BRA 



Brachivm, in B(y!>T<\-, a term cmp'oytd I'y LirnsiJS as 

 D mearure ot Lilanta. It denotes tl>e dilUncc from the arin- 

 pit to the bale of tiic middle finger in a middle Hied m3"i 

 and ii about 24 inches. 



DkaChium. movfniium ptunJui, in jlnaloiry., a name 

 givcti by Vefaliiis, and otlier of tl;e old writcru, to the muf- 

 cle now generally called deho'uks. 



Brachium mov.iis quarlu:, the name by which Vefa'.ii's 

 ca!U the mufcle now generally known under the name ot 

 Uu\lfmits ilcifi. rallopms, and many others, hive alfo culled 

 it quntlut kumtri. 



DRACHII /cr/w, a name given by Vefalins and others to 

 a muffle llncc called, from its Ihape, l.-m mnjjr, and rolim- 

 Jus m ijor. 



I'.RACHII'RE, ill Zoology, an cpilhct plven by the 

 I'rciich natur.ihih to many animals that have (hort win^s, 

 the word being derived from the Greek as in Brachytcra, 

 &c. 



15RACHLERCHE, Frtsch, in Omlihology, Alauda 

 Campestris, tlic meadow lark. 



BRACHMANS, a branch of the ancient Gymnofo- 

 pUidj, or philol'ophers of India, remarkable for the feve- 

 ritv of their lives and manners. See GvMNOsor hists. 



The Greeks ufually j;ive them the name Gym.nof.iphills ; 

 but among ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, we find 

 different accounts of thefe Indian fages. Ptolemy confiders 

 them as dillini't from the Gymnofopliills ; and he places the 

 Brachmans, whom he calls Maji, in a fouthern diilrift of 

 India, between the rivers Solenus and Chabtrus, not far 

 from the fea ; whereas he afligns to the Gymnofophifts a ii- 

 tuation in the north-eaftern part of that country, near the 

 wellcrn bank of the Ganges. On flie other hand, Mc£;aft- 

 henes, cited by Strabo, (Geog. torn. ii. p. 1038.) aflerts, 

 that the Gymnofophifts were divided into two branches or 

 fcAs, viz. the Brachmans and the Germanes. Diodorus 

 Siculus, in one place, reprefents the philofophers of India, 

 who were the Brachmans of Mej;alUienes, as equivalent to 

 the priefts of other nations ; but, in another palfage, he 

 contideis them as a fcparate nation, feft, or body of men, 

 fettled in one particular part of India- Arrian (De Exped. 

 Alexand.) fixes the Brachmans among the Malli and the Mu- 

 ficani ; and Pliny (Nat. Hid. 1. 6. c. 17.) fays the r.ypellation 

 Brachman was applied to many nations, and intimates, that 

 it did not denote a diftinft clafs or order in fociety. Por- 

 phyry (De abflin. 1. 4.) affirms, that the Gymnofophifts 

 were divided into two feds, the Brachmans and the Sama- 

 neans ; and that of the Brachm.ans, fome lived in a moun- 

 tainous tradl, and others about the Ganges. Arrian, 

 Apuleius, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Plutarch, differ in 

 fiveral particulars relating to thefe Indian fages ; though 

 they all feem to agree in celebrating their love of divine 

 wifdom, their knowledge, their abftemious way of life, 

 their fmgular temperance, and their contempt of all the 

 ■good, as well as evil things of this world, fo miich defired 

 or dreaded by the bulk of mankind. Upon the whole, it 

 feems to be evident from various records, concerning the 

 ancient Brachmans, that they were not fo much a dillinft 

 nation, or particular clafs of philofophers, as a tribe or bo- 

 dy of men, or rather a numerous family, defceiided from 

 one common anceftor, who exifted at fome remote period, 

 and who was different from the progenitors of the people 

 among whom they lived. They deduced their origin from 

 Brahma, the firft of the three beings whom God cr?ated, 

 and whom he afterwards employed as his agents in forming 

 the world. Some have fuppofed that this Brahma was the 

 feipreme being : but others have rejedled this fuppofition as 

 abfurd and incredible. It has been a generally received 



BRA 



opinion among fon.e of the heft: Jevdfh writers, adopted \tf 

 Shurcftani, an Arabian author of great repute, and fanc- 

 tioned by the authority of the learned Dr. Hyde (De rtl. vet. 

