Bromal

(Chem.) An organic compound consisting of Aldehyde, in which three equivalents of hydrogen are replaced by chlorine. It is an oily liquid of unpleasant odor. Sp. gr. 3.35. Bromargyrite, n. ( Min.) See BROMARYTE. Bro'mate, n. (Chem.) A compound of bromic acid with a base. Bromatology, n. ( Med .) A discourse on food. Brom'berg, a town of Pru ia, prov. Posen, cap. of a circ. of the same name, on the Braa. 6 m. from its junc- tion with the Vistula. This place is one of the most thriving towns of E. Pru ia. Manf . Tobacco, liquors, and chicory. Brome, n. ( Chem .) Same as BROMINE, q. v. Brome, a S. County of Quebec, a Twp. and Lake. B. and W.B. Post Vills. same co. Pop . 13,757. Brome'-gra , n. ( Bot . ) See BROMUS. Bromelia, n. ( Bot .) A genus of plants, order Brome- liaceæ. The green fruit of B.pinguin is used as a diu- retic in the W. Indies; the prickly leaves yield long fibres, which are twisted into ropes and woven into coarse cloth. Bromeliaceæ, ( bro - me - le-ai-se-e. (Bot.) An order of plants, alliance Narc is sales , named after Bromel, a Swe- dish botanist. - DIAG. Tri-petaloid ous six-leaved flow- ers, having imbricated divisions, and mealy albumen. They are herbs or somewhat woody plants, stemle or with short stems, and rigid, channelled, often spiny and scaly leaves. The flowers are in racemes or panicles; the calyx 3-parted or tubular, persistent, more or le cohering with the ovary; the petals three, withering or deciduous, equal or unequal, imbricated in bud. The stamens are six, inserted into the tube of the calyx and corolla, the anthers opening inwards. The ovary is 3- celled, the style single, the fruit capsular or succulent, many-seeded; the seeds with a minute embryo lying in the base of mealy albumen. The order contains 28 genera and about 175 species, all natives of the warmer The cause of the rupture of the air-cells may be pre-parts of America, although some of them are now natu ralized both in Asia and Africa. The best known plant of the order, and the only one much valued for its fruit, is the Pine-apple, Ana na a sativa. B. , with their strong spiny leaves, cover the ground in many places, so as to form impenetrable thickets. Many of them are epiphytic, or grow upon trees, without being parasites, particularly the species of Til landsia, one of which is the New Orleans Mo , Long Beard, or Old Man's Beard of the West Indies and of the southern parts of the United States, hanging from the trees like the lichens of colder climates. The leaves of some are so formed and placed as to retain near their base a quantity of water, often affording a delicious refreshment to the traveller in a hot climate. The water is, perhaps, of use to the plant itself in droughts. Not a few of the B. are capable of vegetating long without contact with earth, and of sustaining long drought without inconvenience; for which reason, IMG:content-0760.png:[graphic] Fig . 423. FRUIT OF AN AN ASS A SATIVA. (Pine-apple.) and because of their beautiful and fragrant flowers, some of them are very frequently suspended from balconies in South America as air-plants. But the plants of this order are more generally valuable for their fibres than on any other account. The principal genera are, An an a a, Bromelia , Bill berg i a , and Tillandsia , q. v. Bro'mic Acid, n . ( Chem . ) The only known compound of bromine and oxygen. Equivalent 120. It corresponds in composition to chloric acid, but has never been obtained in an anhydrous condition. In combination with water it forms a colorle liquid, which first reddens and then bleaches litmus. With bases it forms bromates, which are similar in their properties to chlorates. Form . B205.