Breeding
the art of improving races or breeds of domestic animals, or modifying them in certain directions, by continuous attention to their pairing, in conjunction with a similar attention to their feeding and general treatment. The sum of desirable qualities in particular races has been increased in two ways. Individual specimens are produced possessing more good qualities than can be found in any one specimen of the original stock; and from the same stock many varieties are taken characterized by different perfections. When, however, an effort is made to develop rapidly, or to its extreme limit, any particular quality, it is always made at the expense of some other quality, or of other qualities generally, by which the intrinsic value of the result is necessarily affected. High speed in horses, for example, is only attained at the expense of a sacrifice of strength and power of endurance. So the celebrated merino sheep are the result of a system of breeding which reduces the general general size and vigor of the animal, and diminishes the value of the carcass. Much care and judgment, therefore, are needed in breeding, not only in order to produce a particular effect, but also to produce it with the least sacrifice of other qualities.
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Breguet Spring
See Hair Spring.
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Brehon Laws
designation of the ancient laws of the Irish, from an Irish word signifying judges. It is supposed that some of the written collections of these laws, which still exist, are of great antiquity; as old, perhaps, as the earlier ages of the Christian era. Prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion, Ireland was governed by these laws.
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Breisach
ALT, T, a town of Baden, on an isolated basalt hill (804 feet) on the right side of the Rhine, 14 miles W. of Freiburg. The Mons Brisiacus of Cæsar, it was taken by Ariovistus when he invaded Gaul; being regarded as the key to western Germany, it figured prominently in the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. The minster is a 13th century structure. Neu Breisach, on the other side of the Rhine, in Alsace, was built by Louis XIV., in 1697, when Alt Breisach was given back to the Empire.
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Breisgau
one of the most fertile and picturesque districts of Germany, in the S. of Baden, in the Rhine valley, containing part of the Black Forest. Chief town, Freiburg.
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Breitenfeld
a village of Saxony, 5 miles N. of Leipsic, remarkable for three battles fought in its neighborhood. In the first, fought on Sept. 17 (old style, 7th), 1631, Gustavus Adolphus inflicted a decisive defeat upon the imperialists under Tilly, who, as well as his generals, Pappenheim and Fürstenberg, was wounded. wounded. The second battle was also a victory of the Swedes under Torstenson over the imperial forces under the Archduke Leopold and Piccolomini, Nov. 2 (old style, Oct. 23), 1642. The third battle was one act of the great "Battle of the Nations" at Leipsic, Oct. 16, 1813.
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Bremer
FREDRIKA (brā'mer), a Swedish novelist, was born at Tuorla, Finland, Aug. 17, 1801; was brought up at Arsta, about 20 miles from Stockholm. In 1828 appeared the first volume of her "Sketches of Everyday Life," but the second volume, "The H. Family" (1833; English translation, 1844), first revealed her power. From this time she devoted herself to writing stories and varied her literary labor by long journeys in Italy, England, En the United States, Greece, Palestine, which supplied the materials for her "Homes of the New World" (1853), and "Life in the Old World" (1862). On her return to Sweden she gave herself up to philanthropy, but more particularly to the education and emancipation of women, and the consequent propagandist character of her later novels, "Bertha," and "Father and Daughter" (1859), was detrimental in no small degree to their literary value. She has been called the Jane Austen of Sweden. Of her stories perhaps the most perfect is "The Neighbors" (1837). "The Diary," "The President's Daughters," "Brothers and Sisters," and "Strife and Peace," are only less popular. She died in Arsta, Dec. 31, 1865.
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Bremer, Fredrika
bree'mer, Fredrika (1801-1865), a Swedish novelist. She was born in Finland. She traveled extensively at home, and in Germany, France, Italy, England, the United States , Greece, and Palestine. Her works were translated into English as fast as they appeared, and were for a time well known. Some of the more popular are Homes of the New World, Life in the Old World, The Neighbors, The President's Daughters, and Strife and Peace, or Scenes in Dalecarlia. 2026 Editor's Note: Bremer's novels are little read now, but her other work endures: she was a pioneer of Swedish feminism, and her 1856 novel Hertha helped push through a law granting unmarried Swedish women legal majority at twenty-five. The Fredrika Bremer Association , founded in 1884 in her memory, is Sweden's oldest women's rights organization and still active. (Ed: BR 2026-07-13)
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Bremerton
a city of Washington, in Kitsap co. It is on Puget Sound and is on the line of the Washington Steamship Company. The city is the seat of the Puget Sound navy yard, which occupies nearly 250 acres and has been . It was equipped at a cost of $10,000,000 the scene of great activity during the World War. The city has a municipal park, a playground, a public library, theaters, and other public buildings. Its industries include machine shops, cigar factories, sheet metal works, etc. Pop. (1910) 2,993; (1920) 8,918.
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Brenner
a mountain in the Tyroand Sterlese Alps between Innsbruck zing; height, 6,777 feet. The road from Germany to Italy, traversing this mountain, reaches the elevation of 4,658 feet, and is one of the lowest roads practicable for carriages over the main chain of the Alps. A railway through this route was opened in 1867.
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Brenner Pass
a pass in the main chain of the Alps between the headwaters of the Adige and the Inn. It affords a line of communication between Austria and the Valley of the Po. Its highest point is 4,658 feet above the sea. It is about twelve miles long and is open during the entire year. It was the pathway of the Roman legions on their way to the upper Danube, and it was through this pass that the Austrians maintained their grip on the fertile plains of Lombardy. A railway connecting Austria and Italy was built in 1867. Although mountains rise to a height of 3,000 feet on either side, the pass is considered less picturesque than that of other alpine routes. See St. Gothard; Cenis ; Simplon 2026 Editor's Note: The Brenner is the busiest crossing of the Alps, carrying a flood of freight lorries that has made air pollution in its valleys a running dispute between Austria and Italy. The answer being bored beneath it is the Brenner Base Tunnel , which on completion will be among the longest railway tunnels in the world, taking the freight underground. (Ed: BR 2026-06-23)
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