BRIGHT'S DISEASE. 



BRITISH MTM-.rM. THE. 



their country. Tcitu describes than u the mart numeroiu tribe in 

 the wholr province of Britain (' Agricola,' xrii.) We find the Brigantes 

 mentioned again under the reign of Antoninus Pius, when they nude 

 incursions into the neighbouring territory of Oenunia (Paiuui. viii. 4S>. 

 which WM subject to the Romans, for which they were attacked and 

 I by LoUius Urbicus, and part of their territory wu taken from 



We find in Ptolemy a tribe of Brigantea in Southern Hibernia, 

 between the riren Birgus (Barrow) and Dabrona (Blackwater), occu- 

 pying the tpaoe included in the modern countiea of Waterford and 

 Tipperary. They are supposed by some to have emigrated from 

 Britain. 



The Brigantes must not be confounded with the Brigantii, a tribe in 

 VindelicU, near the borders of the lake of Constance, whom Strabo 

 (IT. p. 200, Caunub.) mentions as terrible robbers, whose name was 

 the dread of the neighbouring countries, and who in their incursions 

 into Italy used to commit the greatest cruelties, killing all the men 

 and nula children, and even the pregnant women. Whether it was 

 from the tnulition.il character of these Brigantii, or that the word 

 itself meant in iu original language marauders, or " free hands," as 

 me have interpreted it, the name appears to have been held ever after 

 in disrepute, anil we find the French in the middle ages using the word 

 Brigans as synonymous with armed adventurers. The English also 

 used to say of a bold lawless fellow, "he plays the Brigans." (Camden.) 

 In the wars of the French Revolution and of Napoleon, the appellation 

 Brigand* became common in the French invading armies to signify all 

 those who resisted them without being regular soldiers, whom accord- 

 ingly they did not consider as entitled to any of the courtesies of 

 modern warfare. 



BRIUHTS DISEASE. [KIDNEYS, DISEASES or.] 



BRIMSTONE. The chemical relations of thin important substance 

 are treated under SULPHUR; but, as the Customs' authorities still 

 employ the old-fashioned name of brimstone, we may briefly notice- 

 here the vast extent of the trade. In the three years 1856,1857, 1858, 

 the quantity of brimstone imported was as follows : 



- ; 

 1857 



:- - 



1,410,607 cwta. 



987,811 

 1,156,476 



every 

 K.twf 



averaging no less than 130 millions of pounds per annum. The chief 

 employment is in the manufacture of gunpowder, ignitable matches, 

 ana sulphuric acid. 



BRISTLES. The hog's bristles used in brush-making are brought 

 in Urge quantities from Russia and Poland. As token from the 

 nlmAl, they consist of various colours intermixed ; but before use, and 

 in some cases before importation, they ore sorted by hand into the 

 several varieties of colour termed in the trade black, gray, yellow, white, 

 and lilia the last-named of which ore the lightest of all ; but, excepting 

 in the case of lilies, a bundle of any one of these kinds will be found to 

 contain many shades or varieties of colour, which are carefully inter- 

 mixed in the process of dressing whenever it is intended to use them 

 together. In dratiny, the bundle is repeatedly opened and combed 

 with an instrument resembling a wool-comb; and, when a further sepa- 

 ration of tints is not intended, the darker and lighter bristles are 

 distributed as equally as possible among one another by separating and 

 doubling the bundle. In all these operations the root-ends are care- 

 fully kept together, and in the dressing the bristles are separated into 

 lot* according to their length. If intended for fancy purposes requi- 

 ring great neatness, the dressed hairs are subjected to the process 

 'lci*y, which is frequently performed by children; in this process, 



_hair that differs much in colour from the mass Is picked out by 

 Some bristles are also scoured or bleached, by which process 

 they may be rendered almost perfectly white. Brush-making is the 

 chief purpose to which bristles ore applied ; and the extent of some of 

 the minor trades in this country is well illustrated by the fact that, in 

 the three years ending with 1858, the average import of bristles was 

 2,500,000 pound* annually. 



BRISUKK, a term borrowed from the French and applied, in per- 

 manent fortification, to any part of a rampart or parapet which deviates 

 from the general direction. Thus, in a front of fortification with 

 retired flanks, the part of the curtain immediately contiguous to each 

 flank, which is traced obliquely to the central part and in the direction 

 of the produced face of tha collateral bastion, is called the brisure of 

 the curtain. An example of this kind of brisure is shown at e (Jig. 1), 

 in the article BASTION. In field fortification the faces of a star fort 

 sad of any indent- d line of parapet are called brisures. 



BRITANNIA METAL, Tnta*ia. An alloy of zinc, tin, copper. 

 antimony, and leed, or bismuth in various proportions. The following 

 are formula in common use : 



Jio. 1. Mo. 2. 



- Arsenic, 



*" 1 Tin, 



\ of each equal parts. Antimony, 



"' I Blumulh, 



taoua. i BrtMj 



The above alloys are to be added to melted tin till a specimen on 



i u In -- Cm 



SO 

 40 

 10 



100 



cooling presents a good colour and proper degree of 

 working. 



No. S. No. 4. 



Tin ... 74-T Tin . 



Lead. . . . 165 BraM . 



