Part 9

As with all creative artists of supreme rank, the work of Brahms took a considerable time before it was very generally appreciated. The change in public opinion is strikingly illustrated in regard to the songs, which, once voted ineffective and unvocal, have now taken a place in every eminent singer's repertory. The outline in his greater works must be grasped with some definiteness before the separate ideas can be properly understood in their true relation to each other; and while it is his wonderful power of handling the recognized classical forms, so as to make them seem absolutely new, which stamps him as the greatest musical architect since Beethoven, the necessity for realizing in some degree what musical form signifies has undoubtedly been a bar to the rapid acceptance of his greater works by the uneducated lovers of music. These are of course far more easily moved by effects of colour than by the subtler beauties of organic structure, and Brahms's attitude towards tone-colour was scarcely such as would endear him to the large number of musicians in whose view tone-colour is pre-eminent. His mastery of form, again, has been attacked as formalism by superficial critics, blind to the real inspiration and distinction of his ideas, and to their perfection in regard to style and the appropriateness of every theme to the exact emotional state to be expressed. In his larger vocal works there are some which treat of emotional conditions far removed from the usual stock of subjects taken by the average composer; to compare the ideas in the "German Requiem" with those of the "Schicksalslied" or "Nanie" is to learn a lesson in artistic style which can never be forgotten. In the songs, too, it is scarcely too much to say that the whole range of human emotion finds expression in noble lyrics that yield to none in actual musical beauty. The four "Ernste Gesange," Brahms's last composition, must be considered as his supreme achievement in dignified utterance of noble thoughts in a style that perfectly fits them. The choice of words for these as well as for the "Requiem" and others of his serious works reveals a strong sense of the vanity and emptiness of human life, but at least as strong a confidence in the divine consolations.

It has been the misfortune of the musical world in Germany that every prominent musician is ranged by critics and amateurs in one of two hostile camps, and it was probably due in the main to the misrepresentations of the followers of Wagner that the idea was so generally held that Brahms was a man of narrow sympathies and hard, not to say brutal manners. The latter impression was fostered, no doubt, by the master's natural detestation of the methods by which the average lionizer seeks to gain his object, and both alike are disproved in the _Recollections_ of J.V. Widmann, an intimate friend for many years, which throw a new light on the master, revealing him as a man of the widest artistic sympathies, neither intolerant of excellence in a line opposed to his own, nor weakly enthusiastic over mediocre productions by composers whose views were in complete sympathy with him. His admiration for Verdi and Wagner is enough to show that the absence of any operatic work from his list of compositions was simply due to the difficulty of finding a libretto which appealed to him, not to any antagonism to the lyric stage in its modern developments. How far he stood from the prejudices of the typical pedant may be seen in the passionate love he showed throughout his life for national music, especially that of Hungary. Not only were his arrangements of Hungarian dances the first work by which his name was known outside his native land, but his first pianoforte quartet, op. 25 in G minor, incurred the wrath of the critics of the time by its introduction of some characteristics of Hungarian music into the finale. His arrangement of a number of children's traditional songs was published without his name, and dedicated to the children of Robert and Clara Schumann in the earliest years of his creative life; and among the last of his publications was a collection of forty-nine German Volkslieder, arranged with the utmost skill, taste and simplicity. He had a great admiration for the waltzes of Strauss, and in many passages of his own works the _entrain_ that is characteristic of the Viennese dance-writers is present in a striking degree.

See also W.H. Hadow, _Studies in Modern Music_ (2nd series, 1908); and the articles MUSIC, SONG. (J. A. F. M.)

BRAHUI, a people of Baluchistan, inhabiting the Brahui mountains, which extend continuously from near the Bolan Pass to Cape Monze on the Arabian Sea. The khan of Kalat, the native ruler of Baluchistan, is himself a Brahui, and a lineal descendant of Kumbar, former chief of the Kumbarini, a Brahui tribe. The origin of the Brahuis is an ethnological mystery. Bishop Robert Caldwell and other authorities declare them Dravidians, and regard them as the western borderers of Dravidian India. Others believe them to be Scythians,[1] and others again connect them with Tatar mountaineers who early settled in southern parts of Asia. The origin of the word itself is in doubt. It is variously derived as a corruption of the Persian _Ba Rohi_ (literally "of the hills"); as an eponym from Braho, otherwise Brahin or Ibrahim, a legendary hero of alleged Arab descent who led his people "out of the west," while Dr Gustav Oppert believes that the name is in some way related to, if not identical with, that of the Baluchis. He recognizes in the name of the Paratas and Paradas, who dwelt in north-eastern Baluchistan, the origin of the modern Brahui. He gives reasons for regarding the _Bra_ as a contraction of Bara and obtains "thus in Barahui a name whose resemblance to that of the ancient Barrhai (the modern Bhars), as well as to that of the Paratas and Paravar and their kindred the Maratha Paravari and Dravidian Parheyas of Palaman, is striking." The Brahuis declare themselves to be the aborigines of the country they now occupy, their ancestors coming from Aleppo. For this there seems little foundation, and their language, which has no affinities with Persian, Pushtu or Baluchi, must be, according to the most eminent scholars, classed among the Dravidian tongues of southern India. Probably the Brahuis are of Dravidian stock, a branch long isolated from their kindred and much Arabized, and thus exhibiting a marked hybridism.

