BRABANTIO. 394 BRACEGIRDLE. BRABANTIO, bra-b5n'shi-6. The father of Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello. He is a Venetian noble, vehemently opposed to his daugh- ter's Biarriage with the Moor. BRAB'INE. The pseudonym of Thomas Bainibe, signed to complimentary verses to Greene's Mtnaphon (q.v.). BRACCIO, bra'cho, Fortebrac'ci, Count of Montone (1368-1424). A celebrated condottiere, born in Perugia of an old patrician family. In his early youth he became a leader of mercena- ries, and "later was the champion of the exiled Ferugian nobles. In 1408 he entered the service of Ladislas, King of Naples, who had designs upon Central Italy, and with his conunand crossed the Apennines, scoured the valley of the Tiber, and took several towns. In June of thf same year the people of Perugia offered the dominion of their city to the Neapolitan King, on condition that he should prevent the return of the nobles. He accepted the offer, and Braccio was forced to retire to the marshes. In 1416, however, Braccio secured the possession of his native city, and the banished nobles were restored. In 1417 he took Rome, but was soon obliged to evacuate it. Soon afterwards he made terms with Pope Martin V., and subsequently accepted from Joanna, Queen of Naples, the command of her land forces, and the rank of High Constable of the Kingdom. He en- tered the Abruzzi, surprised Capua, and relieved Naples. In 1421 he became Prince of Capua and Count of Foggia. Braccio aspired to the throne of Naples: in 1424 he overran Campania and Apulia, took Bari, and advanced into Calabria, but was wounded and captured, while besieging Aquila, and died June 2, 1424. His deeds and those of his contemporary. Piccinino, are com- memorated by Lorenzo Spirito, in a poem entitled L'altro Marie (Vicenza, 1489). BRACCIOLINI, bra'ch6-le'nS, Fbancesco (1566-1646). An Italian poet, born in Pi-stoia. He was appointed secretary to Cardinal ]Maffeo Barberini, afterwards Pop'e Urban VIII., and won renown by his Croce racquistata (The Cross Regained. 1605), then ranked by many critics as second only to Tasso's Gerusalemme. He wrote also a famous satire on the heathen divinities of the ancient world, entitled Lo scherno degli Dei (The Scora of the Gods, 1618). His other publications include a poem celebrating the ele- vation of Urban VIII. to the Pontificate (Rome, 1628). and three tragedies. BRACCIOLINI, PoRGio. See Poggio Bkac- cioLiNi, GiovAXNi Francesco. BRACCIO NTJOVO, nwo'vo. An imposing vaulted hall in the Vatican, built in 1821, con- taining about 120 works of ancient sculpture. among them the "Apoxyomenos," the "Augustus," the "Nile Group," and the "Athlete." BRACE ( OF. hrace, Irasse, the two arms, em- brace, from Lat. brachia, plur. of hrachium, arm ) . A beam or bar in a roof or bridge-truss placed in an inclined position, and serving to hold together the principal members; generally any timber used to stiffen a framed structure. Tlie contrivance or tool for holding a bit, and used by carpenters for boring, is also called a brace. (See Bridges; Roofs; Boring-Maciiin- EBT.) Braces on shipboard are ropes attached to the yard-arms, and employed to shift the sails in a horizontal direction round the masts, so as to receive advantageously the wind that may be blowing at any particular moment. To brace in is to bring the forward yard-arm farther aft — that is, to lay the yard more nearly square; to brace up is the reverse of this; to brace about is to swing the yard from being sharp up (i.e. as far forward as possible) on one tack to sharp up on the other. In construction of all kinds the term 'brace' signifies a form of i)rop which sup- ports by resistance to compression as opposed to a strut, tie, or hanger, which supports by re- sistance to tension. BRACE, Chari.es Loring (1826-90). An American philanthropic author. He was born at Litchfield, Conn., June 19, 1826, graduated at Yale, studied in the Yale and in the Union Theological Seminaries, but never had charge of any church. In 1850 he made a pedestrian tour in Great Britain, and the next year went to Hun- gary. Afterwards he studied the school systems of Switzerland, England, and other countries. On his return in 1852 he became associated in the early operations of the 'New Y'ork Children's Aid Society,' and as secretary of that society did a great work among newsboys and in ridding New Y'ork City of unruly children. He became widely known as a philanthropist. He died at Campfer, in the Engadine, Switzerland, August 11, 1890. He visited Europe often, and the result of his observations is found in Hungary in 1851 (New York, 1852); Home Life in Germany (1853); Xorse Folks (1857); Races of the Old World (1863), etc. He also published The New West (1868); Short Sermons to Newsboys (1861); Dangerous Classes of New York (1872); Gesta Christi (1883) ; and The Unknown God (1889). Consult his life, ed. by his daughter ( New York, 1894). BRACE, De Witt Bbistol (1859 — ). An American physicist, born in Wilson, N. Y. He graduated at" the Boston University in 1881, re- ceived the degree of M.A. there a year after- Avards, studied at Johns Hopkins University from 1881 to 1883, and received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1885. He was appointed acting assistant professor at the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1886, and became pro- fessor of physics at the University of Nebraska in 1887. He has made a special study of radia- tion and optics, and has published Laws of Ra- diation and Ahsorj>tion (1901). BRACE'BRIDGE HALL, or The Humor- ists. The title of a volume of essays by Wash- ingtcm Irving (1822). Bracebridge Hall was taken as a type of the English country-seat, and the stories bring us a breath of its genial air. It appeared under the name of 'Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.' BRACE'GIR'DLE, Anne ( ?1663-1748). An English actress. She was said to have been In-ought up by Mr. and Mrs. Bettorton, and to have" apiieared as a child in The Orphan, at Dorset Garden, but her early history is not well known. She took the part of Lucia in Shad- well's Squire of Alsatia at the Theatre Royal in 1688, and from that time is frequently on record. In 1693 she played Araminta in Congreve's Old Bachelor. In 1695 she joined Bctterton, Mrs. Barry, and the other seceders to Lincoln's Inn Fields, and played Angelica in Love for Love. She was Belinda in Vanbrugh's Provoked Wife, and the same year (1697) Almeria in Congreve's
