an assemblage of hairs and hogs bristles, fastened in the holes of a wooden handle or board, pierced for that purpose, serving to cleanse divers bodies by rubbing therewith. The manner of making brushes is by folding the hair or bristle in two; and bringing it by means of a packthread, which is engaged in the fold, through the holes with which the wood is pierced all over, being afterwards fastened therein with glue. When the holes are thus filled, the ends of the hair are cut to make the surface even.

Shearmen's Brush, is made of wild boar's bristles; and serves to lay the wool or nap of cloth, after shearing it for the last time.

Brush, among painters, a larger and coarser kind of pencil, made of hogs bristles, wherewith to lay the colours on their large pieces. The Chinese painters brush consists of the stalk of a plant; whose fibres being fretted at both ends, and tied again, serve for a brush.

Wire-Brushes, are used by silversmiths and gilders, for scrubbing silver, copper, or brass pieces, in order to the gilding of them. There is a method of dyeing or colouring leather, performed by only rubbing the colour on the skin with a brush. This the French leather-gilders call broussure; being the lowest of all the sorts of dye allowed by their statutes.

Brush of a Fox, among sportsmen, signifies his drag or tail, the tip or end of which is called the chape.

Brush is also used in speaking of a small thicket or coppice. In this sense the word is formed from the middle-age Latin bruscia, bruscius, which signifies the same.

Brush-Wood denotes small slender wood or spray. See Browsz.

Electricity, denotes the luminous appearance of the electric matter issuing in a parcel of diverging rays from a point. Beccaria ascribes this appearance to the force with which the electric fluid, going out of a point, divides the contiguous air, and passes through it to that which is more remote.