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21-i BRASSEUIl EE BOURBOURG BKAUX mixture of zinc oxide and charcoal, and heated, it will become brass without obliteration of the device. Brass is much used for the bearings of machinery, for making the reeds of wind musical instruments, for those parts of ma- chinery where iron would be objectionable or where ornamentation is desired, for various kinds of tubing, for tacks, bolts, and screws, and for optical and other instruments of like construction. Brass solder is usually composed of two parts of brass to one of zinc, but the proportions may be made according to the desired degree of fusibility, which property is almost in exact proportion to that of the zinc used. (See BRAZING.) BKASSKl'R DE BOURBOIRG, Charles KtirmiF. abbe, a French traveller and archaeologist, born at Bourbourg, near Dunkirk, Sept. 8, 1814. He studied theology at the university of Ghent, was ordained at Rome in 1845, became pro- fessor of ecclesiastical history at the Roman Catholic seminary of Quebec, and in 1846 was appointed vicar general at Boston. With the exception of intervals employed in visiting Rome and Paris, he was from 1848 to 1863 almost uninterruptedly engaged in exploring the United States, Mexico, and Central Amer- ica, acting sometimes as chaplain of the French embassy in Mexico and as teacher of Indians in Guatemala. In 1864 he went to Mexico as archaeologist of the French scientific expedi- tion. His principal works are: Histoire du Canada, de son eglise, &c. (2 vols., 1852) ; Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique et de VAmerique Centrale avant Christophe Coloinb (4 vols., 1857-'9) ; and Collection de documents dans les langues indigenes pour sermr d Vetude de Vhistoire et de la philologie de VAmerique ancienne (3 vols., 1861-'4). The third volume, relating to Yucatan, was republished in 1864 under the title of S'il existe des sources de Vhistoire primitive du Mexique dans les monu- ments egyptiens, et de Vhistoire primitive de Vancienmonde dans les monuments americains. His illustrated work, Monuments anciens du Mexique, &c., was published in 1864-'6 under the auspices of the French government. A second edition of his youthful novel, La derniere vestale, was published in 1853, and of Le itha- life du Bagdad in 1859. The Bulletin of the French geographical society (March, 1864) con- tains his letter from Spain (November, 1863) to M. de Quatrefages announcing his discovery in the archives of Madrid, after many years of research, of the alphabets of the inscriptions on the Central American monuments. These alphabets are phonetic, and by aid of the Co- dex Mexicanus and the library of Dresden he claims to have deciphered several words. He has recently published a catalogue of a part of his collection of early grammars and vocab- ularies of Aztec languages. BRASSET, Thomas, an English railway con- tractor, born at Boughton, Cheshire, in 1805, died Dec. 8, 1870. His first railway enter- prise was the construction of a Welsh road. In 1836 he made a contract for a small portion of the line between Birmingham and Liver- pool, a part of the London and Northwestern railway, and was subsequently widely engaged in similar enterprises both in England and abroad. In several of these he was associated with Sir Morton Peto and others. His sons, T. Brassey and J. H. A. Brassey, represent Hastings and Sandwich in the house of com- mons (1873). He is said to have left to his fam- ily about 6,000,000, besides extensive landed property. His biography by Arthur Helps was published in 1872. BRATTLE, Thomas, an American merchant, born in Boston, Sept. 5, 1657, died there. May 18, 1713. He graduated at Harvard college in 1676, and was afterward treasurer of that in- stitution. There is preserved in the " His- torical Collections" a letter by him, contain- ing an excellent account of the witchcraft de- lusion in 1692. Several of his communications on astronomical subjects were published in the " Philosophical Transactions." BRATTLEBORO, a post town of Windharn co., Vt., on the W. bank of the Connecticut river, about 100 m. S. of Montpelier and 96 m. W. of Boston; pop. in 1870, 4,933. The first set- tlement of the state was made here in 1724, when a military post called Fort Dummer was erected on a spot now known as "Dum- mer's meadows." The town contains an East and West village. The West village, on Whet- stone creek, is devoted principally to agri- culture. The East village is situated on the Connecticut river at the mouth of Whetstone creek, and on the Connecticut River railroad. A covered bridge across the Connecticut river connects it with Hinsdale, in New Hampshire. It is one of the wealthiest villages in the state. In 1836 an asylum for the insane, endowed with $10,000 by Mrs. Anna Marsh, and still further enriched with appropriations by the state, was opened at a short distance N. W. of | the village. The Brattleboro typographic com- | pany, established in 1836, with a capital of j $150,000, had a paper mill and an extensive j printing house, but ceased operations about I 1842. There are three hotels, a female semi- I nary, several churches, and two water-cure es- ! tablishments. Two weekly papers and two 1 monthly periodicals are published in the town. BRAUN, Ansnst Eniil, a German archaeologist, I born at Gotha, April 19, 1809, died in Rome, Sept. 12, 1856. For more than 23 years ho was secretary of the archaeological institute at Rome. His last productions were : Die Griechische Qotterlehre (Gotha, 1850-'54) ; Lie Vorschule der Kunst-Mythologie (Gotha, 1854, with 100 plates; English translation by Grant, Gotha, 1856); and his guide book en- titled Die 'Rtiincn tind Museen Boms (Bruns- wick, 1854; translated into English in 1855). BRAIJN, Johaim Wilhelni Joseph, a German the- ologian, born near Duren, Prussia, April 27, 1801, died in Bonn, Sept. 30, 1863. He was ordained at Vienna in 1825, completed his