between the abutments and the shore towers were constructed, by means of strong scaffolding and stages, in the places they were to occupy when finished; the long central tubes were built at the water-edge, from whence they were floated off on pontoons to the base of the towers, which had grooves or recesses made to receive them, and then elevated gradually (supports being built under their ends as they ascended) by powerful hydraulic presses to the requisite height, 102 feet above high-water mark. On the 13th of October 1849, the first long tube, 472 feet in length (12 feet being allowed for the rest at both ends), and about 1800 tons in weight, was safely fixed at its proper height above the sea. The other centre tube was got up by December; and on the 5th of March 1850, a train swept through, and the bridge was open for traffic. In August the parallel line of tubes was completed, and the up and down trains could now pass over the Menai with as little delay and danger as over any other part of the line. The total length of the bridge is 1841 feet, of the tubes, 1513 feet. The extreme height of the tube at the Britannia Tower is 30 feet, diminishing to 22 feet 9 inches at the abutments, 'the difference being made to give a true parabolic curve to the top while the bottom is straight. Inside, the width is 13 feet 8 inches throughout, and the height 26 feet at the middle, and 18 feet 9 inches at the ends. To provide for the expansion and contraction of the metal, the bed-plates in the shore towers and in the abutments, on which the tubes rest, are made to move freely on cast-iron rollers and balls. This precaution, for securing free movement to the tubes, was not unnecessary, as it has been found that between the expansion of summer and contraction of winter there is a difference of fully 12 inches. The total weight of iron used was nearly 12,000 tons, of which the tubes contain 9360 tons of malleable iron, 1015 tons of cast iron, and 175 of permanent railway. In their fabrication 186,000 different pieces of iron, fastened together by more than 2,000,000 rivets, were used; and in the towers, abutments, &c., there is 1,492,151 cubic feet of masonry. The total cost was about £602,000. The whole structure was completed in less than five years from its commencement.

The

regal power, tempered by a parliament, superseded that system, the people, according to their rank in life, were expected to provide themselves with certain kinds of weapons and defensive armour. justices of the peace were empowered to see to these military duties of the people. When the nation was either actually engaged in war, or apprehensive of invasion, the sovereign issued commissions to experienced officers, authorising them to draw out and array the fittest men for service in each county, and to march them to the sea-coast, or to any part of the country known to be in most danger. See ARRAYER. It was in the time of Henry VIII. that lord-lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties were first appointed as standing-officers for assembling and mustering the military force. During the earlier years of the Tudors, contracts were made by the king with 'captains,' who undertook to provide, clothe, and feed so many fighting-men, for a given money-allowance; but the power intrusted to the lord-lieutenants gradually changed this system, in relation at least to home-defence. In the reign of Charles I., the important question arose, whether the king of England did or did not possess the right to maintain a military force without the express consent of parliament? and this question was all the more bitterly discussed when the king billeted his soldiers on the people. After the troubles of the civil wars and the Commonwealth, Charles II. found himself compelled to agree, on his Restoration, to the abandonment of all the army except a kind of body-guard or household brigade of 5000 men, sanctioned by the parliament. In the 13th year of his reign, he succeeded in obtaining a statute, declaratory that 'the sole and supreme power, government, command, and disposition of the militia, and of all forces by sea and land, and of all forts and places of strength, is the undoubted right of his majesty; and both or either of the Houses of Parliament cannot nor ought to pretend to the same.' Both Charles II. and James II. found, however, to their mortification, that this statute did not in effect give them so much real military command as they had wished and intended-because the Commons, by holding the purse, virtually held the power.

It was in the time of William and Mary that the real basis for the modern B. A. was laid.

The

BRITISH ARMY. In ARMIES, MODERN, a succinct account is given of the relative strength and organisation of the chief European armies, with the exception of that of the British empire, reserved for consideration in the present article.

Like other modern armies, the British army originated in the feudal system (q. v.). When

(9. v.) was passed in 1689, to last for six months only; but it has been annually renewed ever since, except in three particular years; and it constitutes the warrant on which the whole military system of England is exercised by the Sovereign, with the consent of parliament. During a period of 172 years, with only three interruptions, the ministers of the crown have annually applied to parliament for permission to raise a military force, and for money to defray the expenses. The Sovereign can make war, and can bestow military employments and honours; but the steadiness with which the Commons have always regarded themselves as the representatives of the tax-paying nation has, in in the worst of times, on the grasping by courtiers of however imperfect a degree, provided a check, even lavish military privileges.

