lampades, or "lamp-shells," from the resemblance of their form to that of the antique lamps; the hole for the wick in these being represented in the shell by the curved beak of the ventral valve, through which the organ passes by which the animal attaches itself to any substance. The brachiopoda all belong to salt water. They are found attached to corals, to other shells, and to the under sides of shelving rocks. They are met with in very deep water, being drawn up sometimes from the bottom several hundred feet below the surface. They endure all kinds of climate; and in the duration of genera from the remotest geological periods, no other class exhibits such a stability of character. The earliest forms of animal life were the lingula of the lowest fossiliferous rocks. The genus has continued through all the long series of formations, during which multitudes of other forms have been introduced and spread through an immense number of species, all of which have long since disappeared, leaving no type of their family in existence; but the ancient family of lingula is still met with in the Pacific; and the terebratula, which was introduced in periods nearly as remote, has its representatives living in many parts of the world. Of the class, about 70 recent species are known; but of the fossil, more than 1,000 extinct species have been described. They constitute a large proportion of the shells found so abundantly throughout the New York system, as the spirifers, productæ, atrypæ, strophomenæ, &c. BRACHISTOCHRONOUS curve is the title given by John Bernouilli to a curve in which a body would slide in the least possible time from one point to another. It is a cycloid; and the attempt to prove this led Lagrange to invent the calculus of variations. BRACHMANN, LUISE KAROLINE, a German authoress, whose selected poems were published at Leipsic in 1824, chiefly known by her acquaintance with Novalis and Schiller, born at Rochlitz, Feb. 9, 1777, was of a morbid, sentimental disposition, which caused her to commit suicide at Halle, Sept. 17, 1822. BRACHYOURA (Gr. Bpaxus, short, and oupa, a tail), a tribe of crustaceous animals of the order decapoda, or homobranchia. They are distinguished from the macroura, or long-tailed tribe of this order, by the shortness of the caudal extremity and its simple structure with few joints. The crabs belong to this tribe, lobsters and shrimps to the macroura. BRACKEN, a county of Kentucky, bordering on the Ohio river. It is drained by the North fork of Licking river, and has a soil generally fertile and productive. It covers an area of 200 square miles, was organized in 1796, and derives its name from a small creek which rises in it. In 1850, the productions wêre 370,025 bushels of Indian corn, 52,818 of oats, 2,129,370 pounds of tobacco, and 13,550 of wool. There were 12 corn and flour mills, 10 saw mills, 2 tanneries, 15 churches, and 500 BRACKENRIDGE pupils attending public schools. Value of land in 1855, $1,556,022. Capital, Augusta; pop. 8,903, 840 being slaves. BRACKENRIDGE, HENRY M., an American jurist and diplomatist, born in Pittsburg, Pa., May 11, 1786. At 7 years of age he was sent alone to St. Genevieve, La., to learn the French language. At 20, being admitted to the bar, he commenced practice in Somerset, Maryland. In 1811 he descended the Mississippi in a keelboat, steam not being then in use, and soon received the appointment of deputy attorneygeneral for the territory of Orleans, afterward the state of Louisiana. The next year he was made district judge, although only 23 years of age. This obliged him to learn the Spanish law and language. During the war of 1812, he corresponded with the government, giving them some valuable information, and afterward wrote a history of the war, which was translated into French and Italian. He took an active part, in conjunction with Mr. Clay, in behalf of the acknowledgment of the independence of the South American republics. Beside other productions, he wrote a pamphlet under the name of an "American," addressed to Mr. Monroe, then president, which was republished in England and France, and being supposed to express the views of the American government, was replied to by the duke of San Carlos, the Spanish minister. He was named on the commission to the South American republics, which sailed in the frigate Congress, Dec. 1817, and on his return, published his "Voyage to South America," which was said by Humboldt to contain an "extraordinary mass of information." He entered Florida in 1821 with General Jackson, to whom his acquaintance with the French and Spanish languages and usages recommended him, and in May was appointed judge of the western district, in which office he remained for 10 years. Removing in 1832 to Pittsburg, he became an active politician, and in 1840 obtained a seat