BRACELET (Fr. brachiale, from Lat. brachium, the under part of the arm), an orna ment worn on the arm, generally at the wrist. Bracelets and armlets (Lat. armilla) have been used by every nation, both savage and civilized, from the earliest periods to our own. They are frequently mentioned in Genesis, as worn both by men (xxxviii. 18) and by women (xxiv. 30); both by the Hebrews and the surrounding nations (Numb. XXNi. 50). Similar ornaments were worn round the ankles, but they are stigmatized by Isaiah as marks of luxury (iii. 16). The Medes and Persians were remarkable, even amongst Asiatics, for their love for ornaments of this class. They wore not only bracelets and armlets, but ear-rings, collars, and necklaces, which often consisted of strings of valua ble pearls, or were enriched with other jewels. These ornaments were used to indicate the rank of the wearer, and this use has continued to be made of them in the east down to the present day. In Europe, bracelets and armlets were worn both by the classical nations and barbarians from the earliest times. The Gauls wore them; endure Sabines, as early as the foundation of Rome, had ponderous golden armlets on the left arm. The same was the case with the Samnians about the same period. It does not appear that armlets were 'Sworn by men during the historical period of Greece, but ladies wore both armlets and bracelets of the most various materials and forums. Both generally passed round the arm several times, and the form of B. now most in fashion has been accurately copied from those twisted spirals described by Homer in the eighteenth book of the Iliad, line 401. Many examples of this kind of 13., as represented on painted vases, will
be found in Sir William llamilton's work. We are indebted to the Greeks even for the idea of giving to these spiral bracelets the form of a snake, the best models of our pres ent- goldsmiths being, ex:tet copies of antique bracelets. Tne goddesses of the Greeks, like the blessed 'Virgin in Roman Catholic countries, were represented as attired in the style of kadies of the highest rank; and the celebrated marble statue of Aphrodite, pre served at Florence, exhibits traces of a metallic armlet. Amongst the Romans, armlets were frequently conferred upon soldiers for deeds of valor, of which an instance is mentioned by Liu (x. 44). Roman ladies wore bracelets, not only for ornament, but also for the purpose of containing amulets, which were supposed to effect tniraeulons cures. On this principle it is said that the emperor Nero wore on his right arm the skin of a serpent, inclosed in a golden armilla. But at Rome also, it was chiefly as an indi cation of rank or wealth that these ornaments were worn.
e 11 n rfl_n arm are 4,1 "1J, and employed to shift the sails in a horizontal direction round the masts, so as to receive advantageously the wind that may be blowing at any particular moment. 'I he phrases, " to brace to," " to brace about," "to brace the yards sharp up," etc., apply to this operation.