BRA 160 



BR E 



*s Sax. bnaef , but the root is uncer- 

 tain. J 



BRASS COLOUR, for staining glass, is 

 prepared by exposing thin plates of brass 

 upon tiles in the annealing arch (leer) of 

 a glass-house, till they be thoroughly 

 oxidised into a black powder. This pow- 

 der being mixed with glass in fusion, 

 communicates to it greens of various 

 tints, passing into turquoise. Glass- 

 maker's red colour is similarly prepared 

 in a reverberatory furnace, and the yel- 

 low by interstratifying the plates with 

 sulphur. Colourmen use a powdered 

 brass imported from Germany, to imi- 

 tate clear or gilt brass ; and mix copper 

 filings with red ochre or bole, to produce 

 their bronze tint. 



BRAS'SAGE, anciently a sum levied to 

 defray the expense of coinage, taken from 

 the real value of the coin. 



BRAS'SART, the piece of metal which 

 protected the upper arm, between the 

 shoulder-piece and elbow. 



BRASSED. Copper plates and rods are 

 often brassed externally by exposure at a 

 high temperature to the fumes of zinc, 

 and afterwards laminated or drawn. 



BRASS FOIL, Dutch leaf, called knitter 

 and rauschgold in Germany, is made from 

 very thin sheet-brass (rather thin plates 

 of copper brassed] beat out under a ham- 

 mer, worked by water power at the rate 

 of from 300 to 400 strokes per minute, 

 from 40 to 80 leaves being laid over each 

 other. 



BRAS'SICA, a genus of plants, mostly 

 biennials, but some annuals. Tetradyna- 

 mia Siliquosa. Name latinized from 

 Celtic bresic, a cabbage. There are six 

 British species, of which the Navew, 

 rape or cole-seed, turnip, Savoy, and gar- 

 den cabbage, are well known. The B. 

 oleracea, found on cliffs by the sea, in 

 many parts of England and Scotland, is 

 the origin of our garden cabbage. 



BRAVURA AIR, an air composed to en- 

 able the singer to show his skill in exe- 

 cution by additional embellishments. Bra- 

 vura is sometimes used for the style of 

 execution. 



BRAZED, a term used in heraldry to de- 

 note three cheverons clasping one another. 



BRA'ZEN-DISH, among miners, the stan- 

 dard by which the other dishes are 

 gauged. 



BRAZILET'TO, an inferior species of Bra- 

 zil wood brought from Jamaica. 



BKAZIL'-NUTS, or chestnuts of Brazil, the 

 fruit of the Juvia (Bertholletia erselsa), a 

 majestic tree abounding on the banks of 

 the Oronoco, and in the northern parts of 

 Brazil. The nuts are triangular, the shell 

 rough and hard, and of a brownish ash 

 colour. The kernel resembles the almond, 

 hut tastes like the common hazel nut, 

 and contains much oil, which may be ob- 



icd by mere expression. The nuts 

 grow in clusters of from 20 to 50, in great 

 ligneous pericarps, generally of the size 

 of a child's head. 



BRAZIL'-WOOD. This name is commoa 

 to the wood of every species of the genus 

 Ceesalpinia. The best is that afforded by 

 the C. echinata, called Fernambuco-wood. 

 It grows in the Brazils, the Isle of France, 

 Japan, and elsewhere. The C. crista af- 

 fords wood of the second quality, and the 

 C. sappan, of the third. This last is found 

 n Siam and Amboyna. The wood of all 

 the species is hard, crooked, and full of 

 knots; susceptible of a fine polish, and 

 sinks in water. It is pale when newly cut, 

 but becomes red by exposure to the air. 

 It is valuable in dyeing. Its price in Lon- 

 don, exclusive of duty, 51., is from 351. to 

 iOl. per ton. 



It has been commonly supposed that 

 this wood derived its name from the 

 country in which it is chiefly produced ; 

 hut Dr. Bancroft (Philosophy of Colours, 

 vol. ii., p. 316), has shown that woods 

 yielding a red dye were called Brazil 

 woods long previous to the discovery 

 of America, and that the early voy- 

 agers gave the name of Brazil to that 

 part of that continent, to which it is 

 still applied, from their having ascer- 

 tained that it abounded in such woods. 

 BRAZ'INO, the soldering together of 

 edges of iron, copper, brass, &c. with an 

 alloy consisting of brass and zinc ; some- 

 times with a little tin or silver. 



BREACH-BATTERY. (The term breach is 

 from Sax. bttecan, to break.) A battery 

 raised against a face or salient angle of a 

 bastion or ravelin, for the purpose of 

 making an accessible breach. See BATTERY. 

 BREAD, the principal article in the food 

 of most civilised nations. It is a spongy 

 mass, formed of the flour or meal of dif- 

 ferent sorts of grain, mixed with water 

 and yeast, and baked. Dough baked 

 without being fermented constitutes 

 cakes or biscuits, or unlea vetted bread. 

 The term is Sax. bfieoh, from bfieban, 

 to feed. 



BREAD'- FRUIT, the fruit of the Artocar- 

 pus inci&m, a large tree which grows wild 

 in Otaheite and other South-Sea Islands. 

 The fruit is a globular berry, of a pale 

 green colour, about the size of a child's 

 head. It contains a white fibrous pulp, 

 which is baked by the natives, and eaten 

 as bread. See ARTOCARPUS. 



BREAK, from Sax. bjiaecan, frango. 

 1. In nautical language, when a ship at 

 anchor is in a position to keep clear of 

 the anchor, but is forced by wind or cur- 

 rent out of that position, she is said to 

 break her sheer. The break of a oVcfc is 

 the part where it terminates, and the de- 



