B R E 



oF Hope hay, on tlie north-weft coad of Noitli America. 

 N.lat. 49° 15'. W. long, i 26° 40'. 



BREAKING, in yl^rlcuhure, denotes the ploughing 

 up of grounds, efpecially fuch as have lain fome time 

 fa]!ow. 



Br FA KING Buli, the commencement of the difcharge of 

 the cargo of a fiiip. 



BRiAKiNG_/Z><r/- is apphcd to a (hip at anchor, when (he 

 is forced by the wind or current from that pofition in which 

 (he keeps lier anchor moll free of herfelf, and moll firm in 

 the ground, fo as to endanger the tripping of her anclior. 



Brkaking tip afiip, llripping off the planks, and taking 

 her to pieces, when (lie becomes old and unferviccable. 



Brkaktug ground, in the Mililary Art, the beginning 

 of works for carrying on the fiegc of a pluce ; more tipe- 

 cially the beginning to dig trenches, or ajiproaches. 



Breaking the iwgLs of a battalion^ denotes a military evo- 

 lution, uliereby the four anglts turn, and make fo many 

 fronts towards the enemy ; fo that the battalion, which be- 

 fore was only a fquare, becomes an oflangle, and can fire 

 on all fides. This is othervvife called blunting the anglts of 

 a battalion ; by the French, anotijfer Its angles li'un Lci- 

 taillon. 



Breaking of nicafure, in Fencing, denotes a moderate re- 

 tiring, or giving of ground, in order to avoid the adverfa- 

 ry's thruli. Breaking of meafure diff'ers much from going 

 back, and lofing or yielding of ground ; the latter being 

 reputed a great reproach, the former a mark of judgment 

 and adroitnefs. Some pretend, that a man fctiring is 

 obliged to forbear, if his adverfary call him to ftand. 



Breaking of thcfea. Breaking of a -wave, or the like, 

 on a rock, a bank, or the like, are a fufRcient indication to 

 the pilots, that it is not fafe mooring there. 



Divers machines and ftruAures have been contrived for 

 breaking the force of wind, the ftream of water, and the 

 like. 



Breaking is alfo ufed for the taming of animals, or re- 

 ducing them from a wild to a traftable (late. 



Breaking of a horfe to the faddle. See Backing, and 

 Travice. To break a horfe for hunting, is to make him 

 acquire the difpofition and habit of running. It is a great 

 fatigue to run horfes full fpeed before they are broken. 



Br peaking herd, among Sportfmen, denotes a deer's 

 quitting the herd, and running by itfelf : or fingling ft out 

 from the herd for chafe. In which fenfe, the word (lands 

 oppofed to herding. A deer when clofe purfued, is loth to 

 break herd. When a hart breaks herd, and diaws to the 

 thickets and coverts, he is faid to harbour or take hold. 



Breaking up a deer, (ignifies the opening or cutting it 

 up. This term is applied to the aft of cutting open the 

 deer after the chafe, that the perquilltcs of blood and gar- 

 bage may be given to the hounds. 

 Breaking of pr'ifon. See Prison. 



Breaking the legs, crucifrag'ium, was an appendage of 

 cruci(ixion, ufed no where but among the Jews. See 

 Cross. 



Breaking of hemp. See Brake. 



Breaking of bread, is fometimes ufed in Ecclefiafikal 

 Writers, for celebrating the eucharist. 



Breaking of ivine, among Vintners. — Wine is faid to 

 breai, when being left fome time in the air, in an open 

 glafs, it changes colour ; an indication that it will not keep. 

 This is the uiua! method of trying the goodnefs of wine, 

 among the merchants and vintners of Paris. 



Breaking is alfo ufed in trade, for a perfon's failing or 

 flopping payment. See Bankrupt. Breaking betimes, 

 ■while there is i'omething left to pay withal, is a mark of 

 Vol. V. 



