mass of nervous matter situated over the gullet, admitted by any other arrangement. The middle is a transverse cord-like ganglion; in the cuttle- part of the cerebellum is very large, c, and divided fish (Sepia officinalis) we find a distinct rounded into lamina or leaflets; its lateral portions are mass, supported by a rudimentary skeleton. In much smaller than in Mammalia; the olfactory FISHES, we find, instead of one supra-cesophageal ganglia are small, b, and close to the cerebral hemimass or ganglion, several separate masses, the spheres. The optic ganglia and other nerves rising nerves ending in their own special ganglia; i. e., from them are very large, and the wedge-shaped where each nerve ends or begins in the B., there portion, called medulla-oblongata, connecting the is a collection of vesicular B. with the spinal cord, is also large. We now d d- neurine. In addition to these approach the MAMMALIA, and in the Monotreganglia in fishes, there are mata, which in some important respects resemble parts corresponding to the birds-the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, for instancecerebral lobes or hemispheres we find small smooth hemispheres in a B. which of the human brain. There to the whole body bears only the proportion of 1 to is also a cerebellum. 130. Even this is greater than in the Marsupials; the kangaroo's B. is as 1 to 800.

b

C..

Suppose we examine a cod's brain (fig. 1). Removing the roof of the skull, we see three pair of neurine masses; two small and round in front, a, the hemispherical ganglia; two larger in the middle, the optic ganglia, b; and a little triangular appendage behind, the cerebellum, c. From just in front of the anterior of those three pairs of masses diverge nervous prolongations, which end in two bodies, d, d, called the olfactory ganglia. On lifting the appendage we have named cerebellum, we see on each side of the spinal cord a deposition of neurine, which represents the auditory ganglia of more fully developed brains. The olfactory ganglia vary in their distance from the general mass. In REPTILIA, they are placed very near the cerebral hemispheres, which Fig. 1.-Brain of Cod: are small, as is also the cereDrawn in situ-shewn by bellum. But when we reach removing roof of skull. the BIRDS (fig. 2), the size of a, cerebral lobes, or hemi- the cerebral lobe, a, in proporspherical ganglia; b, tion to all the other parts is optic ganglia; c, cerebellum; d, d, olfactory much increased, so that they ganglia, or bulbs, con- overlay the different ganglia, nected to brain by long which are not placed one in prolongations or roots. front of the other, as in fishes and reptiles, but packed one above the other. We now begin to find some indications of convolutions. On the surface of the B. in the parroquet, Leuret describes the furrowing as distinct, though many za

There

If we examine a rabbit's B., we find it to consist, apparently, of three parts-the olfactory bulb, the cerebral hemispheres, and the cerebellum. The cerebral hemispheres are connected by a transverse band of union, or what is technically termed a commissure. Continuing the dissection, we turn aside the hemispheres, and find they have concealed four ganglia, which represent the single pair of optic ganglia we found in birds. are two other bodies in front of those just alluded to-viz., the optic thalamus, and in front of it another (inferior) longitudinal commissure. This forms a communication between the anterior and posterior portions of the hemisphere, on the same side. Two little white lines, running from the back of the thalami, join a little body called the pineal gland, interesting in connection with some fantastic physiological theories. It will be observed that the hemispheres lie over these structures like a cap; the space between the two, on each side, is termed the lateral ventricle.

We have now the most complicated B. before us, the human encephalic mass of ganglia (figs. 3, 4, 5), and include with it the medulla oblongata, the link which unites the B. to the spinal cord. First viewing the B. from its upper surface (fig. 3), we

Fig. 2.-Brain of Domestic Fowl:

a, cerebral ganglia; b, olfactory ganglia; c, cerebellum; d, optic ganglion of the right side, seen under cerebral ganglion. The optic nerves and eyeballs have been left in the preparation.

birds have perfectly smooth hemispheres; these also are not hollow, as in fishes and reptiles; and it will be seen that the convoluting or folding of the B. substance backwards and forwards, must allow of more being packed into the space than could be

Fig. 3.-Human adult Brain:
Seen from above-membranes removed.

a, a, a, the longitudinal fissure, separating the two hemi-
spheres, b, b.

see that it is divided by the longitudinal fissure into two equal halves or hemispheres, which are broader behind than in front. They are irregularly marked

BRAINE-LE-COMTE-BRAINSTONE CORAL.

The chemical composition of B. matter averages in 100 parts

Water,

Albuminous matter,
Fat,

Salts (containing 1 of phosphoric acid),

75 parts.

7

11}

"

6 ·

The proportion of these constituents varies not only in different species of animals, but also in different members of the same animal group, and appears to be much influenced by the age, temper, and intellectual capabilities of each individual. Thus, the normal quantity of salts in the B. of a healthy man is 6 per cent., and in the B. of an insane patient, only 24 per cent. were found.

