Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/579

* BRIHASPATI. 505 BRINDISI. later times of the epic and the Puraiias he is a Rishi, or divine seer, and preceptor of the gods. He is regent of the planet Jupiter, with which his own name is commonly identilied. His wife is Tara. Consult: Jfacdone!, Vedic Mythology (Strassburg, 1897) ; Dowson, Dic- tionary of Hindu Mythology (London, 1879). BBUj, brel. The name of two Dutch painters, brothers. — Matti.ts (1550-84) was born in Ant- werp and died in Rome. He was employed in the Vatican in the time of Gregorj' Xlll., and instructed liis brother Paul, who succeeded to his pension. — P.iL (1554-1026) was also born in Antwerp and died in Rome. He was the best of the Flemish landscape painters of his time; his influence was potent on the Italian schools of landscape painters. The poetic charm of his work may be seen as a setting to some of the figure-painting executed by such masters as An- nibale Carracci and Rubens. His works in oil and fresco are in many of the Roman churches. He had for patrons botli Clement VIII. and Six- tus v., doing for the latter many works in the Sistine Chapel, in the Scala Santa and Santa Maria ilaggiore. His paintrng of the "Tower of Babel" is in the Berlin Jluseum, which contains also a landscape representing his later style. The Pitti Gallery in Florence possesses a number of his works. Consult: Brixton and Poynter. Ger- man. Flemish, and Dutch Painting (London, 1881) : Liibke, History of Art (Eng. trans.. Xew York. 1881). BBHiL (probably Corn, hrilli, mackerel, for brithelli, from hrith, speckled). A species of turbot, found in considerable abundance on some parts of the British coasts, and common in the markets of the larger towns. It resembles the turbot, but is distinguished by its smaller size (18 inches), more oval outline, the want of tubercles on its upper surface, and its red- dish hue. It has the same haunts and habits as the turbot, but its flesh is not thought quite so good. BRrLLAT-SAVARIN, bre'ya' sa'va'raN', AxTiiELME ( 1755-182t) I. A French writer on gastronomy, noted as the author of Physiologic du gout ( 1825). He was born at Belley, and was a federalist. During the Reign of Terror he fled to Switzerland, and in 1793 to Xew York, where he supported himself by lessons and music till his return to Paris in 179G. He held office under the Directory, and during the Consulate became judge in the Court of Cassation. His book re- veals the genial host and friend, full of anecdote and shrewd observation. It is delightful, also. for its mock seriousness, its conscious grandilo- quence, as when he invokes "Gasteria, the tenth and fairest of the JIuses," and for the bizarre arrangement of his 'meditations' on Corpulence ou la theorie de la friture. Two translations of the Phi/sidlogie into English (London, 1877; New York. n. d.t are fairly satisfactory. BRILLIANT (Fr. brillant, sparkling, from Lat. berillus, berj'l, gem ) . A name popularly given to the diamond, especially when cut so that the base or flat portion, called a table, is surrounded by twenty-four facets, which extend to the girdle, or central edge, above which are thirty-two facets, terminating in a point called a ruht. BRIMSTONE, A name sometimes applied to sulplinr, especially in the form of sticks or rolls. It is derived from ME. brinnen, brennen, to burn + ston, stone, sulphur having been con- sidered by the alchemists as the principle of combustibility. See Sulphur. BRIN, bren, Benedetto ( 18:i;i-98) . An Ital- ian engineer and statesman, born in Turin. He .studied engineering, became a chief of section in the Ministry of Marine, and was Minister of Marine in 1876-78, 1884-91, and from 1806 until his death. From 1882 he represented Turin in the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1892-9;i he was Minister of Foreign Aff'airs. He did much to pro- mote the mechanical development of the Italian Xavy, and himself designed several armored cruisers. BRINCK'MAN, C.rl Gustav, Baron (1764- 1847). A .Swedish statesman and poet. He was born at Briinnkyrka, near Stockliolni. and studied at Upsala, Halle, Leipzig, and Jena. He became successively secretary of legation of the Swedish embassy ' at Dresden (1792), charg& d'affaires at Paris (1797), charge d'affaires at Berlin (1801), ambassador to London (1808), and court chancellor at Stockholm (1810). His jioetical works include: Nnillets verld (1822), for which he received the first prize of the Swedish Academy; and Tankebilder (1828). BRINDABAN, brin'da-ban'. See Bixdba- B.X. BRINDISI, brpn'de se (anciently," Lat. Brun- disium. lirundusiuui : Gk. 'Bpivricnov, Brente- sion, lip(vT-^<nov, Brenlesion ; said to have re- ceived its name from the harbor (irojecting like the antlers of a stag, from jipivSov, bren- don, deer, stag). A seaport town of south- ern Italy, in the Province of Lecce. It is situ- ated on a small promontory in a bay of the Adriatic Sea, about 45 miles east-northeast of Taranto (Map: Italy, M 7). Brindisi is a city of very great antiquity. It was taken from the Sallentines by the Romans B.C. 267, who, some twenty years later, establislied a colony here. The town, partly owing to the fertility" of the country, but chiefly on account of its "excellent port — consisting of an inner and outer liarbor, the former perfectly landlocked, and capable of containing the largest fleets and of easy de- fense on account of its narrow entrance, and the latter also very well sheltered — rapidly increased in wealth and importance. It soon became the principal naval station of the Romans in the -Adriatic. In B.C. 2.30 Brindisi was the starting- place of the Roman troops that took part in the first Illyrian War: and from this point the Romans nearly always directed subsequent wars with Macedonia. Greece, and .Asia. And when the Roman power had been firmly estal)lished beyond the Adriatic, Brindisi became a city second to none in South Italy in i-imimercial im- portance. Horace, who accompanied Miccenas in a diplomatic exjicdition to Brindisi in n.c. 40, has made the journey the subject of one of his satires [Hat. i. 5|. Vergil died here in b.c. 19, on his return from Greece. The city appears to have retained its importance until" the fall of the Empire, but it suffered greatly in the wars which followed. When the Normans became pos- sessed of it in the Eleventli Century, the Cru- saders made it their chief port for embarka- tion to the Holy Land ; but with the decline of the Crusades, Brindisi sank into compara- tive insignificance as a naval station. The city