Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/209

LEFT BRIDGEWATER 179 BRIEF villas. Bridgetown is the residence of the governor-general of the Windward Islands. Pop. about 17,000. BRIDGEWATER, a town in Ply- mouth CO., Mass.; on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad; 27 miles S. of Boston. It contains five vil- lages and has a State Normal School, the State Farm, State Almshouse, a public library, a savings bank, and manufactories of iron, nails, tacks, boots, shoes, and brick. Pop. (1910) 7,688; (1920) 8,438. BRIDGEWATER, FRANCIS EGER- TON, third DITKE OF, the "Father of Inland Navigation in Great Britain," born in 1736. With the assistance of his celebrated engineer, Brindley, and after enormous expense, and years of difficulty, he cut a canal uniting Liver- pool and Manchester which was com- pleted in 1761. He afterward pro- moted the Grand Trunk Canal naviga- tion, and by the two schemes, for a while, so impoverished himself that he was deprived of the commonest com- forts. He became ultimately the posses- sor of immense wealth, realized from the results of his life's labors. The annual value of the Bridgewater canal estate is estimated at about $1,250,000. He died in London, March 3, 1803. BRIDGMAN, FREDERIC ARTHUR, an American artist, born in Tuskegee, Ala., Nov. 10,. 1847. He studied at the Brooklyn Art School and National Academy of Design, and was a pupil of J. L. Gerome, and at the Elcole des Beaux Arts. Elected to the American Academy of Design 1891, Chairman American Art Department, Paris Exposition 1900, Officer Legion of Honor 1907. Is noted for Oriental and archaeological figure pieces. Among his notable paintings are "Procession in Honor of Isis" and "The Bocher-Biskra." BRIDGMAN, LAURA, an American blind mute, born in Hanover, N. H., Dec. 21, 1829. She was a bright, intelligent child, but at two years of age both sight and hearing were entirely destroyed by fever, but she learned to find her way about the house and neighborhood, and even learned to sew and to knit a little. In 1839 Dr. Howe, of Boston, under- took her care and education at the deaf and dumb school. The first attempt was to give her a knowledge of arbitrary sigfns, by which she could interchange thoughts with others. Then she learned to read embossed letters by touch; next, embossed words were attached to differ- ent articles, and she learned to asso- ciate each word with its corresponding object. She learned to know people almost instantly by the touch alone. In a year or two more she was able to re- ceive lessons in geography, algebra, and history. She received and answered letters from all parts of the world. She learned to write a fair, legible, square hand, and to read with great dexterity. She died May 4, 1889. BRIDLE, a head stall, bit, and bear- ing or riding rein, completing the head gear of a horse's harness. The mod- ern bridle of Europe and America con- sists of the following pieces: The crown piece, the brow band, the cheek strap, the throat latch or lash, the rein, and the bit. Sometimes, also, there are a nose band, blinkers or blinders, and a hitching strap. BRIDLE BIT, a bit connected with a bridle. Such bits are seen in Assyrian and Egyptian paintings and sculptures, and are subsequently mentioned by Xenophon. Bridle bits may be classed under three heads: Snaffles, curb bits, and stiff bits. The snaffle has two bars, joined together in the middle of the mouth, and has rings at the end for the rein. It sometimes has cheek pieces to keep the ring from pulling into the mouth of the animal. The curb bit con- sists of the following parts: Cheek pieces or branches, with eyes for the cheek straps and for the reins, and holes for the curb chain; a mouthpiece, unit- ing the cheek pieces and forming the bit proper; sometimes a bar uniting the lower ends of the branches; a curb chain. The elastic bit consists of a chain covered by closely coiled wire be- tween the bit rings. Another form of elastic bit is made of twisted wire with a soft rubber covering. BRIDLINGTON CRAG, a deposit be- longing to the Newer Pliocene. It con- sists of sand and bluish clay, with frag- ments of various rocks. It contains mollusks, of which four species are ex- tinct, natica occlusa, cardita analis, nucula cohboldiss, and tellina obliqua; most of the remaining species are Arctic shells. It appears to have been deposited during the period of the great- est cold. BRIEF, from the Latin brevis, short, a brief or short statement or summary, particularly the summary of a client's case which the solicitor draws up for the instruction of counsel. A brief may also mean, in law, an order emanating from the Superior Courts. A Papal brief is a sort of pastoral letter in which the Pope gives his decision on some mat- ter which concerns the party to whom