BRASS, SAMPSON, a knavish attorney in “Old Curiosity Shop”; affected feeling for his clients, whom he fleeced.

BRASSES, sepulchral tablets of a mixed metal, called latten, inlaid in a slab of stone, and insculpt with figures and inscriptions of a monumental character; the oldest in England is at Stoke d’Abernon, in Surrey.

BRASSEY, THOMAS, a great railway contractor, born in Cheshire; contracted for the construction of railways in all parts of the world (1805-1870).

BRAUN, AUGUSTE EMIL, German archaeologist, born at Gotha; works numerous, and of value (1809-1856).

BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE, Marshal Ney, so called from his fearlessness in battle; Napoleon had on one occasion said, “That man is a lion.”

BRAXY, an inflammatory disease in sheep, due to a change in food from succulent to dry; and the name given to the mutton of sheep affected with it.

BRAY, a Berkshire village, famous for Simon Aleyn, its vicar from 1540 to 1588, who, to retain his living, never scrupled to change his principles; he lived in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., Queen Anne, and George I.

BRAZEN AGE, in the Greek mythology the age of violence, that succeeded the weak Silver Age.  See AGES.

BRAZIL (14,000), the largest South American State, almost equal to Europe, occupies the eastern angle of the continent, and comprises the Amazon basin, the tablelands of Matto Grosso, the upper basin of the Paraguay, and the maritime highlands, with the valleys of the Parana and San Francisco.  Great stretches of the interior are uninhabitable swamp and forest lands; forests tenanted by an endless variety of brilliant-plumed birds and insects; the coasts are often humid and unhealthy, but the upper levels have a fine climate.  Almost all the country is within the tropics.  The population at the seaports is mostly white; inland it is negro, mulatto, and Indian.  Vegetable products are indescribably rich and varied; timber of all kinds, rubber, cotton, and fruit are exported; coffee and sugar are the chief crops.  The vast mineral wealth includes diamonds, gold, mercury, and copper.  Most of the trade is with Britain and America.  The language is Portuguese; the religion, Roman Catholic; education is very backward, and government unsettled.  Discovered in 1500, and annexed by Portugal; the Portuguese king, expelled by the French in 1808, fled to his colony, which was made a kingdom 1815, and an empire in 1822.  The emperor, Pedro II., was driven out in 1889, and a republic established on the federal system, which has been harassed ever since by desultory civil war.  The capital is Rio Janeiro; Bahia and Pernambuco, the other seaports.

BRAZIL-WOOD, a wood found in Brazil, of great value for dyeing red, the colouring principle being named Brasilin.

BRAZZA (22), an island in the Adriatic, belonging to Austria; is richly wooded; noted for its wines; yields marble.