BRU 



BRU 



which are white, are borne in heads. B. 

 ciliuta, ciiiate -leaved brunia, has the germ 

 superior and the style bifid. B. verticil- 

 lata, whorled brunia, has small heads. 

 They are all shrubs, and inhabitants of the 

 Cape. 



BRUNNICHIA, in botany, a genus of 

 the Decandria Trigynia class and order. 

 Calyx swelling, five-cleft; capsule three- 

 sided, one-celled, many-seeded. One spe- 

 cies, B. cirrhosa, a native of Bahama. 



BRUSH, an instrument made of bris- 

 tles, hair, wire, or small twigs, to clean 

 clothes, rooms, &c. and also to paint with. 

 There are various sorts of them, distin- 

 guished by their shape or use. In the 

 choice of painters' brushes, observe whe- 

 ther the bristles are fast bound in the 

 stocks, and if the hair be strong and lie 

 close together ; for if they sprawl abroad, 

 such will never work well ; and if they 

 are not fast bound in the stock, the bris- 

 tles will come out when you are using 

 them, and spoil your work, as may be 

 seen where the loose hairs of the brush 

 have lain up and down in the colours laid 

 on, to the great detriment of the work. 

 Brushes, in which the hairs are fastened 

 with silver wire, are very superior to those 

 in which iron wire is used, especially 

 where they are used in or with water. 

 Brushes are used for medical purposes, 

 in rheumatic affections of the joints, para- 

 lysis, &c. Mr. Thomason, of Birmingham, 

 has a patent for hearth brushes, so con- 

 structed as to conceal the hair, by means 

 of rack-work, in a metal case. 



BRUSH, in electricity, denotes the lu- 

 minous appearance of the electric matter 

 issuing in a parcel of diverging rays from 

 a point. Beccaria ascribes this appear- 

 ance to the force with which the electric 

 fluid, going out of a point, divides the con- 

 tiguous air, and passes through it to that 

 which is more remote. 



BRUTA, in natural history, the second 

 order of animals in the class Mammalia, 

 the character of which consists in having 

 no fore teeth in either jaw ; feet with 

 strong hoof-like nails ; motion slow ; food 

 mostly masticated vegetables. There are 

 nine genera of this order, enumerated by 

 Gmelin, viz. 



Bradypus Platypus 



Dasypus Rhinoceros 



Elephas Sukotyro 



Manis Trichechus 

 Myrmecophaga 



BRUTE, or beast, a term generally ap- 

 plied to quadrupeds, and also to other 



animals, and implying inferiority of intel- 

 lect. 



Among brutes, the monkey kind, both 

 in the external shape, and internal struc- 

 ture, bear the nearest resemblance to 

 man. In the monkey kind, the highest, 

 and the most nearly approaching the like- 

 ness of man, is the ourang-outang, or ho- 

 mo sylvestris. Philosophers are much 

 divided about the essential characters of 

 brutes. Some define brute as an animal 

 not risible, or a living creature incapable 

 of laughter ; others, a mute animal, or a 

 living thing destitute of speech ; the Pe- 

 ripatetics, an animal endowed with a sen- 

 sitive power, but without a rational one. 

 The Platonists allow reason and under- 

 standing, as well as sense, to brutes, 

 though in a degree less pure and refined 

 than that of men. Indeed, the generality 

 of the ancient philosophers thought that 

 brutes reasoned : this, among the hea- 

 thens, was the opinion of Anaxagoras, 

 Porphyry, Celsus, Galen, Plutarch, as 

 well as Plato and others. 



That brutes possess reflection and sen- 

 timent, and are susceptible of the kind, 

 as well as the irascible passions, indepen- 

 dently of sexual attachment and natural 

 affection, is evident from the numerous 

 instances of affection and gratitude daily- 

 observable in different animals, particu- 

 larly the dog. 



Of these, and other sentiments, such as 

 pride, and even a sense of glory, the ele- 

 phant exhibits proofs equally surprising 

 and unquestionable ; for which we refer 

 to the article ELEPHAS. 



The brute creation manifests also a 

 wonderful spirit of sociality, independent 

 of sexual attachment. It is well known 

 that horses, which are perfectly quiet in 

 company, cannot be kept by any fences 

 in a field by themselves ; oxen and cows 

 will not fatten by themselves, but neglect 

 the finest pasture that is not recommend- 

 ed by society : sheep constantly flock to- 

 gether. Nor is a propensity to associate 

 restricted to animals of the same kind and 

 size. Instances to this purpose are enu- 

 merated in " White's Natural History of 

 Selborne," to which we refer the reader. 



Mr. Locke maintains that the souls of 

 brutes are wholly material ; that they do 

 not possess the power of abstraction ; and 

 that the having of general ideas is that 

 which puts a perfect distinction between 

 men and brutes. Accordingly he sup- 

 poses that they have no use of words, or 

 any general signs, by which to express 

 their ideas. It has, however, been a sub- 

 ject of dispute, whether brute animals 



