extensive forests of Brazil-wood, of which they brought some cargoes to Portugal. This was not sufficient to induce the Portuguese to form a settlement, especially as they were then actively engaged in their conquests in the East Indies; but it was quite enough to induce mercantile speculators to send their vessels for the dye-wood. This trade continued for some years, and the merchants of other nations, especially the French, began to follow the example of the Portuguese. This was considered by the Portuguese government as a violation of their rights as discoverers of the country, and they accordingly began to think of forming a permanent establishment. King John III. however, on calculating the expenses necessary for such an undertaking, thought it more advantageous to invest some of the richest noble families of Portugal with the property of extensive tracts of coast, for the purpose of colonizing them with Portuguese subjects. Accordingly, about ten or twelve Portuguese noblemen obtained the property each of about 100 leagues of coast, and 40 or 50 leagues inland. These proprietors were called donotarios. Most of them made great sacrifices, and underwent much fatigue and danger in forming settlements in Brazil. The towns of S. Vincent, Espirito Santo, Porto Seguro, and Pernambuco were founded by them between 1531 and 1545. But it soon became evident that the private fortune of these noblemen was not adequate to the establishment of such settlements in an uncultivated country, and in the neighbourhood of warlike savage nations. The king therefore sent, in 1549, as governor to Brazil, Thomé de Sousa, who founded the town of Bahia in the bay of Todos os Santos, and established a regular colonial administration. The government gradually found means to acquire the property of the colonies then existing from the donotarios, either by purchase or by exchange.

Before the religious divisions in England began to people the coasts of North America, the Protestants of France made a similar attempt in Brazil. A colony of French Protestants was established in 1555, on an island in the bay of Rio Janeiro, by Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon, but it soon fell into anarchy. The Portuguese attacked it in 1565, and expelled the French, though not without encountering considerable resistance. On this occasion the town of Rio Janeiro was founded by the Portuguese.

On the death of King Sebastian, when Portugal was united to Spain (1580), the numerous enemies of the latter country began to annoy Brazil, among whom the English, under Thomas Cavendish, were the most active. They did not however form any settlement. The French made a second attempt in 1612 to settle on the isl. of Maranhão, where they founded the town of S. Luiz de Maranhão, but in 1615 they were compelled to abandon it to the Portuguese. The Dutch were more formidable enemies to the Portuguese. Their East India Company had already taken from them many settlements in the Indian seas, and their West India Company was thus invited to similar attempts in America. In 1623 they sent a fleet to Brazil, which took Bahia, then the capital of the country; but it was lost again in 1625. In 1629 the Dutch made another attempt, and possessed themselves of Pernambuco, from which the Portuguese were unable to dislodge them. They also extended their conquest S. to the mouth of the Francisco, and added on the N. the prov. of Parahyba and Rio Grande do Norte to their possessions. The disunion among the Dutch officers appearing to be the principal obstacle to the completion of the conquest of all Brazil, the Company sent, in 1637, Prince John Maurice of Nassau_to Pernambuco, with unlimited powers as governor. He soon established a more regular administration, and in the same year got possession of the prov. of Searà. He next attacked twice (1638 and 1640) the town of Bahia, but as this was the residence of the Portuguese governor, it was better fortified than the other towns, and the attempt failed. The revolution in Portugal (1640) separated that kingdom from Spain, and the new government of Portugal made peace with the Dutch republic. But Nassau did not trouble himself about the orders received from home, and in 1641 and 1642 he took the prov. of Seregipe and Maranhão, so that when he was recalled, in 1643, all Brazil N. of the Rio Francisco, with the exception of Para, and in addition to this the prov. of Seregipe, was in the hands of the Dutch. The administration of the Dutch colony being left to a council at Recife, every thing soon fell into disorder. The Portuguese governor at Bahia was prevented by the peace, and the orders received from his

government at home, from taking advantage of these cir cumstances; but a private person, Fernandes Vieira, formed a conspiracy among the settlers of Portuguese origin, in which he was secretly aided by the governor. The conspiracy broke out at Maranhão and Seara, and extended gradually to the other provinces. At last the Dutch were confined to the town of Pernambuco, from which also they were expelled in 1654, when the Portuguese government sent a naval force to aid the people who had risen against the Dutch. By the peace of 1660 the Dutch renounced their claims on these countries.

