BROSSES BROWN. 



721 



into cordage, matting, and even into a coarse 

 kind of cloth. The twigs and young branches have ' 

 been successfully employed as a substitute for oak 

 bark in tanning leather. They may also be rendered 

 serviceable as thatch for houses and corn-ricks ; and 

 some persons mix them with hops in brewing ; but it 

 is doubtful whether, in this respect, they are whole- 

 some. The flower-buds, when pickled, have, occa- 

 sionally, been used as a substitute for capers. The 

 wood, when the dimensions are sufficient for the 

 purpose, is employed by cabinet-makers for veneer- 

 ing ; and it is stated, by doctor Mead, that a decoc- 

 tion of the green tops, in conjunction with mustard, 

 has been found efficacious in the cure of dropsy. 

 Spanish broom, or spart (spartiuni junceum), is an 

 ornamental flowering shrub, common in English gar- 

 dens, which has opposite round branches, that flower 

 at the top, and spear-shaped leaves. In the province 

 of Valencia, and other parts of Spain, great attention 

 is paid to the manufacture of various articles from 

 the twigs and bark of this shrub. They are plaited 

 into mats, carpets, covering for plants, baskets, ropes, 

 and even shoes. A great portion of these twigs was 

 formerly exported to different French ports in the 

 Mediterranean, particularly to Marseilles ; but, in 

 1783, on account of the employment of which it 

 deprived the Spanish people in working them, their 

 exportation was prohibited by the government. 



BROSSES, Charles de, first president of the parlia- 

 ment of Burgundy, was born at Dijon in 1709. He 

 applied himself to the study of law, and, at the same 

 time, did not neglect the arts and sciences. His 

 intimate acquaintance with Roman history produced 

 in him a desire of visiting Italy, whither he went in 

 1739. On his return, he published his Letters on the 

 present Condition of the subterraneous City Hercula- 

 iH'um (Dijon, 1750). Ten years afterwards appeared 

 his treatise on the religious worship called Fetisch. 

 At the request of Buffon, who had been his friend 

 from youth, he wrote a History of the Voyages to 

 Australia (1756). At that time, it was generally 

 believed fehat there was a southern continent, to which 

 De B. gave the name of Magellania. The erroneous 

 nature of this supposition was first made known by 

 Cook. A work of a very different kind succeeded 

 this, and displayed the extent and variety of the 

 author's learning. This was a treatise on the me- 

 chanical formation of languages. It contained, to- 

 gether with many imperfections, numerous curious 

 and profound investigations, ingenious conjectures, 

 and penetrating views. De B. employed himself, 

 through his whole life, on a work which was held in 

 no slight estimation by the learned. This was a 

 translation of Sallust, in which he laboured to supply 

 the lost parts of this historian. For this purpose, he 

 collected above 700 fragments of Sallust, by means 

 of which, with some important additions, he composed 

 history of the seventh century of the Roman repub- 

 lic, displaying a great extent of erudition. The work 

 would have been received with greater approbation, 

 if the graces of style had been joined to the depth 

 and sagacity of research which it manifests. Though 

 these various labours claimed a large portion of his 

 time, yet they did not hinder him from attending to 

 the duties of his office. He died in 1777. The 

 manuscripts which he left were lost during the revo- 

 lution. 



BROTHERHOOD, HOLY. See Hermandad. 



BROTHERHOODS. See Fraternities. 



BROTHERS; male children of the same father or 

 mother, or both. Among the ancients, the term was 

 employed to denote more remote relations. Thus, 

 among the Jews, Abraham was called the brother of 

 Lot, his nephew. By the civil law, brothers and 

 sisters stand in the second degree of consanguinity : 



by the canon law, they are in the first degree. In 

 the monastic and military orders, the members were 

 called brothers, as being united in one family. In 

 Europe, the kings address each other by the title of 

 brother; the president of the United States uses the 

 same title in addressing the Indian chiefs who are 

 sent to talk with him. 



BROUGHTON'S ARCHIPELAGO ; an extensive range of 

 islands, rocky islets, and rocks, in an arm of the 

 Pacific ocean, on the west coast of North America ; 

 so called from an Englishman, who discovered them 

 in 1790. Lon. 232 56' to 233 40' E. ; lat. 50 33' 

 to 51" N. 



BROUSSOXET, Pierre Marie Auguste, a physician and 

 naturalist, who first introduced the Linnaean system into 

 France, was born at Montpellier in 1761. Daubenton, 

 though an opponent of Linnzeus, made him his substi- 

 tute in the college de France, and, in 1784, his assis- 

 tant in the veterinary school. B. read several valuable 

 papers before the academy, and was chosen a member. 

 As secretary of the agricultural society at Paris, he 

 published the useful VAnnee rurale ou Calendrier d 

 I' Usage des Cultivateurs, and caused the first flock of 

 Merino sheep to be introduced from Spain, and An- 

 gora goats from the Levant. In 1789, he became a 

 member of the national assembly, and, although he 

 did not distinguish himself in political disputes, he 

 was imprisoned by the convention as a Girondist. 

 He escaped to Madrid, but was obliged, by the royal- 

 ist emigres, to fly from that place. By the assistance 

 of his friend Sir Joseph Banks, he embarked in an 

 English vessel for India. A storm forced the vessel 

 into the harbour of Lisbon, where he soon met with 

 new persecutions. Under the title of physician to 

 the American consul at Morocco, he went to Africa, 

 and reassumed his botanical studies. His name was 

 finally struck from the list of emigrants. He was 

 made consul at Mogadore, and at the Canaries, and, 

 in 1805, member of the corps legislatif. He died, in 

 1807, from the consequences of a fall he had met 

 with some time before, by which he lost his memory 

 for all proper names and other substantives, but had 

 adjectives in abundance at his command. His manu- 

 scripts are of great value. 



BROWER. See Brauwer. 



BROWN, Charles Brockden, an eminent American 

 novelist, was born in Philadelphia, in 1771. He 

 was remarkable in his childhood for his attachment 

 to books, and, at the age of sixteen, after having re- 

 ceived a liberal education, had already formed plans 

 of extensive literary works. The profession of which 

 he made choice was the law. He was apprenticed 

 to an eminent member of the Philadelphia bar, but, 

 during the term intended for preparatory legal study, 

 was, in fact, principally occupied with literary pur- 

 suits ; and, when the time approached for his admis- 

 sion into the courts, he renounced, altogether, the 

 legal career from constitutional timidity, and an in- 

 vincible dislike to the scenes which courts present. 

 His friends remonstrated and reasoned in vain. The 

 youth desired only retirement and the employments 

 of a student and an author. The delicacy of his 

 frame, moreover, incapacitated him for the bustle of 

 business and all athletic amusements. During fre- 

 quent visits to New York, he became intimate with a 

 literary club, who fostered his devotion to letters, and 

 increased his eagerness to be conspicuous as a writer. 

 He kept minute journals, indited essays and disserta- 

 tions, and cultivated, with unremitting assiduity, the 

 arts of composition. The first novel which he wrote 

 was entitled Sky Walk. It was never published, 

 owing to the death of the printer, who had under, 

 taken to issue it at his own risk. Parts of it were 

 afterwards incorporated in the productions by which 

 B. became so advantageously known to his country 



