BRUSSELS, UNIVERSITY OF

since its foun- dation in 1834 this university has known no more difficult days than those of the german occupation, when its activities were suspended. it is true that, in common with other universities, it has suffered from the economic consequences of the peace but it has displayed, with other belgian institutions, a power of re- cuperation indicating a vitality of remarkable strength. the faculty organisation comprises philosophy and letters, jurispru- dence (with a section of maritime law), science and medicine (with special sections for anatomy and physiology and applied science). the university includes a school of political and social science, a school of commerce and an educational] section. the library of the university is expanding and, by the institution of chairs in special subjects, such as flemish history and litera- ture, colonial jurisprudence and international law, the intimacy of theoretical discipline and practical economic and political con- ditions is admirably maintained. bryan, william jennings (1860-1925), american politi- cian (see 4.697), announced that he was not a candidate for the democratic presidential nomination in 1912, but he attended the democratic convention, and it was largely owing to his per- sonal influence that the nomination went to woodrow wilson, instead of to champ clark. in 1913 he was appointed by president wilson secretary of state, and from the start devoted much attention to the negotiation of peace treaties with foreign countries. he declared that america should wage no war while he was secretary. soon after entering office he went to california and urged, unsuccessfully, that the state legislature and the governor should delay action on the proposed webb anti-alien land ownership bill, so displeasing to the japanese government. in 1914 he supported the repeal of the panama canal tolls bill, which excluded american coastwise shipping from the payment of fees. brussels, university of—bryan after the outbreak of the world war he was deeply inter- ested in attempts to restore peace. his attitude towards foreign war loans was clearly expressed in an announcement from the dept. of state (aug. 15 1014). ‘“‘ there is no reason why loans should not be made to the governments of neutral nations, but in the judgment of this govt. loans by american bankers to any foreign nation which is at war is inconsistent with the true spirit of neutrality.” when, however, in dec. of the same year, senator hitchcock introduced a bill to lay an embargo on the shipment of arms, the secretary informed the british ambassador that it had not been introduced “at the suggestion of the administration ”’; and later, in 1915, in a letter “to the german americans” he declared that it would have been in violation of the laws of neutrality to change international rules during war by forbidding the exportation of arms. after the sinking of the “ lusitania ” in 1915, he signed the first strong note of protest to germany. upon the receipt of the german reply, and while the second note was being prepared, dr. dumba, the ambassador of austria-hungary, called at the dept. of state and asked secretary bryan why the united states dealt more harshly with germany than with great britain. the secretary replied that great britain had only interfered with the commerce of the united states while germany had drowned its citizens. this plain statement was ignorantly or wantonly misinterpreted by some german official, and the report was widely spread that mr. bryan had said that the note was for *“ home consumption,” and not to be taken too seriously. there was, however, absolutely no truth in this report, even dr. dumba denying it in a dispatch to his government. when the president wrote his second ‘‘ lusitania ” note, secretary bryan resigned, june 8 1915, saying in his letter of resignation: ‘‘ you have pre- pared for transmission to the german govt. a note in which i cannot join without violating what i deem to be an obligation to my country.” during his term of office he had negotiated 30 treaties with forcign nations, requiring the submission of disputes to impar- tial inquiry and a delay of a full year for arbitration before going to war. such a treaty had not been concluded with germany, but was under consideration when interrupted by the world war. as secretary he was often criticised because of numerous paid engagements on the lecture platform, undertaken, he said, to supplement his inadequate salary; but it was never shown that he was less attentive to the demands of his office than any predecessor. he continued, after his resignation, to work in the interests of peace; opposed the anglo-i'rench war loan; at- tacked the navy league and the national security league; and tried to resist the growing demand for preparedness in america. in 1916 he was defeated in nebraska as candidate for delegate- at-large to the democratic national convention. he went, however, as a reporter and gave full support for the renomina- tion and later the re-election of president wilson. from the announcement by germany of the resumption of submarine warfare to the actual declaration of war, he favoured any measure that would keep america neutral, no matter how largely it involved the surrender of american rights on the sea. but when war was declared he asked to be enrolled as a pri- vate, though then 57 years of age; urged loyal support of the president’s war measures; and in his own paper, the com- monter, strongly condemned obstruction of the selective draft as well as abuse of liberty of speech. he supported the league of nations, but thought that the monroe doctrine should be speci- fically recognised. he desired a constitutional amendment chang- ing the two-thirds vote