Chapter II: REDUCTION OF SOLUTIONS:--The reduction of the solution to the proper (9)

6. Pale shell-lac, 2-1/4 lbs.; mastic and sandarac, of each 3 oz.; spirit, 1 gall.; dissolve, add copal varnish, 1 pint, and mix by roughly agitating the vessel. All the above are used in the manner described below.

7. Shell-lac, 12 oz.; wood naphtha, 1 quart; dissolve, and add of linseed oil, 1/2 pint.

8. Shell-lac, 1/2 lb.; gum sandarac, 1/4 lb.; spirit, 1 quart; dissolve, add of copal varnish, 1/4 pint; mix well, and further add of linseed oil, 1/2 pint. The last two require no oil on the rubber.

_Obs._ The preparation of French polish is precisely similar to that of other spirit or naphthalic varnishes. Sometimes it is coloured, in order to modify the character of the wood. A REDDISH TINGE is given with dragon's blood, alkanet root, or red sanders wood; and a YELLOWISH TINGE, by turmeric root or gamboge. When it is simply desired to DARKEN the wood, brown shell-lac is employed to make the polish; and when the object is to keep the wood LIGHT COLOURED, a little oxalic acid (2 to 4 dr. to the pint) is commonly added. These substances are either steeped in or agitated with the polish, or with the solvent, before pouring it on the 'gums,' until they dissolve, or a sufficient effect is produced. French polish is not required to be so clear and limpid as other varnishes, and is, therefore, never artificially clarified. See VARNISH, and _below_.

=FRENCH POL'ISHING.= This process, now so generally employed for furniture and cabinet work, is performed as follows:--The surface to be operated on being finished off as smoothly as possible with glass paper, and placed opposite the light, the 'rubber' being made as directed below, and the polish (see above) being at hand, and preferably contained in a narrow-necked bottle, the workman moistens the middle or flat face of the rubber with the polish, by laying the rubber on the mouth of the bottle and shaking up the varnish against it, once, by which means the rubber imbibes the proper quantity to cover a considerable extent of surface. He next encloses the rubber in a soft linen cloth, doubled, the rest of the cloth being gathered up at the back of the rubber to form a handle. The face of the linen is now moistened with a little raw linseed oil, applied with the finger to the middle of it, and the operation of polishing immediately commenced. For this purpose the workman passes his rubber quickly and lightly over the surface uniformly in one direction, until the varnish becomes dry, or nearly so, when he again charges his rubber as before, omitting the oil, and repeats the rubbing, until three coats are laid on. He now applies a little oil to the rubber, and two coats more are commonly given. As soon as the coating of varnish has acquired some thickness, he wets the inside of the linen cloth, before applying the varnish, with alcohol, or wood naphtha, and gives a quick, light, and uniform touch over the whole surface. The work is, lastly, carefully gone over with the linen cloth, moistened with a little oil and rectified spirit or naphtha, without varnish, and rubbed, as before, until dry.

The RUBBER for French polishing is made by rolling up a strip of thick woollen cloth (list) which has been torn off, so as to form a soft elastic edge. It should form a coil, from 1 to 3 inches in diameter, according to the size of the work.

=FRES'CO-PAINTING.= See PAINTING.

=FRICANDEAU.= [Fr.] Among _cooks_, a ragoût, or fricassée of veal. The same term is also sometimes applied to stewed beef, highly seasoned.

=FRICASSEE.= [Fr.] A dish prepared by stewing or semi-frying, highly flavoured with herbs, spices, or sauce. Small things, as chickens, lamb, &c., and cold meat, are usually formed into fricassees.

=FRIC'TION=. In a general sense, the act of rubbing one body against another; attrition.

=Friction.= In _mechanics_ this is the resistance which the surface of a moving body meets with from the surface of the body on which it moves. To lessen the amount of friction in machines, various unctuous substances, as oil, tallow, soap, black-lead, &c., are used by engineers. These substances act by imparting smoothness to the points of contact, and thus reduce their resistance to each other. The full consideration of the subject belongs to engineering.

=Friction.= In _medicine_, friction, whether simple or conjoined with liniments, is a therapeutical agent of considerable power. By it the circulation is promoted in debilitated parts, and medicinal substances (iodine, mercurials, opium, &c.) are made to penetrate the pores of the skin. "The benefit of friction, which consists of motion and heat, whether or not the same be raised by rubbing the body with a coarse cloth or the flesh-brush, has advantages inconceivable and scarcely credible, by which the obstructions of the pores and cutaneous glandules are opened, their stagnating juices broken into small particles, dissolved, and rendered fit to be carried off in perspiration, in the room of which, as my Lord Verulam well observes, new juice will succeed with new vigour to the body; and longevity, saith that great naturalist, is this way most certainly promoted" (Daniel Turner).

