1806-1884), American blind deaf-mute, was born at Newington, Connecticut, on the 13th of June 1806. In her fifth year she became blind and deaf, and lost the power of speech. At the age of eighteen she entered the asylum for the deaf and dumb at Hartford. The study of blind deaf-mutes and their scientific training was then in its infancy; but she learnt to sew well, was neat in her dress, and had a good memory. Dr S.G. Howe’s experiments with her were interesting as leading to his success with Laura Bridgman. She died at Bloomington, Conn., on the 12th of August 1884.

BRACE(through the Fr. from the plural of the Lat.bracchium, the arm), a measure of length, being the distance between the extended arms. From the original meaning of “the two arms” comes that of something which secures, connects, tightens or strengthens, found in numerous uses of the word, as a carpenter’s tool with a crank handle and socket to hold a bit for boring; a beam of wood or metal used to strengthen any building or machine; the straps passing over the shoulders to support the trousers; the leathern thong which slides up and down the cord of a drum, and regulates the tension and the tone; a writing and printing sign ({) for uniting two or more lines of letterpress or music; a nautical term for a rope fastened to the yard for trimming the sails (cf. the corresponding French termbras de vergue). As meaning “a couple” or “pair” the term was first applied to dogs, probably from the leash by which they were coupled in coursing. In architecture “brace mould” is the term for two ressaunts or ogees united together like a brace in printing, sometimes with a small bead between them.

BRACEGIRDLE, ANNE(c.1674-1748), English actress, is said to have been placed under the care of Thomas Betterton and his wife, and to have first appeared on the stage as the page inThe Orphanat its first performance at Dorset Garden in 1680. She was Lucia in Shadwell’sSquire of Alsatiaat the Theatre Royal in 1688, and played similar parts until, in 1693, as Araminta inThe Old Bachelor, she made her first appearance in a comedy by Congreve, with whose works and life her name is most closely connected. In 1695 she went with Betterton and the other seceders to Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where, on its opening with Congreve’sLove for Love, she played Angelica. This part, and those of Belinda in Vanbrugh’sProvoked Wife, and Almira in Congreve’sMourning Bride, were among her best impersonations, but she also played the heroines of some of Nicholas Rowe’s tragedies, and acted in the contemporary versions of Shakespeare’s plays. In 1705 she followed Betterton to the Haymarket, where she found a serious competitor in Mrs Oldfield, then first coming into public favour. The story runs that it was left for the audience to determine which was the better comedy actress, the test being the part of Mrs Brittle in Betterton’sAmorous Widow, which was played alternately by the two rivals on successive nights. When the popular vote was given in favour of Mrs Oldfield, Mrs Bracegirdle quitted the stage, making only one reappearance at Betterton’s benefit in 1709. Her private life was the subject of much discussion. Colley Cibber remarks that she had the merit of “not being unguarded in her private character,” while Macaulay does not hesitate to call her “a cold, vain and interested coquette, who perfectly understood how much the influence of her charms was increased by the fame of a severity which cost her nothing.” She was certainly the object of the adoration of many men,and she was the innocent cause of the killing of the actor William Mountfort (q.v.), whom Captain Hill and Lord Mohun regarded as a rival for her affections. During her lifetime she was suspected of being secretly married to Congreve, whose mistress she is also said to have been. He was at least always her intimate friend, and left her a legacy. Rightly or wrongly, her reputation for virtue was remarkably high, and Lord Halifax headed a subscription list of 800 guineas, presented to her as a tribute to her virtue. Her charity to the poor in Clare Market and around Drury Lane was conspicuous, “insomuch that she would not pass that neighbourhood without the thankful acclamations of people of all degrees.” She died in 1748, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.

See Genest,History of the Stage; Colley Gibber,Apology(edited by Bellchambers); Egerton,Life of Anne Oldfield; Downes,Roscius Anglicanus.

BRACELET,orArmlet, a personal ornament for the arm or wrist, made of different materials, according to the fashion of the age and the rank of the wearer. The word is the Frenchbracelet, a diminutive ofbracel, frombrac(c)hiale, formed from the Latinbracchium, the arm, on which it was usually worn. By the Romans it was calledarmilla, brachiale, occabus; and in the middle agesbauga, armispatha.

