Brachiopoda
animals with armlike feet; one of the great classes into which the molluscous sub-kingdom of the animal kingdom is divided. The brachiopoda are bivalves, with one shell on the back of the animal, and the other in front; these are called dorsal and ventral valves. The two valves are never equal in size. They differ from the conchifera (called also lamelli branchiata), or ordinary bivalves, in uniformly having one side of the same valve symmetrical with the other. The organization of the brachiopoda is inferior to that of the true bivalves. They are attached to bodies by a pedicle which passes as the wick does in an antique lamp, whence the older naturalists called them lamp shells. The shell is lined by an expansion of the integument or mantle. They are all marine, BRACHYTERÆ occurring chiefly in the deep sea. The families are: (1) Terebratulidæ, (2) spiriferidæ, (3) rhynconellidæ, (4) or thidæ, (5) productidæ, (6) craniadæ, (7) discinidæ, and (8) lingulidæ. BRACHYTERÆ (short winged), a name given to a family of web-footed birds, penguins, auks, divers, guillemots, etc., in which the wings are short and the legs placed far back in the body. They are all strong divers and swimmers.
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Brachyura
a suborder of decapodous crustaceans, containing those families in which the abdomen is converted into a short-jointed tail folding closely under the breast. The common edible crab (cancer pagurus) is a familiar example of this structure. The suborder contains four families: (1) Oxystomata, (2) oxyrhyncha or maiadæ, (3) cyclometopa or canceridæ, and (4) catometopa or ocypodidæ.
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Bracken
or BRAKE, a species of fern very common in the United States and Europe. It has a black creeping rhizome, with branched pinnate fronds growing to the height often of several feet, and it forms an excellent covert for game. When burned it yields a good deal of alkali. The rhizome of pteris esculenta, a native of New Zealand, was formerly a staple article of food among the Maoris.
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Bracket
an ornamental projection from a wall, used for the purpose of supporting a statue, bust, or the like. The term bracket is also employed in joinery, etc., to designate supports, in the form of a bent knee, of shelves, galleries, etc. Bracket is also generally applied to such gaslights as project from the wall.
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Bract
a leaf growing upon the flower stalk. Those which occupy this situation have, as a rule a different size, form, and appearance from the ordinary leaves. The involucre in composite plants, the great spathe in araceæ, the paleæ of grasses, the scales of catkins, etc., are all bracts.
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Bracton
HENRY DE, an English ecclesiastic and jurist, of whom but little certain is known save that he was a "justice itinerant," in 1264 became Archdeacon of Barnstaple and Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral, and died in 1268. He is memorable as one of the earliest writers on English law.
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Braddon
MARY ELIZABETH, an English novelist, born in London in 1837. She very early showed a turn for literature, which she indulged by sending verses and other trifles to the magazines and newspapers. In 1860 she essayed a more sustained effort in a comedietta called "The Loves of Arcadia," which was brought out at the Strand Theater. Her first great success came with the publication, in 1862, of "Lady Audley's Secret," which instantly attained a great popularity, which has since been extended by the production of numerous works of the same order, such as "Aurora Floyd," "Eleanor's Victory," "Lovels of Arden," "Dead Sea Fruit,, "Weavers and Weft," "Cloven Foot," "Mount ," " Royal," When "W the World Was Younger" (1897), "The Green Curtain" (1911), "Miranda" (1913). She died in 1915.
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Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth (1837-), an English novelist. She was the daughter of a London solicitor and became the wife of John Maxwell, a publisher. She was the author of many popular novels. Among them Lady Audley's Secret, Eleanor's Victory, Dead Sea Fruit, and The Fatal Three may be mentioned. She conducted Belgravia, a London magazine, in which many of her stories were first published. She wrote over sixty novels. They are read little at present, being of the sensational type no longer popular. Miss Braddon's work in England corresponds to that of Mrs. Southworth in the United States .
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Bradford Clay
the middle member of the upper division of the Lower Oolites as developed in the west of England. It nearly corresponds in age with the limestones of the Great Oolite, but is generally a pale, grayish clay with litthe calcareous matter, though inclosing bands of impure limestone. BRADFORD-ON-AVON, VON, or GREAT BRADFORD, an ancient town of Eng- 28 miles N. W. of Salisbury, on the banks land, in Wiltshire, beautifully situated of the lower Avon, with manufactures of woolen cloth.
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Bradford, William
William (1590-1657), a prominent Pilgrim father. He was born in Yorkshire, England, 1590, and died at Plymouth, May 9, 1657. He was one of the original company that set sail on the Mayflower. He signed the famous compact made in its cabin. After Carver's death Bradford was elected governor of the colony, a position which he filled with the exception of a short interval until the time of his death. He was a man of native dignity and ability. In 1622 Canonicus, the sachem of the Narragansetts, sent him a bundle of arrows tied with the skin of a snake. Bradford, nothing daunted, stuffed the skin with powder and bullets and sent it back again. He wrote a History of the Plymouth Plantation from the formation of the organization in 1602 to 1647. The manuscript was discovered in England in 1858, and in 1898 it was presented to the state of Massachusetts, where it rests among the valued archives of the commonwealth. It has been suggested that the family name has been derived from the city of Bradford in Yorkshire, now a prosperous manufacturing city of 280,000 people. See Plymouth
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Bradlaugh
CHARLES, an English reformer, born in London, Sept. 26, 1833. He became a street orator when 14 or 15 years old, and his atheistic opinions date from the same period. Expelled from home on this account, he supported himself in various ways. He edited a journal called the "Investigator" in 1858, and a year later became edi editor of the "National Reformer." In 1873 he visited the United States and delivered lectures in the prominent cities. He was elected to Parliament for Northampton, in 1880, but for refusing to take the oath he was expelled from the House of Com- He again appealed to his conmons. stituents in 1882, and was re-elected by a small majority, but was not allowed to take his seat. In 1885, no opposition being raised to his taking the oath, he took his seat in Parliament. He died Jan. 30, 1891.
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