Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/355

323&#93; BRA 0*r patronize another exhibition of a similar kind. Boxing also Signifies the tapping of a tree, to make it yield its juice. Tnis operation is performed on the maple, by making a hole in the side of the tree, about a foot from the groundj with an auger or chi- sel • from this juice or sap a good lay be extracted. BRACES, a supplementary arti- cle, of dress, how very generally ndopted ; which bvrenderinga tight cincture altogether unnecessary, cannot be too much recommended, both to men and women, for the sake of health as well as comfort. If they were used to keep up the stockings, instead of tight garters, it would be an improvement of much greater moment than many are inclined to imagine; for garters doubtless occasion great mischief, whether tied above or below the knee, in causing the part to which they are applied to acquire an un- natural hardness, in disposing the thighs and legs to dropsy, and in- ducing great fatigue in walking. BRAIN, in anatomy, a great viscus in the cavity of the skull, of an oval figure, and larger in man, in proportion to his size, than in any other animal. The brain is uniformly considered as the grand sensorium of the body, or the or- gan of all the senses ; and hence it is supposed, not without reason, to be the seat of the soul. The most important functions of an animal body are those of the brain. To afford a more distinct view of the subject, we shall mention a few experiments which have been made upon animals. If the brain be irritated, dread- ful convulsions take place all over the body. If any part of the brain be compressed, that part of the BRA ii« body which derives its nerves from the compressed part, is immedi- ately deprived of motion and sen- sation. On compressing, tying, or dividing a nerve, the muscles to which the nerve proceeds, become paralytic. If the nerve thus com- pressed, tied, or divided, had be- fore any particular sensation, it ex- ists no longer; but, on removing the compression, or untying it, iU peculiar sense returns. From these phenomena, it is evident, that every sensation in an animal body is derived from the brain, or from the spinal marrow, which is a continuation of the brain; and that it is conveyed thence, through the medium of rhe nerves, to all parts of the sentient body. But, in what manner the various sensations are produced by the nerves, and how the will operates upon the contiguous and' remote organs, so as to put them' into instantaneous motion, are dif- ficulties which have never been sa- tisfactorily explained, and, in all probability, will always baffle the keenest investigation. As the brain is the representa- tive organ of the mind, its sound and perfect state is of the utmost importance in the exercise of the intellect. If, therefore, the brain of an individual, be preternaturally soft, or too firm and hard, or spe- cifically too light, or proportionate- ly too small; or if it be in any manner compressed or shaken by external violence ; or if acrimo- nious humours should settle on it, in consequence of various diseases; or, lastly, if in plethoric habits too great a portion of blood should flow towards the head, and too much extend its vessels ; — in all these cases, the representing faculty will more or less partake of the dis- Y 2 order,