British.

BRITANNICE INSULE, a term used by ancient classic writers previous to Cæsar for the British isles, including Albion (England and Scotland), and Hibernia or lerne (Ireland), with the smaller isles around them. Aristotle, in the beginning of the 3d c. B.C., knew only of Albion and Ierne. Cæsar, about 54 B.C., was the first to apply the name Britannia to Albion. Ptolemy, in the 2d c. A.D., is the first to apply Little Britain to Ierne or Ireland, and Great Britain to Albion or England and Scotland. Herodotus, in the 5th c. B.C., is the first writer to mention Britain with any sort of definiteness; previous Greek writers speak of Britain only in connection with the Phenician tin trade carried on with the Cassiterides or Tin isles (the Scilly isles and Cornwall), which they often confound with the Azores. The Phenician trade with the British isles began about 1000 B.C., the Phenicians giving the native Britons salt, skins, and bronze vessels in exchange for tin and lead. Ptolemy enumerates 52 different Celtic or Gaelic tribes as inhabiting Britain in his time. See CELTIC NATIONS.

BRITANNICUS, son of the emperor Claudius by Messalina, b. 42 A.D. He was the natural successor to Claudius, but after his mother's execution (when B. was eight years old), Agrippina, the new wife, persuaded Claudius to pass by B. and adopt her son by previous marriage with Lucinus Domitius. This son was the emperor Nero; and soon after his accession, Pallas, one of Agrippina's lovers, who had been banished, threatened a revolt, and roused Nero's fear that B. might displace him; so B. was poisoned and died on his fourteenth birthday.

BRITISH AMERICA. See AMERICA, BRITISH.

BRITISH ARMY. In ARMIES, MODERN, a succinct account is given of the relative strength and organization of the chief European armies, with the exception of that of the British empire, reserved for consideration in the present article.

Like other modern armies, the British army originated in the feudal system (q.v.). When regal power, tempered by a parliament, superseded that system, the people, according to their rank in life, were expected to provide themselves with certain kinds of weapons and defensive armor. The justices of the peace were empowered to see to these military duties of the people. When the nation was either actually engaged in war, or apprehensive of invasion, the sovereign issued commissions to experienced officers, authorizing them to draw out and array the fittest men for service in each county, and to march them to the sea-coast, or to any part of the country known to be in most danger. See ARRAYER. It was in the time of Henry VIII. that lord-lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties were first appointed as standing-officers for assembling and mustering the military force. During the earlier years of the Tudors, contracts were made by the king with "captains,” who undertook to provide, clothe, and feed so many fighting-men, for a given money-allowance; but the power intrusted to the lordlieutenants gradually changed this system, in relation at least to home-defense. In the reign of Charles I., the important question arose, whether the king of England did or did not possess the right to maintain a military force without the express consent of parliament? and this question was all the more bitterly discussed when the king billeted his soldiers on the people. After the troubles of the civil wars and the commonwealth, Charles II. found himself compelled to agree, on his restoration, to the abandonment of all the army except a kind of body-guard or household brigade of 5000 men, sanctioned by the parliament. In the 13th year of his reign, he succeeded in obtaining a statute, declaratory that "the sole and supreme power, government, command, and disposition of the militia, and of all forces by sea and land, and of all forts and places of strength, is the undoubted right of his majesty; and both or either of the houses of parliament cannot nor ought to pretend to the same." Both Charles II. and James II. found, however, to their mortification, that this statute did not in effect give them so much real military command as they had wished and intended-because the commons, by holding the purse, virtually held the power.

It was in the time of William and Mary that the real basis for the modern B. A. was laid. The declaration of rights (q.v.) settled, in positive terms, "that the raising and keeping of a standing army in time of peace, without consent of parliament, is contrary to law." The first mutiny act (q.v.) was passed in 1689, to last for six months only; but it has been annually renewed ever since, except in three particular years; and it constitutes the warrant on which the whole military system of England is exercised by the sovereign, with the consent of parliament. Since then, with only three interruptions, the ministers of the crown have annually applied to parliament for per mission to raise a military force, and for money to defray the expenses. The sovereign can make war, and can bestow military employments and honors; but the commons, as the representatives of the tax-paying nation, provide a check on the grasping by cour tiers of military privileges. The law on army regulation has been revised, and the B. A. made the subject of special legislation in the army discipline bill passed in 1879.