At that time the mineral riches of Brazil were not known. The town of S. Paolo had been founded by some Portuguese in 1620, who had ascended to the table-land of the Paranà from the town of S. Vincent, and been induced to settle there on account of its fine climate. The adventurers established a kind of democratic government, and made frequent incursions among the savage nations for the purpose of capturing them and using them as slaves. In these excursions, towards the end of the seventeenth century, they discovered the mines of S. Paolo; and near Sabarà, on the Rio das Velhas, in 1700, the richer mines at Villa Rica; and in 1713 those of Marianna. The mines at Cuyabà and Goyaz were discovered between 1715 and 1720. The existence of diamonds in the Rio Icquitinhonha was not known before 1728. These discoveries, and the riches which government derived from the mines, induced it to remove the administration of the colony from Bahia to Rio S. Janeiro in 1773.

Brazil has not attained that degree of cultivation and amount of pop. which might have been expected in a colony settled for upwards of 250 years. The principal impediment has been the grants of land being too large, sometimes 100 or 200 sq. m. and more, and the proprietors not having taken pains to settle these extensive tracts with a sufficient number of labourers. Another obstacle has existed in the regulations as to commerce, by which no foreign vessels were permitted to enter the ports of Brazil, nor the Brazilians to send their commodities to any other country than Portugal. This of course caused discontent among the merchants. Further, the natives of Portugal who had emigrated to the colony constituted a privileged class, being exclusively entitled to all posts of honour and all lucrative employments under government, which naturally excited dissatisfaction among the rich descendants of the Portuguese. This dissatisfaction began to generate a wish for change as soon as the U. S. of North America had obtained their independence; and events in Europe took such a turn that Brazil obtained its object almost without bloodshed and war. When Bonaparte had formed his scheme for taking possession of the Peninsula, he began by declaring war against Portugal, upon which the royal family left Europe for Brazil, where they arrived 22nd January, 1808. Considering Brazil as the principal part of his remaining dominions, King John VI. began to improve its condition by placing the administration on a more regular footing and throwing open its ports to all nations. In the meantime the French army, after having occupied Portugal for some time, was driven out of Spain, and though all apprehension of seeing Portugal again conquered by the French was now removed, the royal family did not return to Europe. On the fall of Bonaparte, the king raised Brazil to the rank of a kingdom, and assumed the title of King of Portugal, Algarve, and Brazil. The inh. of Portugal, finding themselves deprived of the advantages of an exclusive commerce with that country, were much discontented, and it was said that an insurrection, which broke out at Pernambuco in 1817, was excited or promoted by them.

The king was however obliged to return to Europe by the revolution which took place in Portugal in 1820, by which the constitution of Spain had been adopted in that kingdom also. The news of that event had hardly reached Brazil when the same constitution was proclaimed by the inh. in the town of Pernambuco, and soon afterwards in Bahia and Parà. It was feared that similar measures would be taken in Rio Janeiro, and accordingly the king found it expedient to proclaim the constitution himself on the 26th February, 1821, soon after which he sailed for Lisbon, leaving at the head of the administration in Brazil Pedro his eldest son and successor, as lieutenant and regent. The Cortes of Portugal did not conceal their design of restoring the old relations with Brazil, by which its commerce was restricted to the mother country; and they did not treat the

The Cortes in Portugal continued their course of policy. They formed a scheme for a new organization of the administration in Brazil and recalled the Prince Regent. But the prince, induced by the representations of the Brazilians, refused to obey their orders, and sent the Portuguese troops stationed at Pernambuco and Rio Janeiro to Europe. The Portuguese commandant of Bahia however did not yield; he expelled the militia and remained master of the town. This step was decisive, and immediately followed by others. On the 13th May the Prince Regent was proclaimed protector and perpetual defender of Brazil. The general Procurators (Procuradores geraes) of the prov. were assembled by the Prince Regent to consult on the new form of government, but they declared that they were not competent to such a task, and proposed the convocation of deputies chosen by the people, to which the prince acceded after a short delay. As the Cortes in Portugal still persisted in their design it was thought necessary to declare the independence of Brazil, and the Prince Regent did not venture to oppose the torrent of public opinion. Accordingly on the 12th of October, 1822, Brazil was declared an independent state, and the prince adopted the title of Emperor of Brazil: on the 1st of December he was crowned.