Fig. 5.-Human adult Brain: a, anterior lobe of cerebrum; b, middle lobe; c, posterior lobe of cerebrum, appearing behind; d, cerebellar hemisphere; e, medulla-oblongata; f, fissure of Sylvius; g, longitudinal fissure; h, h, olfactory bulbs; i, optic commissure-the optic nerves are seen interchanging fibres; 1, three roots of olfactory process; m, white round bodies (corpora albicantia), the terminations of the anterior portions of fornix; n, where the vessels perforate the brain substance, hence called posterior perforated space; o, third pair of nerves coming to supply muscles of the eyeball, from p, the crus-cerebri; q, fourth nerve, turning round from the valve of Vieussens;

Diseases of the Brain.-Inflammation (acute) of the B. (phrenitis, or popularly, B.-fever) rarely occurs separately, and can scarcely be distinguished from inflammation of its membranes (meningitis). According to Dr Watson of London, when the disease begins in the latter, the first remarkable symptom is a convulsion fit; when in the B. substance itself, nausea and vomiting generally usher in the attack.

headache, the eyes suffused, and their pupils conIn the first stage, there is rapid pulse, severe tracted to a small point, very intolerant of light. The patient is constantly watchful, and much annoyed by even ordinary sounds. Then furious delirium sets in, and lasts for a period, varying with the case, generally from twelve to forty-eight hours; when it is succeeded by collapse, in which the patient lies-his face devoid of colour, and covered with cold sweat-in a state of stupor. If roused, he now speaks with slow, indistinct utterance; his pupils are now dilated, and indifferent to the brightest light; and the loudest speaking ceases to annoy him. The stupor increases with the general prostration, and continues till death. After death, we find serous fluid upon and in the B., deposits of lymph, thickening of the membranes, and softening of the B. substance itself.

General and local bleeding, with antimony and digitalis, to subdue the pulse; mercury, to prevent the deposit of lymph; blisters, as counter-irritants, to the back of the head and neck, are the usual remedies for this rare, but terrible disease. The younger school of practitioners, however, as Dr Tanner expresses it, prefer waiting to see if nature unaided, or only gently guided, will not carry the patient through a disease where the efforts of art are notoriously futile, and are rather content to watch the symptoms, to calm excitement by sedatives, to lessen increased heat of body by diluents and tepid sponging, to prevent accumulations in the intestines by purgatives, and to diminish maniacal delirium by the application of cold to the head.

BRAINE-LE-COMTE, a busy town of the north-north-east of Mons. It is an ancient place, province of Hainault, Belgium, about 13 miles and formerly belonged to the monks of St Waudru at Mons, from whom it was bought by Count Baldwin in 1158. It has an old church of the 13th ; and cotton and corn mills, dye-works, breweries, &c. Some of the finest flax that can be produced is grown in the district. Pop. 4500.

r, fifth pair; s, pons varolii; t, sixth pair of nerves u, seventh pair, portio dura for muscles of face, and portio mollis for hearing; v, posterior pyramids of cerebellum, seen to interchange fibres; w, and two below, are eighth pair-forming the much more restricted genus Meandrina. viz., glosso-pharyngeal, vagus pneumo-gastric, and spinal accessory nerve; between w and v is the small prominence called olivary body; x, y, two roots of ninth pair of nerves,

certain kinds of Coral (q. v.) or Madrepore (q. v.), BRAINSTONE CORAL, the popular name of included in the Linnæan genus Madrepora, but now

motor nerve of tongue.

Softening of the Brain (ramollissement) is a frequent result of chronic inflammation of the brain. The patient has been for some time in low health, troubled with headaches, loss of appetite, depression of spirits, and a gradual loss of memory, and acute perception of things in general. Then a spasm may occur, followed by paralysis, or the legs and arms may be bent up, and remain in that position. This condition of B. may be caused by want of proper nourishment to the cerebral substance, owing to plugging up, or from disease of its arteries. When the softening is caused by inflammation, we frequently find pus forming an abscess of the brain. Induration may also occur as the result of inflammation. The other diseases, as hydrocephalus, will be treated under their own names.

They derive their name from the general resem blance to the brain of man or of a quadruped exhi bited in their large rounded mass, and numerous winding depressions. Perhaps the true B. C. is Meandrina cerebriformis, a species always nearly hemispherical. When the hemispherical mass is broken, the ridges which bound its furrows may be traced inwards through its substance, even to the central nucleus from which they commenced. The mouths of the polypes, in all the species of this genus, are in the furrows or elongated hollows, in which they are ranged side by side, in sinuous series. The brainstone corals are very common in collections, and are much admired for their beauty. They are found chiefly in the seas of warm climates, particularly in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans. They sometimes attain a large size. Ehrenberg noticed single masses (polypidoms) in the Red Sea, from six to nine feet in diameter. Their rate of growth, however, appears to be slow. The fossil

BRAINTREE-BRAMANTE.

species are few, and chiefly belong to the oolitic formation.

