Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/368

 BRA

red, as are alfo its belly-fins and its tail. It is caught among the rocks in deep water, and feldom is taken any other way than by hooks, and is a very well tailed fiflr. It is found only in the Eafl Indies. Rays Ichthyogr. Append, p. i.

BRAMBAS, in natural hiftory, a name given by the people of Guinea, and fome other parts of Africa, to a peculiar fpecies of lemon tree. The leaves of this are of a deep green, and cf an admirable fragrancy, when rubbed between the hands. Hie fruit is very final], and has a remarkable thin flrih. The juice is ufed in dyeing. Phil. Tranf. N y 108.

BRAMBLE, or Brambling, in zoology, the common En- glifb. name of the montifringilla, or oroj'piza, called in fome places the mountain-finch ; a fmall bird, fomewhat refembling the chaffinch. Rafs Ornith. p. 189. See Montifringilla.

BRAMBLE Galls. See Galls of the bramble.

BRAMIC1DE, the crime of killing a bramin, reputed in the Eail Indies one of the five moil enormous fins. Lett. Edif. T. 10. p. 22.

BRAMINS, a fe& of divines and philofophers in the Eaft In- dies, defcended from the antient brachmans. The name is alfo by fome written brames, by others bremens a ; the moft fuitable orthography is that of Burnet, who calls them bramani j the name being apparently formed from the antient hrachman, or from brama, the name of their particular deity b. [* Lett. Edif. T. 9. p. 288. It. T. 10. p. 31. b Burnet, Archaeol. P. 2. App. p. 266.]

■ The brannns are found in Siam, Malabar, China, Corornan- del, and mod: other eaflcrn nations anyways civilized ; but their chief feat is in Indoftan, or the Mogul's country ; the heathens of which confut of three cafls or tribes, viz. va&bra- rnins, who are their priefls and doctors-; the banians, their mer- chants ; the cuttery, their foldiery : the origin of each of which they trace from the creation of the world Lord, Difcov. of Banian Religion, c. 1. Mem. deTrev. an. 1731. p. 466. The firfl and moll honourable is the tx\be o£ bramins, fuppofed to have been founded by Brahma, the firft of the three beings created by God, and by whom he made the reft of the world, D'Hcrbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 212. vac. Brahma. Their chief ftudy is of God, the world, the origin of things, the fevcral periods of the univerle, the firll flare of nature, and the changes it has undergone. Rogsr, Janua Apert. ad Arcan. Gentilifm. Trev. Diet Univ. T. r. p. 1200. In ail which F. Bouvet pretends to find the traces or remains of the Mofaic hiftory, creation, paradife, deluge, Abraham-, the pafchal Iamb, t?V. even the Trinity and eucharifl are fuppofed to be found among the bramim. Vid. Mem. deTrev. 1 7 3 1 . p. 469. Fabric. Pfeudop. Vet. Ted. T. 1. §. 1 20. p. 405. The bram'ms hold all things to be an efflux or emanation from the Deity, and that the conclusion of things is only their re- traction and return into him ; to explain this, they reprefent the firft caufe of all things as an immenfe fpider, which, with wonderful art, fpun the world out of her bowels, and then feated herfelf in a pofture to obferve every part and motion of . this its creation, and govern it accordingly ; and that when file mail have fufficiently entertained herfelf in adorning and contemplating the work fhe has done, fhe is to fwallow all a- gain, and fo difTolve the univerfal frame of nature. Burnet* jib. cit p.. 269, feq.

On the bramin principles, God, or the fovereign Being, whom they call Achar, and who is immoveable and unchangeable, not only produced human fouls from his own fubflancc, but every thing that is material and corporeal in the univerfe j and that this production was not made merely after the manner of efficient caufes, but after the manner of a fpider, which fpins a web out of her own bowels, and refumes it again when fhe pleafes. The creation then, fay thefe doctors, is only an ex- traction or extenfion of the fubflance of God, drawn forth like a web, CffV. Bemier, Suite des Memoir. furl'Empire du Grand Mogul, p. 202. Gundling. Hifl. Phil. Mor. c. 5. §. 7. p. 42, feq. Some attribute principles to the bramins, nearly bordering on quietifm. They aflert, that the world is only an illuhon or dream j and for bodies to exift truly, they muft ceafe to exift in themfelves, and be confounded with nothing, which, by rea- {on of its fimplicity, makes the perfection of all beings. They add, that a wife man ought not only to be without paflion, but even without defire ; and that he is to be continually endea- vouring not to will any thing, not to think of any thing, nor perceive or feel any thing; but to banifli from his mind all ideas even of" virtue and piety itfelf, that nothing may be left inhim inconfiftent with perfect quietude of foul. Gobicn. Hifl. de l'Empire de la Chin, in Pref. Gundling. Hifl. Philof. Mo- ral, c. 5. §.7. p. 42.

They have a language peculiar to themfelves, which they call hanfehrit ; in which they have feveral antient books, written, as is alleged, by their great prophet Brahma ; as the Jhajlram, which is their bible, and poranc, a hiftory which they efleem facred, and pretend to have been dictated by God himfelf. Burn. Arcfreeol. T. 2. App. p. 267, feq. D'Herbel. loc. cit. They own a Supreme Being; who created Brahma, and gave him a power to create the world. They have alfo their fubal- tern deities, their pagods or temples, and idols, whom they fan to defend from flies, dancing before them, &c. Wolf. Bibl. Hebr. T. 2. fee. 1. c. 5. p. 634. Phil, Tranf. N° 243. p.