In the Bible there are three different words which the authorized version renders by “bracelet.” These are—(1) הרעצא’eş‘adah, which occurs in Num. xxxi. 50, 2 Sam. i. 10, and which being used with reference to men only, may be taken to be thearmlet; (2) דימצşamīd, which is found in Gen. xxiv. 22, Num. xxxi. 50, Ezek. xvi. 11;—where these two words occur together (as in Num. xxxi. 50) the first is rendered by “chain,” and the second by “bracelet”; (3) תורשsheroth, which occurs only in Isa. iii. 19. The first probably meant armlets worn by men; the second, bracelets worn by women and sometimes by men; and the third a peculiar bracelet of chain-work worn only by women. In 2 Sam. i. 10 the first word denotes the royal ornament which the Amalekite took from the arm of the dead Saul, and brought with the other regalia to David. There is little question that this was such a distinguishing band of jewelled metal as we still find worn as a mark of royalty from the Tigris to the Ganges. The Egyptian kings are represented with armlets, which were also worn by the Egyptian women. These, however, are not jewelled, but of plain or enamelled metal, as was in all likelihood the case among the Hebrews.

In modern times the most celebrated armlets are those which form part of the regalia of the Persian kings and formerly belonged to the Mogul emperors of India, being part of the spoil carried to Persia from Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739. These ornaments are of dazzling splendour, and the jewels in them are of such large size and immense value that the pair have been reckoned to be worth a million sterling. The principal stone of the right armlet is famous in the East under the name of theDarya-i-nur, “sea (or river) of light.” It weighs 186 carats, and is considered the diamond of finest lustre in the world. The principal jewel of the left armlet, although of somewhat inferior size (146 carats) and value, is renowned as theTāj-e-mah, “crown of the moon.” The imperial armlets, generally set with jewels, may also be observed in most of the portraits of the Indian emperors.

Bracelets have at all times been much in use among barbaric nations, and the women frequently wear several on the same arm. The finer kinds are of mother-of-pearl, fine gold or silver; others of less value are made of plated steel, horn, brass, copper, beads, &c. Chinese bracelets are sometimes cut out of single pieces of jade.

This species of personal ornament has been exceedingly common in Europe from prehistoric times onward. The bracelets of the Bronze Age were of either gold or bronze, silver being then unknown. In shape they were oval and penannular with expanding or trumpet-shaped ends, having an opening between them of about half an inch to enable them to be easily slipped over the wrist. Those of gold were generally plain, hammered rods, bent to the requisite shape, but those of bronze were often chased with decorative designs. Some forms of spiral armlets of bronze, peculiar to Germany and Scandinavia, covered the whole fore-arm, and were doubtless intended as much for defence against a sword-stroke as for ornament. Among the nations of classical antiquity, bracelets were worn by both sexes of the Etruscans; by women only among the Greeks, except in orientalized communities. Among the Romans they were worn by women only as a rule, but they are also recorded to have been used during the empire bynouveaux riches, and by some of the emperors. It should also be mentioned that bracelets were conferred as a military decoration in the field.

The bracelets of the Greeks are of two leading types, both of which were also familiar to the Assyrians. The one class were in the form of coiled spirals, usually in the form of snakes, a term which Pollux gives as a synonym for bracelet. The other class were stiff penannular hoops, capable of being slightly opened. In such examples the terminals are finely finished as rams’ heads, lions’ heads, or (as in the accompanying figure from a bracelet found at Kuloba) as enamelled sphinxes. In late Etruscan art the bracelet may be formed of consecutive panels, as often in modern jewelry.

The spiral forms were common in the Iron Age of northern Europe, while silver bracelets of great elegance, formed of plaited and intertwisted strands of silver wire, and plain penannular hoops, round or lozenge-shaped in section and tapering to the extremities, became common towards the close of the pagan period. The late Celtic period in Britain was characterized by serpent-shaped bracelets and massive armlets, with projecting ornaments of solid bronze and perforations filled with enamel. In the middle ages bracelets were much less commonly used in Europe,but the custom has continued, to prevail among Eastern nations to the present time, and many of the types that were common in Europe in prehistoric times are still worn in central Asia.

