B R I 



B R I 



" PjIiEOi^rapliia," had faid that tlicfe dots were in ufc a 

 thoufand years ago, are likcwifc ufcd in the mod modern 

 MSS. (fee the fame Palxographia, p. .324. J.tj-) ; and 

 therefore, fo far from being a proof of anliqiiily, they are 

 iiftd as an argument to prove, Vliat the Cod. Montf. is very 

 niodern. No one MS. written in fmall Ittters, among tiic 

 fpceimens produced by Montfaiicon, before the 12th cen- 

 tury, has ihcfe dots. As thefe letters, > and v, are always 

 dotted in the Cod. Montf., but not always in the MSS. of 

 the 13th and 14th centuries, and ilill Icfs often in thofe of 

 tlic i:lh century, we may infer that the Codex Moiit- 

 fortianus is at leall as modern as the 15th century. Mi- 

 chatlis's Int. to the N. T. by Marfti, vol. ii. 



BRITANY, or Brktagnf., in GifjgrtipLy, was, before 

 the revolution, a confiderable province of Fiance, witli the 

 title of a duchy, reunited to the crown by Francis I. in 153:. 

 It derived its name from the Uritons, by whom it waschicl'y 

 inhabited, when tliey were driven from their own country by 

 the Saxons, and fought refuge in that part of Ciaul talKd 

 ^^rmorica, which fee. This province forms a kind of penin- 

 fula, bounded on tlie north, well, and fonth by the fea, and 

 on the ead by Maine and Anjou. Its mean length is elli- 

 mated at 57 leagues, and its breadth at about •;,) : its extent 

 of coall was computed at about 150 leagues, containing a 

 confiderable number of bays and good ports. Its navigable 

 rivers are the Loire and the Vdaine, united with tiie Drance 

 by means of a canal between Rcnnesaud Dijon. The other 

 rivers are the Ardre, the Hie, the Men, the Borneau, 

 the Claye, and the Aden, which difeharge themfelvts 

 into the ocean. The climate is temperate ; and the foil, 

 which is generally grave! or gravelly fand, with low ridges 

 of granite, is divcrfifud with hills and plains ; and ex- 

 tenllve heaths, reftmbling Corn .vail in its appearance, in 

 fome places covered with forells of wood, and in others well 

 cultivated, and producing wheat, hemp, flax, &c. Nume- 

 rous herds of cattle are bred and fatted in the paflures ; 

 game and fifh are plentiful ; cider is the ordinary drink of 

 the inhabitants, and fome parts produce wines and brandy. 

 In fome diftrifts of this province there are mineral fprings, and 

 mines of iron, lead, and coal. The charafter of the Britons 

 is rough and choleric ; but they are brave, good foldiers, 

 and excellent feamen. The commerce of this province is 

 confiderable, and confifts of a variety of articles, recited 

 under its principal towns. By the new arrangement, Bre- 

 tagne forms the departments of the Hie and Vilaine, the 

 North-coafts, Finillerre, Morbihan, and I^ower I^oirc. 



BRITE, in ylgriciillure, a term applied to hops, when they 

 are over-ripe or (liattcr ; in which cafe they are faid to Iritc. 



BRITISH America, in Geogrophy. Sec America. 



British Coin. See Coin. 



British Conjlituthn. See Constitution. 



British Cronun. See Crown. 



British JJImuIs, in Geography, are thofe which are adja- 

 cent to the Britifli coafts, and fubjcft to the crown of Great 

 Britain. Of thefe a geographical defcription, and other par- 

 ticulars relating to them, will be found under their rtfpeflive 

 names. We (hall here only obferve, that lome of them, as 

 the ifle of Wight, of Portland, of Thanet,&c. are comprifed 

 in fome neighbouring county, and are th.erefore to be looked 

 upon, in a legal point of view, as annexed to the mother 

 ifiand, and part of the kingdom of England. As to others 

 that require more particular confideration, fee ^/f of Man, 

 Alderney, &c. 



