Bill 



BRI 



violence somewhat subsided, the li- 

 quor is transferred to suitable casks, 

 the bunghole of which is left open as 

 long as yeast is cast up, and afterward 

 securely fastened. As soon as the 

 beer or alcoholic fermentation ceases, 

 vinegar begins to form, and the whole 

 sours. 



A wort may be prepared from any 

 sweet juice or germinated seed, and, 

 treated in the same way, will make 

 beer. The strength of ales depends 

 on the large quantity of sugar in the 

 wort. Porters are coloured by brown 

 malt, molasses, &c. Numerous bit- 

 ters, many very injurious, as Cocculus 

 Indicus, are used instead of hops. 



BRICKS. Blocks of burned clay 

 eight inches long, four wide, by two 

 and a half deep. Larger moulds are 

 made for particular purposes. Build- 

 ings have been recently erected of 

 unburned bricks, which appear to be 

 cheap, substantial, and durable when 

 protected on the outside by cement 

 or mortar. The following account 

 of the method employed in Geneva, 

 New-York, gives all the necessary 

 details : 



The materials are two parts clay, 

 one sand, with straw and water, as in 

 ordinary brick-making. It is well 

 trodden or worked by oxen until 

 sticky. With the materials for one 

 thousand bricks three hundred pounds 

 of straw are mixed. The bricks are 

 moulded with an ordinary wooden 

 frame, of the size intended for tlie 

 wall, so as to form it one brick deep. 

 For a building thirty feet in height, 

 bricks eighteen inches square, and six 

 deep ; for lower cottages, twelve inch- 

 es square will answer. The mould is 

 dipped in water, sanded, and then till- 

 ed with clay, and struck with a piece 

 of wood. The fresh-made brick should 

 be sanded if the day be hot. They are 

 set flat on the dry ground on boards, 

 and towards night the sets are cov- 

 ered with boards. The next day they 

 are set on end, with spaces between 

 the bricks, and after four days of fine 

 weather they are piled up with air 

 spaces, and covered with boards. In 

 a fortnight they are ready for use. 



The foundations are set in stone or 



K2 



burned bricks, two feet above the 

 earth, and the first course of blocks put 

 down in water-lime. Interior parti- 

 tions are put up with bricks of the ordi- 

 nary size. Windows and doors should 

 not be fixed permanently at once, but 

 left until the building is well set. Fix- 

 tures to the wall are fastened into 

 timbers introduced during the build- 

 ing. Fire-places must be of burned 

 brick. The roof must project suffi- 

 ciently to keep water from running 

 into the materials. 



A coating of water-lime or cement 

 completes the building, which is said 

 to be warm and perfectly free from 

 dampness, and very much cheaper 

 than wood. " A house in Geneva, 

 New- York, twenty-one by twenty- 

 seven feet, and two stories high, cost 

 less, wiien completed, than four hun- 

 dred dollars." For a fuller account, 

 see the Home Missionary for Septem- 

 ber, 1844. 



BRICK EARTH. Any stiff clay, 

 containing filty to seventy per cent, 

 of real clay, and the rest sand : the 

 latter of these answers also for tdes. 

 It is either blue or red. 



BRIDLE. A contrivance made of 

 straps or thongs of leather, and pie- 

 ces of iron, in order to keep a horse 

 in subjection, and direct him in trav- 

 elling. The several parts of a bridle 

 are tlie bit or snaffle ; the head-stall, 

 or leather from the top of the head to 

 the rings of the bit ; the fillet, over 

 the forehead and under the fore-top ; 

 the throat-band, which buckles from 

 the head-band under the throat ; the 

 nose-bands, going through the loops 

 at the back of the head-stall, and buck- 

 led under the cheeks ; the reins, or 

 long thongs of leather that come from 

 the rings of the bit, and which, be- 

 ing cast over the horse's head, the ri- 

 der holds in his hands. 



BRIMSTONE. Roll sulphur, made 

 by melting and casting common sul- 

 phur. See Sulphur. 



BRINING GRAIN. Grain and the 

 seeds of grasses, &c., are often pre- 

 pared, before sowing, by being intro- 

 duced into a strong brine, which may 

 be heated to 150° Fahrenheit, or even 

 higher. The brine is made by adding 



113 