The great distinction between the B. A. and that of almost every other state in Europe, is that the service is voluntary. The subjects of the crown engage, by free choice, to serve in the army for a definite number of years. In the rare cases where forced service by ballot is obtained, it is in the militia, not the regular army. See MILITIA. The British soldier has much hard colonial life to bear, and many long voyages to make; he is, moreover, almost entirely shut out from the chance of being a commis

sioned officer. As a consequence, the ranks are mostly filled from the more necessitous classes of the community-by those who from want of steady habits, or of education, are the least fitted for industrious pursuits; whereas in France and many other foreign countries, the profession of arms is regarded as an honorable one, of which even the private soldier feels proud. Mr. De Fonblanque, comparing the peace establishments of the chief European armies in 1857, found that of England to be the smallest in ratio to population, but the most costly in relation to its strength. The English ratio was 1 in 128; the French, 1 in 95; the Prussian, 1 in 80; the Russian, 1 in 72; the Austrian, 1 in 68. An English private soldier costs the country £52 per annum; French, £36; Prussian, £31; Austrian, £18 108.; Russian, £13 58. The English cost per man is still higher now than it was in 1857, on account of increased attention being paid to the well-being of the soldier.

The B. A., in all its completeness, is supposed to be commanded by the sovereign, assisted by the secretary of state for war in some matters, and by the officer commanding in chief in others. The component elements are the household troops; the infantry of the line; the cavalry of the line; the ordnance corps, comprising artillery and engineers; other bodies of native troops, maintained out of the revenues of India; the militia; the yeomanry cavalry; the reserve; the volunteer artillery and rifles; and sometimes during war, foreign legions. The "peace establishment" of the B. A. varies according to the political aspect of affairs abroad, and to the strength of the economizing principle at home. In 1814, when England was engaged in tremendous contests abroad, the regular army reached 200,000 men, exclusive of fencibles, foreign legions, and militia. In the first few years after the termination of the great war against Napo leon, the reductions in the B. A. involved the compulsory retirement of no less than 10,000 military officers, who thereupon went on half-pay; these, by filling vacancies, transfers, and deaths, have nearly disappeared. The elasticity which permits the enlargement or contraction of the army arises from varying, not so much the number of regiments, as the number of battalions in a regiment, of companies in a battalion, or of men in a company. If we compare the strength of the regular army at various periods between 1820 and 1879, we shall find that the actual number of regiments has varied but little, the difference of strength being made up in the three modes just mentioned. See WAR SERVICES.

The strength of the B. A. declined from 1815 to 1835, since which last-mentioned year it has increased. These augmentations have been occasioned partly by the contests in China, India, Kaffraria, Persia, the Crimea, Afghanistan, and Zululand, and partly by a sense of insecurity amid the vast armaments of the continent. In compar ing the strength of the forces at different periods, much confusion is apt to arise from different modes of interpreting the words "British army." This designation may include the whole of the royal troops in India, whether supported out of imperial or of Indian revenues; it may include the militia, the volunteers, the yeomanry cavalry, the foreign legions-or it may exclude any one or more of these. The "British army," and the military force of the British empire," are often treated as convertible terms: to the production of much confusion where actual numbers are given. In the following table, relating to the official year 1879-80, it is shown of what component elements the B. A. now consists. The militia and the volunteer corps are not here included. BRITISH ARMY VOTED FOR 1879-80.

Under the column "India," are included only those troops of the royal army which are lent to India, and paid for out of Indian revenues; the other military forces in that region are enumerated under EAST INDIA ARMY. Of the total 190,600 forming her majesty's forces, 7980 are officers; 16,550 non-commissioned officers, drummers, and trumpeters; and 166,070 rank and file. There are voted for the use of this army, 11,325 horses. The total cost cannot well be estimated per head; because, besides pay and sustenance for the soldiers, there are stores and wages for fortifications and military buildings, military weapons and combustibles, and the various kinds of half-pay and pensions. The total expenditure sanctioned by parliament may, however, conveniently be thrown under four headings, and given in round numbers as follows:

-being the charge for a peace establishment, in which to admit of expansion for actual war, the upper ranks (which cannot be summarily created) are disproportionately large. For the sum taken in aid of the army estimates to meet the expenses for raising and training the recruits, and for the non-effective services of the European army serving in India, a separate estimate was presented (1879-80), amounting to £1,100,000.