Whatever their origin, the Brahuis are found in a position of considerable power in Baluchistan from earliest times. Their authentic history begins with Mir Ahmad, who was their chief in the 17th century. The title of "khan" was assumed by Nasir the Great in the middle of the 18th century. The Brahuis are a confederacy of tribes possessing common lands and uniting from time to time for purposes of offence or defence. At their head is the khan, who formerly seems to have been regarded as semi-divine, it being customary for the tribesmen on visiting Kalat to make offerings at the Ahmadzai gate before entering. The Brahuis are a nomadic race, who dwell in tents made of goats' hair, black or striped, and live chiefly on the products of their herds. They are Sunnite Mahommedans, but are not fanatical. In physique they are very easily distinguished from their neighbours, the Baluchis and Pathans, being a smaller, sturdier people with rounder faces characterized by the flat, blunt and coarse features of the Dravidian races. They are of a dark brown colour, their hair and beards being often brown not black. They are an active, hardy race, and though as avaricious as the Pathans, are more trustworthy and less turbulent. Their ordinary dress is a tunic or shirt, trousers gathered in at the ankles and a cloak usually of brown felt. A few wear turbans, but generally their headgear is a round skullcap with tassel or button. Their women are not strictly veiled. Sandals of deer or goat skin are worn by all classes. Their weapons are rifles, swords and shields. They do not use the Afghan knife or any spears. Some few Brahuis are enlisted in the Bombay Native Infantry.

See Dr Bellew, _Indus to Euphrates_ (London, 1874); Gustav Oppert, _The Original Inhabitants of India_ (1893); Dr Theodore Duka, _Essay on the Brahui Grammar_ (after the German of Dr Trumpp of Munich University).

FOOTNOTE:

[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.

1. ANATOMY

_Membranes of the Human Brain._

[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Dura Mater and Cranial Sinuses.

1. Falx cerebri. 2. Tentorium. 3,3. Superior longitudinal sinus. 4. Lateral sinus. 5. Internal jugular vein. 6. Occipital sinus. 6'. Torcular Herophili. 7. Inferior longitudinal sinus. 8. Veins of Galen. 9 and 10. Superior and inferior petrosal sinus. 11. Cavernous sinus. 12. Circular sinus which connects the two cavernous sinuses together. 13. Ophthalmic vein, from 15, the eyeball. 14. Crista galli of ethmoid bone.]

