Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/222

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
190
RIGHT

BROGUE 190 BBOMINE of the French commanders in the Seven Years' War. Made a Marshal in 1797, he entered the Russian service after the Revolution, and died in 1804. (3) AcHiLLE Charles Leonce Victor, grandson of the last, and son of Prince Claude Victor (born in 1757, guillotined in 1794) , born in 1785, was distinguished as a Liberal politician and an earnest advocate for the abolition of slavery. He was Foreign Secretary (1832-1834) and Prime Minister (1835-1836) under Louis Philippe; after 1851 he lived in retirement, and died in Paris, Jan. 25, 1870. He was a member of the Acad- emy, and published "Ecrits et Discours" (3 vols., 1863), while the fourth and last volume of his "Souvenirs" appeared in 1887. BROGUE, a brogan; a stout, heavy leather shoe, resembling in form the French sabot. Applied generally to the pedal coverings of the Scottish High- landers and the Irish peasantry. It is also applied to a corrupt dialect, or mode of pronunciation; as, spoken with the Irish brogue. BROKER, an agent employed to make bargains and contracts between other persons, in matters of commerce, for a compensation commonly called broker- age. The broker is strictly a middle- man, or intermediate negotiator between the parties, finding buyers or sellers as required. He does not act in his own name, nor has he generally the custody of the goods in which he deals, thus differing from a factor, and he cannot sell publicly like an auctioneer. Besides ordinary commercial brokers, there are several other sorts, such as stock- brokers, share-brokers, ship-brokers, in- surance-brokers, bill-brokers, etc. BROMBERG, a town in the Polish province of Posen, on the Brahe, 6 miles from its influx to the Vistula, and 99 miles S. S. W. of Danzig by rail. Be- fore the World War it had iron foun- dries, machine shops, and manufactures of cloth and paper, distilleries, breweries and corn mills. There was a consider- able provincial trade both by shipping and railway. The Bromberg canal, 17 miles long, by uniting the rivers Netz and Brahe, connects the Oder and Elbe vidth the Vistula. Pop. about 58,000. BROME GRASS, the English book name for the genus Bromus (q. v.). BROMELIA (named after Bromelius, who published a Gothic flora), a genus of plants, the typical one of the order bromeiiacese. BROMELIACE.ffi, bromelworts, an order of endogenous plants, placed by Dr. Lindley under his narcessal alliance. The calyx is sometimes herbaceous look- ing, but sometimes colored. Petals, three, colored; stamina, six or more; ovary, three celled, many-seeded, as is the fruit, which is capsular or succulent. The stem is wanting or, if present, very short. Lindley estimated the known spe- cies at 170, all American. They have been introduced into Africa, the East Indies, and elsewhere. The well known pineapple is the bromelia ananas. Ropes are made in Brazil from another species of the same genus. All the species of bromeliaceae can exist without contact with the earth. BROMIDE, a combination of bromine with a metal or a radical. Bromides are soluble in water, except silver and mer- curous bromides; lead bromide is very slightly soluble. They are detected in analysis by the following reactions: Argentic nitrate gives a yellowish pre- cipitate of AgBr, insoluble in dilute nitric acid, and soluble in strong ammo- nia. Chlorine liberates bromine, and. if the liquid is shaken up with ether, a yellow ethereal solution floats on the liquid. Heated with sulphuric acid and MnOz, bromides yield vapors of Br, which turns starch yellow. BROMINE, a non-metallie element. Symbol Br; atomic weight, 79.4. Bro- mine was discovered in 1826 by Balard, in the salts obtained by the evaporation of sea water. Bromine is liberated from the sodium and magnesium salts by the action of free chlorine, and is separated by ether, which dissolves the bromine. This red-colored solution is removed, saturated with potash, evaporated, and heated to redness, and the bromide of potassium is heated with manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid. The bro- mine is liberated in the form of a deep red vapor, which condenses into a dark, reddish black liquid. Specific gravity, 2.97, it boils at 63°; its vapor density is 5.54 times that of air. It has an irritat- ing smell, and when inhaled is poison- ous. It dissolves in 30 parts of water, and the solution has weak bleaching properties. Bromine and hydrogen do not unite in the sunlight, but do when they are passed through a red hot porce- lain tube, forming hydrobromic acid (HBr), which is also obtained by the action of phosphorus and water on bro- mine. It is a colorless, fuming gas, which liquefies at 73°, very soluble in water. The concentrated solution con- tains 47.8 per cent, of HBr, it boils at