[1] Compare Mountstuart Elphinstone's (_History of India_, 9th ed.,
1905, p. 249) description of Scythians with physique of Brahuis. A
relationship between the Jats (q.v.) and the Brahuis has been
suggested, and it is generally held that the former were of Scythic
stock. The Mengals, Bizanjos and Zehris, the three largest Brahui
tribes, are called Jadgal or Jagdal, i.e. Jats, by some of their
neighbours. The Zaghar Mengal, a superior division of the Mengal
tribe, believe they themselves came from a district called Zughd,
somewhere near Samarkand in central Asia. _Gal_ appears to be a
collective suffix in Baluchi, and _Men_ or _Min_ occurs on the lists
of the Behistun inscriptions as the name of one of the Scythian
tribes deported by Darius, the Achaemenian, for their turbulence (see
_Kalat, A Memoir on the County and Family of the Ahmadzai Khans of
Kalat_, by G.P. Tate). Sajdi, another Brahui tribal name, is
Scythian, the principal clan of which tribe is the Saga, both names
being identifiable with the Sagetae and Saki of ancient writers. Thus
there seems some reason for believing that the former occupants of at
least some portions of the Brahui domain were of Scythian blood.
BRAID (from the O. Eng. _bregdan_, to move quickly to and fro, hence to
weave), a plait, especially a plait of hair, also a plaited tape woven
of wool, silk, gold thread, &c., used for trimming or binding. A
particular use is for the narrow bands, bordered with open work, used in
making point lace.
BRAIDWOOD, THOMAS (1715-1806), British teacher of the deaf and dumb, was
born in Scotland in 1715, and educated at Edinburgh University. He
became a school teacher, and in 1760 opened in Edinburgh, with one
pupil, the first school in Great Britain for the deaf and dumb,
following the system of Dr John Wallis, described in _Philosophical
Transactions_ nearly a hundred years before. This school was the model
for all of the early English institutions of the kind. Dr Johnson
visited it in 1773, and describes it as "a subject of philosophical
curiosity ... which no other city has to show," and Braidwood's dozen
pupils as able "to hear with the eye." In 1783 Braidwood moved to
Hackney, where he died on the 24th of October 1806.
BRAILA (in Rumanian _Braila_, formerly IBRAILA), the capital of the
department of Braila, Rumania; situated amid flat and dreary country on
the left bank of the river Danube, about 100 m. from its mouth at
Sulina. Pop. (1900) 58,392, including 10,811 Jews. Southward, the Danube
encircles a vast fen, tenanted only by waterfowl and herds of half-wild
swine, while the plain which extends to the north-east and east only
grows fertile at some distance inland. Braila itself is plainly built on
a bank rising about 50 ft. above sea-level; but partly on a narrow strip
of ground which separates this bank from the water's edge. Along the
crest of the bank a public park is laid out, commanding a view of the
desolate Dobrudja hills, across the river.
On the landward side, Braila has the shape of a crescent, the curve of
its outer streets following the line of the old fortifications,
dismantled in 1829. Few houses, among the older quarters, exceed two
storeys in height, but the main streets are paved, and there is a
regular supply of filtered water. A wide avenue, the _Strada
Bulivardului_, divides the town proper from the suburbs. The principal
church, among many, is the cathedral of St Michael, a large, ungainly
building of grey sandstone. Electric tramways intersect the town, and
are continued for 3 m. to Lacul Sarat (Salt Lake), where there are
mineral springs and mud-baths, owned by the state. The waters, which
contain over 45% of salt, iodine and sulphur, are among the strongest of
their kind in Europe; and are of high repute, being annually visited by
more than a thousand patients. Braila is the seat of a chamber of
commerce. It is the chief port of entry for Walachia, and the
headquarters of the grain trade; for, besides its advantageous position
on the river, it is connected with the central Walachian railways by a
line to Buzeu, and with the Russian and Moldavian systems by a line to
Galatz. Quays, where ships drawing 15 ft. of water can discharge, line
the river front; and there are large docks, grain elevators and
warehouses, besides paper mills, roperies, and soap and candle works.
Over 20 steamers, maintained by the state, ply between Braila and
Rotterdam. Among the vessels of all nations, the British are first in
numbers and tonnage, the Greek second. Grain and timber form the chief
articles of export; textiles, machinery, iron goods and coal being most
largely imported.
Many events connected with the history of Walachia took place in the
neighbourhood of Braila. In 1475 Stephen the Great, having dethroned the
voivode Radu, burned the town. In 1573 another Moldavian prince took the
city by storm, and massacred the Turkish garrison. In 1659 it was again
burned by the Walachian prince Mircea, and for the time the Turks were
expelled, but afterwards returned. In the latter part of the 18th
century Braila was several times captured by the Russians, and in 1770
it was burned. By the peace of Bucharest (1812) the Turks retained the
right of garrisoning Braila. In 1828 it was gallantly defended by
Soliman Pasha, who, after holding out from the middle of May until the
end of June, was allowed to march out with the honours of war. At the
peace of Adrianople (1829) the place was definitely assigned to
Walachia; but before giving it up, the grand-duke Michael of Russia
razed the citadel, and in this ruinous condition it was handed over to
the Walachians. Braila was the spot chosen by the Russian general
Gorchakov for crossing the Danube with his division in 1854. On the
banks of the Danube, a little above the city, are some remains of the
piles of a bridge said by a very doubtful tradition to have been built
by Darius (c. 500 B.C.).
BRAIN (A.S. _braegen_), that part of the central nervous system which in
vertebrate animals is contained within the cranium or skull; it is
divided into the great brain or cerebrum, the hind brain or cerebellum,
and the medulla oblongata, which is the transitional part between the
spinal cord and the other two parts already named. Except where stated,
we deal here primarily with the brain in man.