The great distinction between the B. A. and that of almost every other state in Europe, is that the service is voluntary. The subjects of the crown engage, by free choice, to serve in the army for a definite number of years. In the rare cases where forced service by ballot is obtained, it is in the militia, not the regular army. See MILITIA. The British soldier has much hard colonial life to bear,

and many long voyages to make; he is, moreover, almost entirely shut out from the chance of being a commissioned officer. As a consequence, the ranks are mostly filled from the more necessitous classes of the community-by those who from want of steady habits, or of education, are the least fitted for industrious pursuits; whereas in France and many other foreign countries, the profession of arms is regarded as an honourable one, of which even the private soldier feels proud. Mr Fonblanque, comparing the peace establishments of the chief European armies in 1857, found that of England to be the smallest in ratio to population, but the most costly in relation to its strength. The English ratio was 1 in 128; the French, 1 in 95; the Prussian, 1 in 80; the Russian, 1 in 72; the Austrian, 1 in 68. English soldiers, officers, and men together, cost the country £52 each per annum; French, £36; Prussian, £31; Austrian, £18, 10s.; Russian, £13, 58. The English cost per man is still higher in 1860 than it was in 1857, on account of increased attention being paid to the wellbeing of the soldier.

The B. A., in all its completeness, is supposed to be commanded by the Sovereign, assisted by the Secretary of State for War in some matters, and by the Commander-in-chief in others. The component elements are the household troops; the infantry of the line; the cavalry of the line; the ordnance corps, comprising artillery and engineers; and the marines. There are also certain corps raised in and belonging to the principal colonies; other bodies of troops, maintained out of the revenues of India; the militia; the yeomanry cavalry; the dockyard battalions; the volunteer artillery and rifles; the enrolled pensioners; and sometimes during war, foreign legions. The 'peace establishment' of the B. A. varies according to the political aspect of affairs abroad, and to the strength of the economising principle at home. In 1814, when England was engaged in tremendous contests abroad, the regular army reached 200,000 men, exclusive of fencibles, foreign legions, and militia. In the first few years after the termination of the great war against Napoleon, the reductions in the B. A. involved the compulsory retirement of no less than 10,000 military officers, who thereupon went on half-pay; these, by filling vacancies, transfers, and deaths, have been reduced by the year 1860 to about 2000. The elasticity which permits the enlargement or contraction of the army, arises from varying, not so much the number of regiments, as the number of battalions in a regiment, of companies in a battalion, or of men in a company. If we compare the strength of the regular army at various periods between 1820 and 1860, we shall find that the actual number of regiments has varied but little, the difference of strength being made up in the three modes just mentioned.

The strength of the B. A. declined from 1815 to 1835, since which last-mentioned year it has undergone many augmentations. These augmentations have been occasioned partly by the contests in China, India, Kaffraria, Persia, and the Crimea; and partly by a sense of the insecurity of many of our coasts and colonies. In comparing the strength of the forces at different periods, much confusion is apt to arise from different modes of interpreting the words 'British army.' This designation may include the whole of the royal troops in India, whether supported out of imperial or of Indian revenues; it may include the militia, the volunteers, the enrolled pensioners, the yeomanry cavalry, the foreign legions -or it may exclude any one or more of these. The 'British army,' and the military force of the British empire,' are often treated as convertible terms: to the production of much confusion where actual

EAST INDIA ARMY.

235,852

Under the column India,' are only included those troops of the royal army which are lent to India, and paid for out of Indian revenues; the other military forces in that region are enumerated under her Majesty's forces, 10,459 are officers, 17,670 nonOf the total 235,852 forming There are voted for the use of this army 24,342 commissioned officers, and 207,723 rank and file. horses. A supplementary vote' has slightly added

be estimated per head; because, besides pay and sustenance for the soldiers, there are stores and wages for fortifications and military buildings, military weapons and combustibles, and the various kinds of half-pay and pensions. The total expendiveniently be thrown under four headings, and given ture sanctioned by parliament may, however, con

to the above numbers. The total cost cannot well

in round numbers as follows:

Military Pay and Allowances,
Civil Salaries and Wages,
Stores and Works of every kind,
Pensions, retired Pay, &c.,

£5,500,000 1,800,000

5,400,000

2,100,000

If to these be added all the British troops in India and abroad, and all the colonial corps, the total swelled up to more than 500,000 men trained or training to arms-of whom, however, the regulars of the home army, actually available for field-service, The sepoy or native army barely exceeded 68,000.

of India is wholly excluded from this enumeration.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION. An Association whose object is, by bringing together men eminent in all the several departments of science, to assist the progress of discovery, and to extend over the whole country the latest results of scientific research. A prevailing impression that England had fallen behind other countries, both as to the general estimation in which scientific men were held, and the prosecution of science itself, led to its formation. It was thought that an imposing union of men of science with the nobility, gentry, and clergy

might tend to revive the philosophic spirit of the country. Such meetings had already taken place in Germany, and probably suggested the idea of this institution. Many leading-men of the age took part in its formation, but the honour of being its founder must be ascribed to Sir David Brewster. By his exertions the first meeting of those who were favourable to the design was held at York in the year 1831. The Archbishop of York, the mayor and council of the city, entered warmly into the project. At this meeting the constitution of the society was determined, the several sections had their provinces assigned to them, and subjects were proposed on which reports were to be drawn up and read at the ensuing meeting. This took place at Oxford in 1832. The university had cordially welcomed the new Association, the papers which were read gave it at once the high character it has since sustained, and from this date it may be said to have been in complete and successful operation. An enumeration of the several sections of the society, each of which has its own committee and president, will shew the wide range of topics it embraces: Section A., Mathematical and Physical Science; B., Chemistry; C., Geology; D., Zoology and Botany, including Physiology; E., Geography and Ethnology; F., Economic Science and Statistics; G., Mechanical Science.