Simple friction is performed by the hand alone, or with a piece of flannel, a hair glove, or a flesh-brush. "If it be properly performed--namely, by short, brisk strokes with the tips of the fingers, and with great celerity, when the naked hand is the agent; and if it be continued for an hour or upwards, and repeated several times a day--its influence in reducing swelled glands and swellings of the joints, as well as in alleviating rheumatic pains, is very great; but, besides being well performed, the friction should be continued for (at least) half an hour, in order to render it useful." (Dr R. E. Griffith.)

Gentle, slow, and equable friction, by producing a continued repetition of an agreeable impression on the nervous system, acts both as an anodyne and hypnotic. For this purpose "the operator should sit by the side of the bed, and introducing the hand under the bedclothes, rub the legs or the arms (or other parts) gently with equally lengthened but slow movements. When the invalid is a child, its influence is more powerful when aided by a monotonous, but a soft tune, which, although it operates upon a distinct sense, yet, by combination, renders the friction more soporific." (Griffith.)

When the friction is accompanied with the use of any acrid or irritating substance, or is intended to introduce any active remedy into the system, the rubbing should be brisk, and of sufficient force to slightly abrade and inflame the cuticle; and should be continued until the substance, which is usually in the form of an ointment, either wholly or partially disappears, owing to its absorption by the skin. The hand of the operator should, in most cases, be guarded by a glove; otherwise he is likely to share with the patient the effects of the medicine, a result not always agreeable or even safe.

=FRIGORIFIC MIXTURES.= See REFRIGERATION.

=FRIT.= The pulverulent materials of glass, heated until they coalesce without melting. See ENAMEL, GLASS, &C.

=FRIT'TERS.= Fried batter. A species of pancake, containing fruit, sweetmeats, poultry, meat, or fish.

_Prep._ 1. (M. Alexis Soyer.) "The following is thirty receipts in one:"--Soak crum of bread, 1 lb., in cold water, q. s.; take the same quantity of any kind of boiled or roasted meat (a little fat), and chop it into fine dice; press the water out of the bread; put into the pan butter, lard, or dripping, 2 oz., with chopped onions, two teaspoonfuls; fry two minutes, add the bread, stir with a wooden spoon until rather dry, then add the meat, and season with salt, 1 teaspoonful, pepper, 1/2 do., and a little grated nutmeg if handy; stir till quite hot; then further add two eggs, one at a time, mix very quickly, and pour it on a dish to cool; next roll it into the shape of small eggs, then in flour, 'egg' them, and bread-crum them; lastly, fry in abundance of fat to a nice yellow colour, and serve either plain or with any sharp or other savory sauce you fancy. Innumerable dishes can be made in this way; in fact, from everything that is eatable, and at any season of the year--from the remains of meat, poultry, game, fish, vegetables, &c. The same can be done with chopped, dried, or preserved fruits, simply using a 1/4 lb. more bread, and sifting powdered sugar and cinnamon over them. Cream may also be used for fruit, or curds.

Fritters are also (and more commonly) fried in ordinary batter, instead of bread-crumbs. "There is no end to what may be done with these receipts." "They can be ornamented and made worthy the table of the greatest epicure if the bread be soaked in cream, and spirits or liquor introduced into them." (Soyer.)

2. Mrs Rundell:--_a._ (APPLE FRITTERS.) See FRUIT FRITTERS.

_b._ (BUCKWHEAT FRITTERS, B. CAKES, BOCKINGS.) Made by beating up buckwheat flour to a batter with some warm milk, adding a little yeast, letting it rise before the fire for 30 or 40 minutes, then beating in some eggs and milk or warm water, as required, and frying them like pancakes. Buckwheat fritters, when well prepared, are excellent. Made without eggs and served up with molasses, they form a common dish in almost every breakfast in North America.

_c._ (CURD FRITTERS.) From dried curd, beaten with yolk of egg and a little flour, and flavoured with nutmeg.

_d._ (FRENCH FRITTERS.) Common pancakes, beaten up with eggs, almonds, and flavouring sugar, orange-flower water, and nutmeg, and the paste dropped into a stew- or frying-pan half full of boiling lard, so as to form cakes the size of large nuts, which are cooked till brown.

_e._ (FRUIT FRITTERS.) From the sliced fruits, with rich batter.

_f._ (SOUFFLÉ FRITTERS.) Rich pancakes, flavoured with lemon.

_g._ (SPANISH FRITTERS.) From slices of French rolls soaked in a mixture of cream, eggs, sugar, and spices, and fried brown.