AnUmonjr . . 4-6 Antimony . 



Brais . . . 4-1 



100-0 



Nos. 3 and 4 require no farther preparation. Lead should never l>o 

 present in larger quantity than 18 per cent, as even dilute vinegar 

 woidd then quickly act upon and dissolve the alloy. Britannia metal 

 is extensively used for the manufacture of such articles as coffee-pots, 

 tea-pots, spoons, forks, ic. It is well adapted for these purposes on 

 account of it silver-white colour ; it also may be worked with con- 

 siderable facility, and is susceptible of a high polish. The same care is 

 necessary in the use of vessels made of this metal as of those made of 

 copper, pewter, *c., namely that they be kept clean, and the access of 

 acid substances prevented. 



BRITISH GUM, Dtxtrlne, Store!,. Gum, Lcicomene, Rootled Stare*, 

 Hum, artificial. 



A cheap substitute for gum arabic. The manufacture of this sub- 

 stance has lately been brought to a high state of perfection. It is 

 obtained from starch by the action of dilute acids, diastase or heat. 



To 1000 parts of starch are added 2 parts of nitric acid, diluted 

 with sufficient water to moisten the whole mass. The mixture when 

 dry is heated for two or three hours at a temperature of about 150 F., 

 the heat being finally raised to 230" F. 



To 400 parts of water heated in a copper to 85 F., 5 parts of crushed 

 malt are added, and the mixture raised to 140 F., 100 parts of starch 

 are now stirred in, and a temperature of about 150 F. maintained till 

 the whole is changed into a viscous fluid. This usually occurs within 

 half an hour. Immediately this state is arrived at, the heat is rapidly 

 increased to 212 F. The diastase in the malt is thus prevented from 

 converting the dextrine into glucose, or grape sugar : a transformation 

 that would otherwise quickly take place. The liquid thus obtained is 

 cleared by repose or filtration, and concentrated to a proper consistence 

 by evaporation. The gum obtained usually contains small qu.i i 

 both of starch and sugar, from which it cannot be freed without con- 

 siderable trouble : their presence, however, is of little consequence for 

 most applications of dextrine. 



A third process, and the one most usually adopted, consists in 

 simply heating the starch to a temperature a little above 300 F., till 

 it assumes a bun" colour, and is soluble in water. 



British gum resembles gum arabic in all iU common properties, and 

 is used as a substitute in nearly all the applications of the hitter, more 

 especially to thicken the colours and stiffen the goods of the calico- 

 printer, the dyer, and the paper manufacturer. It may be readily 

 distinguished from the natural variety by the high power possessed by 

 its solution of rotating a ray of plane polarised light to the right hand, 

 hence the name " dextrine ; " a solution of gum arabic rotating tho 

 ray to an almost equally powerful degree, but in precisely the contrary 

 direction. Another test by which to distinguish these two gums from 

 each other is to heat the aqueous solution over the water Iwth with 

 caustic potash or soda, and a few drops of solution of sulphate of 

 copper, when <l"xtrinc will cause a red precipitate of suboxide of 

 eopper, giim arabic not affecting the solution. Heated with strong 

 nitric acid dextrine yields oxalic, and possibly succharic acids. <!iun 

 arabic under similar circumstances yields mucic acid. 



Dextrine when pure has the same chemical composition as starch, 

 namely, C la H |U O 1( , It is very soluble in water, less so in dilute spirit, 

 and insoluble in absolute or tolerably strong alcohol. Itis not coloured 

 by iodine. Boiled with dilute acids it is converted into grape sugar. 

 Subocetate of lead causes no precipitate in solutions of dextrine till 

 ammonia is added, when .-i white compound falls, having the com- 

 position C,,H 10 IO , 2 Pb 0. With protochloride of tin it also yields a 

 precipitate, but none with .-nlphate of iron. 



BRITISH MUSEUM, THE. Tho national museum of Great 

 Britain, which comprises the national library, owes its origin to the 

 will of a private individual. The funnier. Sir Hans Sloane. w a> -,\ 

 native of Ireland, but of Scotch extraction, the son of a Seot,< hm;m 

 who had emigrated to Ulster in the reign of James I. The greater 

 part of his unusually long and fortunate life was spent in London, 

 where for a quarter of a century he was president. of the Coll 

 Physicians, as well as physician !> the kin^. and succeeded Sir IsMO 

 'i as the president of the Royal So,-|,-i\. II. di> d al < hrlsoaon 

 the llth of January, 1753, at the age of ninety two. More than fifty 

 years !> ' ae.|iiiied. l>y the l>eqne.<t of hi* friend Mr. William 



>i. an extensive ami valuable museum of natural and miscel- 

 laneous curiosities, which he spent much of his time ami fortune in 

 augmenting. This collection, which had altogether cost him 50.000/., 

 he directed, by his will, to be offered to the British government for the 

 sum of 20,0001., which he stated to bo in his belief not one fourth of 

 the intrinsic value, and in case the offer should not be accepted 

 part of the government within a twelvemonth, then in succession to 

 the Academies of St. Petersburg, Paris, Berlin, and Madrid, for the 

 same sum, with tho proviso that in case of refusal by all these it 

 should be disposed of for the benefit of his daughters. Fortunately 



