Chapter II: REDUCTION OF SOLUTIONS:--The reduction of the solution to the proper (4)

=FARDEL-BOUND.= _Syn._ CLUE-BOUND, WOOD-EVIL. An affection of the third stomach of cattle, induced by their unduly partaking of coarse indigestible food. Cattle are most commonly attacked by fardel in summer and autumn, when they are able to get at tough, strong, and hard grass. It is also frequently caused by rye-grass in seed and ripe vetches, as well as by eating largely of the shoots of trees or the cuttings of hedges, a circumstance which has given rise to the disease being called 'wood-evil.' Sometimes an attack may be brought on through over-feeding, combined with a deficiency of water. The symptoms vary greatly in intensity, and are often some days before they definitely manifest themselves. The animal ceases to ruminate, refuses food, and, if a cow, the secretion of milk is stopped. Then, after a day or two fever (indicated by heat and dryness in the nose and mouth) comes on, with somewhat quickened circulation and breathing, the breathing by the second or third day being accompanied by a grunt at the beginning and end of respiration, which is very noticeable when an attempt is made to move the animal.

In all attacks the animal suffers from obstinate constipation. The first stomach is frequently much distended, and if any fæces are passed they are caked, dark coloured, and of variable consistence.

When the disease is attended with most of these symptoms, the animal may live ten days or a fortnight; but unless relief is afforded, nausea very frequently sets in, and continues to increase, the pulse at the same time getting gradually weaker, and the strength failing. In some instances the animal has an epileptic fit, and in others death is preceded by great stupor; whilst in others, again, if it be a horse, it is attacked with stomach staggers.

"The _treatment_ consists in removing the obstinate constipation by powerful purgatives, advantage being taken to gain their utmost efficacy by combining several together, and giving them along with plenty of fluid.

"Three-quarters of a pound each of Epsom and of common salt, twenty croton beans, and a drachm of calomel, will suffice for a full-grown, middle-sized ox or cow, and must be administered in three or four bottles of water or very thin gruel. In this disease there is little fear of giving too much medicine.

"The action of the purgatives is greatly expedited by the use of occasional stimulants, which in diseases of the digestive organs of cattle may be given without fear of engendering or aggravating inflammation. Every encouragement must be used to get the animal to drink, for large quantities of fluid are obviously most essential in washing out the obstruction which causes the evil. The cessation of the grunt, the passage of some hard cakes of dung, with the subsequent abatement of the fever, are the signs of amendment for which we watch; but even after the first movement of the bowels considerable attention, a sloppy diet, and several doses of purgative medicine, are requisite to empty the canal and prevent the recurrence of the obstruction. If twenty hours elapse after the administration of the above combination without any action of the bowels, the same dose may be repeated, along with a good quantity of some stimulant, such as a bottle of ale, with two ounces of oil of turpentine and two ounces of ginger. Half the quantity of the purgative may be given at the end of a like interval, if no effect be produced; but the further employment of purgatives is injurious, inasmuch as it increases the nausea without expediting the action of the bowels.

"A week will sometimes elapse without any alvine evacuation; in some cases I have known ten or eleven days, and in some fifteen days. Yet even in these recovery took place; and so long as stupor and frenzy are staved off, there is always hope of a cure. After the prompt and energetic adoption of the treatment recommended, little further remains to be done except to withhold all solid indigestible food, administer frequent quantities of water, or any simple fluid, which must be horned over if the beast will not take it; allow also plenty of treacle, and encourage the action of the medicine by clysters, scalding the belly, and occasional exercise. Blood-letting is not only useless, but even injurious." (FINLAY DUN.)

=FAR'INA.= The flour of any species of corn, pulse, tuber, or starchy root. The most important kinds of farina are noticed under their respective heads. The following dietetic articles of a farinaceous character are extensively advertised:--

BAKER'S ALIMENTARY COMPOUND. Fine flour (pastrycook's), 2 parts; finely ground rice, 1 part.

BASTER'S COMPOUND FARINA. Wheat flour, 14 oz.; white sugar, 2 oz.

BRADEN'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Similar to Hard's (_below_).

BRIGHT'S NUTRITIOUS FARINA. Rice flour and potato starch, equal parts.

BRIGHT'S BREAKFAST POWDER. Chocolate, 1 part; nutritious farina (Bright's) 2 parts.

BULLOCK'S SEMOLA. Wheat flour, from which a portion of the starch has been removed, so as to leave an excess of gluten.

DENHAM'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Wheat flour, 3 parts; barley meal, 1 part; the mixture is slightly baked, and again ground and sifted. Said to be slightly laxative.

DURYEA'S MAIZENA. Indian corn starch prepared for food.

GARDINER'S ALIMENTARY PREPARATION. Pure rice flour, very finely ground.

HARD'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Wheat flour, slightly baked, and resifted.

KINGSFORD'S OSWEGO PREPARED CORN. An excellent preparation of Indian corn.

LEATH'S ALIMENTARY FARINA. Wheat flour (baked), with some sugar, Indian corn meal, and tapioca. According to some, it also contains potato starch.

MAIDMAN'S NUTRITIOUS FARINA. Potato starch tinged with beet-root or other pink colouring matter.

PLUMBE'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. South-sea arrow-root, with about 1-3rd its weight of pea flour.

POLSON'S CORN FLOUR. The starch of Indian corn or maize prepared with great care. It is much used as a substitute for arrow-root, and for custards, puddings, &c.

SMITH'S NURSING FARINA. Equal parts of baked wheat flour and rice flour.