required in the senate for making a treaty, so that the country could get out of war as easily as it got in. in 1920 he was present at both the republican and the democratic national conventions, attending the former as a reporter for his newspaper and the latter as a delegate-at- large from nebraska, and worked in vain for a dry plank in their platforms. the same vear he was tendered the presidential nomination of the prohibition party, but declined. he was disappointed with the nomination of james m. cox as democratic candidate, bryan t—buchan but declared that he would not leave the party. he took no part, however, in the campaign, it being the first time in 40 years that his voice was not heard on the platform. in 1921 he became a resident of miami, florida. he attended the democratic national convention of 1924 in new york as a delegate from florida, but his influence in the party councils had perceptibly waned and he took very little part in the ensuing campaign. as a politician his work was completed. for the most important “ progressive ”’ measures adopted by the united states in recent years, the popu- lar election of senators, an income tax, the requirements of pub- lication of ownership and circulation by newspapers, the creation of a dept. of labour, national prohibition and woman suffrage, bryan laboured earnestly, and their adoption was due in part at least to his popular, persistent appeal. his last public appearance was in 1925 at the trial of j.t. scopes, a school teacher of dayton, tenn., who was arrested ona charge of violating the state law prohibiting the teaching in pub- lic schools of any theories that deny the divine creation of man as taught in the bible. scopes was a biologist and had been teaching evolution. bryan, a firm believer in the literal inter- pretation of the bible, went to dayton to assist the prosecution. widespread popular interest was manifested in the case, which in the hands of bryan and clarence darrow, chicf defence coun- sel, assumed the form of a contest between fundamentalism and modernism. the outcome was that on july 21, after a hearing extending over three weeks, scopes was found guilty and fined $100, though bryan was prevented, through the tactics of dar- row, from delivering the elaborate speech which he had prepared in refutation of darwin and his theories. on the conclusion of the trial he was taken ill, and diced at dayton, tenn., july 26 1925. bryant, sophia (1850-10922), english educationalist, daughter of rev. william a. willock, was born in dublin feb. 15 1850. her family removed to england in 1868 and sophia won a scholarship at bedford college, london. at the age of 19 she married dr. william hickes bryant who, however, died within a year. having passed the gencral examination for women in london university, she was from 1875 to 1895 form mistress at the north london collegiate school for girls. in 1881 she graduated b.sc. with honours in mathematics and moral science and was the first woman admitted d.sc. (1884). she excelled as a mathematical teacher with original methods, but became known also as a writer and lecturer on general educational sub- jects. from 1895 to 1918 she was headmistress of the north london collegiate school, and served on many important edu- cational committees. in 1904 the hon. degree of litt.d. was conferred on her at dublin university. she met her death in a mountaineering accident near chamonix in 1922. she was last seen alive on aug. 15 and her body was recovered on aug. 28. mrs. bryant published many educational works and several books on early irish history. bryce, james bryce, ist viscount (1838-1922), british politician and man of letters (see 4.699), remained in the united states as british ambassador till 1913, a period of six years. the appointment, criticised at the time as withdrawing from the regular diplomatic corps one of its most coveted posts, proved a great success. the united states had been in the habit of send- ing, as minister or ambassador to the court of st. james, one of its leading citizens—a statesman, a man of letters, or a lawyer —whose name and reputation were already well-known in great britain. for the first time great britain responded in kind. mr. bryce whose eminence as a man of letters had recently been recognised by the grant of the order of merit, and who was already favourably regarded in america as the author of a classical work on the american commonwealth, made himself thoroughly at home in the country; and after the fashion of american ambassadors in england, he took with eagerness and success the rele of public orator on matters outside party politics, so far as his diplomatic duties permitted. these duties he performed to the satisfaction of his own govt. and of the govt. to which he was accredited. the difficulty between the united states and newfoundland about fisheries was referred to the hague tribunal for final settlement. most of 463 the questions with which he had to deal concerned the relations between the united states and canada, and in this connection he paid several visits to canada to confer with the governor- gencral and his ministers. he was criticised, both in england and in canada, for forwarding in 1911, in the course of his duties as ambassador, an arrangement for mutual tariff concessions be- tween the two north american states; but the general election, which put sir r. borden in power as prime minister of canada in place of sir w. laurier, brought the negotiations to an end. at the close of his embassy he told the canadians that probably three-fourths of the business of the british embassy in washing- ton was canadian, and of the 11 or 12 treaties he had signed 9 had been treaties relating to the affairs of canada. ‘‘ by those 9 treaties,” he