Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/191

BRAHMAPOOTRA BRAILA 185 object of religious thought and veneration, the absolute and infinite. From it comes first the masculine noun brahman (nom. brahma), hav- ing a twofold use : 1, an offerer of worship, devo- tee, priest, and hence, more specifically, the su- pervising and correcting priest in the intricate Hindoo ceremonial ; 2 (later, and by reflection from the later sense of brahman), a kind of per- sonal incorporation of the absolute, a theo- sophic highest divinity, the supreme god, Brah- ma. The secondary classes of Vedic writings are full of brahman (neuter) as the theme of religious contemplation; but a god Brahma is much more recent, and a creature of sacerdo- tal philosophy. The Hindoo trinity (trimurti), in which he figures as creator, beside Vishnu as preserver and Siva as destroyer, was a piece of artificial system-making, having no real root in the religious consciousness of the people. Brahma was never actually worshipped, nor had temples built to him. Our word brahman or brahmin represents the derivative adjective brdhmana, which, as coming from brahman, signifies "dealing with worship and sacred things," or, as in part also from brahman, "of priestly descent and office." This adjec- tive begins to appear in the more recent parts of the Veda ; and with the rise of a priestly caste and a hierarchy in India, it becomes the name of that caste, the dominant class in a system of religious polity which is thence called Brah- manism, and of which the history constitutes an essential part of that of India. (See INDIA.) The neuter of the same adjective, brdhmanam, is used to denote a class of writings in the re- ligious literature of India, next in age to the hymn texts of the Veda, and dealing with ques- tions of religious and ceremonial theory, exe- gesis, and so on. There are several treatises bearing this title. (See VEDA.) BRAHMAPOOTRA, or Bnrrampooter (" offspring of Brahma "), one of the largest rivers of India, rises in Thibet at the E. extremity of the Himalaya mountains, between lat. 28 and 29 N., and Ion. 97 and 98 E. Here the Ta- luka and Taluding unite and form the Lohit, which, after emerging from the mountain pass in a S. W. direction, assumes the name of Brah- mapootra. Near Suddya, in about lat. 27 50' N. and Ion. 95 30' E., it is joined by the Di- hong and Dibong. The former has been traced through the Himalaya chain to lat. 28 15' N. and Ion. 95 10' E., and is thought to be a con- tinuation of the I)zang-bo-tzin or Sanpo, a large river which rises in Thibet N. of that range. After receiving these tributaries, the river flows 75 m. S. W. through Assam, and then diverges into the Boree Lohit and the Dihing. Uniting again after a divided course of 65 m., it flows W. through the district of Goalpara, winds around the W. extremity of the Garrow hills, separates Goalpara and My- munsing from Rungpoor, and, after sending off a branch called the Konaie, which joins it again further down, runs S. E. for 130 m. It then changes its name for that of Megna, re- ceives part of the waters of the Ganges through the Kirtynassa, and after various windings en- ters the bay of Bengal by three channels : the Ganges on the W., the Shabazpoor in the cen- tre, and the Hattia on the E. Its total length, from its source to the bay, is about 900 m. ; but including the Dzang-bo-tzin, it is about 1,600 m. It is navigable from its mouth to the Dihong by the ordinary vessels of the country, and for some distance further by canoes. Through the last 60 m. of its course, it is from 4 to 5 m. wide, and studded with islands. Its waters are muddy; its banks are mostly covered with marshes and jungles, and are subject to annual inundations. During the season of the over- flow, from the middle of June to the middle of September, the level districts of Assam are al- most wholly submerged, so that travel is im- possible, except on causeways 8 or 10 ft. high. The volume of water discharged by the river at such times is immense. Even in the dry sea- son it is equal to 146,188 cubic feet a second, while under the same circumstances the Ganges discharges only about 80,000. BRAHMS, Johannes, a German pianist and com- poser, born in Hamburg, March 7, 1833, where his father was a player on the double bass. He was placed at the age of 12 under the instruc- tion of Edward Marxsen, and when 14 played at concerts the most difficult modern composi- tions as well as classical works of the older masters. He was first brought prominently into public notice by Robert Schumann, who in 1853, in his Neue Zeit&chriftfiir Musik, pre- dicted for Brahms a great career, speaking of the young composer as " one destined to give expression in an ideal manner to the deepest feelings of the age one who will present us with the qualities of a master." Brahms has hardly filled the place that Schumann marked out for him, though his influence upon the mu- sical art, so far as it has extended, has been exerted worthily. He has resided generally in Vienna. His works consist of sonatas, songs, trios, and other compositions for stringed in- struments, choruses, and orchestral works. BRAIDWOOD, Thomas, one of the earliest teachers of the deaf and dumb in Great Brit- ain, died in 1 806. He commenced a school for deaf mutes at Edinburgh in 1760, following the system of Heinecke and others, giving great prominence to articulation and " reading from the lip." His processes were kept a close se- cret in his own family for many years. He taught with considerable success at Edinburgh till 1783, when he removed to Hackney, near London, continuing his school till his death, after which it was carried on by his widow and her grandchildren. The Braidwood fam- ily long had a monopoly in instructing the deaf and dumb in England. A pamphlet, entitled Vox Oculis Subjecta, published in 1783 by an American whose son had been educated there, gives an account of the school at Edinburgh. BRAILA, Ibraila, or Brahilov (Turkish, Ibra- hil), a town of Roumania, in Wallachia, on the