As this step might be considered a declaration of war against Portugal, preparations for hostilities were immediately made. The Portuguese troops still occupied the towns of Bahia, Maranhão, and Parà. Bahia was besieged by the Brazilian forces, and after a few weeks the garrison was obliged to abandon it, upon the appearance of the admiral of Brazil, Lord Cochrane, before the harbour. The admiral also compelled the garrisons of Maranhão and Parà to sail for Europe. Thus the independence of Brazil was established, with no other loss of blood than what took place in the town of Bahia.

The deputies of the prov. met on the 3rd of May, 1823, the anniversary of the discovery of Brazil, and adopted the title of General Assembly of Brazil (Assemblea Geral do Brasil). They appointed a committee for drawing up a constitution, which was done by the 30th of August; but the constitution contained several provisions to which the emperor objected. The meetings of the assembly becoming more and more turbulent, the emperor finally dissolved it on the 12th of November, and called another assembly. In the mean time he caused a new constitution to be drawn up and published, which was afterwards accepted by the new assembly (1824). According to this instrument, Brazil is an hereditary monarchy, limited by a popular assembly. The executive is in the hands of the emperor. The legislative body consists of two assemblies, the senate, and the chamber of deputies. The first is chosen by the emperor, and the second by the people. The Catholic faith is the religion of the state: all other Christians are tolerated, but are not allowed to build churches, and to perform divine service in public.

During these events the Cortes of Portugal had been dissolved, and the constitution abolished. The king, after some slight attempts, being well aware that it was impossible to re-establish the former relations between Portugal and Brazil, acknowledged the independence of the latter country in 1825.

discontent. Frequent disputes broke out between the emperor and the chamber, and sometimes great disturbances occurred in Rio Janeiro. An affray, which took place on the 13th March, 1831, led to extraordinary results. The chamber of deputies had been prorogued, but twenty-four of the members then residing at Rio remonstrated with the emperor, and demanded the dismissal of the ministers. The emperor acceded to this demand, but his next choice fell on persons still more unpopular. This increased the dissatisfaction of the people, and the emperor was required to dismiss the new ministry also, which he refused to do. On the 6th of April a tumultuous populace having assembled before the palace, the emperor ordered the military to disperse them; and on their refusal, he issued a proclamation, by which he abdicated the throne in favour of his son, and on the 7th left Brazil, after having appointed a guardian to his successor, who was under age.

The chamber of deputies now took a more decided lead in public affairs, and appointed a regency of three persons. It was expected, under the circumstances, that Brazil would soon be changed into a republic, but this event has not yet taken place. It would appear that the residence of the royal family in Brazil has attached a great number of the inhabitants to its interests, who strenuously oppose the attempts of the democratic party. It is remarkable, that among the numerous disturbances which have taken place since the departure of Pedro I., some of them have evidently been directed to the destruction or complete overthrow of the democratical party. For the last few years Brazil has enjoyed more tranquillity than the other states of South America. (Ayres de Cazal, Corografia Brasilica; Travels of Spix and Martius; Eschwege's Pluto Brasiliensis; Eschwege's Gebürgskunde Brasiliens und Brasilien; Freyreiss, Beiträge zur kenntniss Brasiliens; Schäffer's Brasilien ; Weech's Brasiliens gegenwärtiger Zustand; Travels of Mawe, Caldcleugh, and Graham; Southey's History of Brazil; and Weiss's Map of South America.)

BRAZIL NUTS, the seeds of BERTHOLLETIA EXCELSA. BRAZIL WOOD. [CESALPINA.]