BRAINTREE, a market-town of Essex, about 40 miles north-east from London. It is an old place, having been constituted a market-town by King John. Its streets are narrow, and many of its houses are of wood. It has manufactures of silk and crape, and also of straw-plait. It is the polling place for North Essex, and has obtained some notoriety in connection with political and ecclesiastical proceedings. Pop. of town about 3000. BRAKE, a genus of Ferns of the division Polypodea, distinguished by spore-cases in marginal lines covered by the reflexed margin of the frond. The COMMON B. or BRACKEN (P. aquilina) is very abundant in Britain and in most parts of the continent of Europe, growing in heaths, parks, &c., often covering considerable tracts. It is a widely distributed plant, and is found in many parts of Asia, and in some parts of Africa. It has a long, creeping, black rhizome, or root-stock, from which grow up naked stalks of 8-18 inches in height; each stalk divides at top into three branches;

Common Brake:

young shoots as they appear. The annual growth of B. is killed by the first frosts of autumn, but remains rigid and brown, still affording shelter to game, and almost as characteristic a feature in the landscape of winter as in that of summer, perhaps adding to its general desolateness.-Pieris caudata, a large species of B. very similar to that of Europe, is one of the worst pests which the farmer has to contend with in the south of Brazil.-Pteris esculenta, a native of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, &c., has a more nutritious rhizome than the common brake. See TARA FERN.-Rock B. (Cryptogamma crispa or Allosorus crispus, formerly Peris crispa) is a pretty little fern, common on stony hills in the northern parts of Britain.

BRAMA, a genus of fishes of the family Chatodontidae (q. v.). B. Raii is common in the Mediterranean, and occasionally found on the British shores. It is one of the fishes to which the name Bream (q. v.) or Sea-bream has been given; and it has also been described as a Gilt-head (q. v.); but these names belong to fishes of other families, with some similarity of general appearance. The genus B. has the body very deep and compressed, the head rather obtusely terminated, a single elongated dorsal fin, and the anal fin with a very lengthened base. The tail is forked, its points extremely divergent. This fish is sometimes more than two feet in length. Its flesh is of exquisite flavour.

BRAMAH, JOSEPH, an eminent practical machinist, the son of a farmer, was born at Stainborough, Yorkshire, April 13, 1749, and early exhibited an unusual talent for mechanics. Incapacitated in his 16th year from agricultural labours by an accidental lameness, he was apprenticed to a carpenter and joiner, and afterwards obtained employment with a cabinet-maker in London. Subsequently, he established himself in business in the metropolis, and became distinguished for the number, value, and ingenuity of his mechanical inventions, such as safety-locks, improvements in pumps and fire-engines, in the construction of boilers for steam-engines, in the processes of making paper, in the construction of main-pipes, wheel-carriages, the beer-machine used at the bar of public-houses, and many others. About 1800, he constructed the hydrostatic press

a, end of a branch, much reduced; b, end of a pinnule, the known by his name. See HYDROSTATIC PRESS. In lower side, shewing fructification.

the branches are bipinnate, the inferior pinnules pinnatifid. The root-stock, when cut across, exhibits an appearance which has been supposed to resemble a spread eagle, whence the specific name aquilina (Lat. aquila, an eagle). The root-stock is bitter, and has been used as a substitute for hops; it has also been ground, mixed with barley, and made into a wretched bread in times of distress. The plant is astringent and anthelmintic; and as such, it had at one time a high reputation, although it is now little used, at least by medical practitioners. It is employed in dressing kid and chamois leather. The ashes, containing a large quantity of alkali, were formerly used in the manufacture of soap and of glass, so that the collecting of them for sale was a considerable resource of the poor in some parts of the Hebrides. B. is also employed for thatching, for littering cattle, &c., and occasionally chopped up with straw or hay, for feeding cattle. It is a favourite covert of deer and of other game. The abundance of this plant is sometimes regarded as a sign of poor land, although, probably, its absence from the richer soils is very much a result of cultivation. To extirpate it, nothing more is necessary than a few successive mowings of the

all, he took out about twenty patents. He died 9th December 1814.

BRAMA'NTÉ, DONATO LAZZARI, one of the most celebrated Italian architects, and also distinguished as a painter, was born at Monte-Asdroaldo, in the duchy of Urbino, 1444. From 1476 to 1499, he resided in Milan, where he studied geometry and perspective, neither of which sciences was well understood by artists in his day. He was noted as one of the best painters in Lombardy; but his success in architecture eclipsed his fame as a painter. In Milan, he built the choir of Santa-Maria delle Grazie, and the church of Santa-Maria presso SanSatiro. After the fall of Ludovico Sforza, B. went to Rome, where he was first employed by the pope Alexander VI., and afterwards by Julius II. The first great work which he undertook for the latter was to connect the Vatican palace with the two pavilions of the Belvedere by a series of immense galleries; the second was the rebuilding of St Peter's Church, of which he laid the new foundation in 1506. When only a small portion of his plans had been realised, B. died at Rome, 1514, and succeeding architects departed widely from the original design of a grand cupola over a Greek cross. Among other works of B. in Rome may be mentioned the palaces

BRAMBANAN-BRAMPTON.