BBICK. 479 bridge:. lau, etc. The great gate-towers are imposing; the churches and houses are characterized by gables — often stepped — of enormous size and a single pitch. There is less variety and richness of detail than in Italy, less combination with marble and terracottji. For mention of individ- ual buildings, see the historical article on Akchi- TECTURE. We have so inherited from the Middle Ages the use of stone for architecture with any pretension to style, that it is only recently that our archi- tects have begun to realize the possibilities of brickwork and to stvidy the great works in north- ern Italy. BBICK, .Ieffersox. A caricature of an Amer- ican type, in Dickens's Martin C'hu^zlewit. He is among Martin's chance acquaintances during that gentleman's short trip to the New World. He is a mild-mannered youth, but possessed of singularly strenuous political views, and is intro- duced as war correspondent for the New York Uoirdi/ Jouru'il. BBICK-CLAY. A term applied to almost any kind of plastic clay of low grade. Such a clay shows a high percentage of fusible impuri- ties and burns to a red or buff color. Brick- elays are very widely distributed, underlying large areas in many parts of the United States and other countries. See Brick, and Clay. BBICKXATlNG and BRICKWOEK. See Masonry ;ind Blilding. BBICKS -WTTHOTIT STEA-W. A novel by Albion W. Tonrirte (ISSO). BEIDAL OF TEIEEMAIN', The. The title of a ]iucin by Sir Waiter Scutt (q.v.). BRIDE, BEIDAL, bri'dal (AS. hryd, be- trotlied, olli;. hiill, Iccl. brudhr, bride, Goth. hrulhs, daughter-in-law: cf. Gk. viiut>ri, nymphe, daughter-in-law, bride — probably from ferff, to cook, brew, make broth, in allusion to her duties in the primitive family). The word bride is com- mon to all the Germanic languages, and also to Welsh (Ger. Braut, Welsh priod), and signi- fies betrothed or newly married. Alone, the word denotes the newly married woman : with the addition of the syllable grooni (a corruption of guma, Lat. /lonio, a man), it denotes the newly married man (AS. brydguma, Ger. Brautigam) . Bride is the base of a variety of terms connected with marriage, as 'bride-favors.' 'bride-cake,' etc. Bridal is lor bride-ale (.S. brydeal, the mar- riage feast). Bridesmaids, or attendants of brides, appear to have been customarj* among the Anglo-Saxons, and are mentioned in early ac- • counts of marriage ceremonies. A part of their duty consisted in dressing and undressing the bride. Bride-Favor.s are small knots of white rib- bons, which are pinned to the breasts of those who are in attendance at weddings. The origin of the bride-favor is said to lie the true lover's knot — something symbolical of the union of hearts and hands on the occasion. Bride-C'akk is also symbolical in its origin. The ceremony used at the solemnization of mar- riage among the Romans was called confarreatio, in token of a lasting union between the man and wife, with a cake of wheat or barley {far). This is still suggested in that which is called thebride- cake u.scd at weddings. 'The old English and old Scottish custom of breaking a cake over the head of a bride on entering the new dwelling per- haps points to a usage of the most remote antiq- uity — the sprinkling of wheat as a token of plenty. BEIDE OF ABY'DOS, TuE. A narrative jiocm by Byron, described as a 'Turkish Tale' (1813). Its rough draft was written in four nights in the middle of November, and 200 lines were later added. It was adapted for the stage by Dimond five or six years later. BBIDE OF LAM'MEEMOOR', The. A novel by Sir Walter Scott. lurtlicr described as 'a legend of Montrose.' It is one of the Tatts of My Landlord series, and was published in 1819. Calcraft's (Cole's) Bride of Lammermoor and Merivale's Ravenswood, both dramas, were taken from it, as was the libretto of Donizetti's opera, Lucia di Lammermoor. See AsHTON, LccY. Con- sult London Monthly Review, Vol. LXXXIX., p. 387. BBIDE OF MESSirMA, The {Die Braut vcm Messina) . A tragedy by Schiller, foimded on the CEdipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, produced at Wei- mar, March 19, 1803. It is technically one of Schiller's most finished works. BBIDE OF THE RHINE. A name some- times given to the river Moselle. BBIDE OF THE SEA. A name of Venice, referring to the traditional rite of marrying the city to the Adriatic Sea in mediaeval times. BEIDE'WELL. A well between Fleet Street and the Thames, dedicated to Saint Bride, which has given its name to a palace, parish, and house of correction. A palace, described as "a stately and beautiful house,' was built there in 1522 by lienrj' VIII., for the reception and acconmioda- tion of the Emperor Charles V. and his retinue. King Henry himself also often lodged there, as, for instance, in 1525, when a Parliament was held in Blaekfriars; and in 1529. while the ques- tion of his marriage to Catharine was argued. In 1553 Edward VI. gave it over to the city of London, to be used as a workhouse for the poor, and a house of correction "for the strumpet and idle person, for the rioter that consumeth all. and for the vagabond that will abide in no place." <,)ueen JIary having confirmed the gift, it was for- mally taken possession of in 1555 by the Lord Mayor and corporation. The Bridewell was after- wards used for other jwrsons than the class above named, and at last became a place of ptm- isliiiicnt. till its removal in 1864. BBIDGE (AS. brycg, bricg, OHG. hrucca, Ger. Briicl.e, Icel. Bryggja, pier, hrii, bridge, probably so called from the arch resembling a brow, cf. O. Ch. Slav. brUvi, brow, bridge). . structure erected to carry a road across a stream, a valley, or other space which it spans from side to side. Bridge-building is so ancient an art that it is of little profit to speculate upon its origin. Every bridge structure consists of two parts, technically known as the substructure and the superstructure. The substructure includes the piers and abutments, with their foundations, on which the spanning structure is supported; the superstructure includes the entire spanning structure. Bridge substructure will be treated under Foundations ; and the present article will be confined to a consideration of bridge super- structures from the historical and modem points of view. As regards their superstructure, mod-