A treatise,De Armillis Veterum, by Thomas Bartholinus, was published at Amsterdam in 1676.

BRACHIOPODA,an important and well-defined but extremely isolated class of invertebrates. The group may be defined as follows: Sessile solitaryCoelomatawith bivalved shells usually of unequal size and arranged dorso-ventrally. The head is produced into ciliated arms bearing tentacles. They reproduce sexually, and with doubtful exceptions are of separate sexes.

The name Brachiopod (βραχίων, an arm, andπούς, ποδός, a foot) was proposed for the class by F. Cuvier in 1805, and by A.M.C. Dumeril in 1809, and has since been very extensively adopted. The division of the group intoEcardines(Inarticulata), with no hinge to the shell and with an alimentary canal open at both ends, andTesticardines(Articulata), with a hinge between the dorsal and ventral valves and with no anus, was proposed by Owen and has been adopted by nearly all authors. In a later scheme based on our increased knowledge of fossil forms, the Brachiopoda are divided into four primary groups (orders). This is given at the end of the article, but it must not be forgotten that the existing forms with an anus (Ecardines) differ markedly from the aproctous members of the group (Testicardines).

1.Magellania[Waldheimia]cranium. A, ventral, B, dorsal valve.

2.Rhynchonella (Hemithyris) psittacea.

3. and 4.Thecidea.

5.Spirifer. Dorsal valve, showing calcareous spiral coils.

6.Orthis calligramma.

7.Leptaena transversalis. A, ventral, B, dorsal valve.

8.Productus horridus.

9.Lingula pyramidata(after Morse).

10.Discinisca lamellosa.

11.Crania anomalaInterior of dorsal valve, showing muscular impressions and labial appendages.

The soft body of the Brachiopod is in all cases protected by a shell composed of two distinct valves; these valves are always, except in cases of malformation, equal-sided, but not equivalved. The valves are, consequently, essentially symmetrical, which is not the case with the Lamellibranchiata,—so much so, that certain Brachiopod shells were namedLampades, or lamp shells, by some early naturalists; but while such may bear a kind of resemblance to an antique Etruscan lamp, by far the larger number in no way resemble one. The shell is likewise most beautiful in its endless shapes and variations. In some species it is thin, semi-transparent and glassy, in others massive. Generally the shell is from a quarter of an inch to about 4 in. in size, but in certain species it attains nearly a foot in breadth by something less in length, as is the case withProductus giganteus. The valves are also in some species very unequal in their respective thickness, as may be seen inProductus(Daviesiella)1llangollensis,Davidsonia verneuilii, &c., and while the space allotted to the animal is very great in many species, as inTerebratula sphaeroidalis, it is very small in others belonging toStrophomena,Leptaena,Chonetes, &c. The ventral valve is usually the thickest, and in some forms is six or seven times as great as the opposite one. The outer surface of many of the species presents likewise the most exquisite sculpture, heightened by brilliant shades, or spots of green, red, yellow and bluish black. Traces of the original colour have also been preserved in some of the fossil forms; radiating bands of a reddish tint have been often seen in well-preserved examples ofTerebratula(Dielasma)hastata,T. (Dielasma)sacculus,T. communis,T. biplicata, and of several others. Some specimens ofT. carneaare of a beautiful pale pink colour when first removed from their matrix, and E. Deslongchamps has described the tint of several Jurassic species.