=FROG.= The esculent variety, in Europe, is the common green or gibbous frog, the _Rana esculenta_ of Linnæus. As an aliment, it is much esteemed on the Continent, the hind legs only being eaten. Its liver is among the simples of the Ph. L. 1618, and was once considered a useful remedy in certain forms of ague.

The Americans eat the bull-frog (the _Rana taurina_). This variety of the edible frog, which is a native of the Northern States and is much prized as a table delicacy, has been lately introduced into France by the Société d'Acclimatisation. Its flesh, when cooked, is said to have a taste very like that of turtle. In South Africa, a large frog called Matlamétlo is eaten. Frogs are also favourite food with the natives of China and Australia.

=FROG OINTMENT or Thrush Mixture.= Brown syrup, 90 grammes; verdigris, 6 grammes; strong acetic acid, 10 grammes; solution of perchloride of iron, 2 grammes. (Hager.)

=FROST-BITES.= When those parts of the body in which the circulation of the blood is most languid are exposed to extreme cold, they quickly become frozen, or, as it is called, 'frost bitten.' The fingers, toes, ears, nose, and chin are most liable to this attack. The remedy is long-continued friction with the hands or cold flannel, avoiding the fire, or even a heated apartment.

=FROSTBEULENTINCTUR, FROSTBEULENWASSER--Chilblain Tincture, Chilblain Water.= Manufactured by a chiropodist of Munich. It is a solution of 2 grammes zinc sulphate in 60 grammes water. (Wittstein.)

=FROSTSALBE--Frost Ointment= (Wahler, Kupferzell). Mutton tallow, 24; hog's lard, 24; iron oxide, 4; heat it in an iron vessel, stirring continually with an iron rod until the whole has become black; then add 4 parts Venice turpentine, 2 parts bergamot oil, and 2 parts Armenian bole rubbed smooth with olive oil.

=FRUIT.= _Syn._ FRUCTUS, L. Among botanists this is the mature ovary or pistil, containing the ripened ovules or seeds. In familiar language, the term is applied to any product of a plant containing the seed, more especially those that are eatable.

Fruits are extensively employed as articles of diet by man, both as luxuries and nutriment. The fruit of the cereals furnishes our daily bread; that of the vine gives us the well-known beverage, wine, whilst other varieties enrich our desserts, and provide us with some of our most valuable condiments and aromatics. The acidulous and subacid fruits are antiseptic, aperient, attenuant, diuretic, and refrigerant. They afford little nourishment, and are apt to promote diarrh[oe]a and flatulency. They are, however, occasionally exhibited medicinally, in putrid affections, and are often useful in bilious and dyspeptic complaints. The farinaceous fruits (grain), as already stated, furnish the principal and most useful portion of the food of man. The oleo-farinaceous (nuts, &c.) are less wholesome and less easy of digestion than those purely farinaceous. The saccharine fruits, or those abounding in sugar, are nutritious and laxative, but are apt to ferment and disagree with delicate stomachs when eaten in excess. Stone fruits are more difficult of digestion than the other varieties, and are very apt to disorder the stomach and bowels.

As a rule, fruit should never be eaten in large quantities at a time, and only when quite ripe. It then appears to be exceedingly wholesome, and to be a suitable corrective to the grossness of animal food. It also exercises a powerful action on the skin, and is a specific for scurvy in its early stages. Many cutaneous diseases may likewise be removed by the daily use of a moderate quantity of fruit, or other fresh vegetable food. Cases are not uncommon which, after resisting every variety of ordinary medical treatment, yield to a mixed fruit or vegetable diet.

Fruits should be gathered in dry weather, and preferably about noon, because the dew and moisture deposited on them during the night and earlier part of the morning has then evaporated. They should be quite ripe when gathered, but the sooner they are removed from the tree after this point is arrived at, the better. Immature fruit never keeps so well as that which has ripened on the tree; and overripe fruit is liable to be bruised and to lose flavour. The less fruit is handled in gathering the better. Some of them, as PEACHES, NECTARINES, GRAPES, PLUMS, &c., require to be treated with great delicacy, to avoid bruising them or rubbing off the bloom. Some fruit, as a few varieties of APPLES, PEARS, and ORANGES, &c., are gathered before they are fully ripe, in order that they may the better undergo the perils of transit and storage.

_Pres._ Ripe fruits are commonly preserved in the fresh state by placing them in a cool dry situation, on shelves, so that they do not touch each other; or by packing them in clean, dry sand, sawdust, straw, bran, or any similar substance, with like care, to preserve them from the action of air and moisture. An excellent plan, commonly adopted for dessert fruit in this country, is to wrap each separately in a piece of clean, dry paper, and to fill small, wide-mouthed jars or honey-pots with them. The filled pots are then packed one upon another (see _engr._) in a dry and cold place (as a cellar), where the frost cannot reach them. The space (_a_) between the two pots may be advantageously filled up with plaster of Paris made into a paste with water. The joint is thus rendered air-tight, and the fruit will keep good for a long time. The mouth of the top jar is covered with a slate. For use, the jars should be taken one at a time from the store-room as wanted, and the fruit exposed for a week or ten days in a warm dry room before being eaten, by which the flavour is much improved.