BRA

They hold a feafl in honour of the fun, confidered as the fourqe of light and heat, whereby all nature is fecundificd. Mem. deTrev. 1731. p. 467.

BRAN (Cy I, ) is held detergent, and, on that account, is of fome medicinal ufe in gargarifms and glyflcrs a. It is alfo a chief ingredient in the compolition of cataplafms b. Some apply it hot againll the pleuriiy ; boiled, it purges fcurf and dandriff, and cleanfes the hands in lieu of foap e. Among theantients, it was alfo ufed as an erotic, to excite love d. — [ a Cajl. Lex. Med. p. 351. voc. Furfur. b %>uinc. Difpenf. P. 2. fee. 12. n. 550. Jmuk. Confp. Thcrap. tab. 13. p. 367. c Hought. Collect, i. i. N° r %. p. 2n, -38, 251, feq. d Pott. Ar- chseol. I. 4. c. 10. T. 2. p. 253.]

Dyers rank bran in the number cf non-colouring drugs ; be- caufe it yields no colour of itfelf. h fervesfor the making of their four waters, ufed in preparing fluffs to take the dye. Sav. Diet. Comm, T, 2. p. 15^9.

'I his water is made by boiling -whiten bran, and into the de- coction putting a little leaven.

BRANCA, in middle age writers, the paw, or extreme part of the foot of a wild beafl, or bird of prey. Du Cange, Gloff. T. 1. p. 607.

Branca, orBiiANCHiA, alfo denotes n. right of lopping, or cutting oft' the branches of trees in the foreil for firing. Du Cange, loc. cit. p. 60S.

BRANCH (Cycl.) — Antiently branches were carried in the hands at the prcceifions and ceremonies of the gods ; whence the thallophori, or branch-bearers. Trev. Diit. Univ. T. 4. p. 1002. voc. Rameau.

The Thefpians adored a branch a. The olive-branch was the fymbol or enjign of peace b. — [ a Arncb. Adverf. Gent, lib 6. b Sil. Ital. 1. "13. v. 68. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 2. p. 595. voc. Ra?ni.

■ Turn pignora pads

Prcttendit dextra ramum canentis olives. Branches do not fpring out of the mere furface of the trunk, but are profoundly rooted therein, fo as not only to penetrate the cortical, but alio the woody fubftancc, and even the pith. Greiv, Anat. of Veget. 1. 1. c. 4. §. 3. p. 28. Chauv. Lex. Phil. p. 553. voc. Ramus.

The constituent parts therefore of a branch are the fame as of the trunk, viz. fkin,. bark, wood, and pith. Greiv, Jib. cit. p. 107, & 1 19.

M. Dodart'sobfervations clafh with the obfervation mentioned in the Cyclopedia, of the branches of trees fhooting from the trunk at an angle of 45- degrees; according to him, the branches gene- rally fprout out of the trunk horizontally, or at right angles with the trunk c : but, in their afcent, they affect perpendicu- larity as much as poffible, though not in the fame degree with trunks a .— [ c Hiit. Acad. Scienc. an. 1710. p. 85- d Dodart y in Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1700. p. 61, & 77.] Branches of trees bear a near analogy to limbs of animals e ; and, in certain cafes, the amputation of them is found necef- fary f. — [ e Vid. Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1707. p. 366. f Bac. Hiit. Vit. &Mort. ap. Works, T. 2. p. 116.J See the article Pruning.

Some confider branches as a fort of roots in the air : in reality they are only prolongations of the roots ; but, being united in the trunk, are redivided in the branches s. What fhews the con- formity between the two fpecies of roots, is, that the end of branches being fet in the ground, while yet adhering to the mo- ther-tree, they will take root, grow on their own bottom h ; and what is more, there are divers trees, which, if planted upfide down, the roots turn to branches, with leaves and fruit, and the branches to roots and fibres : but whether the branches, while fuch, do the office of roots, and receive any fine kind of nutriment from the air, as Mr. de la Hire ', Mr. Brotherfon k , and others, have afferted, is a queftion not yet fully decided. M. Perrault fuppofes the branches to convey a fop for the nou- rifhment of the root, as the root does for the reft of the plant. [« Teichmey, Elem. PhiJ. Nat P. 2. c. 9. p 313. h Philof. Tranfact. N° 43. p. 854, 858. i Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1708. p. 297. Hift.p/81. k Phil. Tranf.N 187. p. 1 13. J

Branch is alfo applied to the parts or ramifications of divers other bodies, which, In refpect hereof, are confidered as flems. Thus chemifts fpeak of the branches of their metalline vegeta- tions, branches of the arbor Diana?, arbor Martis, &c. Phil. Tranfact. N° 286. p. 1430. Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1692. p, 215. Item, an. 17 10. p. 55^.

Branch, in anatomy, denotes a divifion of a vein, artery, or nerve. All the veins in the body are only branches of the vena, cava.

Branch is alfo ufed in the military art, in fpeaking of mines, and their feveral ducts, ways, returns, and the like, between one well and another. Felib. Princ. de 1'Aichitedt. p,5ci. voc. Rameau.

Branch is alfo ufed in fpeaking of the veins in mines of gold, filver, or other metals, which divide like the veins in the body.

Branch, in genealogy, is applied to the feveral lines or fuccef- fions arifing out of the fame flock or origin. In which fenfe, branches amount to much the fame with cadets. Nisb. Eft", of Armor, c. 2, p. 28.

Branch.