said, ‘“‘ we have, i hope, dealt with all the questions that are likely to arise between the united states and canada.” lor his services he was created a viscount in 1913, and in tot4 his old university, oxford, gave him an honorary degree (litt. d.). along with other english scholars, who had ties of close - association with german learning and german savants, he was extremely reluctant in the last days of july 1914 to contemplate the possibility of war with germany; but the violation of belgian neutrality and the outrages committed in belgium by german troops brought him speedily into line with national feeling. he was appointed chairman of a committee to consider the evidence of such outrages not only in belgium but in france; and his re- port convinced the most incredulous that the charges were based on fact. he welcomed warmly the entrance of the americans into the war in 1917. he also presided, as an eminent constitu- tional lawyer, over a committee set up in that year to consider the reconstruction of the house of lords, and spent much labour on a task which all parties were disposed to shirk. during these latter years he was largely engaged on the composition of a valuable book, published in two substantial volumes in 1921, on modern democracies, a comparative study of a certain number of popular governments in their actual working. for this monu- mental work he had been gathering material for several years before the war. besides visiting switzerland and other parts of europe, he availed himself of his experiences in the united states and in canada, and journeyed to spanish america, australia and new zealand. while yet another book, international relations, a series of lectures delivered in america, was in the press, lord bryce died, on jan. 22 1922, after a long, full and distinguished career. he married, in 1880, elizabeth marion, daughter of thomas ashton, of hyde, and sister of the 1st lord ashton of hyde. | (g. e. b.) bryusov, valery yakovlovich (1873-1924), russian poet, was born in moscow dec. 13 1873. his early verses are decadent in style, and although they brought him a certain notoriety, were not taken seriously. at one time he was the acknowledged head of the russian “ decadent ”’ school of poetry. the influence of balmont is seen in his earlier work, and of verhaeren in his poems of the town and in his revolt against social evils, e.g., the sionemason. his later poems, however, are more scholarly and rhetorical in subject and style. he also wrote prose, his most interesting work being the historical novel, the flaming angel (1909), and was a great student of pushkin. after the oct. revolution in 1917 he joined the communist party. he died in moscow oct. 9 1924. his poctical works include: tertia vigilia (1901); urbi et orbi (1903); slephanos (1905). bubonic plague: see plague. | buccleuch, william henry walter montagu- douglas-scott, 6th duke of (1831-10914), british politician (see 4.712), died at montagu house, whitehall, london, nov. 5 1914. fis wife, louisa, a daughter of the rst duke of aber- corn, had died at dalkeith march 17 1912. he was succeeded by his son, john charles montagu-douglas-scott (b. 1864), who, as earl of dalkeith, was unionist m. p. for roxburghshire, 1895-1906. buchan, john (1875- ), british athe was born in perth, scotland, aug. 26 1875. educated at glasgow univer- sity and brasenose college, oxford, he had a distinguished 464 career at oxford, where he won the newdigate prize for a poem on the pilgrim fathers and was president of the union society. called to the bar by the middle temple in 1go01, in the same year he became private secretary to lord milner, then high com- missioner for south africa. in r903 he returned to england, and soon became a member of the publishing firm of thomas nelson and sons, edinburgh. during the world war he served on the british headquarters staff, and in 1917 was appointed director of information under the prime minister. after the return of peace he was appointed deputy chairman of reuter’s news agency. as a novelist buchan is probably best known for his tales of adventure, such as john burnet of barns (1898); prester john (1910); the thirty-nine steps (1915); afr. standfast (1919); afidwinier (1923); and john macnab (1925). he wrote also a number of historical books, particularly after the world war, including a popular jistery of the great war. in 1907 he married susan charlotte, daughter of the late hon. norman - grosvenor. bucharest, rumania (see 4.717), had a population of 308,987 in 1917, estimated at 400,000 in 1919. the city has seen considerable industrial development since 1910. after the world war conditions were bad in every way, but the american red cross, which had its headquarters and warehouses in bucharest, did much to encourage reconstruction. the first steps towards putting in force the ostend agreement, which provides for the settlement of the city’s external obligations, were taken in sept. 1925. an american company and the municipality came to an agreement for the erection of a hydroelectric power station on the arges river to supply power for the industries of the city and neighbourhood. events during the war.