in Congress, and the year after was named a commissioner under the treaty with Mexico. His political writings have been numerous. BRACKENRIDGE, HUGH HENRY, father of the preceding, an American author and judge, born near Campbelton, in Scotland, in 1748, died. in Philadephia, in 1816. At 5 years of age he came with his father to this country, fitted himself, with the assistance of a clergyman, for Princeton college, while working upon a farm in the interior of Pennsylvania, and supported himself through his collegiate course by teaching. In conjunction with Philip Freneau, he composed and delivered for a graduating part a poem, in the form of a dialogue, on the "Rising Glory of America." He became tutor in the college, studied divinity, and was a chaplain in the continental army. He soon relinquished the pulpit for the bar, edited for a time the "United States Magazine" at Philadelphia, established himself at Pittsburg in 1781, participated with Gallatin in what was known as the whiskey insurrection, and was appointed in 1799 one of the judges of the supreme court of the state, which office he held till his death. His "Modern Chivalry, or the Adventures of Captain Farrago," is an admirable humorous and political satire, and has been especially popular throughout the West. The first portion was published at Pittsburg in 1796, and was republished in Philadelphia in 1846, with illustrations by Darley. The second portion was published 10 years after the first, and both were issued together in 1819. Brackenridge was a fine classical scholar, eminent for social wit, supported Jefferson, was an enthusiast in the cause of France, and wrote many miscellaneous essays and fugitive verses. BRACT, in botany, a leaf growing at the base of a flower-branch. It is usually a small and imperfect, often lanceolate, leaf; and sometimes, as in the common dogwood, a number of bracts are crowded together around the base of a corymb or umbel, and form an involucre. BRACTON, HENRY DE, lord chief justice of England in the time of Henry III., died probably about the year 1273. He was educated and took the degree of doctor of laws at Oxford, and about 1244 was made one of the itinerant judges. Ten years later he became chief justice, and held the office 20 years. He wrote De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliæ, one of the earliest English law books. BRADDOCK, EDWARD, a British general, born in Perthshire, about 1715, died near Pitts burg, Pa., July 13, 1755. Having served with distinction in Spain, Portugal, and Germany, he was in 1755 sent to take charge of the war against the French in America. He set out soon after his arrival, on an expedition against Fort Duquesne. Although unacquainted with Indian warfare, he disregarded the suggestions of Col. Washington, acting as his aide-decamp, fell into an ambush of French and Indians near that fort, July 9, 1755, was defeated with great loss, and being mortally wounded, died after a hasty retreat of 40 miles. BRADFORD, a N. E. county of Pennsylvania, bordering on New York, and comprising an area of 1,170 square miles. The north branch of the Susquehanna, Tioga river, and Towanda, Wyalusing and Sugar creeks, are the principal streams. The surface is uneven and thickly wooded with pine, hemlock, and sugar maple. The soil is good, and in 1850 produced 371,143 bushels of corn, 301,675 of wheat, 510,176 of oats, 322,316 of potatoes (the greatest quantity produced by any county of the state except Philadelphia county), 74,028 tons of hay, 1,590,248 pounds of butter, and 193,391 of maple sugar. There were 53 churches, 3 newspaper offices, and 11,333 pupils attending public schools. Iron, bituminous coal, and sandstone are abundant, but lumber forms the chief article of export. The county was formed in 1810 and called Ontario; in 1812 it received its present name in honor of William Bradford, attorney-general of the United States. Capital, Towanda. Pop. in 1850, 42,831. BRADFORD, a market town, county of Wilts, England, on the river Avon, 107 miles from London by railroad; pop. in 1851, 4,240. It is pleasantly situated, and is noted for producing broadcloths. BRADFORD, a market town and parliamentary borough of Yorkshire, England, sending 2 members to parliament. Pop. in 1851, 103,778. It is 219 miles from London by railway. The parish of Bradford is large and very populous, including several other towns. In its vicinity are the celebrated iron works of Low Moor and Bowling, known everywhere for the superior quality of their productions and their ponderous castings. Bradford itself is one of the principal seats of the worsted manufacture, both in yarn and in piece. The town is well built, beautifully situated at the union of 3 extensive valleys, with picturesque scenery in the surrounding country, and has the advantage of