British I^ngunge. The language of the ancient Bii- 

 tons, when tbey were firll invaded by the Romans, was a 

 dialeft of the Celtic ; which had been the language of all 

 the nations of Europe defcended from Gomer, and Ilill con- 

 tinued to be fpoken by the people of Ganl, and feveral other 

 ■countries. This is undeniably evident (fays Dr. Henry, 



Hid. vol. ii. p. 336.) from the nature and rcafon of thing.'! ; 

 from the telliniony of ancient authors ; from the names of 

 rivers, lakes, mountains, &c. in Britain being fignificant and 

 defcriptive in the Celtic tongue ; and from the remains of 

 that moll ancient and venerable language in feme paits of 

 Britain, as well as in fome countries on the contiuent. Sec 

 Wales. 



BRITO, Bernard DE, in Biography, 3. Portuguefchillo- 

 rian and elegant writer, was born at Almeida in l^C'), and 

 having entered into the order of Cidercians, was ftnt to 

 purfuc his ftudies in Italy. On his return he was appoiiite.( 

 principal hilloriographer for Portugal, and was the firfl, 

 writer who undertook a general hillory of that country ; ol 

 which, under the title of " Monarchia Lufitana," he pnb- 

 lilhed one volume in 1507, and a fccond in 1609. The 

 work was continued by fathers Antony and Francis Bran- 

 dano to fevcn volumes folio ; the lall of which was printed 

 at Liftion in i6li. Brito alfo wrote " Eulogies of the 

 Kings of Portugal, with their Portraits ;" " Ancient Geo- 

 graphy of Portugal ;" and " Chronicle of the Ciilercian 

 Order." He die d in 161 7. Nouv. Dia. Hift. 



BRITOL.'\G/E, in y/aclenl Geography, a people who, ac- 

 cording to Ptolemy, inhabited Lower Moclla, towards the 

 mouth of the Danube. 



BRITTEN, in Geography, an ifiand in the Frozen ocean, 

 near the fouth-weft coall of Nova-Ztuibla. N. lat. 71" 6'. 

 E. long. 55'' 14'. 



BRITTLENESS, in Natural Philofcphy, that quality of 

 bodies by which they are ioon and eafily brcken by prtllure 

 or percufTion. It llands oppofird to tenacity. 



Brittle bodies are extremely hard ; the lead percnflion 

 extrts a force on them equivalent to the grcattll prefTiire, 

 and may confequently eafily break them. This effeit is par- 

 ticularly remarkable in glafs fuddenly cooled, the brittlenefs 

 of which is thereby much increafed. Tin, though in itfelf 

 tough, gives a brittlenel's to all the other metals, when 

 mixed therewith. The brittlenefs of glafs fcems to arife 

 from the heterogeneity of the parts whereof it is com. 

 pofed, fait and fand, which can never bind intimately together. 

 In timber, brittlenefs ftems to be connedled w'ith durable- 

 nefs ; the more brittle any fort of wood is, the more killing 

 it is found. Thus it is oak is of fo long duration, while 

 beech and birch, as being tough, prcfently rot, and are of 

 little fervice for building. 



Brittleness of the honf, in horfes. See Hoof. 

 BRITTON, Thomas, in Biography, the mulica! fma'I- 

 coal man. This was an ingenious, innoxious, and humble 

 man, of a profi.ffion which no longer fnbfills. Not only 

 the ufe, but even the name of fmall-coal is hardly known at 

 prefent. Dr. Johnfon defines it : " Sniall-eoal, httle wood 

 coals, irfed to light fires ;" and illuftrates the word from the 

 SpeiSator, and Gay. 



" A fmall-coal man, by waking one of thefe diflrcficd 

 gentlemen, faved him from ten years imprifonment." Spec- 

 tator. 



" When fniall-coa! murmurs in the hoarfer throat. 

 From fmutty dangers guard thy threatened coat." 



Gay's Trivia. 

 In our own memory, fmallcoal was daily cried about the 

 ftreets, and of general ufe in the capital at leall, in kind- 

 lings^ fires. 



Britton was a great favourite of Hearne, the antiquary', 

 whom he much rcfembled in his fondntfs for oUl thinas, 

 and who has given a long account of him in the appcnd:x to 

 "Homing! ChartulariumEcclefiaeWigoniienfis," and informs 

 us, that Britton was born at or near Higham Ferrers, in 

 Northamptonfhire, from whicii place he went to London, 

 where he bound himfclf apprentice to a fmall-coal man. 

 After he had ferved his full time of feven years, his mailer 



Y y 2 



ii"' 



