purple will be more intense in the concentrated water, as it now holds a greater proportion of alkali; but if by a carbonated earth, the effect will be lost, as the boiling expels the loose carbonic acid, and precipitates the carbonated earth which it held in solution. The effects of the solutions of tin and alum on brazil wood are the most important to the dyer. Alum added to the watery decoction of the wood gives a copious fine red precipitate, inclining to crimson, and subsiding slowly. The supernatant liquor also retains the original red colour of the decoction, but if enough of alkali is added to decompose the alum, its earth falls down, and carries with it nearly all the remaining colouring matter of the wood. In this way a fine crimson lake, imitating the cochineal carmine, may be prepared, which therefore consists of alumine, intimately combined with the colouring matter of the wood a little heightened. Nitro-muriate of tin added to the decoction separates the whole of the colouring matter, which falls down in great abundance in union with the oxide of tin, and the liquor remains colourless. The solutions of iron blacken the decoction or infusions of brazil wood, shewing the presence of the gallic acid. Many of the other metallic solutions act similarly to that of tin, in forming lakes, consisting of the colouring matter of the wood united with the metallic oxide of the solution employed. See DYEING. BRAZING, the soldering or joining two pieces of iron together, by means of thin plates of brass melted between the pieces that are to be joined. If the work be very fine, as when two leaves of a broken saw are to be brazed together, they cover it with pulverized borax, melted with water, that it may incorporate with the brass powder which is added to it; the piece is then exposed to the fire without touching the coals, and heated till the brass is seen to run. Brazing is also used for the joining two pieces of iron together, by beating them hot, the one upon the other, which is used for large pieces by farriers; this is more properly welding. BREACH, in fortification, a gap made in any part of the works of a town by the cannon or mines of the besiegers, in order to make an attack upon the place. To make the attack more difficult, the besieged sow the breach with crow feet, or stop it with a chevaux de frize. A practicable breach is that where the men may mount and make a lodgment, and ought to be fifteen or twenty fathoms wide. The besiegers make their way to it by covering themselves with gabions, earthbags, &c. BREACH, in a legal sense, is where a person breaks through the condition of a bond or covenant, on an action upon which the breach must be assigned; and this assignment must not be general, but particular; as in an action of covenant for not repairing houses, it ought to be assigned particularly what is the want of reparation; and in such certain manner, that the defendant may take an issue. BREAD is a light porous spongy substance, prepared by fermentation and baking from the flour of certain farinaceous seeds, especially wheat, and is the principal sustenance of man in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. When flour is kneaded with water, it forms a tough paste, called dough, which, if kept in a warm place, swells, becomes spongy, and filled with a number of airbubbles: in this state it is called leaven: and this leaven, if incorporated with fresh dough, will bring the whole into a fermenting state much more speedily and uniformly, than if the mass was exposed to spontaneous decomposition. But though leavened bread is perfect in every other respect, it always retains a slightly acidulous flavour from the leaven by which it is fermented: for it is impossible to carry the fermentation of the gluten to a sufficient extent to change it into leaven, without at the same time exciting the acid fermentation in the sugar of the flour. It was therefore a very important improvement in the art, and one which is attributable to the English bakers, to substitute yeast, or the froth of malt liquor in a state of fermentation, to leaven; for the former not only communicates no unpleasant flavour to bread, but is also a more speedy ferment, and by acting first on the gluten of the flour produces the desired effect, before any acid has time to be evolved from the other ingredients. The process of making common bread is extremely simple, though its perfect success depends considerably on a kind of knack in manipulation which cannot be described by words. It is of essential consequence, that the flour and yeast should be mixed together with perfect accuracy, in order that the whole mass may be equally fermented, and that this action may commence in every part at the same time. Now, though in the making of a single loafthis may easily be effected at one continued process, yet, where a considerable quantity of bread is to be made at once, this is impracticable. See BAKING. with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible roaring, very different from what the waves usually have in a deeper bottom. When a ship is driven among breakers, it is hardly possible to wards serves to dash her down with adsave her, as every billow that heaves up ditional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands beneath. BREAKING, in a mercantile style, denotes the not paying one's bills of exchange accepted, or other promissory notes, when due; and abscending, to avoid the severity of one's creditors. which sense, breaking is the same thing with becoming bankrupt. See BANK RUPT. In BREAKING bulk, in the sea language, is the same with unlading part of the cargo. The changes produced upon dough by baking are very remarkable, nor can they in any degree be attributed to evaporation, since the loss of weight never ought to exceed, and is very often not great er than In the first place, the progress of fermentation is entirely stopped: the bread may be kept for several days without experiencing any