_Obs._ Many of the above compounds are deficient in the nitrogenous elements of nutrition, and all of them nearly destitute of the mineral and saline matters which are absolutely necessary to the formation of the bones and tissues, and the support of the body in health, and are consequently utterly unsuitable as an exclusive article of diet, especially for young children. Unfortunately, it has been too much the fashion of medical men of late years to recommend these compounds, and even to furnish testimonials as to their excellence, apparently relying solely on the representation of their proprietors or vendors. We deem it, however, to be a public duty to caution parents and nurses against their injudicious use. As mere adjuvants or auxiliaries, when the natural food supplied by the mother may be insufficient for the nutrition of the infant, some of them may doubtless be of value; but in all other cases they should be largely combined with pure cow's milk, beef tea, meat broths or gravies, eggs, or other substances rich in the nitrogenous and saline elements of nutrition.

=FARM'ING.= The business or management of a FARM. Formerly farming was looked upon as a profession easily understood, and successfully pursued only by an empiric. It is now, however, regarded in a different light, and the farmer, to succeed, not only requires perseverance and observation, but also a sound knowledge of natural sciences. See BUTTER, CHEESE, IMPLEMENTS, MANURES, SOILS, &c.

=FARMS, SEWAGE.= See SEWAGE FARMS.

=FAT.= _Syn._ ADEPS, L. The fat of animals is a concrete oil contained in the cellular membrane of their bodies, more especially round the kidneys, in the folds of the omentum, at the base of the heart, upon the surface of the intestines, and among many of the muscles. Fat varies in consistence, colour, and odour, with the animal from which it is obtained. That of the carnivora is usually soft and rank-flavoured; that of the ruminantia solid and nearly scentless. It is generally whitest and most copious in the well-fed young animal, and yellowish and more scanty in the old. That under the skin and surrounding the kidneys (suet) is also more solid than that in the neighbourhood of the movable viscera. In the cetacea, or whale tribe, the fatty secretion assumes the form of oil. These variations in consistency depend upon the relative proportions of solid stearin and liquid olein present in the fat.

The vegetable fats are found in various parts of certain plants, but are generally most abundant in the seeds. They are extracted by simple pressure or else by boiling. Two kinds of vegetable fat, namely, palm-oil and cocoa-nut oil, are extensively employed in the useful arts.

All fats are lighter than water. They are all soluble in ether, benzol, and turpentine, and may be mixed with each other in any proportion.

In former times the fats of many animals were employed in pharmacy, but at present those principally used are lard and suet. In perfumery, in addition to these, beef marrow and bear's grease are employed. For both these purposes the crude material is cut into small pieces, and freed as much as possible from all extraneous membranes; after which it is placed in a boiler with water, and heated until it is completely fused, when the whole is strained, and allowed to cool very slowly. By this means a cake of cleansed fat is obtained, which may be readily separated from any adhering water.

Fats and the fat oils are best preserved by being run into glazed jars, and secluded from the action of the air. A little benzoic acid or gum-benzoin, dissolved in them by heat, will generally prevent, and in all cases greatly defer, the accession of rancidity. We introduced this method into the laboratory in our early days of manipulation, and ourselves, and others to whom we have made it known, have since employed it with undeviating advantage in the manufacture of cerates, ointments, and other preparations containing fatty matter or the fixed oils. It has been shown by Dr Griesler that nitric ether, and its alcoholic solution, act in the same manner. A few drops are not only sufficient to prevent rancidity, but, it is said, will even destroy the disagreeable odour of rancid fat. When heated to remove the alcohol, they immediately become bright, clear, and scentless. See OIL, GLYCERIN, OLEIN, PALMITIN, STEARIN, TALLOW, &c., also _below_.

=Fat, to melt down.= Let all the small pieces of fat cut off joints, &c., be collected, divided into small pieces, put in a stew pan (a little water being added to prevent their burning), and placed on the fire. This must be stirred carefully at intervals to prevent any of the pieces of fat sticking to the bottom.

When thoroughly melted (which it will be in about an hour and a half) pour through a strainer into a basin with some cold water in it. Thus prepared, dripping or fat may be used instead of suet, and there are few who would know any difference between them. Dripping, if clarified as above, may be used over and over again for frying, provided it has not been previously employed in dressing fish, in which case it will impart a fishy taste. But it can be used repeatedly for fish if it is kept for that purpose only. The skimmings off the top of the saucepans, while a piece of meat is boiling, will also do capitally for light puddings.[296]

[Footnote 296: 'Artisan Cookery.' Griffith and Farran.]

=FAT'TY ACIDS.= In _chemistry_, compounds having acid properties derived from the various fats and oils. The radicals of these acids exist in the natural fats combined with a base called glyceryl. When fats are saponified by an alkali, stearate, palmitate, and oleate of potassa or soda, as the case may be, are produced and glycerin is set free. On decomposing either of these compounds with sulphuric acid a sulphate of the alkali is formed, and the fatty acid is precipitated. Some of the fatty acids, as stearic, cerotic, palmitic, and lauric, are solid at ordinary temperatures; others, as oleic, are liquid. The hard fatty acids are extensively used as candle materials, being superior in every respect to the natural fats from which they are derived.

=FAT'TENING.= Until comparatively a recent date, the plan used to fatten domestic animals was to prevent their taking exercise, and to gorge them with food. The excessive fat produced by these means was, however, found to be far from wholesome, and was less delicate than that arising in the natural way. This system was therefore gradually abandoned in favour of the present one, which consists in supplying the animal with abundance of wholesome food, and with the means of taking exercise as far as the disposition or feelings dictate. Hence the farmers "in the most enlightened districts, such as Berwickshire, East Lothian, &c., instead of tying up their fattening cattle in stables like horses, and placing their food before them, put two or three together in small yards with sheds attached, in which they can run about, eat when they choose, and take shelter from the rain, or cold, or the sun, at pleasure, under the open shed. Swine are treated in the same manner, and also spring lambs that are fattened for the market. Poultry are no longer kept in coops and crammed, or rabbits in hutches; but the former are allowed to take exercise in fields sown with various herbs, and the latter are kept in a species of artificial warren, where they can take exercise by burrowing." (Loudon.)