many ancient and excellent schools. The Airedale college for the education of Independent ministers is at Undercliffe, near Bradford, and a Wesleyan seminary for ministers' sons at Woodhouse Grove; and about 5 miles from the town is the Moravian settlement of Fulneck. BRADFORD, ALDEN, an American writer, born at Duxbury, Mass., in 1765, died in Boston, Oct. 26, 1843. He was descended from Gov. Bradford, graduated at Harvard College in 1786, was settled as pastor of a congregational church at Wiscasset, Maine, for 8 years, and afterward engaged in the book trade in Boston, as a partner of the firm of Bradford and Read. Leaving trade for politics, he was secretary of state in Massachusetts from 1812 to 1824. He published a history of Massachusetts from 1764 to 1820, and many fugitive pieces at different times. BRADFORD, ANDREW, an American printer, son of William Bradford, born in Philadelphia about 1686, died Nov. 23, 1742. He was the only printer in Pennsylvania from 1712 to 1723. He published the first newspaper in Philadelphia, Dec. 22, 1719, called the "American Weekly Mercury." It was by him that Benjamin Franklin was first employed, on his arrival in Philadelphia, in 1723. In 1732 he was postmaster; in 1735 he kept a book store at the sign of the Bible in Second street. In 1738 he removed to No. 8 South Front street, to a house which in 1810 was occupied as a printing house by his descendant, Thomas Bradford, publisher of the "True American." BRADFORD, JOHN, an English martyr, burnt at Smithfield after a long imprisonment, July 1, 1555. His persecution was owing to his eloquence as a preacher. It is said that he was so impressed by a sermon by Latimer on restitution, that he restored some of the king's goods which he had dishonestly appropriated while at Calais. BRADFORD, WILLIAM, second governor of Plymouth colony, born in Yorkshire, England, in March, 1589, died May 9, 1657. When only 18 he was one of a company which made an attempt to go over to Holland for the sake of greater religious freedom, but being betrayed, he was thrown into prison. After a second unsuccessful attempt, he at length joined his brethren at Amsterdam. He engaged in the plan of removing to America with the English congregation at Leyden, and sailed in the first ship. Upon the death of Gov. Carver, in 1621, he was elected to supply his place. One of his first acts was to adopt measures to confirm the league with the Indian sachem Massasoit. In the beginning of 1622, when the colony was subjected to a distressing famine, a threatening message was received from the sachem of Narragansett in the form of a bundle of arrows bound with the skin of a serpent. The governor sent back the skin filled with powder and ball. This decisive reply finished the correspondence. The Narragansetts were so terrified, that they returned the skin without even inspecting its contents. In return for his kindness and attentions to Massasoit in a dangerous illness, the sachem disclosed to the colony a dangerous conspiracy among the Indians, and it was suppressed. It appearing that the scarcity of their provisions grew out of their system of community of labor, it was decided in the spring of 1623 that each family should plant for itself, on ground to be assigned to it by lot. The internal government of the colony was founded on a mutual compact. The first legal patent or charter was obtained in the name of John Pierce; but in 1630 a more comprehensive one was issued in the name of William Bradford, his heirs, associates, and assigns. In 1640, the general court requested him to deliver the patent into their hands, and upon his complying, immediately returned it into his custody. He was annually elected governor as long as he lived, excepting five years at different intervals, when he declined an election. Though without a learned education, he wrote a history of Plymouth colony from 1602 to 1647. On the retroat of the British army, in 1775, the MS. was carried away from the library of the old south church in Boston, and after having been lost 80 years, was recovered and printed entire by the Massachusetts historical society in 1856. Gov. Bradford had also a large book of copies of letters relating to the affairs of the colony, which is lost. A fragment of it, however, found in a grocer's shop at Halifax, has also been printed by the same society, accompanied by a descriptive and historical account of New England in verse. BRADFORD, WILLIAM, the first printer in Pennsylvania, born in Leicester, England, in 1659, died in New York, May 23, 1752. Being a Quaker, he emigrated in 1682 or 1683, and landed where Philadelphia was afterward built, before a house was begun. In 1687 he printed an almanac. The writings of George Keith, which he printed, having caused a quarrel among the Quakers, he was arrested in 