The valves are distinguished asdorsalandventral. The ventral valve is usually the larger, and in many genera, such asTerebratulaandRhynchonella, has a prominent beak or umbo, with a circular or otherwise shaped foramen at or near its extremity, partly bounded by one or two plates, termed a deltidium. Through the foramen passes a peduncle, by which the animal is in many species attached to submarine objects during at least a portion of its existence. Other forms show no indication of ever having been attached, while some that had been moored by means of a peduncle during the early portion of their existence have become detached at a more advanced stage of life, the opening becoming gradually cicatrized, as is so often seen inLeptaena rhomboidalis,Orthisina anomala, &c. Lastly, some species adhere to submarine objects by a larger or smaller portion of their ventral valve, as is the case with many forms ofCrania,Thecidium,Davidsonia, &c. SomeCraniasare always attached by the whole surface of their lower or ventral valve, which models itself and fills up all the projections or depressions existing on either the rock, shell or coral to which it adhered. These irregularities are likewise, at times, reproduced on the upper or dorsal valve. Some species ofStrophalosiaandProductusseem also to have been moored during life to the sandy or muddy bottoms on which they lived, by the means of tubular spines often of considerable length. The interior of the shell varies very much according to families and genera. On the inner surface of both valves several well-defined muscular, vascular and ovarian impressions are observable; they form either indentations of greater or less size and depth, or occur as variously shaped projections. In theTrimerellidae, for example, some of the muscles are attached to a massive or vaulted platform situated in the medio-longitudinal region of the posterior half or umbonal portion of both valves. In addition to these, there exists in the interior of thedorsalvalve of some genera a variously modified, thin, calcified, ribbon-shaped skeleton for the support of the ciliated arms, and the form of this ribbon serves as one of the chief generic characters of both recent and extinct forms. This brachial skeleton is more developed in some genera than in others. In certain forms, as inTerebratulaandTerebratulina, it is short and simple, and attached to a small divided hinge-plate, the two riband-shaped lamina being bent upwards in the middle (fig. 15). The cardinal process is prominent, and on each side of the hinge-plate are situated the dental sockets; the loop inTerebratulinabecomes annular in the adult by the union of its crural processes (fig. 16). InMagellania[Waldheimia] it is elongated and reflected; the hinge-plate large, with four depressions, under which originates a median septum, which extends more or less into the interior of the shell (figs. 13 and 14).InTerebratellathe loop is attached to the hinge-plate and to the septum (fig. 17). InMegerliait is three times attached, first to the hinge-plate, and then to the septum by processes from the diverging and reflected positions of the loop. InMagasthe brachial skeleton is composed of an elevated longitudinal septum reaching from one valve to the other, to which are affixed two pairs of calcareous lamellae, the lower ones riband-shaped; attached first to the hinge-plate, they afterwards proceed by a gentle curve near to the anterior portion of the septum, to the sides of which they are affixed; the second pair originate on both sides of the upper edge of the septum, extending in the form of two triangular anchor-shaped lamellae (fig. 18). InBouchardiathe septum only is furnished with two short anchor-shaped lamellae. Many more modifications are observable in different groups of which the great familyTerebratulidaeis composed. InThecidium(figs. 3,4) the interior of the dorsal valve is variously furrowed to receive the lophophore folded in two or more lobes. In the familySpiriferidaethere are two conical spires directed outwards, and nearly filling the cavity of the shell (fig. 5); while inAtrypathe broad spirally coiled lamellae are vertical, and directed toward the centre of the dorsal valve. In theRhynchonellidaethere are two short slender curved laminae, while in many genera and even families, such as theProductidae, Strophomenidae, Lingulidae, Discinidae, &c., there exists no calcified support for the labial appendages. The ventral valve in many of the genera is provided with two curved hinge-teeth, which fit into corresponding sockets in the opposite valve, so that the valves cannot be separated without breaking one of the teeth.

12.Magellania[Waldheimia]flavescens. Interior of ventral valve.f, foramen;d, deltidium;t, teeth;a, adductor impressions (=occlusors,Hancock);c, divaricator (=cardinal muscles,King, = muscles diducteurs principaux,Gratiolet);c’, accessory divaricators (muscles diducteurs accessoires,Gratiolet);b, ventral adjuster (= ventral peduncular muscles, or muscles du pedoncule paire supérieure,Gratiolet);b’, peduncular muscle.

13.Magellania[Waldheimia]flavescens. Interior of dorsal valve.c, c’, cardinal process;b’, b’, hinge-plate;s, dental sockets;l, loop;q, crura;a, a’, adductor impressions;c, accessory divaricator;b, peduncle muscles;ss, septum.

14.Magellania[Waldheimia]flavescens. Longitudinal section of valves. A, ventral, B, dorsal valves;l, loop;q, crura;ss, septum;c, cardinal process.

15.Terebratula (Liothyris) vitrea. Interior of dorsal valve.l, loop;b, hinge-plate;c, cardinal process.