=FAVOURITE PRESCRIPTION (Dr Pierce's)= for the cure of those chronic weaknesses and complaints peculiar to females. 280 grammes of a turbid greenish-brown fluid with a bulky deposit of the same colour, made according to the following recipe:--Savin tops, 10 grammes; larch agaric and cinnamon, of each 5 grammes; China Jaën (ash cinchona bark), 10 grammes; boil with sufficient water to make 220 grammes when strained. Dissolve in the filtrate gum Arabic, 10 grammes; white sugar, 5 grammes; and add tinct. digitalis and tinct. opii, of each 2 grammes; star anise oil, 8 drops; 90 per cent. spirit, 45 grammes. (Hager.)

=FEAR.= Although fear is a depressing and debilitating emotion, and sometimes acts prejudicially on the health, it frequently acts as a curative or preventive of disease. It is a well-known fact that females who are the most faint-hearted and desponding during the period of their sex's trial, generally experience a more rapid convalescence than those who are more confident and resolute. During the raging of an epidemic fear generally induces temperance, cleanliness, and the adoption of other precautions which tend powerfully to prevent disease. Boerhaave, according to Pereira, is said to have prevented the occurrence of epileptic attack (brought on by the sight of a person falling down in a fit in the sight of the hospital patients), by directing a red-hot iron to be applied to the person who should next be affected.

=FEA'THERS.= Ostrich feathers are those most esteemed as articles of personal decoration, and goose feathers for beds; but the feathers of other birds are commonly used for both purposes.

Feathers are prepared for ornamental purposes by scouring them with white soap-and-water (1 oz. to the pint), used hot; they are next well rinsed in several successive portions of pure water, and after being drained and shaken, are, lastly, passed through water slightly blued with pure indigo, and dried out of the dust. When dry, the ribs are generally rubbed with a piece of glass, having a curved notch in it, for the purpose of increasing their pliancy, and the filaments are curled by drawing them, between the edge of a blunt knife and the ball of the thumb of the hand which holds it.

=Feathers, Bleaching of:=--

A new trade has sprung up within the past ten years, by which black, brown, or grey feathers are bleached sufficiently to enable them to be dyed any required colour.

The process is as follows:--The feathers are first thoroughly washed with soap-and-water, to free them from any oil they may contain. They are next transferred to a bath composed of bichromate of potash dissolved in water, to which has been added a few drops of nitric or sulphuric acid. In this bath they rapidly lose their black, brown, or grey colour, and become almost white. On being removed from this bath they are well rinsed in water, and are then fit to be dyed, even the most delicate colour. Great care is required in the process, as the flue of the feather is apt to be destroyed, if kept too long in the bath. A bleached feather may be readily known by the yellow colour of its stem.

Other methods have been adopted, such as a bath of chloride of lime, peroxide of hydrogen, or sulphurous acid, &c., but the bichromate bath gives the best results.

=Feathers, Dyeing of:=--

BLACK. By immersion for 2 or 3 days in a bath (at first hot) of logwood, 8 parts, and copperas or acetate of iron, (about) 1 part.

BLUE. With the indigo vat.

BROWN. By any of the brown dyes for silk or woollen.

CRIMSON. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot bath of brazil wood, and afterwards by a weak one of cudbear.

PINK or ROSE. With safflower and lemon juice.

PLUM. The red dye, followed by alkaline bath.

RED. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot brazil-wood bath.

YELLOW. From an alum mordant, followed by a bath of turmeric or weld. Other shades may be obtained by a mixture of the above dyes.

Feathers may also be dyed by simple immersion, for two or three minutes, in a bath of any of the aniline colours.

Goose feathers for BEDS are generally PURIFIED by simply exposing them to the sun or in a stove until perfectly dry, and then beating them to remove loose dirt. When carelessly collected and dirty, they are sometimes first cleansed with lime water, or, better still, with a weak solution of carbonate of soda, or water to which a little solution of chloride of lime has been added; after which they are rinsed in clean water, and dried or stoved as before. Old feathers are cleansed or purified in the same way.

=FEB'RIFUGES.= _Syn._ FEBRIFUGA, L. In pharmacy, substances or agents which cure or alleviate fever. The term is more particularly applied to medicines used against the ague, as CINCHONA BARK and ARSENIOUS ACID, and their preparations. The extreme value of cold water, as a drink in ardent fever, has been known in all ages. In 1723 Dr Hancocke published a work entitled--'Febrifugum Magnum, or Common Water the best Cure for Fevers, and probably for the Plague,' which in a short time ran through several large editions, but appears to have been overlooked by the hydropaths of the present day.

=FEC'ULA.= _Syn._ FÆCULA, L. The matter which subsides from cold water in which bruised or rasped vegetable substances have been washed. The fecula obtained from the seeds of the cereals and leguminosæ, and from tuberous or bulbous roots, consists of nearly pure STARCH. In some cases the starch is associated with the green colouring matter (CHLOROPHYLL) and the narcotic principles of the vegetables which yield it. The green fecula obtained by straining the expressed juices of the leaves and herbaceous parts of plants is of this character.

The fecula of all the amylaceous roots, rhizomes, and tubers, may be easily obtained, on the small scale, by rasping them, pressing, and working the pulp in cold water, and after straining the resulting milky liquid through a hair sieve, allowing it to settle. The sediment may be again washed by diffusion through clean cold water, and must be, lastly, collected, and dried out of the dust, and, without artificial heat.

