Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/166

LEFT BRACHYTERiE 144 BRADDOCK occurring chiefly in the deep sea. The families are: (1) TerebraUdidx, (2) spirit eridse, (3) rhynconellidse, (4) or- thidse, (5) productidss, (6) craniadae, (7) discinidx, and (8) lingulidse. BRACHYTER-ffi (short winged), a name given to a family of web-footed birds, penguins, auks, divers, guillemots, etc., in which the wings are short and the legs placed far back in the body. They are all strong divers and swimmers. BRACHYURA, a suborder of de- capodous crustaceans, containing those families in which the abdomen is con- verted into a short-jointed tail folding closely under the breast. The common edible crab {cancer pagurus) is a fa- miliar example of this structure. The suborder contains four families: (1) Oxystomata, (2) oxyrhyncha or maiadw, (3) cyclometopa or canceridse, and (4) catwnetopa or ocypodidss. BRACKEN, or BRAKE, a species of fern very common in the United States and Europe. It has a black creeping rhizome, with branched pinnate fronds growing to the height often of several feet, and it forms an excellent covert for game. When burned it yields a good deal of alkali. The rhizome of pteris esctdenta, a native of New Zealand, was formerly a staple article of food among the Maoris. BRACKET, an ornamental projection from a wall, used for the purpose of supporting a statue, bust, or the like. The term bracket is also employed in joinery, etc., to designate supports, in the form of a bent knee, of shelves, gal- leries, etc. Bracket is also generally ap- plied to such gaslights as project from the wall. BRACT, a leaf growing upon the flower stalk. Those which occupy this situation have, as a rule a different size, form, and appearance from the ordinary leaves. The involucre in composite plants, the great spathe in araceie, the paleae of grasses, the scales of catkins, etc., are all bracts. BRACTON, HENRY DE, an English ecclesiastic and jurist, of whom but little certain is known save that he was a "justice itinerant," in 1264 became Arch- deacon of Barnstaple and Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral, and died in 1268. He is memorable as one of the earliest writers on English law. BRADDOCK, a borough of Pennsyl- vania, m Allegheny co. It is on the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie rail- roads, and on the Monongahela river. The city is an important industrial com- munity. It has manufactures of steel, pig iron, steel rails, etc. It has a Carnegie library which is the first established in America, a hospital. Federal building, and a park. The town is the site of Braddock's defeat in 1755. Pop. (1910) 19,257; (1920) 20,879. BRADDOCK, EDWARD, a British soldier, born in Perthshire, Scotland, about 1695, entered the Coldstream Guards in 1710, and was appointed Major-General in 1754. Nine months later he sailed as commander against GEN. EDWARD BRADDOCK the French in America, and, with a force of nearly 2,000 British and pro- vincial troops, reached the Monongahela, a branch of the Ohio, on July 8, 1755. Leaving the baggage behind, on the 9th he pushed forward with a chosen force to invest Fort Duquesne, on the present site of Pittsburgh, Pa. On the right bank of the river his advance guard was attacked by a party of about 900 French and Indians from the fort. After two hours' fighting, in which Braddock, whose bravery was never called in question, had four horses shot under him, and was mortally wounded while vainly trying to rally his men, the survivors made a hasty retreat under Washington, Braddock's aide-de-camp, the only one of his staif who escaped unhurt. No less than 63 out of 86 officers, and 914 out of 1,373 men engaged, were either killed or wounded. "The French loss was trifling. Braddock was carried from the field, and died July 13, 1755, at Great Meadow;?.