BRA 



rigot, or leg ; others of a bent knee j others in the French 

 faUiion, &c. . 



Thcfe are the laws in thcWnnr^f ■• i. That the farther the 

 branch is from the horfe's neck, the more elTcift it will have. 

 1. 'I'hat Ihort braiichfi, crierit panbus, arc ruJcr, and their 

 effei^s more fuUen, than tiio(c of loi>|rcr. .;. Tliat the 

 branch is to be proportioned to the Icngtli of the horle's 

 neck. 



That part of the branch of ahridio, whereby we nidje of 

 Its cffifts and which difcovers its iln-ngth or weJiknels, is 

 called the rwi of I he kwfjuet. A ilioiig and hardy b'ancli is 

 that wliofe fevilc-liole, at the lower-end of it, i$ placed on 

 the out-lido of the line of the bamiuet. A srcntle hrjnch h 

 that, the fevi! hule of wliich ii fct on the iiillde of tlie faid 

 line. A nuic and hardy bi-a.icTi w ill bring in a horfe's ht;3d, 

 proportionably as it is more or lefs hardy ; whereas a gentle 

 bram-h, by diminiiTiing the cffeft of the hit-month, makes 

 a horfe more cafiiy to Dear tlie prelf.irc thereof, wlio before 

 could hardiv endnre it. See Bits. 



BRANCHED vdvtt. See Vflvet. 



BR.-VNCHER, among Fo-.ukrs and Falconrrs, denotes a 

 young bird well fledged, which, having qnitted the ncft, is 

 not yet in a condition to fly far, or fliift for itfelf, but ftill 

 ke;ps in the bnfiics or branches about its native dwelling, 

 where it is fed by the dam. 



The br.inchers of hawks are alfo called r.ima^e falcons ; 

 ihofe of nightingales, pitjhers : becaul'e, as fome fay, they 

 are thrnft out of the neil' by the old ones. Canary birds of 

 the firft year are called branchers ; when juft flown, and un- 

 able to feed themfelve3,/>i//Jrrj'. 



BRANCHERY, in the Anatomy of Vc^dahh-s, denotes 

 the vafcniar parts of divers fruits, as apples, pears, plums, 

 and berries. lu which fenfe the branchery ftands contra- 

 diftingnilhed from tlie (kin, pulp, &c. 



The branchcr)' of an apple is only thf ramifications of the 

 ligneous body through all the parts oi \.\\e paraichyma ; the 

 greater branches being likewife, by the inofcnlations of the 

 fefler, united together. Grew. Anat. of Plants, hb. i. 

 cap. 6. § 2. 



BR.VNCHIA, \n Ichthyology. See Gills. 



BRANCH I A DTE, in Ancient Geography, a people who 

 are placed by Qjjintus Cnrtins towards tlic Oxus, and by 

 Strabo in Sogdiana, the adjacent Country. 



BRANCHIALE, in Nnt<n-al WJlvy^-A name given by 

 Mr. Lluiyd to a peculiar Ipeciesof fungit.t;, which being 

 of a deeply (Iriated texture, is fuppofed to refemble the 

 gills of a fidi. 



BRAN'CHID^., in Antiquity, priells of Apollo ferving 

 in his temple at Didyma, near Miletus ; which was famous 

 for its oracle. The temple of the Braiichidx, or, as it was 

 afterwards called, of Apollo Didymscus, together with the 

 oracle, were fcated on the promovitory called Polidcum, at 

 the ditlance of i8 or 2j (ladia from the (liore, and i8o 

 from the city of Miletus ; and both arc recorded as occu- 

 pying this fpot before the Ionic migration. The appella- 

 tion " Branchid;c," was derived from a very noted family, 

 fo called, which continued in podefion of the priefthood till 

 the time of Xerxes, deducing its pedigree from the real or 

 reputed founder, and original proprietor, " Branchus." 

