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a picture of her own sad school-life. She had two sisters, also with decided literary talent, and their death still further darkened her life. Her other chief novels are Shirley, Villette and The Professor. Jane Eyre has been translated into most European languages, and dramatized in England and Germany, under the title of The Orphan of Lowood. She died in 1855, having in the previous year married the Reverend Arthur Nicholls, her father's curate. See Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte.
Bronze (bronz), an alloy of copper and tin. It is harder than copper but less malleable. It was long used by the ancients for weapons and utensils, and is now widely used for statues, machinery and cannon. It is also used for parts of telescopes. In making bronze, the metals are melted separately, and then poured together, stirred and turned into molds. The many varieties of bronze have different proportions of the metals, and lead, zinc and silver are sometimes added. Bell metal has seventy-eight parts of copper and twenty-two of tin. Cannon metal has much more copper. The temperature ot the alloy when poured and the rapidity of cooling also have an effect on the quality of the bronze. Copper and aluminum also produce an alloy called bronze.
Bronze, Age of, a term used to denote the stage of culture of a people using bronze for weapons, cutting tools, etc. Before it monies the Age of Stone, and after it the Age of Iron. This order of development is not true of all nations, nor did these different stages exist at the same period in all nations. Thus, in the time of Homer, the Greeks were passing from the use of bronze to that of iron; while the Mexicans were still in the bronze age in very recent times. Among the tools and weapons of the bronze age are knives, saws, sickles, awls, hammers, anvils, axes, swords, spears, arrows, daggers and shields. The forms of these articles were constantly changing from one age to another, and also during the progress of a single age. The composition of the bronze used was about ninety parts of copper and ten of tin.
Brook'line, Mass., an old historic town, now an elegant residential suburb of Boston, in Norfolk County, connected with Boston by steam and street cars (a three-mile ride). It lies on the Charles River, and has many fine villas and country seats; it is also reached by the Boston and Albany R. R. Annexation has frequently been proposed to it by Boston, but it coyly refuses the temptation to join the city. It has some manufacturing interests, chiefly of electrical supplies, screens, etc.; it also has a riding academy and a public library. Population (1910) 27,792.
Brooklyn, N.Y. (See NEW YORK CITY.)
Brooks, Phillips, late Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts, was born at Boston in
1835, and graduated at Harvard College and at the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Va. He was rector for some years of churches i n Philadelphia, and In 1869 was made rector of Trinity Church in Boston. In 1891 he was elected bishop of Massachusetts. He was one of the finest pulpit-orators of any denomination —a man of high ideals, spiritual thought and commanding influence. See his Life and Letters, by Prof. Alex. V. G. Allen. Bishop Brooks died at Boston Jan. 23, 1893.
Broom (Cytisus scopatius), an evergreen shrub found growing on heaths and on dry soils, bearing twig-like branches and large yellow flowers. The tough twigs are made use of for thatching purposes] and in the making of besoms or brooms for household sweeping. The Cytisus albus or white broom is a native of Europe and much cultivated in England as an ornamental shrub. It attains frequently a height of from 12 to 15 feet, and its white flowers are much admired. A Spanish variety is used for its medical properties, its tops and seeds, which are strongly diuretic, being beneficial in cases of dropsy. The broom, the planta genista, as it is known, gave its name to the Plantagenet royal family, an ancestor of which used the broom for his crest.
Broom=Corn (Sorghum vulgare), a native of the East Indies, largely cultivated in the United States. It grows to the height of eight or ten feet, has a jointed stem, the panicle of which is extensively used in the manufacture of whisks and brooms. It is sometimes utilized for forage, but is not of much value as such. It is propagated considerably in Kansas and Nebraska as well as in the east, and chiefly in the Mohawk Valley of |New York state An acre will produce from 500 to 600 pounds of the material for making brooms.
Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, founded in 1888 by the Rev. Dr. Rufus W. Miller, of Philadelphia, present President of the General Council. The organization, which held its first federal convention in New York city in 1893, is composed of members of 23 Evangelical denominations, in this country, besides chapters in Australia and Japan. Its objects are indicated in the statement that "any man can be-
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