All the component elements of the army, in personnel and matériel, and the organi zation and duties of the troops, will be found noticed under their proper headings. The total military strength of the United Kingdom-including all the various kinds of force, also India and the colonies-comprised the following in 1885:

BRITISH ASSOCIATION, an association whose object is, by bringing together men eminent in all the several departments of science, to assist the progress of discovery, and to extend over the whole country the latest results of scientific research. A prevailing impression that England had fallen behind other countries, both as to the general estimation in which scientific men were held, and the prosecution of science itself, led to its formation. It was thought that an imposing union of men of science with the nobility, gentry, and clergy might tend to revive the philosophic spirit of the country. Such meetings had already taken place in Germany, and probably suggested the idea of this institution. Many leading men of the age took part in its formation, but the honor of being its founder must be ascribed to sir David Brewster. By his exertions the first meeting of those who were favorable to the design was held at York in the year 1831. The archbishop of York, the mayor and council of the city, entered warmly into the project. At this meeting the constitution of the society was determined, the several sections had their provinces assigned to them, and subjects were proposed on which reports were to be drawn up and read at the ensuing meeting. This took place at Oxford in 1832. The university had cordially welcomed the new associa tion, the papers which were read gave it at once the high character it has since sustained, and from this date it may be said to have been in complete and successful operation. An enumeration of the several sections of the society, each of which has its own committee and president, will show the wide range of topics it embraces: Section A., mathematical and physical science; B., chemistry; C., geology; D., zoology and botany, including physiology; E., geography and ethnology; F., economic science and statistics; G., mechanical science.

At the close of each meeting, it is determined at what town in the United Kingdom the next shall be held, and a president of the whole association is appointed, who delivers an inaugural address, in which he is expected to present a general survey of the latest advances of science. The rules and by-laws of the society it is not necessary here to particularize; but it should be mentioned that the subscriptions of a continually increasing membership have placed at its disposal a large fund, which has been expended in the prosecution of science. In many cases, as in long astronomical calculations, or extensive meteorological observations, the labor of subordinates is required, and a certain apparatus, and it is in defraying such expenses that the funds of the B. A. are very wisely employed. The A. met at Montreal, Canada, 1884.

Besides the immediate ends sought to be obtained by such an association, its utility will be evident if we reflect on the intimate connection that exists between the several branches of science, and the impossibility there is that any one mind can be thoroughly conversant with them all. He who now hopes to make discoveries in science must limit himself to a few chosen studies; and yet such is the interlacing of all the several branches of inquiry, that he must often find it indispensable to know the last results of each. The botanist or the physiologist must consult the accomplished chemist; the chemist must call in the aid of those who have specifically studied the action of heat, light, and electricity; the geologist needs them all, and is in turn consulted by all. Thus, a certain brotherhood of science is formed, in which each has his specialty, and yet each leans upon his brother.

In ancient times it was otherwise. The facts on which a philosopher speculated were those which lay open to the eyes of all. A Thales could see the rain fall and plants grow, and forthwith pronounced that the vital energy of all things was to be found in

water. He could exercise his imagination in perfect independence of the labor of ali other men. The philosopher of modern times cannot move a step without a careful consideration of the theories of his predecessors and contemporaries; he has to take notice of the innumerable facts brought to light by various observers, aided by those artificial arrangements which convert observation into experiment.

