Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/300

 294 BRITANNIA METAL BRITISH COLUMBIA placed by Gothic tribes who at the time of Cassar's invasion, when the history of Britain begins, occupied the S. E. part of the island, and had driven the Celts into the remoter and less accessible districts. Before the time of Cresar, however, nothing is really known of Britain beyond some vague allusions by He- rodotus and a statement by Aristotle that in the western ocean there were two large islands, Albion and lerne, which were called Britan- nia. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians knew the island and traded with the natives for tin, but they have left no record of their knowl- edge of it. (See ENGLAND.) BRITANNIA METAL, also called white metal, an alloy of 86 parts of tin, 10 of antimony, 3 of zinc, and 1 of copper. Its composition, however, is somewhat variable. Dr. Thomson gives the analysis of one specimen : tin, 85-72 ; antimony, 10-39; zinc, 2-91 ; copper, -98=100. It is cast into ingots and rolled into thin sheets. It is an alloy of great use for the manufacture of domestic utensils, and is very generally em- ployed as the base of articles designed to be plated with silver. It was first manufactured in England about 1770, by Jessop and Hancock. BRITANNICCS, son of the emperor Claudius and Messalina, born in A. D. 42, in the second consulship of his father, died in 55. His original name was Claudius Tiberius Germanicus, but when the senate conferred the title of Britan- nicus on the emperor, the infant prince was allowed to participate in the honor, which henceforward became his distinctive appella- tion. After the death of his mother, and the marriage of his father with Agrippina, that unscrupulous woman prevailed on Claudius to set aside the claims of Britannicus to the throne, and to make her own son Nero his heir. After the accession of Nero, Agrip- pina, having quarrelled with him, threatened to present Britannicus to the legions, and Nero determined to rid himself of so dangerous a rival. A dose of poison was dissolved in a goblet of wine and handed to him at a ban- quet. He drank, and immediately expired. As his funeral passed to the Campus Martius a storm raged, and the rain, according to a somewhat doubtful statement in Dion Cassius, washed from his visage the paint with which it had been smeared, and exposed his swollen and blackened features. BRITISH AMERICA, the whole of North Ame- rica N. of the United States, with the excep- tion of Alaska, the N. W. corner of the con- tinent. The boundary line between British America and the United States was mainly determined by the conventions of 1839 and 1846 ; and finally, as to the disputed possession of the island of San Juan, in 1872, by the ar- bitration of the emperor of Germany. The ex- treme southern point of British America is on or near Middle island, in Lake Erie, lat. 41 40' N. British America is bounded N. by the Arctic ocean, N. E. and E. by Baffin bay, Davis strait, and the Atlantic ocean, S. by the United States, and W. and N. W. by the Pacific ocean and Alaska. The total area about 3,500,000 sq. m. ; pop. 4,455,000. British America, as or- ganized under regular governments, comprises the Dominion of Canada, Prince Edward Isl- and, and Newfoundland. (See those titles.) BRITISH BIRMAH. See BUEMAH, BRITISH. BRITISH COLOIBIA, a province of the Domin- ion of Canada, on the Pacific coast, between lat. 48 19' and 60 N., and Ion. 113 and 136 W., bounded N. by the 60th parallel, E. by the Rocky mountains, which extend N. W. and S. E. from Ion. 120 to 113, S. by the United States, and W. by the Pacific ocean and Alaska ; area, including Vancouver and other islands, about 233,000 sq. m. The population, according to an enumeration made in the spring of 1871, consists of 8,576 white, 462 negroes, and 1,548 Chinese; total, 10,586, exclusive of Indians, estimated at 35,000 to 40,000, who subsist by fishing, hunting, and trapping fur-bearing ani- mals. The coast line is deeply indented. Van- couver island extends from lat. 48 19' to 50 53' N., a distance of 278 m., along the southern portion of the mainland, from which it is sepa- rated by the gulf of Georgia, 90 m. in width. The N. entrance to the gulf is Johnston's strait, and the S. entrance is the strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates the S. shore of the island from the territory of the United States. Queen Charlotte islands, lying between lat. 52 and 54 N., and Ion. 131 25' and 134 W., are separated from the N. portion of the coast by Queen Charlotte sound. The country is generally mountainous, though the interior is much diversified. There are extensive tracts of arable land, and large sections suitable for grazing purposes. The E. portion is occupied by the Rocky mountains, the highest summits of which are Mt. Hooker, 15,700 ft., and Mt. Browne, 16,000 ft. The Cascade mountains, a continuation of the Sierra Nevada range of California, intersect the country from N. to S. about 100 m. from the coast. Contiguous to the coast is another lofty range extending N. into Alaska. Between Fraser and Thomp- son rivers is a large tract of level forest. The surface of Vancouver island is very moun- tainous and covered with forests of pine and cedar; it contains little agricultural land, but is supposed to be rich in minerals. The rivers are numerous and large, but their navigation is much interrupted by frequent rapids and falls. The Columbia rises in the vicinity of the Rocky mountains, in lat. 50 30' N. and Ion. 116 W., and flows N. W. to lat. 52 10', when it takes a S. course to the United States. It is navi- gable as far as the head of Upper Arrow lake, lat. 50 30'. Fraser river has its sources on the W. slope of the Rocky mountains, in lat. 52 25' and Ion. 118 40', and after a N. W. course of about 160 m. to lat. 54 30', turns ab- ruptly and flows nearly due S. to lat. 49 80', when it turns W. and flows to the gulf of Geor- gia near the United States border. It drains the E. slope of the Cascades and the W. slope