 Several of thefe facred tribes flourifhed in Greece, and in- 

 termixed, as the Branchidx did, fable with their genealogy ; 

 and with a view of conciliating from the people a greater 

 refpcft for their progenitor, railed him far above the level of 

 common humanity. The flory of the Branchida; is foo 

 ridiculous to be recited ; and we ihall, therefore, refer for 

 the relation of it to Varro, By fome, however, this name 

 is derived from Branchus, a Theflalian youth, beloved by 



BRA 



Apollo, wlio rectlved him into his own temple, a'^d com. 

 manded that divine honours (hould be rendered him alter his 

 death. Stephanus Byzantinus informs us, that this (.raele 

 was facred to Jupiter^ as well as to Apollo; and probably 

 both thefe dcit'cs, as well as Branchus, were lioii.iured in 

 this temple. Whatever be the origin of the oracle, it is 

 certain, tli^tt it had acquired a ver)' early and extenfive repu- 

 tation at Branchidx ; and it was particularly confulted by 

 Croefus, who was) profufely munificent upon thtte occalions, 

 dedicatiilg h'S choicell treafure to a vaft amount, in the fame 

 manner as at Delphi. 



The Pcrfians, under Xerxes, the fon of Darius, afterwards 

 dcfpoilcd this temple and oracle of ali their wealth, and then 

 deftroyed it by fire. The BranchiJie, who had betrayed 

 this temple and oracle into tlie hands of the Perfians, be- 

 came, on the milcarriaa:e of Xerxes the voluntary compa- 

 nions of his fliglit, in or(ler to avoid the punifliment of tlieir 

 treachery and facrilege, and fettled among ths Baftri, in a 

 region far remote from Greece. However, the delccndants 

 of thofe who had fled with Xerxes, were cruelly extirpated 

 by Alexander the Great ; thus viliting the fins of the fa' hers 

 on the children, in a manner which will for ever retlctt the 

 greatell odium on the memory of the perfidious tyrant, who, 

 after receiving their fubmiflion, put them ail to the fworj, 

 and crafed even the veftiges of tlieir towns : fo that the 

 city remained a bare f 'litudeand barren waile. 



Although the Milefians were too much impoveridied and 

 dcprefled to attempt an immediate relloration of their tem- 

 ple, after the conchifion of the Pcrfian war, they exerted 

 themfelvts at a fubfeqnent periocl, not precilely afeeitained, 

 in rearing the fabric from its ruini ; and the architedls era- 

 ployed by them for this purpofe, were Peonius, an Ephefian, 

 and Daphnis, of Miletus. ^Vith what magnificence and 

 prodigious fpirit this new edifice was defigned, may in fome 

 meafure be inferred from its prefent remains. Strabo has 

 termed it, " The greateft of all temples;" adding, that it 

 continued without a roof, on account of its magnitude. 

 Paufanias mentions it as one of the wonders peculiar to 

 Ionia ; and Vitruvius numbei"S tliis among the four temples 

 which had raifed their architedls to the fummit of renown. 

 In this temple was the famous ftatue of Apollo, formed by 

 Canachus, a Sicyonian, who had been a fcholarof Polycletiis 

 the Argive ; it was carried away by Xerxes, and reftored 

 by Seleucus Nicanor. It is faid, that the oracle of this 

 Milefian temple became filent, when it was deferted by the 

 Branchidve, and that it afterwards refumed its prophetic 

 and oracular faculties. After Paganifm began to decline, 

 this oracle continued in fome repute ; and the emperor Julian 

 was very folicitous to rcinftate the god in the full pofTefiion 

 of his Ionian territory ; which, however, he was conftrained 

 to yield up to Chriftianity, foon after the death of the royal 

 apollate. Strabo, Geog. torn. ii. p. ^ij- — 6:4 — 814. Pau- 

 fanias, Grxc. Defeript. p. /;33, 6^4, ed. Kuhnii. Ionian 

 Antiquities, by Chandler, Revett and Pars. 1769. 



BRANCHIER, St. in Geography, a town of SwilTer- 

 lani in the Valais, feated near the river Drance. N. lat; ■ 

 46°.;'. E. long. 7"^ ,3'. 



BRANCHING, the ramlficatlcn o\- fproiiting of the horns 

 of deer, &c. which bears an analogy to the vegetation of 

 plants. Phil. Tranf. N" 227. 



The hair at the ends is apt to branch, or fplit and divide 

 into whole bruflies, wliich are eafily vifible by a microfcope. 



BR ANCHIOPODA, in Entomology, a genus of crulla- 

 ceous infeds etlabliflied by late continVntal, naturalifts to in- 

 clude thofe fpccies of the Liimxan cancri, and gammari of 

 Fabricius, which have four fimple, fetaceous, unequal an- 

 tennse ; the body oblong, and deftitute of feet, but in lieu 



of 