alteration, and the first sign of spontaneous change is its becoming mouldy. Secondly, the tenacious ductility of the dough and its compact texture are exchanged for a moderately firm and slightly elastic consistence, and a very spongy texture, in consequence of the alterations produced in the gluten by heat and moisture. Thirdly, the fecula, or starch, which was merely BREAMING, in maritime affairs, burndiffused through the dough, without being off the filth, such as grass, ooze, shells, ing in any degree affected by the panary fermentation, is combined during the baking with a portion of water into a stiff jelly, like common starch when boiled with water, and thus renders the bread considerably more transparent than dough, as well as more digestible. Rye and bar ley are the only substances, besides wheat, that are capable of being made into bread, because they alone contain gluten enough to admit of being formed into a moderately tenacious paste with water. Even in these, however, the proportion of gluten is too small to afford light bread without the use of an acid ferment, to disengage the proper quantity of carbonic acid; so that they can never, for the purpose of the baker, be at all comparable to wheaten flour. BREAD fruit-tree. See ARTOCarpus. BREAD room, in a ship, that destined to hold the bread or biscuit. The boards of the bread room should be well joined and caulked, and even lined with tin plates or mats. It is also proper to warm it well with charcoal for several days before the biscuit is put into it; since nothing is more injurious to the bread than mois ture. BREADTH, in geometry, one of the three dimensions of bodies, which, multiplied into their length, constitutes a sur face. BREAKERS, in maritime affairs, a name given to those billows that break violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are easily distinguished, both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea or sea-weed, from the ship's bottom, which it has contracted by lying long in the harbour: it is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, &c. which, by melting the pitch that formerly covered it, loosens whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. The bottom is then covered anew. This operation may be performed either by laying the ship aground, after the tide has ebbed from her, or by docking, or careening. See CAREENING. BREAST, in anatomy, denotes the fore part of the thorax. See ANATOMY. BREASTS, two glandulous tumours, of a roundish oval figure, situated on the anterior, and a little towards the lateral parts of the thorax. See ANATOMY. BREAST work, in military affairs, is an elevation thrown up around a fortified place, to conceal or protect the garrison, and which is at the same time so strong, that the enemies' shot cannot pierce it. The terms breast work and parapet are frequently used without any distinction; but the former is more applicable in a general sense; a parapet implying more immediately that breast work which is raised upon the rampart of a fortified town. BRECCIA, a term employed by Italian statuaries, to denote those kinds of marble which are really or apparently composed of angular fragments of marble, cemented together by a posterior infiltration of calcareous spar or marble. The French have adopted the term, and extended its meaning, so as to include any strong mass composed of angular fragments consolidated by a cement. Hence they subovide the term breche in calca reous, magnesian, silicious, and argillaceous, taking care to discriminate it from amygdaloid or pondingere, (from the English pudding-stone) by restricting the meaning of this latter to stony masses, formed of rounded pebbles, imbedded in a cement. BREDEMEYERA, in botany, a genus of the Diadelphia Octandria: calyx threeleaved; corolla papilionaceous; banner two-leaved; drupe with a two-celled nut. One species, viz. B. foribunda. BREECH. of a gun, the distance from the hind part of the base ring to the beginning of the bore, and is always equal to the thickness of the metal at the vent. BREECHINGS, in the sea language, the ropes with which the great guns are lashed or fastened to the ship's side. They are thus called, because made to pass round the breech of the gun. BREEZE, a shifting wind, that blows from sea or land for some certain hours of the day or night; common in Africa, and some parts of the East and West Indies. The sea breeze is only sensible near the coasts; it commonly rises in the morning about nine, proceeding slowly, in a fine small black curl on the water, towards the shore; it increases gradually till twelve, and dies about five. Upon its ceasing, the land breeze commences, which increases till twelve at night, and is succeeded in the morning by the sea breeze again. BREEZE, in brick-making, small ashes and cinders, sometimes made use of instead of coals, for the burning of bricks. BRENTUS, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera. Generic character: antennæ moniliform, inserted beyond the middle of the snout; head projecting into a very long, straight, cylindrical snout. There are eleven species, in two divisions; A. thighs simple; B. thighs toothed. B. bispar is linear and black; shells striate, with two obsolete rufous spots, and an abbreviated line at the base of each: thorax ovate, with an obsolete rufous band. In one sex the snout is cylindrical, black; in the other sex the snout is projected, cylindrical, dilated at the tip, with incurved jaws. BREVE, in music, a note or character of time, in the form of a diamond or square, without any tail, and equivalent to two measures, or minims. BREVE, OF BREVIS, in grammar: syllables are distinguished into longs and breves, according as they are pronounced quicker or more slow. BREVET rank, is a rank in the army higher than that for which a person receives pay. It gives precedence, when corps are brigaded, according to the date of the brevet commission. BREVIARY, a daily office, or book of divine service in