Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/321

Rh that would accrue from regular intercourse among labourers in the field of science. In an article in the Quarterly Review he threw out a suggestion for &quot; an association of our nobility, clergy, gentry, and philosophers,&quot; which was taken up by others and found speedy realization in the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Its first meeting was held at York in 1831 ; and Brewster, along with Babbage and Herschel, had the chief part in shaping its constitution. It was this service mainly that was referred to when it was said of him after his death that &quot; the improved position of men of science in our times is chiefly due to Sir David Brewster.&quot; In the same year in which the British Association held its first meeting Brewster received the honour of knighthood and the decoration of the Guelphic order of Hanover. In 1838 he was appointed principal of the united colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard, St Andrews. Two of the highest honours of the scientific world were conferred upon him in 1849, when he filled the office of president of the British Asso ciation and was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the Institute of France in succession to Berzelius. In 1859 he accepted the office of principal of the University of Edinburgh, the duties of which he continued to discharge vigorously until within a few months of his death, which took place at Allerly, Melrose, on the 10th February 1868. In estimating Brewster s place among scientific dis coverers the chief thing to be borne in mind is that the bent of his genius was not characteristically mathematical. His method was empirical ; he was a painstaking and accurate observer and classifier of facts rather than a theorizer ; and the laws which he established, some of them, as has been pointed out, of prime importance, were generally the result of repeated experiment. To the ulti mate explanation of the phenomena with which he dealt he contributed nothing, and it is noteworthy in this connection, that if ho did not maintain to the end of his life the corpuscular theory he never explicitly adopted the undula- tory theory of light These limitations, however, are to be taken as characterizing his genius rather than as detracting from it. Few will be inclined to dispute the verdict of Forbes : &quot; His scientific glory is different in kind from that of Young and Fresnel ; but the discoverer of the law of polarization, of biaxal crystals / of optical mineralogy, and of double refraction by compression, will always occupy a foremost rank in the intellectual history of the age.&quot; In addition to the various works of Brewster already noticed the following may be mentioned : Notes and Introduction to Carlyle s translation of Legendre s Elements of Geometry (1824); Treatise on Optics (1831); Letters on Natural Mayic, addressed to Sir Walter Scott (1831); The Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Ti/cho Brake, and Kepler (1841) ; More Worlds than One (1854). (See The Home Life of Sir David Brewster, by his daughter Mrs Gordon.)  BRIANÇON, a very strongly fortified town of France, the capital of an arrondissement in the department of Hautes-Alpes, situated on a hill about 4300 feet above the level of the sea, near the source of the Durance, in lat. 44 53 N. and 6 47 E. long. It commands the road across Mount Genevre between France and Italy, and is well defended by its natural position; while the surrounding eminences are crowned with strong fortifications communi cating with each other and the town by subterranean passages. The town itself is one of the highest in Europe, and the neighbouring village of St Veran has the loftiest situation of any in France. The principal buildings in Briancon are a church in the Italian style, the departmental prison, and a communal college. A single-arch bridge, 127 feet in span and 180 feet high, crosses the valley of the Claree, affording access from the town to the principal parts of the fortifications. There is an extensive silk-factory in the old convent of St Catherine, which manufactures floss silk, stockings, hats, and other silk goods ; and the other industrial articles in the town comprise small iron wares, leather, and lavender water. A considerable traffic is carried on in chalk, and in turpentine and other forest productions. The chalk, though known as Briancon chalk, is obtained at Fenestrelles in Piedmont ; the Briancon manna is a kind of resin. Briancon is identified with Brigantium, a city of great antiquity and dubious origin, which became an important military post under the Romans. For a long time after the fall of the Roman empire it maintained itself as an independent republic, and was not united to France till 1349. Made over by the peace of Ryswick to the duke of Savoy, it was restored to France in 1713. In 1815 the town made a noble defence. Population in 1872, 3579.  BRIANSK, a town of Russia, in the government of Orloff, 98 miles E.N.E. of the city of that name, in 53 15 N. lat., and 22 50 E. long., on both banks of the Desna, opposite the mouth of the River Snezheta. It is divided into four parts by several smaller streams. The town is mentioned in 1146, and then bore the names of Briansk and Debriansk. It afterwards formed a separate principality, which came to an end in 1356 with the death of Prince Basil Alexandrovitch. After the Mongolian invasion Briansk and the whole Siever country fell imder the power of the Lithuanians ; but from time to time it was united with Russia, and finally became incorporated with the empire in the beginning of the 17th century in the reign of Michael Theodorovitch. Under the first Demetrius Briansk was taken by the rebels, but successfully resisted the attacks of the second impostor. Under the Empress Anna, according to the plan of Paul I., there was constructed a dock for the building of ships, but it was closed in 1739. In 1778 the town was made the capital of a department in Orloff, and in 1783 an arsenal, which still exists, was established for the manufacture of artillery. Briansk has thirteen churches, of which the cathedral was built in 1526, and restored in the end of the 17th century, In the sacristy is preserved a manuscript copy of the gospels in the writing of Michael Theodorovitch, which dates from 1637. In the convent of Peter and Paul is buried Oleg Romano vitch, prince of Chernigoffand Briansk, who lived in the 13th century. There are two high schools in the town, a hospital, and a dispensary ; and the industrial establishments include rope-walks, tobacco- factories, brick-works, tallow-boiling works, flour-mills, and a brewery. A considerable trade is carried on, especially in wood, pitch, linseed-oil, and cattle, which are exported to Moscow and St Petersburg. There are markets twice a week, and one annual fair. In 1860 the population was 12,816, all of the Greek Church except 268 Catholics and 35 Jews. In 1867 it amounted to 13,881.  BRIAREUS, or, one of the three hundred-armed (Helcatoncheires) sons of Uranus and Gaia, his brothers being named Cottus and Gyges. The legends regarding them are various and somewhat contradictory. According to the most widely-spread myth, Briareus and his brothers were called by Zeus to his assistance when the Titans were making war upon Olympus. The gigantic enemies were defeated and consigned to Tartarus, at the gates of which the three brothers were placed. Other accounts make Briareus one of the assailants of Olympus, who, after his defeat, was buried under Mount ^Etna. Homer mentions him as assisting Jupiter when the other Olympian deities were plotting against the king of gods and men. It would be difficult to determine exactly what natural phenomena are symbolized by the Hekatoncheires. They may represent the gigantic forces of nature which appear in earthquakes and other convulsions, ci the multitudinous motion of the 