16. Loop ofTerebratulina caput serpentis.

17. Longitudinal section ofTerebratella dorsata. (References as in fig. 14.)

18. Longitudinal section ofMagas pumilus.

d,h, Brachial appendages.

a, Adductor.

c, c’, Divaricator muscles.

s, Septum.

v, Mouth.

z, Exremity of alimentary tube.

1. The ventral valve.

2. The dorsal valve.

3. The pedicle.

4. The mouth.

5. Lip which overhangs the mouth and runs all round the lophophore.

6. Tentacles.

7. Ovary in dorsal valve.

8. Liver diverticula.

9. Occlusor muscle—its double origin is shown.

10. Internal opening of left nephridium.

11. External opening of the same.

12. Ventral adjustor.

13. Divaricator muscle.

14. Sub-oesophageal nerve ganglion.

15. The heart.

16. Dorsal adjustor muscle.

1. The lip.

2. The base of a tentacle bisected in the middle line.

3. Great arm-sinus.

4. Small arm-sinus, containing muscle-fibres.

5. Tentacular canal.

6. External tentacular muscle.

7. Tentacular blood-vessel arising from the cut arm-vessel in the small arm-sinus.

8. Chief arm-nerve.

9. Secondary arm-nerve.

10. Under arm-nerve.

Each valve of the shell is lined by a mantle which contains prolongations of the body cavity. The outer surfaces of the mantle secrete the shell, which is of the nature of a cuticle impregnated by calcareous salts. These often have the form of prisms of calcite surrounded by a cuticular mesh work; the whole is nourished and kept alive by processes, which inCraniaare branched; these perforate the shell and permit the access of the coelomic fluid throughout its substance. These canals are closed externally and are absent inRhynchonella, where the amount of calcareous deposit is small. InLingulathe shell is composed of alternate layers of chitin and of phosphate of lime. The free edges of the mantle often bear chitinous bristles or setae which project beyond the shell. As in the case of the Lamellibranchiata, the shell of the adult is not a direct derivative of the youngest shell of the larva. The young Brachiopod in all its species is protected by an embryonic shell called the “protegulum,” which sometimes persists in the umbones of the adult shells but is more usually worn off. In all species it has the same shape, a shape which has been retained in the adult by the Lower Cambrian genusIphidea.

The body of the Brachiopod usually occupies about the posterior half of the space within the shell. The anterior half of this space is lined by the inner wall of the mantle and is called the mantle cavity. This cavity lodges the arms, which are curved and coiled in different ways in different genera. The water which bears the oxygen for respiration and the minute organisms upon which the Brachiopod feeds is swept into the mantle cavity by the action of the cilia which cover the arms, and the eggs and excreta pass out into the same cavity. The mouth lies in the centre of the anterior wall of the body. Its two lips fusing together at the corners of the mouth are prolonged into the so-called arms. These arms, which together form the lophophore,may be, as inCistella, applied flat to the inner surface of the dorsal mantle fold, but more usually they are raised free from the body like a pair of moustaches, and as they are usually far too long to lie straight in the mantle cavity, they are folded or coiled up. The brachial skeleton which in many cases supports the arms has been mentioned above.

A transverse section through the arm (fig. 22) shows that it consists of a stout base, composed of a very hyaline connective tissue not uncommon in the tissues of the Brachiopoda, which is traversed by certain canals whose nature is considered below under the section (The Body Cavity) devoted to the coelom. Anteriorly this base supports a gurrie or gutter, the pre-oral rim of which is formed by a simple lip, but the post-oral rim is composed of a closely set row of tentacles. These may number some thousands, and they are usually bent over and tend to form a closed cylinder of the gutter. Each of these tentacles (fig. 22) is hollow, and it contains a diverticulum from the coelom, a branch of the vascular system, a nerve and some muscle-fibres. Externally on two sides and on the inner surface the tentacles are ciliated, and the cilia are continued across the gutter to the lip and even on the outer surface of the latter. These cilia pass on any diatoms and other minute organism which come within their range of action to the capacious oval mouth, which appears as a mere deepening of the gutter in the middle line. InTerebratulina, Rhynchonella, Lingula, and possibly other genera, the arms can be unrolled and protruded from the opened shell; in this case the tentacles also straighten themselves and wave about in the water.

Back to Index Next