BREACH, an opening formed by the partial demolition of a rampart in order to permit an assault to be made upon the defenders in the interior of a fortified place or work. It is effected either by directing upon the escarp, that is, the exterior surface of the wall, a fire of artillery, or by exploding a quantity of gunpowder which may be deposited in a mine formed for the purpose within the mass of the rampart. When the attack of a fortress is conducted according to rule and the breach is to be made by artillery, a battery consisting of guns of the greatest calibre is formed on the crest of the glacis; the muzzles of these are depressed so as to permit the firing to be directed against points in a horizontal line on the surface of the revetment, within a few feet of the bottom of the wall; and if the breach is to be made at a salient angle, the battery should encompass the angle so that the guns may be fired at the same time against the two faces of the work. When by successive vollies the shots have pierced quite through the wall, the guns are so directed as to fire at different points in a vertical line passing through each extremity of the horizontal groove, and thus a portion of the wall is detached from the rest; afterwards, a few shot being fired with diminished charges of powder, the detached part will fall into the ditch, leaving an opening, up which, after the surface of the breach has been rendered passable by firing against it till the large masses of the demolished wall are sufficiently reduced, the troops may mount to make the assault.

giving the guns a small elevation, and regulating the charges so that the shot may strike the wall obliquely in the descending branch of its trajectory, and thus scrape off, as it were, portions of its thickness: the demolition of the wall is also then facilitated by firing against it shells filled with powder; for these by exploding close to the parts of the wall already shattered by the shot, easily detach from thence considerable fragments and presently cause the ruin of the rampart.

When a breach is to be formed by mining, the fire of the defenders on the ramparts must be kept down by that from the artillery and musketry of the besiegers; and thus protected, a small party of miners is sent across the ditch to the foot of the revetment wall. These men set up several stout planks on end with their upper extremities resting against the wall, and under this cover, which is sufficient to repel the grenades or other missiles sent by the defenders from the parapet above, one of them excavates in the rampart a gallery, which, if near a salient angle, may extend as far as the capital of the work: here he forms two or more chambers, which being charged, and a train laid, the mine is fired, when the breach is at once made by the explosion: it may be afterwards rendered passable by firing upon it from a distance as before.

While the breach is being formed by artillery, if the depth of the ditch is considerable, a subterranean gallery is executed, usually from the interior of the battery, or from some of the trenches on the glacis, in an inclined plane descending under the covered way to the back of the counterscarp wall, which is then pierced through to make an opening into the ditch at a point opposite to one extremity of the breach, the earth being kept up on the sides and roof of the gallery by frames and planks according to the usual practice in mining. But when the ditch is too shallow to allow the gallery to have a thickness of earth above it equal to at least three feet, the descent into the ditch is made by a trench, excavated by sapping in an inclined plane descending across the covered way. This trench is covered by a blindage (as described under that word), in order to protect the storming party from the plunging fire of the garrison.

Sir John Jones observes that, in forming breaches by artillery, the guns should fire as quickly as possible and as is consistent with precision; the number of rounds fired per hour is estimated at twenty-five or thirty, but the colonel remarks that such a rate of firing must be injurious to the guns; and as it is not likely to be kept up when opposed by musketry, the average number of rounds per hour for breaching may be considered as twenty during daylight. (Journals of Sieges in Spain, 1827, note 29.)

Sir H. Davy states that wheat sown in autumn contains 77 per cent. of starch, and 19 of gluten; while that sown in spring yielded 70 of starch, and 24 of gluten: the wheat of the south of Europe contains a larger proportion of gluten than that of the north, and hence its peculiar fitness for making vermicelli. According to the chemist just quoted, oats yielded 59 of starch, 6 of gluten, and 2 of saccharine matter; while the same quantity of rye gave only 6'1 parts of starch, and half a part of gluten.

The separation of the gluten from the greater part of the starch is very readily effected. Make flour into a thick paste, and work it between the fingers while a slender stream of water is running upon it, and continue the operation till the water ceases to run off milky then there remains a grey, adhesive, elastic mass, which is principally gluten, but contains some albumen and a little starch: to render it more pure, it is to be treated with boiling alcohol, until the filtered spirit ceases to become turbid on cooling. The alcohol dissolves the gluten, as well as some other substances, the nature of which is imperfectly known, while the vegetable albumen is left. To the alcoholic solution of the gluten add water, and distil the mixture; the alcohol comes over, and there remains a fluid in which the gluten floats in coherent bulky flocks: a small quantity however remains dissolved combined with gum.