The fecula of narcotic plants for medicinal purposes is obtained by allowing the expressed juice to repose for 24 hours, and then decanting the clear portion, and drying the residue. Sometimes heat is employed. See ARROW-ROOT, STARCH, &c.

=FEEDING BOTTLES.= We extract from 'The Sanitary Record' the following valuable paper on 'Feeding Bottles,' by Dr Eustace Smith, assistant-physician to the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, and Physician to the East London Hospital for Children:--"In the artificial rearing of infants it is of importance that food should be given to them from a feeding-bottle. By this means the natural method of taking nourishment is imitated; the muscles of the mouth and cheeks are brought into play; and the secretion of saliva--a secretion which, very scanty at birth, becomes gradually more copious and takes so active a part in digestion--is encouraged and increased.

"Almost all babies will take their food more readily by this method, their instinct teaching them to suck everything that is put into their mouths. Even in cases where a deficiency in the hard palate presents so great an obstacle to sucking, on account of the impossibility of creating the necessary vacuum in the mouth, the difficulty can be overcome by a simple mechanical contrivance. Therefore, in every case of hand-feeding, a suitable bottle is the first thing to be desired.

"To be satisfactory a feeding-bottle must fulfil three indispensable conditions: it must be simple in construction and easily manageable; it must be capable of being readily cleaned; and in its use the milk must flow easily and without great effort on the part of the infant. The ordinary feeder in use at the present time consists of a flattened glass flask, closed at the mouth by a cap, which fits over the neck. A caoutchouc tube passes through the cap, and is connected inside the bottle with a straight glass pipe. The other end of the elastic tube is attached to the teat, or mouth-piece, by means of a short hollow cylinder called the 'union-joint.' The teat is firmly fixed to this by means of the shield. In the construction of the cap and union-joint, metal, earthenware, or wood, is employed. The metal used by the best makers is tin, and this, if cleanliness be properly attended to, is not objectionable. In cheaper bottles, sold in the shops for sixpence, the mouth is closed by a perforated cork, through which the flexible tube passes. Here there is no cap, but in all essential points the construction is the same as in the more expensive articles.

"In this apparatus it is important that the channel through the tubes should be perfectly free. The point at which the channel is narrowest is the union-joint, which connects the mouth-piece with the flexible tube. In a badly made bottle an impediment may exist at this point from carelessness in the manufacture, and may present a great obstacle to the ready passage of the fluid. Care also should be taken that the flexible tube passes completely through the cap, before it becomes connected with the glass pipe. This is very important. In the early feeding-bottles constructed upon this model by O'Connel, the glass pipe passed from within the bottle through the cap, and was attached outside this to the caoutchouc tube. It was thus held rigidly in the centre of the bottle, and as a natural consequence, when the apparatus was in use, unless the bottle was held upright during the whole meal, long before its contents were exhausted the milk ceased to flow, as the end of the pipe soon came to be above the surface of the fluid, which necessarily gravitated to the lowest part as the bottle lay on its side.

"When, however, the connection between the two tubes is made within instead of outside the bottle, this disadvantage no longer exists, for the glass tube being free to move, its end is able to sink to whichever side of the bottle is undermost, and therefore always remains below the level of the fluid. The best bottles have a small cylindrical stop, _i.e._ a thick ring of metal or wood placed within the flexible tube, just above its junction with the glass pipe. The object of this is to prevent the latter being drawn through the cap, and thus held rigidly in the centre of the bottle.

"The method of connection of the cap with the neck of the bottle is not unimportant. It should not be too tight or air will be prevented from entering the bottle to supply the place of the milk which is withdrawn. A common plan is to line the interior of the cap with cork, but this substance, besides its risk of being broken and detached by careless handling, has the further disadvantage of absorbing milk, which turns sour and may afterwards set up fermentation in fresh milk put into the bottle for a subsequent meal. In the best bottles the cap is constructed to screw on to the neck, as in the 'Alexandra' Feeding bottle made by the Messrs Maw; or is united to it by an application of the 'bayonet catch,' as in the 'Improved' feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch and Son. In this very admirable apparatus three grooves in the inside of the cap pass over corresponding projections on the neck of the bottle; the cap is then turned to the right, with a slight screwing motion, and becomes securely fastened.

"With badly made bottles infants often have very great difficulty in drawing up the milk, and can only do so by violent efforts, which soon exhaust their strength or their patience. There are two reasons why milk in these cases may not flow easily--either the cap fits too tightly, so that air cannot enter with sufficient facility in proportion as the liquid contents become diminished, as has just been mentioned; or the caoutchouc forming the flexible tube is too thin, so that it collapses when suction is applied. In the first case a small hole should be made through the cap, so as to allow a free admission of air, or if the bottle be a simpler one, closed at the mouth by a perforated cork, this may be slightly eased at the neck of the bottle, so as to fit less closely. In the second case, stouter caoutchouc should be used in the construction of the tube. In weakly infants, or those much reduced in strength by acute disease, special attention should be paid to these points, as such children will often refuse to take the bottle, if they find any difficulty in drawing up the milk.

"Infants born with a cleft palate cannot suck from an ordinary bottle, as the deficiency in the hard palate prevents the necessary vacuum being formed in the mouth. Such children are, therefore, usually brought up with a spoon, and often waste and die through insufficient nourishment. An ingenious contrivance first suggested by Mr Oakley Coles will, however, entirely remove the difficulty, and enable them to suck with as much ease as if they suffered from no such congenital difficulty. The plan is a very simple one, and consists in attaching to the nipple of any ordinary feeding-bottle a flap of sheet elastic, cut to fit the roof of the mouth. This flap must be of the shape and about the size of the bowl of a teaspoon, and is to be sewn to the upper part of the stalk of the teat, where this projects from the shield. In the mouth of the child the flap forms an artificial palate, which if the sheet elastic chosen be sufficiently stout, offers firm resistance to the tongue pressing against in sucking, and prevents fluid from passing into the nose in the act of swallowing.

