B R I 
Botetourt, about the year 1760, may be faid to have al- 
moft rebuilt it ; and it is now a very noble manfion, and 
well deierving obfervation. 
At Warmly, in the road tp B.itli, is erefted a manu¬ 
facture of pins, which employs a great 'number of hands, 1 
including about 200 children of both fexes, from feven 
to twelve or thirteen years of age. All the different ope¬ 
rations of melting, f'plitting, drawing, hammering, turn¬ 
ing, &c. are performed by wheels worked with water, 
which is railed by two fire-engines of a very curious me- 
chanifm. See the operation under the article Pin. 
BRIS'TOL, a county of United America, in the (late of 
MalTachufetts, which* in the year 1790, contained.31,709 
inhabitants. 
BRIS'TOL, a fea-port town of United America, in the 
Bate of Rhode Itland, fituated on the continent. It was 
eonfiderably damaged by the Britilh troops during the 
war, but the damages have been repaired. It is now a 
place of contiderable trade to the other Bates, to Africa, 
and the WeB Indies. The number of*inhabitants, in 
1790, was 14.06. It is fifteen miles north of Newport, 
and forty-two fouth of BoBon. Lat. 41.35. N. Ion. 71. 
12*. W. Greenwich^ 
BRIS'TOL, a town of United America, in Pennfylva- 
nia, on the Delaware : twenty miles N. Ed of Philadelphia. 
BRIS'TOL BAY, a large bay in the North Pacific 
Ocean, on the weB coaft of North America, into which a 
large river empties i'tieIf, of the fame name, difeovered by 
Capt. Cook. Lat. 58. 20. N. Ion. 157. o. W. Greenwich. 
BRIS'TOL BAY, a bay on the fouth-weft coaft of Nova 
Scotia. Lat.44. 42. N. ton. 63.-o^W. Greenwich. 
BRIS'TOL CHAN'NEL, that part of the Atlantic 
Ocean which lies between the fouth coaft of Wales and 
the'counties of Somerfet,.Devon, and Cornwall, adjoining 
the Severn, and commencing at King-road, near Bridal. 
BRIS'TOL STONE, a kind offoft diamond found in 
St. Vincent’s rock,’ near the.city of Briftol.—Of this-kind 
of cryftal are the bet ter and larger fort of BrijlolJlones, and 
the Kerry (tones of Ireland, li’oodward. 
BRIS'TOL WA' 1 ER, one of the four ; rineipal warm 
waters naturally produced in England; and of which this 
is the lead warm. As the Bath waters are proper where 
the fecretions are defective, fo he Briftol water is of fer- 
vice where they exceed the requirements of health. The 
Bath w'ater warms; the Briftol cools. Bath-water helps 
the ftomach, intetlii.es, and nerves ; the Briftol favours 
the lungs, kidneys, and bladder. Except a jaundice at¬ 
tends, the Briftol water may be of ufe in dropfies, by its 
drying and diuretic qualities. Dr. Vvynter afterts, that 
th,ere is no iron in the Briftol water, and that its mineral 
contents are chalk, lap!.- calcarius, and calamiparis. Five 
.gallons of this water after evaporation, afforded only 5 iij. 
and gr, ij. of a mineral-like fubftance. 
By the experiments of Dr. Bryan Higgins, a Winchefter 
gallon of this water contains, of calcareous earth, combi¬ 
ned with vitriolic acid in the form of felenite, gr. 8 a ; of 
calcareous earth, combined with acidulous gas, gr. 12 2. ; 
of marine fait ofmagnefia gr. 5^; of fea fait gr. 6i. Acidu¬ 
lous gas, befides what is contained in the calcareous earth 
above-mentioned, eight ounce-meafures. And, atmo- 
fpheric air, two ounces. 
Dr. Garrick, who publi(lied his experiments on the 
Briftol Hot-well water in 1797, and who appear* to have 
conducted his analyfis on the molt approved principles of 
modern chemillry, gives the following as the refult : “ It 
appears t-hat one gallon of the Hot-well water is impreg¬ 
nated with muriated magnelia gr. 7; nutriated foda gr. 4 ; 
vitriolatcft foda gr. 11J ; vitriolated lime gr. n|; carbona¬ 
ted lime gr. 13^ ; making together of folid matter gr. 47^: 
alfo with carbonic acid gas 30 cubic inches ; referable air 
3 ditto. It is found by experience that the purgative in¬ 
gredients do not^fo countervail the oppofite pow ers of the 
calcareous earth, but that on the whole an aftringent ef¬ 
fect remains, often inducing coftivenefs.” 