B 11 E 



honefty ; and, gen; rally, entitles the unhappy pei-fon lo 

 companion and gentler iifagc from liis creditors, favcs liin 

 credit, and facilitates his leirieving. A late fcii(ih!c writer 

 on trade takes great pains to inculcate ihispiecrpt, breai 

 early. Compl. Kiig. Tradefman, vol. i. p. 77, 80, &c. 



BRKAKNECK, in Geography, the name of a hill in 

 America, oppofite to r)\ittet-hill, at the northern entrance 

 of the high lands, iii Hudfon river, about ( o nnles N. of 

 New York. I'he rocks on the foutlieni fide of the hill are 

 fo lituated as to give a tolerable idea of a human face, with 

 a nofe, mouth, and double ehiii, without a forehead. 



BRKAKSPLAR, Nicholas, in Biography. Set Adri- 

 an IV. 



BRI'.AI., in Geography, 3 town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the lilt and Viiaine, and chief place of a car- 

 ton, in the diflri6t of Montford : 2 Itaeucs a. E. of Mout- 

 ford. 



BREAM, head -MxA bay, lie on the caft fide of the north 

 i(la;'d of New Zealand; the he.id is the north point of the 

 bay. S. lat. 35° j,(i' . It has fome fmall idands before it 

 called the " Hen and Chietens." The name of this bay is 

 derived from the fta bream, with which it abounds. 

 Bream, in Ichthyology. See Bkama Cvprinus. 

 BRtAM, to, in Sea Language, to burn o(T the filth, fuch ai 

 grafs, ooze, (liells, or fea-weed, from a (liip's bottom, that 

 has gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. 

 This operation is performed by holding kindled furze, fag- 

 gots, or fuch materials, to the bottom, fo that the flame 

 incorporating with the pitch, fulphur, &c. that had formerly 

 covered it, immediately loofens and throws off whatever 

 filth may have adhered to the planks. After this, the bot- 

 tom is covered anew with a conipofition of fulphur, tallow, 

 ice. which not only makes it fmooth and (lippery, fo as to 

 divide the fluid more readily, but alfo poifons and deftrovs 

 thofe worms which eat through the planks in the courfc of 

 a voyage. Breaming may be performed, either when 

 the (hip lies aground after the tide has ebbed from her, or 

 by docking, or by careening. See thefe articles. 



BREAST, Mamma, in Anatomy. The breafts, which 

 are two in number in the human fubjeft, occupy the ante- 

 rior and middle pait of each fide of the cheft, and arc there- 

 fore fituated over the peftorahs major mufcle. Each of 

 thefe bodies confifts of a gland, to which anatomifts give 

 the name of mammary, furrounded by cellular and adipous 

 fubftance, and covered by the common integuments. In 

 men, and in young girls, thefe bodies are fmall ; they en- 

 large in the female lubjeft very confidcrably at the time of 

 puberty, aifuming an hemifpherical (hape, and pretty firm 

 confidence, which, however, is loll, as the fubjed advance? 

 in years. 



The fl<in which covers thefe parts is white and foft to 

 the touch, except in the m.iddle, where there is a circular 

 portion of a reddilh brown colour, called the areola. From 

 the centre of this projefts the nipple, in the form of a cy- 

 lindrical prominence, with a rounded end, limilar in colour 

 to the areola, and covered, like that part, by a more delicate 

 continuation of the (kin, which is fomewhat wrir.kled and 

 irregular on its furface. Both the areola and the nipple are 

 furniflied with numerous febaceous glands, which may be 

 clearly feen through the integuments. The fluid which 

 thefe fecrcte, prefervcs the parts from tlie excoriation, which 

 they might otherv;ife fufFer from fuckhug. Under the in- 

 teguments, we find a confiderable quantity of fat and cellu- 

 lar membrane, which furrounds and envelopes the mammary 

 gland, connefting it to the flcin in front, and to the pefto- 

 ral mufcle behind, and penetrating into its fubftance, fo as 

 to fcpaiatc the dilfcrciit portions of the gland from each 



L 1 other. 



