BBITTLE. 524 BRIXEN. rflle was plaved by Charles :Macklin, in the win- ter of 1750. at Covent Garden. BBITTLE Mrs. The unfaithful wife of Barnabv and the title character in Betterton's Amorous Widow. The part was a favorite with Mrs Brace^irdle, who in 1 700-0 1, at the liay- inarket. chose it to show her histrionic powers, as contrasted with those of ills. Oldfield. I'or the cause and result of the latter roinarkable con- test, consult: Life of Mrs. Oldfield, anonymous (London, 1730) ; Genest, Account of the English Stage. Vol. II. (Bath, 1832). BRITTLE STARS (so called from being brittle or fragile). A class of starlish-like echinoderins, technically known as Ophiuroideu, excluding the basket-fish. The brittle stars are a widely distributed group of animals, like all the echinodernis. exclusively marine ; found m all seas but most abundant in the tropics, and espe- cially in the West Indian region. They are common at all depths, but are especially abun- dant in comparatively shallow water. None of them reach a very large size, few having the body or disk more than an inch in diameter, and 1 he 'arms or ravs are rarely ten inches in length. In color there" is "the most extraordinary vari- ety. While some are black, browii. dull olive, or even pure white, others are of the most gor- geous shades of green, blue, red, and yellow, or exhibit the most beautiful combinations of hues. In some the disk is smooth and the arms terete, with very short, flat, and appressed arm-spines; in others, the whole disk is covered with spines, sometimes short and opaque, but often long, slender, and glassy, and the flattened arms bear very long and beautifully transparent arm- spines. In fact, the variety in the shape and covering of the disk and arms is quite as great as is that in color. The arms, though flexible from side to side, are very slightly flexible up and down, and are therefore very easily broken. It is from this circumstance that the name brittle star has arisen. They are usually rather slow-moving animals, with little power of escap- ing from their enemies, and with no means of de- fense save such as the spines afford. Accord- ingly they live under rocks or buried in mud or" sand, where there is little danger of their bein" seen. A few species, however, show con- siderable agilitv in escaping from an eiioiny, and run about rapidly from rock to rock as they are pursued. They are practically all vegetable feeders or scavengers, though possibly some are carnivorous. About (iOO species of- brittle stars are known, of which only a few are found along the shores of the United States. About half a dozen forms occur in shallow water along shore, north of Cape Hatteras, but south of that point they become vei-y abundant. The Tacific Coast forms are at present very slightly known. BRIT'TON. The putative author of the ear- liest summary of the laws of England in the French language, all earlier treatises having been written in Latin. (See Bracton.) It was prepared in the last decade of the Thirteenth Century (probably 1292-94), and purports to have been written by the command of Edward I., and speaks in his name. The author of the treatise is unknown, but he was probably a clerk or lawyer attached to the King's Court, who sheltered himself behind the greater Writer, whom we know as Bracton, but whose name was variously spelled Bratton, Bretton, or Britton, and whose work was largely drawn upon by tli& anonjniious author of the present compilation. The latter is not a mere transcript of the great- er work, however, but an original treatise of considerable value. An incomplete translation by Robert Kelham was published about the middle of the Eighteenth Century, and in 18U.5 appeared Francis M. Nichols's admirable edition^ with an excellent translation, commentary, and learned introduction, published in Lond(m. Nich- ols's translation has been republished in the United States (Washington, 1902). with an in- troduction by Judge Simeon E. Baldwin. BRITTON, CoLOXEi. One of the principal characters in Mrs. Centlivre's comedy Tht 11'ort- der a ^yoman Keeps a Secret, whose clandestine affair with Isabella is the test of Violante's dis- cretion, thereby suggesting the title of the piece. BRITTON, He.nry de. See Bracton. BRITTON, John (1771-1857). An English antiquarian. He was born in Wiltshire, and received but a scanty education. In collabora- tion with E. W. Brayley he compiled a work on The Beauties of ^Yiitshire (Vols. I., II.. 1801; Vol. III., 1825), and another on The Beauties of Bedfordshire. The most valuable of his nu- merous publications are The Architectural An- tiquities of England (5 vols., 1805-26), and an elaborate work, in 14 volumes, on The Cathedral Aniiijuities of England (1814-32). BRIVES-LA-GAILLARDE, brev'la-ga'yard' (Fr., joyful Brive; anciently Lat. Briru Cur- ret ia, town on the Corr6ze, from Celt, braighy brig, heap, pile, elevation). A manufacturing vown in the Department of Corrfeze, France, ou a river of that name, situated about 18 miles- southwest of Tulle (Map: France, II 6). It is. a beautiful city, with many interesting old houses and several churches (one of whiclv Saint Martin, dates from the Eleventh Centuiy), a college, and a library. Its industries are mus- lin-weaving, manufacture of copper and tinware, wax candles, and truffle piltus. while it has a. brisk trade in wool, wine; timber, nuts, and oil. Population, in 1896, 12.800. The Romano-Gal- lic name of the place was Briva Curretia. It is- the birthplace of Cardinal Dubois. BRIX'EN (It. Bressano; anciently Lat. Brta;- entes, Gk. -Bpifdn-ai, Brixantai, probably 'moun- taineers,' from Celt, brig, elevation, bill). A town of the Austrian Crownland of Tyrol, situ- ated about 1700 feet above the sea-level, and about 60 miles east-southeast of Innsbruck (Map: Austria, B 3). It is an episcopal see. and has a handsome episcopal palace, a fine cathedral, dat- ing from the Fifteenth Century and containing the tomb of the ^Minnesinger Oswald von Wolken- stein, and sevei-al monasteries. The chief indus- try is the production of wine and the raising of fruit and grain. On account of its mild and healthful climate, it is a favorite spring and autumn resort. About nine miles north-north- west of the town, at the entrance of the defile called the Brixener Klause, is the fortress of I'ranzenfeste, which commands the Brenner Pass and the entrance to the Pusterthal. Population, in 1890, about 5000; in 1900, 5800. Brixen is mentioned in 901. Since 992 Brixen has been the