 Pcrlacum, p. 31, 3-), who has offered feme ingenious con- 

 jsclmes in deiince of this notion, that the progenitor of the 

 Erachfnans was the patriarch Abraham, whom in their 

 language they call /7W.rma, or brania. 



PoftelUis (In comment, ad Jezir.) takes thefe Brachmans 

 to have beertdefcended from Abraham by his wife Keturah, 

 whence he calls them Abrachmans ; and believes that the 

 true ifhgioii prevailed long anicrg them ; and, indeed, 

 from the accounts given of them l»y the ancients, it feems 

 to appear, th.it they acknowledged one fupreme being, and 

 a future ftate of rewards and punifhmenls. It alfo farther 

 appears, that fo.ne of them worfliipped this fupreme being 

 with great firvency and adoration, fpcnding the gveateft 

 part of the day and night in finging hymns in honour of the 

 deity, praying and failing almoft incefl'antly, and defplfing 

 every thing in, this world for his fake. Hence, lome have 

 derived their name from the Hebrew barach, to Ufs or 

 pn^y, becaufc this was their pi'incinal occupation. Moft of 

 them lived in folitude, without mai-iying, or pofl'tfling any 

 eftatcs ; and fri>m this circumftanee ot their retiring into 

 the counti-y and living in deferts, F. Thomafin deduces 

 the oritrinal of the appellation by which they are diftin- 

 guifhed ; fuppofmg it to have been derived from the He- 

 brew barach, to Jly or efcap:. Thefe Brachmans, according 

 to the accounts of Arnan and Porphyry, were held in great 

 veneration in their own country, enjoying pcrfeft liherty 

 and total exemption from taxes, and officiating, not only as 

 the priefts of the Indians, but Ilkewife as the princijjal 

 counfellois of their princes. Thus they ferved their coun- 

 try-, both in a civil and religious capacity, as the M.igi did 

 among the Perfians. They alTiilcd at the public facrilices ; 

 and if any perfon defired to facrifice in private, one of them 

 mi'ft be prefeut, otherwife the Indians were perfuaded they 

 would not be acceptable to the Gods. It was their pecu- 

 liar provinc-: to confalt the ftars, and to pi-aclife divination. 

 According to Strabo's account, they believed that the 

 worid had a beginning, and that it will have an- end ; that 

 its form is circular ; that it was created by God, who pre- 

 fides over, and fills it with his majefty ; and that water is 

 the principle of all things. With regard to the immortality 

 of the foul, and the future punifhment of the wicked, they 

 followed the dodrine of Plato ; intermixing it, like that 

 philofopher, with fome fiftions, in order to exprefs or de- 

 icribe thofe puniftiinents. The Brachmans are celebrated all 

 over the ancient world for their wifdom, the aufteiity of 

 their lives, and their invincible fortitude and patience. 

 Their food confifted altogether of herbs, roots, and fruits, 

 and their-- drink was water. They wholly abftained from 

 the flcfli of animal's, and thought themfelves defiled by 

 touching them : they thought it higlily criminal to deprive 

 the moft inconfiderable animal of life ; and as they held the 

 doftrine of the Metempfychofi.':, they fuppofed that the 

 fouls of men tranfmigrated into thole of brute animals. 

 Pythagoras is faid to have ftudied their doftrine and man- 

 ners, and to have received his notion of the tranfmigration 

 of fouls, or Metempfychofis, from them. Perfuaded that 

 it is below the dignity of a man to wait calmly Ibr death, 

 when he finds hinifelf opprelTcd by age or fieknefs, they 

 earneftly wifh for the moment when the foul fha'.l leave the 

 body, and hold it to be glorious and laudable to preclude 

 the approach of their laft hour, and to burn themfelves 

 alive. Among them, no honours were paid to thofe who 

 died merely of old age ; and they conceived, that their fu- 

 neral pile, and the fire that was to itcduce thtm to afties, 



would 