"The closest attention must be paid to the cleaning of feeding-bottles. Each time after being used the whole apparatus should be well washed out with water containing a little soda in solution.

"The inside of the cap must be carefully cleaned, and the brush should be carried several times through the whole length of the tubing. Afterwards the bottle and tubes should be laid in cold water until again wanted. An objection to the common brush usually supplied with each feeder is, that after a few days' use the softened bristles are apt to get detached and be caught in the joints of the tubing, whence they may afterwards be washed by the stream of fluid and be swallowed by the child. Accordingly, a new cleaner has been manufactured by Messrs Maw and Sons, in which bristles are entirely dispensed with. They are replaced by a thin strip of caoutchouc, which is wound round in a spiral form, at the end of the ordinary wire handle. This instrument answers all the purposes of a brush, without the disadvantages alluded to, and is besides far more durable.

"Excellent feeding-bottles are now made by many different manufacturers, and are sold at prices which place them within the reach of the poorest. These cannot all be mentioned, but some of the bottles more commonly met with, may be shortly referred to. The six-penny feeder made by Messrs Maw, Son, and Thompson, can be recommended for its simplicity of construction, and at the same time for its perfect efficiency. In this instrument there is no cap, instead the mouth of the bottle is closed by a cork, which is perforated for the passage of the flexible tube. In all other respects the construction of this apparatus is the same as in the more expensive instruments. The 'Alexandra' feeding-bottle, price half-a-crown, by the same makers, is an admirable bottle. The cap screws on to the neck, and is furnished with a small hole for the admission of air. A 'stop' in the lower part of the flexible tube prevents the glass pipe being drawn into the cap, and the instrument is supplied with all the latest improvements. The bottles made by Messrs Maw are all furnished with the new patent cleaner just described. The improved feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch and Son, at one shilling and eighteen pence, has been before referred to. The material used for the cap is boxwood. It is a capital bottle, and will give the fullest satisfaction to the purchaser. Mr Lang's 'Alma Mater' feeding-bottle can also be recommended. In this instrument the cap is made of earthenware and is lined with cork. A good bottle is made by Mr Elam, of Oxford Street, price two shillings; the cap is formed of britannia metal, and screws on to the neck. A cheaper bottle, but one which for elegance of design and accuracy of detail cannot be surpassed, is Mr Mather's 'Princess' feeding-bottle. A tin cup screws on the neck, and is pierced by a small hole for the admission of air. The opening is fitted with a 'cone valve' of simple and ingenious construction, which allows air to enter freely when suction is applied to the tube, but closes firmly against any escape through the air-hole of the fluid contents of the bottle. The bottle itself has a double curve towards the neck to provide against too sudden bending of the flexible tube against the tap. This is apt to happen when the curve is single, if the bottle lie with the convexity downwards, and partial obstruction of the tube may be the result. The 'Princess' feeding-bottle is sold in the shops for eighteen pence.

"All bottles bear their name in raised letters upon the glass, but a report which has obtained currency that these letters are hollow in the interior, and difficult to cleanse is without any foundation in fact. Any one may test this for himself by placing a finger within the bottle underneath the letters, when the internal surface will be found perfectly plain and uniform. In all cases where cork enters into the construction of a feeding-bottle, especial care should be taken in cleansing the apparatus, and the cork should be well soaked in soda and water in order that any sour milk it may contain may be neutralised at once."

=FEET (The).= To preserve the feet in a proper condition, they should be frequently soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid water. The nails of the toes should be pared, to prevent their becoming inconveniently long, and from growing into the flesh, soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid water. Many persons suffer severely from TENDER FEET. This generally arises from the use of thin cotton or silk stockings, and boots or shoes that are either too tight or stiff, or not sufficiently porous to permit of the escape of the perspiration. Waterproof boots and shoes which are also air-tight (as those of gutta percha and India rubber), are common causes of tender feet, and even of headaches, dyspepsia, and apoplexy. The best treatment of tender feet is the immediate adoption of worsted stockings or socks, and light, easy shoes of buckskin, goatskin, or some other equally soft kind of leather. It is highly necessary for the preservation of health to preserve the feet DRY; persons who are, therefore, exposed to the wet, or who are frequently passengers through the public streets in bad weather, should regard sound and good boots and shoes as of the first importance. In fact, in a hygienic point of view, a wet back should be less shunned than wet feet. Many persons frequently experience EXTREME COLDNESS and NUMBNESS OF THE FEET. The best and most natural remedy for this is active exercise or friction, the former being always adopted when possible. In such cases the use of warm woollen stockings is absolutely necessary, and the debilitated and aged may advantageously keep them on throughout the night, or at all events until the feet acquire a comfortable degree of warmth. The DISAGREEABLE ODOUR which is evolved by the feet of some individuals in hot weather may be removed by the observance of extreme cleanliness, and by occasionally soaking the feet in warm water, to which a small quantity of chloride of lime or sal ammoniac has been added. A good deodoriser for unpleasant smelling feet is said to be the following, invented by M Paulcke:--A mixture of equal parts of salicylic acid, soap, talc, and starch, to be applied in the form of powder.

DISTORTION OF THE FEET is not uncommon in childhood, being sometimes congenital, but as frequently the result of weakness or bad nursing. "A child with its feet turned inwards is called VARUS; when they are turned outwards it is styled VALGUS. The proper use of bandages, early applied, will generally correct these deformities; but if they be neglected in infancy they become incurable." ('Med. Lex.') CLUBFOOT, of which there are several varieties, may also be frequently relieved by a simple surgical operation. See BOOTS and SHOES, DISTORTIONS.

