Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/610

* BBOHELIA. 534 BROMINE. is a very eomiiion species. It is valuable as a hedjie-plant, the rigid, spiny leaves resisting perfectly the attacks of animals. The leaves are ery numerous, n to I! feet long and 2 inches wide, tapering gradually to the ti]). Another and perhaps more valuable species is Broiiirlia siilfcstris. It has leaves .3 or 4 feet long and 11,^ inches in width. The fibre of this is be- lieved to be superior to that of Bromelia pin- guiii. The fibre of a number of other species hay been more or less favorably reported upon, but so great is the confusion of the species that their botanical origin cannot be definitely stat- ed. The cultivated pineapple (Ananas .salira) yields a good fibre, and the famous pifia or pine- apph' cloth of the Philipiiino Islands is said to be i)rduced from a wild form of the pineapple. This and other forms of these fibrous plants grow in great abundance throughout the tropics, and a thorough study wotild doubtless reveal their true value and relationships. The fruits of some of the wild species of Bromelia are used for various purposes. For the fruit of Ananas, see PiNE.ppi.K. BBOME'LIA'CE.ffi (for derivation see Bromelia). The pineapple family. An order of mostly stemless monocotyledonous plants, or with short stems, and rigid, channeled, and often spiny, fleshy leaves in rosettes. The flowers are borne in panicles or racemes on flower-stalks springing from the cluster of leaves. As a rule the three-parted flowers have highly colored bracts subtending them. There are about 40 genera and 400 species belonging to this order, most, if not all, of which are indigenous to trop- ical America. Some are terrestrial plants, liv- ing in dry situations, but most live attached to trees, not as parasites, but as epiphytes, and they form a very conspicuous feature of the flora of Brazil and elsewhere. The leaves of many are cluinncled almve. and as they overlap below they hold considerable water in their finnels or pitcliers. This habit and their al)undaut seed make them especially adapted to their ei)iphylic method of growing. In the water cups or fun- nels are found all sorts of debris, and in Vene- zuela a species of bladderwort U'trirularia) often grows in these situations. These plants often send out roots, but it is considered (bmbt- ful whether they haA-e much use, aside from aid- ing in attaching the plant to its s>i|)i)ort. Some species show especial ada])tations for the reduc- tion of transpiration from their leaves. Tliis is secured by the presence of a thickened cuticle, or l)y covering the leaves with peculiar scales, rendering the leaves scurfy. In the case of the common Spanish or Xew Orleans moss [Til- iandsia usncoidcs). which hangs in such pe- culiar bunches from the trees of the Southern States, the stems are reduced to thread-like strands of a grayish color, covered with scales. To this order belongs the pineapple (q.v.), which is useful for its fruit as well as for the fit)re which is secured from its leaves. This fibre is usefvil for many |>urposes. and the finer qualities make the pifia cloth of the Kast Indies. This is often confused with 'grass cloth,' from which it can be distinguished by microscopical examination : the piua fibre is said to be with- out any twist. Pita fibre is obtained from Bromelia sylvestris, a member of this order, as well as from other plants. According to Witt- mack's classification, the chief genera of this order are: Bromelia, Ananas, Billbergia, .Ech- mea, Pitcairnia. Puya, Dyckia, and Tillandsia. BRO'MIC ACID (see Hromixe), lIBrOj. A colorless licpiid with a bromine-like odor. It may be prepared by the action of bromine on sil- ver bromate. The latter is made from iiotassium bromate, which is readily obtained by the action of bromine on caustic potash, Bromie acid combines readily with bases forming a series of salts called hroinates, none of which are of any commercial importance. By heat they are all decomposed with evolution of oxygen. Like the chlorates, when mixed with sulphur or char- coal. tlu'V explode by percussion. BRO'MIDES (see Bromine). The salts of hydrobromic acid (HBr) may be produced by the action of thi= acid on metals, metallic oxides, or metallic carbimates; also by the action of bromine vapor on metals. At ordinary tempera- tures the bromides are solid, but when heated they generally fuse and volatilize with decom- position. The most important bromide is that of potas- sium (KBr). This salt is nuide by adding bromine to a solution of potassium hydroxide, evaporating and heating the residue with some charcoal, the latter serving to- reduce the bromate (KBrO,,) at first produced along with the bromide (KBr). The only salt thus obtained is potassium bromide, and this may then be purl-' fled by re-crystallization from water. Pure potassium bromide is a colorless, translucent, crystalline salt with a pungent, saline taste: it is extensively used in medicine, both as a seda- tive and a nervine. The medicinal dose of the bromide is 5 to liO grains. Another important bromide is that of silver, which is made by add- ing silver nitrate to an aqueous s(dution of some other metallic bromide. Silver bromide is ex- ceedingly sensitive to the action of sunlight, and is consequently much used in photograpliy. With the exception of silver bromide, which is insoluble, and of lead and mercury bromides, whose solubility is slight, the bromides of the metals are mure or less readily soluble in water. BRO'MIDRO'SIS ((Jk. /Spw/ws, hromos, a bad smell + Idpdii, hidrOs, sweat). A condition of the sweat-glands causing a foul odor to the perspira- tion. I'or convenience' sake, the condition of ofl'ensive ]]ers|)iratioii from any cause is called broniidroj^is. l'ers]iirati<m, in ordinarily cleanly people, is jiracl ically odorless. The consmupticm of garlic, onions, uiuile-oil, sulphur, phosphorus, alcohol, musk, and other substances gives a pecu- Inir smell in each case to the perspiration. Con- stipated people have sweat with a fiecal odor, and some i)eo])le excrete considerable urea by means of the skin. In smallpox there is a distinctive odor to the skin and the perspira- tion. Other i)eople have perspiration with an odor like that of orris or bananas. All the odors of sweat, except those due to drugs or food in- gested, are due to decomposition of the fatty acids in the secretion. The armpits and the feet are the oU'ending parts of the body in most cases. Internal treatment to relieve excessive sweating is generally necessary; and salicylic acid, boric aciil. sulphate of zinc, and other medicaments are used locally. BRO'MINE (Xeo-Lat. hromiitium, from Gk. jifiufiur, brOinos, stench; referring to its suffocat-