a well-known implement used for various purposes, such as clearing away dust, smoothing or polishing surfaces, &c. Ordinary brushes are made of small bundles of bristles or hairs, secured at one end by a ligature; and this knotted end is set with glue or cement into a wooden stock, which is shaped and pierced with holes for the purpose. A patent was obtained in 1830 for several improvements in the construction of brushes. Of these the chief feature consists in pressing the knotted ends of the bundles into wedge-shaped grooves in the stock; after which they may be further secured by being covered with a ferule of metal or a wooden pallet. Small brushes are generally made by doubling the hair or bristle, and bringing it through the holes in the stock, by means of a thread or wire which is engaged in the fold, and serves to secure it; after which the bristles are cut even.

Brushes vary greatly in their size, form, and materials of construction, according to the several uses to which they are applied. Silversmiths and other artificers use a wire-brush for scrubbing silver, copper, or brass, previous to gilding. In some countries the bamboo or other fibrous plant is converted into a kind of brush, for painting and similar purposes, by fretting the extremity by beating, and then binding it firmly above the part so treated.

Brush, among sportsmen, the tail of a fox.

Brush-Wheels, wheels which act on each other by means of bristles or brushes fixed on their circumference; or simply by the friction of their plane surfaces, in which case the surfaces in contact are usually covered with hempen or leathern belts, and are kept closely pressed together by a spring. Brush-wheels are used only in very light machinery.