=FELT'ING.= This is a process by which various species of fur, hair, and wool, are blended into a compact texture, in many respects resembling cloth. It depends on the peculiar anatomical construction of these substances, enabling them to interlace and intertwine with each other, by which they become permanently matted together. Felt was formerly chiefly employed for hats. It is now commonly used for mill-bands, filters, &c.; and when varnished or japanned, or saturated with asphalte or bitumen, is a durable substitute for japanned leather, and for roofing.

=FENNEL.= _Syn._ F[OE]NICULUM (Ph. L.), L. The fruit (seed) of _F[oe]niculum dulce_, or sweet fennel; the oil distilled from the fruit (OIL OF FENNEL; OLEUM F[OE]NICULI, L.) as well as a distilled water (FENNEL WATER; AQUA F[OE]NICULI, L.), are officinal in the Pharmacop[oe]ias. They are stimulant and carminative; but are now seldom employed.

=FEN'UGREEK.= The seeds of _Trigonella F[oe]num Græcum_. Resolvent and stomachic. The seeds dye yellow; formerly roasted for coffee; now chiefly employed in veterinary medicine.

=FER'MENT.= _Syn._ FERMENTUM, L. A substance which induces fermentation. According to one view ferments are compounds whose decomposition proceeds simultaneously with that of the body undergoing metamorphosis. They all contain albuminous or azotised principles, which in a moist state putrefy and suffer decomposition. According to Pasteur, however, fermentation is excited by living organisms--fungi and infusoria. See FERMENTATION and YEAST.

=FERMENTA'TION.= _Syn._ FERMENTATIO, L. In _chemistry_, a peculiar metamorphosis of a complex organic substance, by a transposition of its elements under the agency of an external disturbing force. Fermentation, according to the theory proposed by Liebig, is a metamorphosis, by which the elements of a complex molecule group themselves so as to form more intimate and stable compounds. It is excited by the contact of all bodies the elements of which are in a state of active decomposition or fermentation. "In nitrogenised substances of a very complex constitution, putrefaction or fermentation is spontaneously established when water is present, and the temperature sufficiently high, and it continues till the original compounds are wholly destroyed. Substances destitute of nitrogen, on the contrary, require, in order to their undergoing this metamorphosis, the presence of a nitrogenised substance, already in a state of putrefaction (fermentation)." (Liebig.) The substances which promote this change are termed FERMENTS, and among these the principal are gliadin, gluten, vegetable albumen, and all nitrogenous substances in a state of spontaneous decomposition or fermentation. "It is imagined that when these substances, in the act of undergoing change, are brought into contact with neutral ternary compounds of small stability, as sugar, the molecular disturbance of the body, already in a state of decomposition, may be, as it were, propagated to the other, and bring about the destruction of the equilibrium of forces to which it owes its being. The complex body, under these circumstances, breaks up into simpler products, which possess greater permanence." (Fownes.) YEAST, the ferment most commonly employed for inducing the vinous fermentation, is such a substance in an active state of putrefaction, and whose atoms are in continual motion. Putrefying animal substances are equally capable of exciting the same action. "If we add to a solution of pure sugar an albuminous substance, a caseous or fleshy matter, the development of yeast becomes manifest, and an additional quantity of it is found at the end of the operation. Thus, with nourishment, ferment engenders ferment. It is for this reason that a little fermenting must, added to a body of fresh grape juice, excite fermentation in the whole mass. These effects are not confined to alcoholic (vinous) fermentation. The smallest portion of sour milk, of sour dough, or sour juice of beet-root, of putrefied flesh and blood, occasions like alterations in fresh milk, dough, juice of beet-root, flesh, and blood. But further, and which is a very curious circumstance, if we put into a liquid containing any fermenting substance another in a sound state, the latter would suffer decomposition under the influence of the former. If we place urea in the presence of beer-yeast, it experiences no change; while if we add it to sugar-water in a fermenting state, the urea is converted into carbonate of ammonia. "We thus possess two modes of decomposition; the one direct, the other indirect." (Ure.)

A very remarkable circumstance connected with fermentation is that it is always accompanied by the development of microscopic living organism--fungi and infusoria. "So constantly, indeed, is this the case, that many chemists and physiologists regard these organisms as the existing cause of fermentation and putrefaction; and this view appears to be corroborated by the fact that each particular kind of fermentation takes place most readily in contact with certain living organisms." (Fownes.) Thus the vinous or alcohol-producing fermentation is accompanied, or caused, by two fungi, called _Torula cerevisiæ_ and _Penicillium glaucum_; the acetous or vinegar-producing fermentation by _Torula aceti_; the lactous fermentation (souring of milk) by _Penicillium glaucum_.

The butyric fermentation by an animal--an _infusorium_, which cannot exist in free oxygen, but flourishes in an atmosphere of hydrogen, &c.

Of late years these latter views as to the cause of fermentation have been accepted by most of the scientific world, notwithstanding the opposition they experienced from so powerful an antagonist as Liebig.

From the researches of Pasteur, the distinguished author of the modern theory of fermentation, as opposed to the chemico-physical theory of Liebig, it appears that when yeast is placed in a solution of sugar and water, or in a solution of sugar and water containing albuminous substances, under proper conditions as to temperature, the fermentation that ensues is due to the process of growth taking place in the yeast plant; the new cells of which, in assimilating part of the sugar and converting it into cellulose and fat, cause, at the same time, the breaking up of the sugar molecule, and resolve it into the more stable combinations of alcohol and carbonic acid.