Two classes of men, of the most opposite character, are greatly aided by an associa tion such as this. The humble and plodding workmen are taught where their patient industry will most avail; they are cautioned against re-discoveries; they are told where their love of collecting or experimentalizing may be best applied. And that other class of men, who love to generalize, who ever seek to embrace all the multifarious facts of science under a few great laws-these are provided with the very last intelligence from every department of inquiry, and may forthwith proceed to weave it into their own comprehensive scheme. Nor are we to overlook the benefit which the whole community derives from the rapid dissemination of the latest résults or speculations of philosophy. Not only do our idle and fashionable, as well as our manufacturing towns and our universities, welcome the meetings of the B. A., but from this Parliament of Science the utterance of scientific opinion goes forth over the whole kingdom through the agency of the press. Within three days after one of its meetings, there is not a workshop or a tea-table in the country that has not derived from it a new topic of conversation.

BRITISH COLUMBIA. See COLUMBIA, BRITISH.

BRITISH EMPIRE. See GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND.

BRITISH GUM, Dextrine, or LEI'OCOME, is a substance extensively employed by calico-printers and others for the thickening of colors, instead of the much more expensive gum arabic. It is prepared from potato-starch (q.v.) or sago-starch by passing the grains through iron cylinders at a temperature about 500° F. It differs from starch in giving no blue color with tincture of iodine, and in being readily soluble in water, and thus yielding a thick liquid resembling in consistence mucilage (strong solution of ordinary gum). B. G. is the material which is produced by baking in the crusts of loafbread (q.v.), and which communicates to them their very agreeable taste.

BRITISH MUSEUM. The British Museum, an important national institution in London, originated in a bequest of sir Hans Sloane, who, during a long lifetime, gathered an extensive and, at the time, unequaled collection of objects of natural history and works of art, besides a considerable library of books and manuscripts. These, in terms of his will, were offered, in 1753, to the government, on condition that £20,000 should be paid to his family, the first cost of the whole having amounted to more than £50,000. The offer was accepted; the necessary funds were raised by a lottery! and the collection, along with the Harleian and Cottonian libraries, were arranged in Montague house, which had been purchased for £10,250. The new institution, thenceforth called the British Museum, was opened in 1759. From time to time, purchases and donations succeeded each other rapidly. Montague house sufficed for the reception of all these acquisitions, till the Egyptian antiquities arrived in 1801. The purchase of the Townley marbles, in 1805, necessitated the erection of a gallery for their reception. This, however, did not meet the increasing demand for space. The old house was condemned, and plans were prepared by sir R. Smirke for new buildings; but none were undertaken till 1823, when the eastern wing of the present building was erected for the reception of the library of George III., which had been presented to the museum by George IV. The subsequent progress of the works was very slow. The building was completed in 1847. It is a hollow square, whose sides are opposite to the four points of the compass. Throughout the exterior of the building, the Grecian Ionic is the order of architecture adopted. The principal front is towards the s., facing Great Russel street, and presents an imposing columnar façade, 370 ft. in length. The great entrance-portico, in the center, is composed of a double range of columns, 8 in each range. The columns are 5 ft. in diameter at their base, and 45 ft. in height. The tympanum of the portico is ornamented with an allegorical sculpture by Westmacott, typical of the progress of civilization. On either side of the museum, there is a semi-detached house, containing the residences of the chief officers of the establishment. These give an additional length of 200 ft., making the whole length of the structure 570 feet. The interior of the building is admirably adapted to the purposes for which it is devoted. Some of the galleries, from their size and dimensions, have a very imposing appearance, as the king's library, the bird gallery, etc. The grand entrance-hall is a noble and lofty apartment, built in the massive Doric style: it contains a statue of sir Joseph Banks by Chantrey, and an ideal representation of Shakespeare by Roubilliac.

Scarcely had Smirke's plans been carried out, when demands were made from several of the departments for more accommodation. Additions have accordingly been made, rooms having been provided for the print department, and several new galleries for the recent acquisitions of antiquities; but the most important addition is the mag