1692 and imprisoned for libel. On his trial, when the justice charged the jury to find only the fact as to the printing, Bradford maintained that they were to find also whether the paper was really seditious, and that "the jury are judges in law as well as the matter of fact." He was not convicted, but having incurred the displeasure of the dominant party in Philadelphia, he removed to New York in 1693. In that year, he printed the laws of the colony. Oct. 16, 1725, he began the first newspaper in New York, called the "New York Gazette." In 1728 he established a paper mill at Elizabethtown, N. J. Being temperate and active, he reached a great age without sickness, and walked about on the very day of his death. For more than 50 years he was printer to the government of New York, and for 30 years the only one in the province. BRADFORD, WILLIAM, attorney-general of the United States, born in Philadelphia, Sept. 14, 1755, died Aug. 23, 1795. He was graduated at Princeton college in 1772, and commenced the study of the law. In the spring of 1776, upon the breaking out of the war with Great Britain, he joined the militia, in which he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In consequence of ill-health, he was obliged to resign at the end of 2 years, and was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 1779. In 1780 he was appointed attorney-general of Pennsylvania. Under the new constitution he was appointed a judge of the supreme court, Aug. 22, 1791. Upon the promotion of Edmund Randolph to the office of secretary of state, he received from Washington the appointment of attorney-general of the United States, Jan. 28, 1794. In early life he wrote some pastoral poems in imitation of Shenstone; but his principal production was an "Inquiry how far the Punishment of Death is necessary in Pennsylvania." BRADLEY. I. A southern county of Arkansas, containing 958 square miles, and traversed by Saline river. The surface is generally level, and the productions in 1854 amounted to 174,165 bushels of corn, 3,684 of wheat, 21,351 of oats, and 3,350 bales of cotton. Capital, Warren. Pop. in 1854, 5,191, of whom 1,908 were slaves. II. A S. E. county of Tennessee, bordering on Georgia, bounded on the N. E. by the Hiawassee river, and comprising an area of about 400 square miles. The surface is uneven, and in the south mountainous. The soil is productive, and in 1850 yielded 594,698 bushels of corn, 151,419 of oats, 34,662 of wheat, 1,600 bales of cotton, and 81,187 pounds of butter. There were 22 churches, and 3,000 pupils attending public schools. Much of the hilly part of the county is covered with extensive forests. Capital, Cleveland. in 1850, 12,259, of whom 744 were slaves. Pop. BRADLEY, JAMES, an English astronomer, born at Sherborne, Gloucestershire, March, 1692, died at Chatford, July 13, 1762. For a while curate and rector, he cultivated astronomy in spare hours, and gained the friendship of Newton and Halley. In 1721 he was ap pointed Savilian professor of astronomy, and in 1727 published his brilliant discovery of the aberration of light. Ten years afterward, he published the equally valuable discovery of the nutation of the earth's axis. In 1742 he succeeded Dr. Halley as astronomer royal, and in 1752 he received a pension in consideration of the "advantages of his astronomical labors to the commerce and navigation of Great Britain." Up to 1760 he continued indefatigable in the duties of the observatory; and it was from these observations that Meyer formed his tables of the moon, and Bessel drew the elements of his Fundamenta Astronomiæ. BRADSHAW, JOHN, president of the court which tried and condemned Charles I., sprung from a good Lancashire family, died Nov. 22, 1659. He was made chief justice of Chester in 1647, promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1648, and on Jan. 10, 1649, the commissioners for trying the king chose him for their president. He performed the duties of that arduous office with great dignity and self-possession, sternly and perhaps unfeelingly, but not insolently nor savagely, and declared, on his death-bed, that if the king were to be tried and condemned again, he would be the first to agree to it. He was rewarded by parliament with the estate of Lord Cottington, the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, and the office of president of the council. He opposed Cromwell's elevation to the supreme power, and on his assumption of the protectorate, he was accordingly deprived of the chief-justiceship of Chester; but after Cromwell's death, he obtained a seat in the council, and was again elected president. Bradshaw left the reputation of a cold, hard, and impassive, but upright, conscientious, and heroic republican. He was splendidly buried in Westminster Abbey, but on the restoration, his