720 



BUONZING BROOM. 



thod of casting in bronze among the ancients, see 

 Winckelmann's History of Art, book ii.) The mo- 

 derns Itave also made much use of bronze, particularly 

 for statues exposed to accident*, or (lie influence of 

 the atmosphere, and for casts of celebrated antiques. 

 The moulds are made on the pattern, of plaster and 

 brick dust The parts are then covered on the in- 

 side with a coating of clay as thick as the bronze is 

 intended to be. The mould is now closed, and filled 

 on its inside with a nucleus or core of plaster and 

 brick dust, mixed with water. When this is done, 

 the mould is opened, and the clay carefully removed. 

 The mould, with its core, are then thoroughly dried, 

 and the core secured in its position by bars of bronze, 

 which pass into it through the external part of the 

 mould. The whole is then bound with iron hoops, 

 and the melted bronze is poured in through an aper- 

 ture left for the purpose : of course, the bronze fills 

 t lie same cavity which was previously occupied by the 

 clay, and fonns a metallic covering to the core. It 

 is afterwards made smooth by mechanical means. 



BRONZING. Bronze of a good quality acquires, by 

 ox yd; i ti< ii i, a fine green tint, called patina antiqua, or, 

 by 1 1 it- Romans, aerugo. Corinthian brass receives in this 

 way a beautiful clear green colour. This appearance is 

 imitated by an artificial process, called bronzing. A 

 solution of sal ammoniac and salt of sorrel in vinegar 

 is used for bronzing metals. Any number of layers 

 may be applied, and the sliade becomes deeper in 

 proportion to the number applied. For bronzing 

 sculptures of wood, plaster, figures, &c. , a composition 

 of yellow ochre, Prussian blue, and lamp-black, dis- 

 solved in glue-water, is employed. 



BRONZINO, Angelo, a painter of the Florentine 

 school, and imitator of Michael Angelo, flourished 

 about 1550. He painted a great number of portraits; 

 and his historical paintings are distinguished by the 

 striking and pleasing features of the heads which 

 they contain. One of his best paintings is a Christ, 

 in the church Santa Croce, at Florence. It is remark- 

 able for its grouping and colouring, as well as for the 

 heads, many of which are the portraits of his friends 

 and contemporaries ; yet it is not altogether free from 

 mannerism and affectation. Some persons have found 

 fault with the nakedness of his figures. He died at 

 Florence, 1570. 



BROODING. See Ornithology. 



BROOKLYN, a post-town of New York, in King's 

 county, on the west end of Long Island, separated 

 from the city of New York by East river. Population 

 in 1810, 4,402 ; in 1820, 7,175. The village of B., 

 within the township, is incorporated, and has a plea- 

 sant and somewhat elevated situation, opposite to the 

 city of New York, from which it is three-fourths of a 

 mile distant. It is a flourishing village, compactly 

 and handsomely built, having various manufactures 

 Mid an extensive " trade ; it contained, in 1825, 

 8,800 inhabitants, and five houses of public worship. 

 To the east of the village is a tract of land called the 

 ff^aUaboght, which is the site of a navy-yard, and 

 public store-houses, belonging to the United States. 

 Between B. and Flatbush, on the south, a severe bat- 

 tle was fought during the revolutionary war, between 

 the British and Americans, in which the latter were 

 defeated with great loss. 



BROOKS, John, an American surgeon, who dis- 

 tinguished himself during the revolutionary war, 

 was born in Medford, Massachusetts, in the year 

 1752. His father was a respectable farmer. Af- 

 ter receiving a common education at the town 

 school, young B. was indented as an apprentice, ac- 

 cording to the prevailing custom, to doctor Simon 

 Tufts, for the space of seven years. He here con- 

 tracted an intimacy with the celebrated count Rum- 

 ford, which was continued by correspondence until the 



latter's death. After completing his studies, he com- 

 menced the practice of his profession in the neigh- 

 bouring town of Reading ; but he had not been long 

 so engaged, when the revolutionary war broke out, 

 anil he was appointed to command a company of 

 minute men, whom he soon had an opportunity of 

 exercising against the British, on their retreat from 

 Lexington and Concord. He was soon after raised to 

 the rank of major in the continental service, and was 

 distinguished for his knowledge of tactics, be- 

 ing considered as second, in that respect, to baron 

 Steuben alone, with whom he was associated in tlir 

 duty of introducing a uniform system of exercise and 

 manoeuvres. In 1777, he was appointed lieutenant- 

 colonel, and had no small share in the capture of 

 Burgoyne, on the 7th of October, at Saratoga. 

 When the conspiracy of some of the officers against 

 the commander-in-chief, in March, 1783, had well 

 nigh ruined the country, Washington rode up to 

 Brooks, and requested him to keep his officers within 

 quarters, to prevent their attending the insurgent 

 meeting. Brooks replied, " Sir, I have anticipated 

 your wishes, and my orders are given. 1 ' Washington 

 took him by the hand, and said, " Colonel Brooks, 

 this is just what I expected from you." He was one 

 of the committee who brought in the resolutions of the 

 officers, expressing their abhorrence of this plot, and 

 also one of that appointed by the officers to adjust 

 their accounts with congress. After the army was 

 disbanded, colonel Brooks resumed the practice of 

 medicine in Medford and the neighbouring towns. 

 He was soon after elected a member of the Massa- 

 chusetts' medical society, and, on its extension and 

 new organization, in the year 1803, a counsellor. He 

 was for many years major-general of the militia of his 

 county, and his division, during the insurrection of 

 1786, was very efficient in the protection of the courts 

 of justice, and the support of the government. Gen- 

 eral Brooks also represented his town in the general 

 court, and was a delegate in the state convention, for 

 the adoption of the federal constitution, of which he 

 was one of the most zealous advocates. In the late 

 war with England, he was the adjutant-general of 

 governor Strong, and was chosen to succeed him on 

 his retirement trom office, almost without opposition. 

 As governor, he discharged his duties with signal 

 ability and excellent temper. He was president of 

 many literary, religious, patriotic, benevolent, and 

 professional societies. After discharging, for seven 

 successive years, the duties of chief magistrate, he 

 retired to private life, and spent his remaining years 

 in the town of Medford, where he was much beloved. 

 The inhabitants referred to him all their disputes, and 

 his decisions generally satisfied lx>th parties. The 

 death of this excellent man took place in the seventy- 

 third year of bis age, March 1st, 1825. As a phy- 

 sician, he was judicious and accurate in his investiga- 

 tions, and clear in his discernment.; prudent rather 

 than bold, and kind and attentive to his patients. His 

 mind was active, ardent, and indefatigable. His 

 whole conduct was regulated by the purest senti- 

 ments of morality and religion, imbibed at an early 

 period. 



BROOM ; a genus of plants which includes numerous 

 species. The common broom (sparlium scoparium) is 

 a shrub growing abundantly on sandy pastures and 

 heaths in Britain. It is distinguished by having 

 large, yellow, butterfly-shaped flowers, leaves in 

 threes, and single, and the branches angular. This 

 is a handsome shrub, and one of the most useful of 

 the common plants of Great Britain. Its twigs are 

 tied in bundles, and formed into brooms. Some per- 

 sons roast the seeds, and make them info a kind of 

 coffee. The fibrous and elastic parts of the bark, 

 separated by soaking in water, may be manufactured 



