BRASS, an alloy of copper and zinc, the composition of which will be discussed under the heading Copper. In this place we have to do simply with its history, and the various applications of the alloy in the arts. Although the term brass frequently occurs in Scripture from the era of Job downwards, there is no indication that brass, as known in modern times, was in use previous to the period of the Roman empire. By the Romans a compound was used under the name oricalchum or auricalchum, which appears to have possessed the composition and properties of brass. With their conquests they carried a knowledge of the arts they cultivated into the countries they subdued, and from these the art of preparing the alloy extended with civilization throughout Europe. The earliest traces of brass in Great Britain are found in the mediaeval monumental “brasses,” found commonly over the tombs of civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries (see Brasses). That the alloy was manufactured in England during the reign of Henry VIII., however, is indicated from the passing of an Act of Parliament prohibiting, under severe penalties, the export of brass, a prohibition which was not withdrawn till so recent a date as 1799, During the reign of Queen Elizabeth the manufacture was systematically developed and extended, and a patent for working calamine stone (the principal ore of zinc) and making brass was granted by the queen to William Humfrey and Christopher Schutz, securing to them the exclusive right of manufacturing brass. The patent rights granted to these persons were gradually extended and merged into a company under the name of the “Governors, Assistants, and Societies of the City of London of and for the Mineral and Battery Works,” which continued to exercise its functions down to the ...

נחשת. The word _brass_ occurs very often in our translation of the Bible; but that is a mixed metal, for the making of which we are indebted to the German metallurgists of the thirteenth century. That the ancients knew not the art of making it, is almost certain. None of their writings even hint at the process. There can be no doubt that copper is the original metal intended. This is spoken of as known prior to the flood; and to have been discovered, or at least wrought, as was also iron, in the seventh generation from Adam, by Tubal-cain: whence the name _Vulcan_. The knowledge of these two metals must have been carried over the world afterward with the spreading colonies of the Noachidæ. Agreeably to this, the ancient histories of the Greeks and Romans speak of Cadmus as the inventor of the metal which by the former is called χαλκὸς, and by the latter _æs_; and from him had the denomination _cadmea_. According to others, Cadmus discovered a mine, of which he taught the use. The name of the person here spoken of was undoubtedly the same with Ham, or Cam, the son of Noah, who probably learned the art of assaying metals from the family of Tubal-cain, and communicated that knowledge to the people of the colony which he settled.

BRASSES, Monumental, a species of engraved sepulchral memorials which in the early part of the 13th century began to take the place of the tombs and effigies carved in stone, which formed such conspicuous features in most of the great churches. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pavement, and thus forming no obstruction in the space required for the services of the church, they speedily came into general use, and continued to be a favourite style of sepulchral memorial for three centuries. Besides their great value as historical monuments, they are specially interesting as authentic contemporary evidence of the varieties of armour and costume, or the peculiarities of palaeography and heraldic designs, and they are often the only authoritative records of the intricate details of family history. Although the intrinsic value of the metal has unfortunately contributed to the wholesale spoliation of these interesting monuments, they are still found in remarkable profusion in England, and they were at one time equally common in France, Germany, and the Low Countries. In France, however, those that survived the troubles of the 16th century were totally swept away during the reign of terror, and almost the only evidence of their existence is now supplied by the collection of drawings bequeathed by Gough to the Bodleian Library. The fine memorials of the royal house of Saxony in the cathedrals of Weissen and Freiberg are the most artistic and striking brasses in Germany. Among the 13th century examples existing in German churches the full length memorials of Yso Von Welpe, bishop of Verden (1231), and of Bernard, bishop of Paderborn (1340), may be mentioned. Many fine Flemish specimens exist in Belgium, especially at Bruges. Only two or three examples, and these of ...

BRASSEY, Thomas, an eminent English railway contractor, a man remarkable for his character and abilities as well as for the vast extent and singular success of his undertakings, was born at Baerton, near Chester, November 7, 1805. He was the son of a landed proprietor, of ancient family, and received an ordinary commercial education at a Chester school. He began his professional career at the age of sixteen as apprentice to Mr Lawton, a surveyor, and on the completion of his term became the partner of his master. Soon after his marriage his master died, and he assumed the sole management of the business. In the local surveys to which he devoted his attention during his early years he acquired the knowledge and practical experience which were the necessaryfoundation of his great reputation. His first engagement as railway contractor was entered upon in 1835, when, on the invitation of the distinguished engineer Joseph Locke, he undertook the execution of a portion of the Grand Junction Railway. Soon after Mr Locke entrusted him with the completion of the London and Southampton Railway, a task which involved contracts to the amount of £4,000,000 sterling and the employment of a body of 3000 men. At the same time he was engaged on portions of several other lines in the north of England and in Scotland. In conjunction with his partner, Mr W. Mackenzie, Brassey undertook, in 1840, the construction of the railway from Paris to Rouen, of which Mr Locke was engineer. He subsequently carried out the extension of the same line. A few years later he was engaged with his partner on five other French lines, and on his own account on the same number of lines in England, Wales, and Scotland. “At this time,” says The Builder, “the industrial army set in motion and controlled by ...