The gluten thus procured is of a pale yellow colour, and its smell is peculiar, but tasteless; it is elastic and adhesive; water does not dissolve it, but it is taken up by acetic acid. Exposed to dry air it becomes externally polished, of a deeper yellow colour, and eventually dries into a deep yellow mass, which is translucid, and has the appearance of dried animal matter. When moist gluten is exposed to the air it putrifies, emitting a very disagreeable smell; when decomposed by heat it yields ammonia, and charcoal is left. It is composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and azote, in proportions which have not been determined: it is owing to the presence of azote that it yields ammonia, and in this respect it resembles animal matter.

These, which are the principal properties of gluten, are sufficient for our present purpose; a more detailed account of them may be seen in Berzelius, Traité de Chimie, vol. v. In order to procure the starch of the flour, the water which has been used to wash it in obtaining the gluten is to be suffered to remain at rest; by this, the starch which was merely suspended, may be separated on a filter and afterwards dried.

Common or unfermented biscuit bread, which was undoubtedly that first used in the early ages of the world, is made from a stiff paste of flour and water, which, after being kneaded, is flattened out, reduced to pieces of the requisite size, punctured with an instrument, sprinkled with flour, and baked. In this operation no chemical change takes place, the operation is the merely mechanical one of moistening the particles of the flour, so as to cause them to adhere in the first instance, and to remain in one mass by the subsequent process of baking.

In bread, properly speaking, the process of manufacture is one of much longer duration, and the chemical action of fermentation is produced in the mixture of flour and water. In order to comprehend what takes place in this case, it will be requisite to state the nature of the different substances which constitute wheat flour; it is composed chiefly of starch and gluten, with some other substances in smaller proportion: according to Vogel, it is composed of

68

Starch Gluten

24

The difference between common biscuit and loaf bread has already been noticed, and we shall now state the means by which fermentation is induced, so as to give the bread the porous texture and lightness which are the proofs of its perfection.

When flour is made into a paste with water, the mixture is called dough, and when this is suffered to remain in a moderately warm place it undergoes that partial and spontaneous decomposition which is called fermentation, and which, in order to distinguish it from other kinds, has been called, but without sufficient reason for the distinction, the panary fermentation. During this fermentation a portion of the carbon and oxygen of the partially-decomposed flour recombine so as to form what is sometimes called fixed air, but correctly carbonic acid gas: this, during its natural tendency to escape into the air, is arrested in its progress through the dough by the adhesiveness of the gluten, and forms, owing to its retention, numerous cavities in it. It is thus that wheat-flour makes lighter bread than that of oats or rye, owing to the larger quantity of gluten which it contains, by which the bread is rendered more porous and lighter, and consequently more digestible.

This plan of fermentation would however not only require much time, but dough thus spontaneously fermented is never quite free from putrescence and acidity, both of which

are injurious to the flavour of the bread: to remedy these inconveniences the process was formerly accelerated by adding to a mass of recent dough, a small quantity of old dough in a state of strong fermentation; this was called leaven, and the mass to which it was added was said to be leavened.

The following statement of the mode in which the baker's operations are conducted is taken from Dr. Colquhoun's essay On the Art of Baking Bread, in the 28th vol. of the Annals of Philosophy.