—the fortress was evacuated as a result of an unsuccessful battle in the foreground at the end of nov. 1916. the arsenal was blown up on dec. 4, and the germans under mackensen entered without opposition on dec. 6. the rumanian capital was removed to jassy until after the armistice. during the german occupation there was much destruction and thieving, but the city was thoroughly cleansed. buchner, eduard (1860-1917), german chemist, was born at munich may 20 1860. he became a professor at the uni- versity of berlin in 1898 and subsequently accepted similar ap- pointments at breslau (1909) and wiirzburg (1911). he devoted himself to researches in connection with fermentation and en- zyme action. in 1903 he was able to confirm traube’s theory by demonstrating that the active cause of alcoholic fermentation is due to the action of different enzymes contained in yeast and not to the yeast cell itself. concerning the physiological nature and meaning of fermentation he showed that a ferment (zymase) can be extracted from yeast cells which causes sugar to break up into carbon dioxide and alcohol. buchner, who gained the nobel prize for chemistry in 1907, was killed in the world war on aug. 24 i917. buckle, george earle (1854— ), british man of let- ters, was born at twerton, near bath, june 10 1854, the eldest son of rev. george buckle, canon of wells. he was educated at winchester and new college, oxford, being a scholar of both colleges, and graduated first class both in jiferae humaniores (1876) and in modern history (1877). he won the newdigate prize in 1875. from 1877 to 1885: he was a fellow of all souls college. in 1880 he joined the editorial staff of the times, london; four years later, while still under 30, he suc- ceeded thomas chenery as its editor. this position he occupied for more than 28 years, retiring in aug. 1912. when mr. monypenny, the biographer originally entrusted with the official life of disraeli, died in 1912, leaving his task unfinished, mr. buckle took over the work of completing it; under his author- ship vol. 3, 4, 5 and 6 were published between 1914 and 1920. mr. buckle also edited the letters of queen victoria, second series (1862-78), 2 vol., published in 1926. buckmaster, stanley owen, rst baron (1861- ys english lawyer, was born jan. 9 1861 and educated at christ church, oxford. he was called to the bar, and after a short time began to practice in the chancery courts. an advocate of con- bucharest—buddhism siderable skill, in 1902 he became a k.c. in 1906 he successfully contested cambridge in the liberal interest, and revealed unu- sual oratorical powers, which he also showed in the house of commons. defeated at the general election of 1gro, he re- entered the house in rg11t as member for keighley, and, in 1913, was appointed solicitor-general, being knighted in the same year. in may rors sir stanley buckmaster was appointed lord chancellor and was raised to the peerage in the following month. here he was energetic, receptive of new ideas and powerful in debate; while, as a judge, he was sound without being brilliant. in 1916 he went out of office with mr. asquith; but he continued to sit in a judicial capacity in the lords. he became prominent also as a strong advocate of divorce law reform, taking the civil rather than the ecclesiastical view of marriage. in 1926 he accepted the chairmanship of an important commercial undertaking. buckner, simon bolivar (1823-10914), american soldier and political leader (see 4.732), died in munfordville, ky., jan. 81914. he was the last surviving major-general of the confeder- acy and the then oldest living graduate of west point military academy. budapest (see 4.734), capital of hiungary, remains the political, commercial and intellectual centre of the country, but its development came to a standstill during the world war. in 1910 the civil population was 863,735, showing an increase of 20-5% on the previous decade. in 1920 it was 928,996. the city suffered severely during the bolshevik ascendancy after 1918, and from looting by the rumanian troops who occupied it from aug. to nov. 1919 in disregard of the decisions of the other allied powers. the cessation of building during and after the war, together with the influx into the capital of thousands of refugees and unemployed officials from the terri- tories detached from hlungary by the treaty of trianon, created a terrible housing shortage. a faculty of political economy was founded at the university in 1919, and the geological and mete- orological institutes were also established after the war. the new rampart below the matthias church, on the heights of buda, with a bronze statue of st. stephen, commands a magnifi- cent view of the river and of the city. at the northern extremity is the new building of the national archives. work on the reconstruction of the docks was started in 1922, and in the following year capital was obtained from a french syndicate to enable it to be carried forward on a larger scale. the city lives chiefly by its milling industry, which has a capac- ity greater than that of any other european city, but owing to the high import duties on grain coming into hungary and the unwillingness of the former customers of hungary to accept their cereal imports in the form of flour, the industry was seri- ously depressed. in feb. 1925 it was still only working up to 25% of its capacity. owing to the policy of high protection adopted by the hun- garian govt. to counter the commercial hostility of the other suc- cession states a number of new industries have arisen in and around budapest, notably in the textile and chemical trades. the machine industry, which worked at full power during the war, employed 50,c00 workers in 1923, but the numbers have since declined. budapest was, though in a less degree than vienna, a great financial centre for southeast europe, and the cessation of financial business brought ruin to many great houses. the position began to improve after the financial reconstruction of 1924. in jan. 1925 an international committee of enquiry met at basle, by agreement with the budapest authorities, to examine the financial position of the city in the interests of the bondholders. it was agreed that {140,000 raised by taxes on tramway tickets and electric-light supply should be paid in 1924, and £168,c00 1n 1925.