the Romish Church. It is composed of matins, lauds, first, third, sixth, and ninth vespers, and the compline or post communio. The breviary of Rome is general, and may be used in all places; but on the model of this, various others have been built, appropriated to each diocese, and each order of religious. BREWER, a person who professes the art of brewing. There are companies of brewers in most capital cities that of London was incorporated in 1427, by Henry VI. and that of Paris is still older. BREWING, the art of brewing, or of preparing a vinous fermented liquor from the farinaceous seeds, is of very high antiquity. The ancient Egyptians, from the soil and climate of their country not being favourable to the culture of the vine, were induced to seek a substitute in barley, from which, in all probability, by the process of malting, they knew how to procure a fermented liquor. All the ancient malt liquors, however, seem to have been made entirely of barley, or some other farinaceous grain, and therefore were not generally calculated for long keeping, as this quality depends considerably, though not entirely, on the bitter extract of hops, or other vegetables, with which the liquor is mingled. Modern malt liquor is essentially composed of water, of the soluble parts of malt and hops, and of yeast. Three or four different kinds of malt are distinguished by the brewer by their colours, which depend on the degree of heat that is used in the drying. Malt that has been dried by a very gentle heat scarcely differs in its colour from barley; if exposed to a somewhat higher temperature, it acquires a light amber-yellow hue; and by successive increments of heat, the colour becomes deeper and deeper, till, at length, it is black. The change of colour is owing to the grain being partially charred or decomposed; and in proportion to the extent to which this alteration is allowed to proceed will the produce of sugar, that is, of fermentable matter, be diminished. The principal advantage of high-dried malt over the paler kind is, the deep yellowish-brown tinge which it gives to the liquor; but this colour may be communicated much more economically by burnt sugar. The The malt, whether pale or high dried, must be bruised between rollers, or coarsely ground in a mill before it is used; and it is found by experience, that malt which has lain to cool for some weeks is, in many respects, preferable to that which is used as it comes hot from the mill. first step in the process of brewing is Mashing. This is performed in the mash-tun, which is a circular wooden vessel, shallow in proportion to its extent, and furnished with a false bottom, pierced with small holes, fixed a few inches above the real bottom: when it is small, it ought to have a moveable wooden cover. There are two side openings in the interval between the real and false bottoms; to one is fixed a pipe, for the purpose of conveying water into the tun: the other is fitted with a spigot, for the purpose of drawing the liquor out of the tun. The brewing commences by strewing the grist or bruised malt evenly over the false bottom of the mash-tun, and then, by means of the side pipe, letting in from the upper copper the proper quantity of hot water. The water first fills the interval between the two bottoms, then, forcing its way through the holes in the false bottom, it soaks into the grist, which, at first floating on the surface of the water, is thus raised off the bottom, on which it was spread. When the whole of the water is let in, the process of mashing, properly so called, begins. The object in mashing is, to effect a perfect mixture of the malt with the water, in order that all the soluble parts may be extracted by this fluid: for this purpose, the grist is first incorporated with the water by means of iron rakes, and then the mass is beaten and agitated, and still further mixed by long flat wooden poles, resembling oars, which indeed is the name by which they are technically known. In some of the large porter breweries, the extent of the tun is so great, that the process of mashing cannot be adequately performed by human labour, and recourse is had to a very simple and effectual instrument for this purpose. A very strong iron screw, of the same height as the mash-tun, is fixed in the centre of this vessel, from which proceed two great arms or radii, also of iron, and beset with vertical iron teeth a few inches asunder, in the manner of a double comb; by means of a steam engine, or any other moving power, the iron arms, which at first rest on the false bottom, are made slowly to revolve upon the central screw, in consequence of which, in proportion as they revolve, they also ascend through the contents of the tun to the surface then, inverting the circular motion, they descend again in the course of a few revolutions to the bottom. These alternate motions are continued till the grist and water are thoroughly incorporated. When the mashing is completed, the tun is covered in, to prevent the escape of the heat, and the whole is suffered to remain still, in order that the insoluble parts may separate from the liquor: the side spigot is then withdrawn, and the clear wort is allowed to run off, slowly at first, but more rapidly as it becomes fine, into the lower or boiling copper. The principal thing to be attended to is the temperature of the mash, which depends partly on the heat of the water, and partly on the state of the malt. If any quantity of barley is mingled with twice its bulk of water, the temperature of the mass will be very nearly that of the mean temperature of the ingredients. If the palest malt is subjected to the same experiment, the temperature will be somewhat greater than that of the mean heat. The most eligible temperature upon the whole for mashing appears to be about 185° to 190° of Fahrenheit: the heat of the water, therefore, for the first mashing, must be somewhat below this temperature, and the lower in proportion to the dark colour