BRACELET, an ornament usually worn on the wrist, the use of which extends from the most ancient times down to the present, and be longs to all countries, civilized as well as un civilized. The word has come to us from the French and is ultimately derived from brachium, the Latin word for the arm. Brace lets were in use in Egypt at a very remote period. They were of different colors, painted on them in enamel in very bright as well as very delicate shades. They were also then as now frequently made of gold, enchased with various kinds of precious stones. They were not always worn, as with us, on the wrist, but frequently on the upper part of the arm. The ancient Medes and Persians were well known to be extremely fond of this method of adorn ing themselves; and in the Bible the bracelet is frequently mentioned as an ornament in use among the Jews, both men and women. Among the ancient Greeks, in historical times, bracelets do not appear to have been worn by the men; but, on the other hand, they were worn by the Greek ladies, made of every variety of ma terial, and in every possible form. A prefer ence was generally given to the spiral form, and a bracelet of this kind is described by Homer in the Iliad. Very frequently the spiral brace
lets were made to assume the appearance of snakes, which went round the arm twice or thrice, or even a greater number of times. Among the ancient Italian tribes bracelets were also an ornament of the men. The Sabines often wore very heavy ones on the left arm. Among the Romans it was a frequent practice for a general to bestow bracelets on soldiers who had distinguished themselves by their valor. Roman ladies of high rank frequently wore them both on the wrist and on the upper arm. The Arabs and the Orientals generally use them, chiefly as an ornament for women. Among the ancient heathen Germanic tribes they formed the chief and almost only orna ment, as is shown by their being so often found in old graves. The men seem to have used them even more than the women, for bracelets have been found in dozens on the arms of the former. The spiral was the favorite form with the ancient Germans as with the ancient Greeks.