In order that the ferment or fungus should grow it is essential that, in addition to the cellulose and fat, it should be supplied with ammoniacal salts and soluble phosphates. These are generally present in the liquid about to be fermented; but when yeast is added to pure sugar and water "it lives at the expense of the sugar, and of the nitrogenous and mineral substances contained within itself."[297]

[Footnote 297: Pasteur.]

Speaking of the influence of oxygen on the development of yeast on alcoholic fermentation, Pasteur states that ready-formed yeast can germinate and grow in a liquid containing sugar and albuminous matters, even when oxygen is completely excluded. The quantity of yeast formed, however, in this case, is but small, and the fermentation goes on slowly; nevertheless, a large quantity of sugar disappears (sixty to eighty parts to one part of yeast). If the air has access to a large surface the fermentation goes on quickly, and a much larger quantity of yeast is formed in proportion to the quantity of sugar which disappears.

In this case, also, oxygen is absorbed by the yeast, which grows quickly, but does not act so decidedly as a ferment, inasmuch as only four to ten parts of sugar disappear for one part of yeast produced.

When the air is excluded the same yeast again acts as a powerful ferment. Pasteur, therefore, infers that yeast which acts as a ferment in the absence of air abstracts oxygen from the sugar, and that upon this deoxidising power its action as a ferment depends. The violent activity of the yeast at the commencement of the fermentation is due to oxygen dissolved in the liquid. In liquids containing albumen (yeast and water, &c.) yeast likewise grows, though sparingly, even if the solution does not contain a trace of sugar, provided there is a sufficient access of air. But if the air is excluded this does not take place, even though the liquid may contain, besides albumen, a non-fermentable sugar, such as milk sugar. The yeast formed in a liquid not containing sugar possesses all the properties of a ferment, and excites fermentation in a solution of sugar excluded from the air.[298]

[Footnote 298: 'Bull. Soc. Chem.,' 1861, pp. 61, 79.]

Similarly, Pasteur regards putrefaction as a kind of fermentation, set up and maintained by an animal organism, or ferment belonging to the genus _Vibrio_. Putrefaction, when taking place in contact with the air, is always accompanied by decay or EREMACAUSIS. The abandonment of the old theory as to the nature of eremacausis, viz. that it consisted in the gradual combustion of decaying organic matters by atmospheric oxygen, has been necessitated by the experiments of Pasteur, Schröder, and others, which have conclusively established the facts that organic substances are not oxidised by perfectly pure air, and that their decomposition and subsequent destruction are due to the presence in the air of the sporules or seeds of certain low organisms. Pasteur cites numerous instances corroborative of the statement that perfectly pure oxygen fails to affect, save to a very limited extent, organic substances.

In one case an aqueous infusion of yeast mixed with sugar was enclosed in a sealed flask with double its volume of air, which had been previously depurated by being made to pass through a red-hot tube. At the end of three years the liquid (which had during part of the time been kept at a temperature of from 25° to 30° Cent.) was found to be perfectly fresh and transparent, and the air when examined gave 18·1 vols. of oxygen, 80·5 vols. of nitrogen, and 1·4 of carbonic acid. Under the same conditions urine and milk, whether fresh or previously boiled, showed minute traces only of oxidation; crystals of uric acid and phosphates formed in the urine, but the milk was unaltered, having preserved its alkaline reaction, and showed no disposition to curdle.

Very different, however, was the result when either of the above substances was enclosed with ordinary air. It was then found that in a few days the whole of the oxygen was absorbed, carbonic acid being at the same time simultaneously formed. A certain quantity of moistened oak sawdust kept in contact with ordinary air for a fortnight was found at the end of that time to have absorbed 140 cubic centimètres of oxygen; whilst the same amount of sawdust enclosed with an equal volume of purified air had removed only a few cubic centimètres of the gas in a month. In the former experiment a microscopic film of mycelia and spores of Mucidineæ formed on the sawdust.

From numerous experiments of a like nature with the above, and attended with analogous results, chemists and physiologists now generally regard eremacausis as effected by agencies similar in character to those which produce fermentation and putrefaction.

"The observations of Schröder upon the processes of fermentation and putrefaction are remarkable. He has shown that any organic liquid may be prevented from fermenting or putrefying if it be heated under pressure to about 266° F. (130° C.), then transferred to a flask and boiled, the mouth of the flask being plugged whilst boiling with a pellet of cotton wool, which is left in the neck of the flask. In this way he preserved, during a hot summer, various liquids, including freshly-boiled wort, blood, white of egg, whey, urine, broth, and milk; but when afterwards the plug of cotton wool was withdrawn these liquids in a few days began to undergo decomposition. He explains these results by supposing that the spores of some organism must find access to the substance in order to set up the process of decomposition. By a temperature of 260° F. (126·7° C.) any such spores which the substance itself might contain are destroyed, and as the air is filtered through the cotton wool before it reaches the interior of the flask, none of these organic germs can afterwards gain access to the body under experiment. I have repeated some of these experiments with complete success.[299]

[Footnote 299: The Editor of this work has also repeated Schröder's experiments on milk, and obtained the same results.]

"If air be transmitted with suitable precautions slowly through narrow ignited platinum tubes, so as to destroy all suspended organic particles, no fermentation or putrefaction will take place on admitting such air into contact with putrescible substances previously heated to 260° for an hour."[300]

[Footnote 300: Miller.]

Pasteur has shown the existence of these floating germs in the air by drawing a large volume of atmospheric air, by means of an aspirator, through a narrow tube obstructed by collodion wool. On subsequently dissolving this wool in a mixture of alcohol and ether various microscopic sporules were left undissolved.