of the malt made use of. Thus, for pale malt, the water of the mash may be at 180° and upwards: but for high-dried brown malt, it ought not much to exceed 170°. The wort of the first mashing is always by much the richest in saccharine matter; but to exhaust the malt, a second and third mashing is required; and as no heat is generated except in the first mashing, the water in the succeeding ones may be safely raised to nearly 1900. The propor tion of wort to be obtained from each bushel of malt depends entirely on the proposed strength of the liquor. For sound small beer, thirty gallons of wort may be taken from each bushel of malt; but for the strongest ale, only the produce of the first mashing, or about six and a half gallons per bushel, is employed. But whatever be the proportion of wort required, it must be held in mind, that every bushel of well made malt will absorb and retain three and three quarters gallons of water, and, therefore, the water made use of must exceed the wort required in the same proportion. Boiling and hopping. If only one kind of liquor (whether ale or beer) is to be made, the produce of the three mashings is to be mixed together; but if both ale and beer are required, the wort of the first, or of the first and second mashings, is appropriated to the ale, and the remainder is set aside for the beer. All the wort destined for the same liquor, after it has run from the mash-tun, is transferred to the large lower copper, and mixed while it is heating with the required proportion of hops. The stronger the wort is, the larger proportion of hops does it demand: and this is calculated in two ways, either according to the quantity of malt employed, or the richness of the wort. Where the former basis of calculation is referred to, the quantity of hops, especially in private families, where economy is not so strictly attended to as in large establishments, is one pound of hops to a bushel of malt, whether the wort is intended for the strongest ale or the weakest small beer. In public breweries, the proportion of hops is considerably smaller, and is regulated, not merely by the quantity of malt, but the richness of the wort. For strong ales, the common proportion is about one pound of hops to 1.3 bushel of malt; for beer, the quantity is lowered to one pound of hops to 1.7 bushel of malt. When both ale and beer are brewed from the same malt, the usual practice is, to put the whole quantity of hops in the ale wort; and after they have been boiled a sufficient time in this, to transfer them to the beer wort, in order to be exhausted by a second boiling. When the hops are mixed with the wort in the copper, the li quor is brought to boil; and the best practice is, to keep it boiling as fast as possible, till, upon taking a little of the liquor out, it is found to be full of minute flakes, like curdled soap. These flakes consist of the gluten and starch of the malt separated from their former solution in the wort, by the joint action, in all probability, of the heat, and the bitter extract of the hops. Cooling. When the liquor is sufficiently boiled, it is discharged into a number of shallow tubs, called coolers, where it remains exposed to a free draft of air, till it has deposited the hop seeds and coagulated flakes with which it was charged, and is become sufficiently cool to be submitted to the next process, which is that of fermentation. It is necessary that the process of cooling should be carried on as expeditiously as possible, particularly in hot weather; for unfermented wort, by exposure to a hot close air for a few hours, is very liable to contract a nause. our smell and taste, when it is said technically to be foxed, in consequence of small spots of white mould forming on its surface. Liquor made from pale malt, and which is intended for immediate drinking, need not be cooled lower than 75° or 80°, and, in consequence, may be made all the year through, except, perhaps, during the very hottest season; but beer from brown malt, especially if intended for long keeping, requires to be cooled to 65° or 70°, and therefore cannot possibly be made, except in cool weather; hence it is, that the months of March and October have always been reckoned peculiarly favourable to the manufacture of the best malt liquor. Tunning and barrelling. From the coolers the liquor is transferred into the fermenting or working tun, which is a large cubical wooden vessel, capable of being closed at pleasure. As soon as the wort is let in, it is well mixed with yeast, in the proportion of about one gallon to four barrels, and in about five hours af terwards the fermentation commences. When the wort is let down hot into the working tun, the fermentation is conducted with the tun closed, and proceeds rapidly, so that in about eighteen or twenty hours it is fit to be cleansed or put into the barrels: but when the wort is let down at 65°, it requires forty-eight hours for the first fermentation, and is peculiarly liable to be affected by a considerable change of weather. The last process is, transferring the liquor from the working tun to the barrels, when the fermentation is completed. During a few days, a copious discharge of yeast takes place from the bung-hole, and the barrels must be carefully filled up every day with fresh liquor: this discharge gradually becomes less, and in about a week ceases; at which time the bung-hole is closed up, and the liquor is fit for use, after standing from a fortnight to three months, according to its strength, and the temperature at which it has been fermented. BREYNIA, in botany, so named in memory of Jacob Breynius and his son, both famous botanists, a genus of the Polygamia Dioecia class and order. Essential character: calyx one-leafed; corolla none Herm. calyx six-parted; anthers five, linear, fastened to the style; berry, three celled; seeds two. Male, calyx five parted; filaments five; anthers roundish. Female, stigmas five, obcordate, petalloid, without any style: cap. |