remains were torn from the tomb and gibbeted beside those of Cromwell and Ireton. BRADSHAW, WILLIAM, an eminent English Puritan, born at Market Bosworth, in Leicestershire, in 1571, died in the same county, in 1618. His chief claim to notice as an author rests on a small treatise, entitled "English Puritanism," published in 1605, which is valuable as a record of the opinions of the most rigid Puritans of his time. BRADSTREET, ANNE, a New England poetess, born in 1612, died Sept. 16, 1672. She was the daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, and married Gov. Simon Bradstreet. Her volume of poems was published in London, in 1650. A more complete edition appeared at Boston in 1678, containing, among other additional compositions, her best poem, entitled "Contemplation." A 3d edition was published in 1758. She was the mother of 8 children, to whom she makes the following allusion: I had eight birds hatch't in the nest; BRADSTREET, JOHN, major-general in America, in the British service, died in New York, Oct. 21, 1774. He was in 1746 lieutenant governor of St. John's, Newfoundland. In 1756, when it was considered highly important to keep open the communication with Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, he was placed at the head of 40 companies of boatmen, raised for the purpose of supplying it with stores from Schenectady. On his return, July 3, 1756, with 300 of his force, he was attacked from an ambuscade, on the Onondaga river, but repulsed and routed the enemy with great loss. In 1758 he commanded a force of 3,000 men, in the expedition against Fort Frontenac, which was surrendered Aug. 27, with all its military stores, provisions and merchandise, on the 2d day after he commenced the attack. In 1764 he advanced with a considerable party toward the Indian country, and made a treaty of peace with the various tribes at Presque Isle. He was appointed major-general in 1772. BRADSTREET, SIMON, governor of Massachusetts, born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1603, died at Salem, Mass., March 27, 1697. Bred in the religious family of the earl of Lincoln, he spent one year at Cambridge, and became steward to the countess of Warwick. Upon his marriage with Anne, daughter of Thomas Dudley, he engaged in the enterprise of founding a colony in Massachusettswas chosen assistant in March, 1630, and arrived at Salem in the course of the summer. He became secretary, agent, and commissioner of the united colonies, and in 1662 was despatched to congratulate Charles II. on his restoration, and look after their interests. From 1673 to 1679, he was deputy governor; then governor till 1686, when the charter was annulled. When Andros was imprisoned in May, 1689, he was restored to the office, which he held till the arrival of Sir William Phipps, in 1692, with the new charter. Without brilliant talents, his integrity, piety, and moderation obtained him the confidence of the people. He advised the surrender of the charter to Charles II., warily distrusting the ability of the colonists to resist; and still more to his honor, he is remembered for having opposed the delusions of the Salem witchcraft. BRADSTREET, SIMON, minister at Charlestown, Mass., born in 1669, died Dec. 31, 1741. He was spoken of by Governor Burnet as one of the first literary characters and best preachers whom he had met in America. He was so subject to hypochondria as to be afraid to preach from the pulpit, but spoke from the deacon's seat, without notes, usually upon the vanity of earthly things. He is said to have fallen under suspicion of Arminianism. BRADWARDIN, THOMAS, surnamed the profound doctor, archbishop of Canterbury, born in Chichester in 1290, died in 1348. He was successively professor of theology, chancellor of the cathedral of London, confessor to Edward III., and finally, in 1348, archbishop of Canterbury. He died at Lambeth, 40 days afterward, without having been able to take possession of his see. BRADY, HUGH, an American general, born in Northumberland co., Penn., in 1768, died at Detroit, April 15, 1851. He entered the U. S. army as an ensign, March 7, 1792; served with Wayne in his western expedition, after the defeat of St. Clair; was made lieutenant, Feb. 1794, and captain, Jan. 8, 1799. Having afterward left the military service, he was restored to it in 1808, by President Jefferson, who then began to reform the army. June 6, 1812, he was appointed colonel of the 22d foot, and led his troops in the hard-fought battle of Chippewa. They were almost annihilated, but displayed the greatest courage, Gen. Scott saying in his report, " Old Brady showed himself in a sheet of fire." He displayed equal courage at the battle of Niagara Falls, where he was wounded. He was retained in service, on the reduction of the army, as colonel of the 2d foot, a