Three membranes named the _dura mater, arachnoid_ and _pia mater_ cover the brain and lie between it and the cranial cavity. The most external of the three is the _dura mater_, which consists of a cranial and a spinal portion. The cranial part is in contact with the inner table of the skull, and is adherent along the lines of the sutures and to the margins of the foramina, which transmit the nerves, more especially to the foramen magnum. It forms, therefore, for these bones an internal periosteum, and the meningeal arteries which ramify in it are the nutrient arteries of the inner table. As the growth of bone is more active in infancy and youth than in the adult, the adhesion between the dura mater and the cranial bones is greater in early life than at maturity. From the inner surface of the dura mater strong bands pass into the cranial cavity, and form partitions between certain of the subdivisions of the brain. A vertical longitudinal mesial band, named, from its sickle shape, _falx cerebri_, dips between the two hemispheres of the cerebrum. A smaller sickle-shaped vertical mesial band, the _falx cerebelli_, attached to the internal occipital crest, passes between the two hemispheres of the cerebellum. A large band arches forward in the horizontal plane of the cavity, from the transverse groove in the occipital bone to the clinoid processes of the sphenoid, and is attached laterally to the upper border of the petrous part of each temporal bone. It separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum, and, as it forms a tent-like covering for the latter, is named _tentorium cerebelli_. Along certain lines the cranial dura mater splits into two layers to form tubular passages for the transmission of venous blood. These passages are named the _venous blood sinuses_ of the dura mater, and they are lodged in the grooves on the inner surface of the skull referred to in the description of the cranial bones. Opening into these sinuses are numerous veins which convey from the brain the blood that has been circulating through it; and two of these sinuses, called _cavernous_, which lie at the sides of the body of the sphenoid bone, receive the ophthalmic veins from the eyeballs situated in the orbital cavities. These blood sinuses pass usually from before backwards: a _superior longitudinal_ along the upper border of the falx cerebri as far as the internal occipital protuberance; an _inferior longitudinal_ along its lower border as far as the tentorium, where it joins the _straight sinus_, which passes back as far as the same protuberance. One or two small _occipital sinuses_, which lie in the falx cerebelli, also pass to join the straight and longitudinal sinuses opposite this protuberance; several currents of blood meet, therefore, at this spot, and as Herophilus supposed that a sort of whirlpool was formed in the blood, the name _torcular Herophili_ has been used to express the meeting of these sinuses. From the torcular the blood is drained away by two large sinuses, named _lateral_, which curve forward and downward to the jugular foramina to terminate in the internal jugular veins. In its course each lateral sinus receives two _petrosal_ sinuses, which pass from the cavernous sinus backwards along the upper and lower borders of the petrous part of the temporal bone. The dura mater consists of a tough, fibrous membrane, somewhat flocculent externally, but smooth, glistening, and free on its inner surface. The inner surface has the appearance of a serous membrane, and when examined microscopically is seen to consist of a layer of squamous endothelial cells. Hence the dura mater is sometimes called a fibro-serous membrane. The dura mater is well provided with lymph vessels, which in all probability open by stomata on the free inner surface. Between the dura mater and the subjacent arachnoid membrane is a fine space containing a minute quantity of limpid serum, which moistens the smooth inner surface of the dura and the corresponding smooth outer surface of the arachnoid. It is regarded as equivalent to the cavity of a serous membrane, and is named the _sub-dural space_.

_Arachnoid Mater._--The arachnoid is a membrane of great delicacy and transparency, which loosely envelops both the brain and spinal cord. It is separated from these organs by the pia mater; but between it and the latter membrane is a distinct space, called _sub-arachnoid_. The sub-arachnoid space is more distinctly marked beneath the spinal than beneath the cerebral parts of the membrane, which forms a looser investment for the cord than for the brain. At the base of the brain, and opposite the fissures between the convolutions of the cerebrum, the interval between the arachnoid and the pia mater can, however, always be seen, for the arachnoid does not, like the pia mater, clothe the sides of the fissures, but passes directly across between the summits of adjacent convolutions. The sub-arachnoid space is subdivided into numerous freely-communicating loculi by bundles of delicate areolar tissue, which bundles are invested, as Key and Retzius have shown, by a layer of squamous endothelium. The space contains a limpid cerebro-spinal fluid, which varies in quantity from 2 drachms to 2 oz., and is most plentiful in the dilatations at the base of the brain known as _cisternae_. It should be clearly understood that there is no communication between the subdural and sub-arachnoid spaces, but that the latter communicates with the ventricles through openings in the roof of the fourth, and in the descending cornua of the lateral ventricles.

When the skull cap is removed, clusters of granular bodies are usually to be seen imbedded in the dura mater on each side of the superior longitudinal sinus; these are named the _Pacchionian bodies_. When traced through the dura mater they are found to spring from the arachnoid. The observations of Luschka and Cleland have proved that villous processes invariably grow from the free surface of that membrane, and that when these villi greatly increase in size they form the bodies in question. Sometimes the Pacchionian bodies greatly hypertrophy, occasioning absorption of the bones of the cranial vault and depressions on the upper surface of the brain.

[Illustration: After D.J. Cunningham's _Text-book of Anatomy_.

FIG. 2.--Front View of the Medulla, Pons and Mesencephalon of a full-time Human Foetus.]

_Pia Mater._--This membrane closely invests the whole outer surface of the brain. It dips into the fissures between the convolutions, and a wide prolongation, named _velum interpositum_, lies in the interior of the cerebrum. With a little care it can be stripped off the brain without causing injury to its substance. At the base of the brain the pia mater is prolonged on to the roots of the cranial nerves. This membrane consists of a delicate connective tissue, in which the arteries of the brain and spinal cord ramify and subdivide into small branches before they penetrate the nervous substance, and in which the veins conveying the blood from the nerve centres lie before they open into the blood sinuses of the cranial dura mater and the extradural venus plexus of the spinal canal.

_Medulla Oblongata._