At the close of each meeting, it is determined at what town in the United Kingdom the next shall be held, and a president of the whole Association is appointed, who delivers an inaugural address, in which he is expected to present a general survey of the latest advances of science. The rules and by-laws of the society, it is not necessary here to particularise; but it should be mentioned that the subscriptions of a continually increasing membership have placed at its disposal a large fund, which has been expended in the prosecution of science. In many cases, as in long astronomical calculations, or extensive meteorological observations, the labour of subordinates is required, and a certain apparatus, and it is in defraying such expenses that the funds of the B. A. are very wisely employed.

Besides the immediate ends sought to be obtained by such an Association, its utility will be evident if we reflect on the intimate connection that exists between the several branches of science, and the impossibility there is that any one mind can be thoroughly conversant with them all. He who now hopes to make discoveries in science must limit himself to a few chosen studies; and yet such is the interlacing of all the several branches of inquiry, that he must often find it indispensable to know the last results of each. The botanist or the physiologist must consult the accomplished chemist; the chemist must call in the aid of those who have specifically studied the action of heat, light, and electricity; the geologist needs them all, and is in turn consulted by all. Thus, a certain brotherhood of science is formed, in which each has his specialty, and yet each leans upon his brother.

In ancient times it was otherwise. The facts on which a philosopher speculated were those which lay open to the eyes of all. A Thales could see the rain fall and plants grow, and forthwith pronounce that the vital energy of all things was to be found in water. He could exercise his imagination in perfect independence of the labour of all other men. The philosopher of modern times cannot move a step without a careful consideration of the theories of his predecessors and contemporaries; he has to take notice of the innumerable facts brought to light by various observers, aided by those artificial arrangements which convert observation into experiment.

Two classes of men, of the most opposite character,

are greatly aided by an Association such as this. The humble and plodding workmen are taught where their patient industry will most avail; they are cautioned against re-discoveries; they are told where their love of collecting or experimentalising may be best applied. And that other class of men, who love to generalise, who ever seek to embrace all the multifarious facts of science under a few great laws these are provided with the very last intelligence from every department of inquiry, and may forthwith proceed to weave it into their own comprehensive scheme. Nor are we to overlook the benefit which the whole community derives from the rapid dissemination of the latest results or speculations of philosophy. Not only do our idle and fashionable, as well as our manufacturing towns and our universities, welcome the meetings of the B. A., but from this Parliament of Science the utterance of scientific opinion goes forth over the whole kingdom through the agency of the press. Within three days after one of its meetings, there is not a workshop or a teatable in the country that has not derived from it a new topic of conversation. This kindling of an interest in science, through the whole population, we regard as amongst the greatest advantages of the British Association.

BRITISH EMPIRE. See GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

BRITISH GUM, DEXTRINE, or LEI'OCOME, is a substance extensively employed by calicoprinters and others for the thickening of colours, instead of the much more expensive gum arabic. It is prepared from potato-starch (q. v.) or sagostarch by passing the grains through iron cylinders at a temperature about 500° F. It differs from starch in giving no blue colour with tincture of iodine, and in being readily soluble in water, and thus yielding a thick liquid resembling in consistence mucilage (strong solution of ordinary gum). B. G. is the material which is produced by baking in the crusts of loaf-bread (q. v.), and which communicates to them their very agreeable taste.

BRITISH MUSEUM. The British Museum, an important national institution in London, originated in a bequest of Sir Hans Sloane, who, during a long lifetime, gathered an extensive and, at the time, unequalled collection of objects of natural history and works of art, besides a considerable library of books and manuscripts. These, in terms of his will, were offered, in 1753, to the government, on condition that £20,000 should be paid to his family, the first cost of the whole having amounted to more than £50,000. The offer was accepted; the necessary funds were raised by a lottery! and the collection, along with the Harleian and Cottonian Libraries, were arranged in Montague House, which had been purchased for £10,250. The new institution, thenceforth called the BRITISH MUSEUM, was opened in 1759. From time to time, purchases and donations succeeded each other rapidly. Montague House sufficed for the reception of all these acquisitions, till the Egyptian antiquities arrived in 1801. The purchase of the Townley marbles in 1805, necessitated the erection of a gallery for their reception. This, however, did not meet the increasing demand for space. The old house was condemned, and plans were prepared by Sir R. Smirke for new buildings; but none were undertaken till 1823, when the eastern wing of the present building was erected for the reception of the library of George III., which had been presented to the Museum by George IV. The subsequent progress of the works was very slow. The building was completed in 1847. It is a hollow square, whose sides are opposite to the four points of the compass.