When the baker proceeds to the preparation of dough by means of the yest fermentation, he at first takes, generally a portion only, but sometimes the whole of the water which it is his intention to employ in making the required quantity of dough. In this water, which varies in temperature, according to circumstances, from 90° to 100°, there is dissolved a certain portion of salt, the quantity of which however is always less than that which will finally be required, in order to communicate the necessary flavour to the bread yest is now mixed with the water, and then a portion of flour is added, which is always less than the quantity to be ultimately employed in forming the finished dough. The mixture is next covered up and set apart in a warm situation, within an hour after which signs of commencing decomposition make their appearance. The substance thus placed apart is termed, in the language of the bakehouse, the sponge; its formation and abandonment to spontaneous decomposition is termed setting the sponge; and according to the relation which the amount of water in the sponge bears to the whole quantity to be used in the dough, it is called quarter, half, or whole sponge. The sponge begins to swell out and heave up, evidently in consequence of the generation of some internal elastic fluid, which in this instance is always carbonic acid gas. If the sponge be of a semi-liquid consistence, large air-bubbles soon force their way to its surface, where they break and dissipate in rapid succession. But when the sponge possesses the consistence of thin dough, it confines this gascous substance within it until it dilates equably and progressively to nearly double its original volume, when no longer capable of containing the pent-up air, it bursts and subsides. This process of rising and falling alternately might be actively carried on and frequently repeated during twentyfour hours, but experience has taught the baker to guard against allowing full scope to the energy of the fermentative principle. He generally interferes after the first, or at farthest after the second or third dropping of the sponge; and were he to omit this the bread formed from his dough would invariably prove sour to the taste and to the smell. He therefore at this period adds to the sponge the remaining proportions of flour and water and salt, which may be necessary to form the dough of the required consistence and size, and next incorporates all these materials with the sponge by a long and laborious course of kneading. When this process has been continued until the fermenting and the newly-added flour have been intimately blended together, and until the glutinous particles of the flour are wrought to such a union and consistence that the dough, now tough and elastic, will receive the smart pressure of the hand without adhering to it when withdrawn, the kneading is for awhile suspended. The dough is abandoned to itself for a few hours, during which time it continues in a state of active fermentation now diffused through its whole extent. After the lapse of this time it is subjected to a second but much less laborious kneading, the object of which is to distribute the gas engendered within it as equably as possible throughout its entire constitution, so that no part of the dough may form a sod or ill-raised bread, from the deficiency of this carbonic acid gas on the one hand; or a too vesicular or spongy bread, from its excess on the other.

'After the second kneading the dough is weighed out into the portions requisite to form the kinds of bread desired:

It has been already observed that what is sometimes called the panary fermentation is not of a peculiar kind: it is the mere vinous fermentation; and it has been shown by Dr. Colquhoun, that during the fermentation of bread alcohol is one of the products as well as carbonic acid: this has also been most satisfactorily proved by Mr. Graham. (Ann. Philosophy, vol. 28, p. 367.)

To avoid the use of yest, which might introduce alcohol, Mr. Graham kneaded a small quantity of flour, and it was allowed to ferment in the usual way, to serve as leaven. By means of the leaven a considerable quantity of flour was fermented, and when the fermentation had arrived at its proper point, formed into a loaf. The loaf was carefully enclosed in a distillatory apparatus, and subjected for a considerable time to the baking temperature. Upon examining the condensed liquid, the taste and smell of alcohol were quite perceptible, and by repeatedly rectifying it a small quantity of alcohol was obtained of strength sufficient to burn and ignite gunpowder by its combustion. Alcohol of this strength was obtained in quantity varying in weight from 0.3 to 1 per cent. of the flour employed: when the fermented flour was allowed to sour before baking, the amount of alcohol rapidly diminished, and the disagreeable empyreuma consequent upon this completely disguised the peculiar smell of the alcohol when in its first dilated state and in vapour.

We have now stated sufficient facts to prove that the fermentation which occurs in the preparation of bread is merely the vinous, and Dr. Colquhoun has shown that it depends upon the saccharine ingredient of the flour, though its quantity compared with the others is so small: this was done by renewing the fermentation by the addition of sugar when it had been exhausted. The fermentation is also probably aided by the conversion of a portion of starch into sugar, as happens in the well-known process of malting.

The nature of the yest employed in bread-making is a subject of considerable importance: porter yest is too bitter, but ale and table-beer yest answer perfectly well. When these are deficient in quantity yest is manufactured by a process similar to that of brewing; a wort is made of malt, to which hops and brewers' yest are added; by this yest is obtained free from the bitterness which accompanies porter yest.

Carbonate of ammonia is advantageously and extensively used as a substitute for yest in making the finer kinds of bread: it is a substance which is totally volatilized at a moderate temperature, and though extremely pungent to the smell and possessed of a strong taste, it imparts neither to the bread on account of its great volatility.

Salt is used in bread-making, not only for the sake of flavour and colour, but also to stiffen the clammy dough made from new flour. Good flour will bear a greater quantity of salt than bad, and new flour requires more than old, for the reason already stated.

When flour is converted into bread, it is found on weighing it when taken from the oven that it has increased from 28 to 34 per cent. in weight; but when it has been kept thirtysix hours, that which had gained twenty-eight will lose