The difeafcs in which this water is ufefiil are internal 
■ haemorrhages, immoderate menfes, old diarrhoeas, fluor 
albus, internal inflammations, fpitting of blood, dyfen- 
tery, purulent ulcers of the vifcera, cohfnmption, dropfy, 
fcurvy with heat, Bone, gravel, ftrangury, habitual gout, 
atrophy, a flow fever, fcroplVula, gleets, and a diabetes ; 
in which laft it is efteemed by fome a fpecific, and may 
be drunk as freely as the thuft requires it. The hotter 
months are tlie heft for ufing it. In general it is drunk 
in repeated draughts of four ounces or half a pint, from a 
pint to two quarts a-day. The Briftol and Matlock wa¬ 
ters arc faid to be of exaflly tire fame qualities. See Dr. 
Maplet, Dr. Guidot, Dr. Wynter, and Dr. Carrick, on 
the Briftol waters. It was doctors Mead and Line who 
fij-ft eftablilhed the reputation of Briftol water in difeafes 
of the kidneys and bladder. 
BRI L, J'. The name of a fifli.—The pilchards purfue 
the brit, upon which they feed, into the havens. Careiv. 
BRIT, a river of England, whiph runs into the feu, 
two miles fouth of Bridport, in Dorfetftnre. 
BRl'TAIN, [_Biitannia, Lat. Gr.j.now called 
Great Britain, comprehends the kingdoms of Eng- 
land-and Scotland, and the principality of Wales ; and is 
the largeft ifland in Europe. It was firft known to be an 
ifland by Agricola, who failed round it. It was a Roman 
province from the- time of its conqueft, till the 448th year 
of the Chriftian era. Its ancient name was Albion ; that 
of Britain being common to all the lllands round it. Hence 
Agathemerus, fpeaking of the Britifh iflands, “ They are 
many in number (fays he); bur the mo ft confiderable a- 
mong them are Hibernia and Albion.” Ptolemy alfo calls 
Albion a Britifh ifland. The origin of both thefe names 
is very uncertain. Some derive that of Albion from the 
Greek word u.’ktpiov, which, according to'Feftus, fignifies 
white, the chalky cliffs or rocks that rife on the fouthern 
courts having that colour; while others pretend that this 
name was borrowed from a giant feigned to have been the 
fun of Neptune, and mentioned by feveral ancient authors. 
Some etymologifts have recourfe to the Hebrew, and others 
to the Phoenician : alben, in the former, fignifying white ; 
and alp, in the latter, denoting high. The origin of the 
name Britain is no lefs uncertain than that of Albion. Nen¬ 
nius and fome other Britilh writers derive it from Brutus, 
whom they call Brito, the fifth in defcent from the cele¬ 
brated /Eneas. Others derive it from the Britifh words 
pryd cain, that is, a white form, foftened by degrees into 
Britannia. Camden derives it from the word brick, which, 
in the ancient language of the ifland, fignifies painted ; and 
Iccma., importing, in Greek, a region or country ; fo that 
(lie word Brithania, changed in procefs of time to Bntanma , 
expreffes what the Britons really were, a painted people. 
Soniner, difliking Camden’s etymology, propofes another, 
viz. that the name Britain comes from brydio\ fignifying, 
in the Britilh tongue, rage, and pointing out the Violent 
motion of the fea that furroundsthe ifland. Mr. W hi taker, 
in his Hiftorv of Manchefter, derives it from brith, brict, 
bris, brit, or brig, which, he fays, fignifies divided or ftriped. 
Again!! the firft of thefe etymologies it may be objected, 
that it is founded on a fable : and againft the other four 
lies one common and u>nanfwerabie objection ; which >s, 
that the name of Britain was given to the ifland by fo¬ 
reigners, who could not borrow it from tiie Britilh tongue, 
with which they were mol! probably unacquainted. That 
the ifland received the name of Bntain from foreigners is 
evident, becaule the natives never ftylcd themfelves Bri¬ 
tons, nor their country Britain ; their true name being 
Cumi, or Cumbri • whenc e Cambria, the name of Vfales to 
this day among the V/ellh. 
The ifland of Great Britain lies over againft France and 
Germany, in a triangular form, having three promontories, 
fhooting out three different ways, viz. the Land’s End to¬ 
wards the weft, the Kentifh or North Foreland towards 
the eaff, and Caithnefs tpwards the north. It is divided 
from Ireland to the. weft by the Irifh Sea; on the north 
it is bounded by the Northern Ocean; on.the eall, where 
it faces Germany, by the German Ocean; and on the 
fouth, towards France, by the Britifh Channel. Its length 
from north to fouth is about 560 miles; its breadth is va¬ 
rious, 
