=Barrow.=--Mounds in which bronze celts, knives, spear-heads, and food receptacles are found along with the remains of chieftains and others of the prehistoric peoples once inhabiting this country. The term "barrow" originally denoted a "little hill." Round barrows are the most common form, although some are oval and some of the "long barrow" type. The methods of burial differed, but in most instances implements of stone or bronze as well as vessels of pottery and some trinkets belonging to the dead were usually placed near to the body. =Betel-Nut Boxes.=--The beautifully ornate boxes, chiefly found in India, made for holding the betel-nut and the shell lime used by the natives who chew the leaves and nut of the areca palm. =Bidri Metal.=--The metal objects known as bidri are made of an alloy of copper-zinc and lead, damascened with silver, showing a peculiarly striking contrast in black and white. The villages round Lucknow are famous for this curious and effective inlaid metal work. =Brass.=--An alloy of copper and zinc. Early brass was copper mixed with calamine melted in a crucible. The ancient form of alloyed metal employed by the Romans was copper and tin, which, although frequently termed "brass" is more correctly defined as bronze (see Bronze). The greater the proportion of zinc the lighter the colour; but the addition of an extra quantity of zinc reduced the tenacity and ductility of the metal. =Brasses.=--The term brasses is applied (in antiquarian and curio metallurgy) to the monumental brasses which as early as the first half of the thirteenth century replaced the older effigies, such as those of the Crusaders, which may be seen in the Temple Church, in London. The brasses, of which many rubbings have been taken, include the large brasses, covering nearly the whole of their tomb flag, and the small brasses on which were engraved emblems, escutcheons, and inscriptions, inset into large slabs of marble or stone, ornamenting rather than constituting the covering of tombs. =Brazier.=--Primarily a pan for holding burning coals. The brazier was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a domestic appliance for keeping hot dishes for the table, some very interesting examples of an ornamental character, doubtless used for that purpose, being referred to in Chapter VIII. The brazier, so called to-day, is a tripod open fire chiefly used out of doors in some open space. =Bronze.=--The bronze of the ancients consisted chiefly of pure copper and an alloy of tin. In those very early days the compounding and mixing of the metals must have been done largely by experience and "rule of thumb." It was before the days of metallurgical research and before the chemistry of metals was understood. As yet there was no formula. Curiously enough the proper nomenclature of metals has never been formulated, and "bronze" is the term still applied in a very haphazard way to various alloys.