Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/322

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316 BROOKE paste with vinegar, and laying this on the bright- ened metal, which is then held over a fire, and afterward cooled, washed, and dried ; the opera- tion being repeated till the desired color ap- pears. The cinnabar produces a thin coat of sulphuret of copper on the surface of the metal. New bronze articles may be made to assume an antique appearance by the repeated applica- tion of a solution of 4 parts of sal ammoniac, 1 of binoxalate of potash, and 50 of vinegar ; the application should be made with a soft rag, and the article rubbed with it till dry. The best bronzing liquid to apply to copper, brass, new bronze, or iron is a solution of chloride of platinum ; almost any bronze tint may be pro- duced with it, according to the number of ap- plications or the strength of the solution. Mr. Hiram Tucker of New York has invented a process for bronzing cast iron, which consists in covering the cleaned or polished surface of the iron with a vegetable oil, and subjecting the article to a degree of heat which will de- compose the oil without charring it. By this means the surface of the iron becomes oxidized in such a manner as to cause it to have a close resemblance to real bronze. It is said to pos- sess considerable durability, and as cast iron has the quality of filling the mould completely and making a fine casting, the invention will probably prove of much value in the arts. Bronzing and browning gun barrels, and other articles of iron, is effected by first thoroughly rusting the surface by an application of chlo- ride of antimony, mixed with olive oil, and rubbed upon the iron slightly heated. The operation is hastened by subsequent rubbing with dilute nitric acid. This, or dilute muriatic acid, is sometimes used instead of the chloride of antimony. The barrel is then well cleaned, washed with water, dried, and finally polished with a steel burnisher, or rubbed with wax, or varnished with a very weak solution of shellac and alcohol. BROOKE, a N. county of "West Virginia, form- ing part of the narrow strip between Penn- sylvania and Ohio, called the Panhandle ; area, 75 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 5,464, of whom 97 were colored. It is watered by small creeks that fall into the Ohio. The soil is fertile and the surface hilly. The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis railroad passes through the county. The chief productions in 1870 were 45,884 bushels of wheat, 185,576 of Indian corn, 81,135 of oats, 14,112 of barley, 45,850 of potatoes, 7,570 tons of hay, 110,307 Ibs. of butter, and 185,105 of wool. There were 1,230 horses, 1,060 milch cows, 1,509 other cattle, 46,581 sheep, and 2,920 swine. Capital Wellsburg. BROOKE, Frances, an English authoress, wife of the Rev. John Brooke, died in 1789. She wrote sonnets, translations, novels, and trage- dies. Her best work, the "History of Emily Montagu" (1769), contains fine descriptions of the scenery of Canada, where she resided for some time. Of her dramas," Rosina," acted at Covent Garden in 1782, was the most successful. BROOKE. I. Francis .?., an American magis- trate, born in Virginia, Aug. 27, 1763, died March 3, 1851. He was an officer of the rev- olution, and an intimate friend of Washington. At 16 he was appointed lieutenant in Gen. Har- rison's regiment of artillery, and served his first campaign under Lafayette. He afterward join- ed the army of Gen. Greene, and was at Charles- ton at the end of the war. He was admitted to the bar in 1788, was repeatedly elected to the legislature of Virginia, and was a judge from 1804 to the end of his life. II. Francis J., son of the preceding, died Dec. 25, 1837. He joined the army in 1822, and fell in the battle of Okeechobee, Fla., in which he took a distinguished part. III. George Jlcrcer, brother of the judge, died at San Antonio, Texas, March 9, 1851. Having entered the military service in 1808, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, Aug. 15, 1814, for his brave conduct in the defence of Fort Erie, in which he was wounded. He fought with dis- tinction in the war with Mexico, and in 1848 was made major general. BROOKE, Henry, an Irish novelist and drama- tist, born at Rantavan in 1706, died in Dublin, Oct. 10, 1783. A poem, " Universal Beauty," introduced him to Swift and others, including the prince of Wales (father of George III.), to support whom in his antagonist position to his father Mr. Brooke is said to have written, in 1738, the tragedy of " Gnstavus Vasa." The licenser of plays, believing that it was di- rected against Sir Robert Walpole, forbade its performance after ^it had been rehearsed at Drury Lane theatre ; but the play was publish- ed, and brought the author 1,000. In 1745, when the rebellion broke out in Scotland, he wrote the " Farmer's Letters," which were believed to have greatly influenced the Irish against taking up arms for the Stuarts. An opera, called "Jack the Giant Queller," which was to have been produced soon after the close of the rebellion, was prohibited by the Irish government, who feared that it might be taken as a reflection on the duke of Cumberland, but he obtained 800 by its publication ; at the same time he was appointed barrackmaster of Mullingar by Lord Chesterfield, the viceroy. In 1752 his tragedy, " The Earl of Essex," was successfully played in Dublin, and in 1762 at Drury Lane theatre. His novel entitled " The Fool of Quality " has had considerable celeb- rity. He also translated a part of Tasso's Gerualemme liberata. BROOKE, Sir James, rajah of Sarawak, born in Bengal, April 29, 1803, died in Devonshire, England, June 11, 1868. His father, having taken up his residence at Bath, England, pro- cured for him a cadetship in the East India service. He received a severe gunshot wound in the chest at the storming of a stockade in the Burmese war, and was forced to return to England. He travelled on the continent, and found on his return to India in 1830 that he had exceeded his leave of absence and for-