commission he held until his death. After 1835 he was in command of the department of which Detroit was the head-quarters; and while at that place contributed, in no small degree, to the pacification of the frontier, during the Canadian troubles. He was looked on by the army as one of its fathers. He received 2 brevets, as brigadier-general, July 6, 1822, and as major-general, for long and faithful service, May 30, 1848. Immediately before his death, the chaplain of his corps visited him and sought to speak to him of religious matters. Gen. Brady listened to him, and said, "Sir, that is all right my knapsack, however, has been packed, and I am ready to march at the tuck of the drum." BRADY, NICHOLAS, a versifier, born at Bandon, Ireland, Oct. 28, 1659, died at Richmond, near London, May 20, 1726. He was partly educated at Oxford, and partly at Trinity college, Dublin. In the revolution he sided with King William, who made him one of his chaplains, and he served Queen Anne in like capacity. In 1726, just before his death, he published a poetical translation of Virgil, long since forgotten; also a tragedy, and numerous serHis reputation, such as it is, mainly rests on a metrical version, in conjunction with Nahum Tate, of the psalms of David. mons. BRAG, a game of cards, deriving its name from the efforts of the players to impose upon the judgment of their opponents, by boasting of better cards than they possess. As many persons may play as the cards will supply, the dealer giving to each player 3 cards, turning up the last card all round. Three stakes also are put down by each gamester. The first stake is taken by the best card turned up in the dealing round. The peculiarity which gives the game its denomination, occurs chiefly in winning the second stake. Here the knaves and nines are called "braggers," and all cards falling into the hands of the players assimilate to these. For example, 1 knave and 2 aces, 2 knaves and 1 ace, and 2 aces and 1 knave, all count 3 aces. The nines operate in the same way. The third stake is won by the person who first makes up the cards in his hand to 31, with the privilege to draw, or not to draw, as he pleases, from the pack. BRAGA, a district of Portugal, in the province of Minho; pop. in 1854, 300,607. * The capital, of the same name, pop. 16,000, is the archiepiscopal see of the primate of Portugal, the Bracara Augusta of the Romans, supposed to have been founded in 296 B. C. It was the capital of the Suevi, and one of the most celebrated towns in the early Portuguese monarchy, but lost its splendor by the maritime discoveries and the erection of Lisbon into a patriarchate. There is a fine cathedral, built by the first king of Portugal. In its vicinity is the remarkable pilgrimage chapel of the Bom Jesus, which stands on the summit of a steep hill, whence there is a magnificent view of the city, and of its picturesque environs. BRAGANÇA, or BRAGANZA, a district of Portugal, in the province of Tras-os-Montes. Pop. in 1854, 184,838. The capital of the district, of the same name, was in former times the capital of the province, and is a place of considerable importance. It has the ruins of an ancient castle, one of the finest feudal remains in Portugal. It is the see of a bishop, and there is an extensive manufactory of velveteens, printed calicoes, and woollens. The Alfandega is one of the most important inland custom houses in Portugal. Bragança has given its name to the present royal family of Portugal. Pop. about 4,000. BRAGANÇA, HOUSE OF, the present reigning house of Portugal, derived from Affonso, duke of Bragança, a natural son of João I. king of Portugal. The constitution of Lamego, 1139, declares that no foreign prince can succeed to the throne; consequently in 1578, on the death of the Portuguese hero Sebastian, in Africa, without issue, his people had recourse to the illegitimate line of Bragança. Philip II. of Spain, however, claimed the throne, and supported his pretensions by an army under the duke of Alva, who, though in disgrace, was summoned from his retreat for this express purpose. In 1640 the Portuguese shook off the Spanish yoke, and the line of Bragança has continued to rule Portugal till the present time. BRAHAM, JOHN, an English tenor singer, born of Jewish parents, in London, about 1774, died there Feb. 17, 1856, enjoyed a high reputation; composed several operas, and excelled as a composer of popular songs. He made himself agreeable in society; changed his Jewish name, Abraham, into Braham; became a convert to the church of England, and amassed a considerable fortune, which he lost, however, by unsuccessful speculations. BRAHE, TYCHO DE, a Danish astronomer, descended from an ancient Scandinavian family, born at Knudstrop, in the old Swedish province of Scania, Dec. 4, 1546, died in Prague, |