The entire absence of the exciting causes--warmth, air, and moisture--leaves even those substances which under ordinary circumstances are most liable to change, in a state in which they may remain for an almost indefinite period without perceptible alteration. Thus, animal substances in a frozen or dry state do not undergo decomposition, nor does a solution of sugar or the juice of grapes (must) when perfectly excluded from the air; but on the mere exposure of these substances to warmth, moisture, or atmospheric air, putrefaction or fermentation immediately commences. Remove the cork from the bottle of 'capillaire' on the parlour sideboard, or pierce the skin of one of the grapes on the dessert table with a needle, and these bodies, which would have otherwise suffered no change for weeks, or even months, will soon exhibit symptoms of spontaneous decomposition. The knowledge of this fact has been practically applied to the preservation of animal and vegetable substances for food. Even the most putrescible of these may be preserved for an unlimited period by enclosure in metallic cases, or glass bottles, from which the air has been completely removed and excluded.

The important duties which fermentation or putrefaction performs in the economy of our globe, and in several of the arts of life and civilisation, have long rendered the development of its principles an object of the highest interest and importance, both in a scientific and practical point of view. In its most extended sense, this subtile process of nature, though occasionally productive of injurious effects, may be regarded as one of the most necessary and beneficial with which we are acquainted. Like the labours of a scavenger, it speedily removes from the surface of our globe those matters which would otherwise remain for some time without undergoing decomposition. It either dissipates in air, or reduces to more fixed and useful forms of matter, those organic substances which, by their presence, would prove noxious, or, at all events, useless to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. It is the giant power that cleans the Augean stable of nature, at the same time that it provides some of the most esteemed articles of utility and luxury for the well-being and enjoyment of man.

Chemists have distinguished fermentation into different varieties, which, in general, are named after the more important products of its action. Of late years, the number of these varieties has been greatly increased by the extension of the term to several operations besides those formerly included under it. See ACETIFICATION, BREAD, PUTREFACTION, BREWING, &c.

=FERN (Male).= _Syn._ MALE SHIELD FERN, FILIX MAS, RADIX FILICIS, L. The root (rhizome) of the _Lastræa Filix-mas_, or male fern. It is bitter, astringent, or vermifuge.--_Dose_, 1 to 3 dr. in powder, or made into a decoction, repeated for 3 or 4 days, and followed by a purge. It is chiefly given in tapeworm. In Switzerland it is deemed almost infallible, but has proved less successful in these countries. See OILS.

=FERRICY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANIDE, FERRIDCYANURET. A compound of ferricyanogen with a metal or other basic radical. The FERRICYANIDE OF POTASSIUM, or 'RED PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often improperly called, is a well-known example. The ferricyanides of AMMONIUM and the ALKALIES and ALKALINE EARTHS are soluble; those of most of the METALS, insoluble. See _below_.

=FERRICYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANOGEN, FERRIC-CYANOGEN. The peculiar salt-radical which exists in the so-called red prussiate of potash. It is isomeric with ferrocyanogen, from which it differs in capacity of saturation (being tribasic), and in the behaviour of its compounds with solutions of the metals. It has not been isolated. See POTASSIUM (Ferricyanide).

=FERROCY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERROCYANURET, PRUSSIATE; FERROCYANIDUM, FERROCYANURETUM, L. A compound of ferrocyanogen with a metal or other basic radical. The principal substance of this kind is the FERROCYANIDE OF POTASSIUM or 'YELLOW PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often called. See the respective basis--AMMONIUM, POTASSIUM, SODIUM, &c., and _below_.

=FERROCYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERROCYANOGENIUM, L. A bibasic salt radical, composed of the elements of 3 equivalents of CYANOGEN and 1 equivalent of the metal IRON. It has never been isolated. It unites with the various bases to form FERROCYANIDES. See CYANOGEN, HYDROFERROCYANIC ACID, IRON, &c.

=FERRU'GO.= [=L=.] Rust of iron. See IRON (Sesquioxide).

=FE'VER.= _Syn._ FEBRIS, PYREXIA, L. In pathology a condition characterised by loss of appetite, thirst, languor, debility, unwillingness to move, accelerated pulse, increased heat of surface, and general disturbance of all the functions. A large number of diseases in which all or some of these symptoms appear are called FEVERS. They have been divided by nosologists into intermittent (INTERMITTENTES), remittent (REMITTENTES), and continued fevers (CONTINUÆ). The first of these are generally known as AGUES; the second differ from agues in there being one or more marked exacerbations and remissions of the symptoms every 24 hours, but without any entire intermission. The terms 'hectic,' 'nervous,' 'bilious,' 'inflammatory,' &c., have also been applied to particular varieties of fever; and names indicative of certain cutaneous appearances connected with them have been given to others; as 'scarlet' fever, 'yellow' fever, &c.

The usual symptoms of incipient fever (febrile symptoms) are--chilliness (varying from a simple shiver to a sensation of cold water running down the back), a quick pulse, hot and dry skin or flushing, languor, often evinced by yawning, depression of spirits, alternate fits of shivering and heat, hurried and uneasy respiration, flying pains in various parts of the body, as the head, back, and loins; loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, dry mouth, furred tongue, costiveness, urine small in quantity, and usually of a deep colour, &c. When any of these symptoms appear, their progress may often be arrested by the timely exhibition of an emetic, followed by a saline purgative, and diaphoretics; at the same time promoting the action of these remedies by a low diet and drinking copiously of diluents, and carefully avoiding animal food, spirits, fermented liquors, or anything at all stimulant. Whenever symptoms of fever become established, medical advice should be sought and implicitly followed. In parts where it cannot be obtained the treatment recommended under AGUE, INFLAMMATION, REMITTENT FEVER, and TYPHUS, may be followed with advantage.