nificent reading-room which has been erected in the internal quadrangle. In no department of the museum was additional accommodation more needed than in the library. The number of readers had increased beyond the means of accommodation, and so short of space were they for books, that the estimates for purchases were restricted to only the half of the sum which the trustees considered desirable, for the sole reason that the library would be inadequate for the reception of extensive additions. After consider able delay, and the consideration and rejection of several plans, nothing was done till Mr. Panizzi, at that time keeper of the printed book department, suggested a plan which promised to meet the important requirements of speedy erection and economy in cost. The plan was at length adopted, and the result is a building than which none are better, few perhaps so thoroughly adapted to the purposes for which it is intended. Parliament voted the first grant for it in 1854. It was opened in 1857. The total cost was about £150,000, which includes the fittings and furniture, and the necessary shelves for immediate use. The building was erected in the interior quadrangle, which it completely occupies, with the exception of an interval of about 28 ft. all round, necessary for lighting and ventilating the surrounding building. The reading-room is circular. It is constructed principally of iron, with brick arches between the main ribs. The dome is 106 ft. in height, and its diameter 140 ft., being second only to the pantheon of Rome, and that but by 2 feet. The use of iron has economized the space to an extraordinary degree, for while the piers which support the pantheon fill 7477 ft., those on which the reading-room rests occupy only 200 feet. Equally remarkable has been the saving of space in the fitting up of the library. The shelves are formed of galvanized iron plates, edged with wainscot, and covered with leather, and are supported on malleable iron standards. In all the cases except against the external walls, the bookcases are double, a lattice of ironwork being fixed for the longitudinal separation of the books. Thus, throughout the whole interior of the new building, walls are dispensed with, the divisions being in all cases formed of the double ranges of books. The building contains 3 m. lineal of bookcases 8 ft. high. Assuming them all to be spaced for the average octavo book size, the entire ranges form 25 m. of book-shelves, and would accommodate 1,000,000 such volumes. In addition to this, the dome-room, which is the reading-room, has accommodation for 60,000 volumes. This magnificent room contains ample and comfortable accommodation for 300 readers. Each person has a space of 4 ft. 3 in. long. He is screened from the opposite occupant by a longitudinal division, which is fitted with a hinged desk, graduated on sloping racks, and a folding-shelf for spare books. In a recess between the two are placed an inkstand and penholders, thus leaving the table_unincumbered. By an ingenious contrivance, one part of the iron framework is made to distribute fresh air in the summer and heated air in the winter. The vitiated air is conveyed through apertures in the soffits of the window, into one of two separate spherical and concentric chambers which extend over the whole surface of the roof, and escapes through outlets around the lantern. The other chamber, between the external covering of copper and the brick vaulting, has for its object the equalization of temperature, during extremes of heat and cold out of doors. Every modern improvement, in short, has been applied, when it could be serviceable, for the comfort or convenience of the readers. Much praise is due to the architect and builder, but a larger share is owing to the late sir A. Panizzi, who not only supplied the original design, but daily, almost hourly, superintended the progress of the work, continually suggesting little improvements, and in the end producing a room which is admired by all especially those who daily use it.

This building, while supplying amply the demands of the printed book department, did nothing, to meet the requirements of the other departments. Various schemes have been suggested; the best, and perhaps in the end the cheapest, of securing the ground immediately around the museum, has been given up, and the trustees resolved to erect a building to be devoted entirely to natural history-that is to say, to the departments of botany, zoology, geology, and mineralogy- -on the site occupied by the international exhibition of 1862. Parliament voted in the year 1873, £80,000 for this purpose, and a beginning was made by the contractor. The whole cost of the new building very nearly reached the sum of £400,000. This elegant new terra-cotta building, situated in the Cromwell road, near South Kensington museum, was designed by Mr. Alfred Waterhouse.

Contents. At first, the contents of the museum were arranged under three departments-printed books, manuscripts, and objects of natural history. Under the last head were included the antiquities, works of art, etc., comprised in the Sloane collection, their number being too scanty to entitle them to constitute a separate department. The progress of the museum has caused a more precise division of its contents. From time to time, the number of the departments has been increased, so that, instead of three, there are now twelve-viz.: printed books, maps, manuscripts, prints and drawings, oriental antiquities, Greek and Roman antiquities, coins and medals, and British and mediæval antiquities and ethnography, zoology, botany, geology, and mineralogy. In noticing the contents of the museum, we shall refer to them in this order. We can but allude here to the most important portions of the collection, and must refer for more particular information to works specially devoted to this subject; such as the various handbooks and catalogues prepared by the officers of the museum.