Fruit is preserved on the large scale for the London market by placing in a cool situation first a layer of straw or paper, and so on alternately, to the height of 20 or 25 inches, which cannot be well exceeded, as the weight of the superincumbent fruit is apt to crush or injure the lower layers. Sometimes alternate layers of fruit and paper are arranged in baskets or hampers, which are then placed in the cellar or fruit-room. The baskets admit of being piled one over the other without injury to the fruit. The use of brown paper is inadmissible for the above purposes, as it conveys its peculiar flavour to the fruit. Thick white-brown paper is the cheapest and the best.

=Fruit Essences (Artificial).= These remarkable products first attracted attention at the Exhibition of 1851. To speak somewhat generally, they are mixtures of amylic, butyric, pelargonic, valerianic, and other ethers, in alcohol. By judicious mixture, the flavour of almost any fruit can be more or less perfectly imitated. The artificial essences are generally coloured to represent the juice of the fruit from which they are supposed to be derived. The ESSENCE OF JARGONELLE PEAR and the ESSENCE OF APPLE, which are, perhaps, the best of all the artificial essences, are respectively formed from the ACETATE and VALERIANATE OF AMYLE. See AMYLE, ESSENCE, &c.

=FRU'MENTY.= Wheat boiled in water until quite soft, then taken out, drained, thinned with milk, sweetened with sugar, and flavoured with nutmeg. When currants and eggs are added, it forms 'SOMERSETSHIRE FRUMENTY,' Some persons boil the wheat like rice. "Eaten with milk, in the evening, for some time, it will often relieve costiveness." (Griffith.)

=FRY'ING.= "The frying-pan is, without doubt, the most useful of all kitchen implements, and, like a good-natured servant, is often imposed upon and obliged to do all the work, while its companion, the gridiron, is quietly reposing in the chimney corner." "The usual complaint of food being rendered greasy by frying is totally remedied by sautéing the meat in a small quantity of fat, butter, or oil, which has attained a proper degree of heat, instead of placing it in cold fat, and letting it soak while melting." "According to the (common) mode in which all objects are cooked which are called fried, it would answer to the French word 'sauté,' or the old English term 'frizzle,' but to fry any object, it should be immersed in very hot fat, oil, or butter." "To frizzle, sauté, or, as I will now designate it, semi-fry, is to place in the pan any oleaginous substance, so that, when melted, it shall cover the bottom of the pan by about two lines; and when hot, the article to be cooked is to be placed therein. To do it to perfection requires a little attention, so that the pan shall never get too hot. It should also be perfectly clean--a great deal depends on this." (Soyer.)

According to the writer quoted above, a chop or steak, for frying, should be chosen 3/4 of an inch thick, and should "never exceed one inch, nor be less than half an inch, and to be as near as possible of the same thickness all over." "An ill-cut chop (or steak) never can be but ill-cooked; you can always equalise them (when badly cut) by beating them out with a chopper."

"The motive of semi-frying food is to have it done quickly; therefore, to fry a whole fowl, or even half (for example), is useless, as it could be cooked in a different way in the same time; but to semi-fry a fowl (in joints or pieces), with the object of having it quickly placed on the table, in order to satisfy a good, and perhaps fastidious appetite, it should be done in a similar way to that practised in Egypt some 3000 years since, and of late years for the great Napoleon--that is, cooked in oil. In France this dish is called '_Poulet à la Marengo_,' It is related that the great conqueror, after having gained that celebrated victory, ate three small chickens at one meal done in this way, and his appetite and taste were so good, and he approved of them so highly, that he desired that they may always be served in the same way during the campaign."

"For many objects I prefer the frying-pan to the gridiron; that is, if the pan is properly used. As regards economy, it is preferable, securing all the fat and gravy, which is often lost when the gridiron is used." "This simple _batterie de cuisine_" may be employed "equally as well in the cottage as in the palace, or in the bachelor's chamber as in the rooms of the poor." (Soyer.)

=FUCH'SIN.= See TAR COLOURS.

=FUCUS'AMID, FU'CUSINE, and FU'CUSOL.= Compounds obtained by Dr Stenhouse from several varieties of FUCUS by treatment with sulphuric acid, as in the preparation of FURFURINE (which _see_).

=FU'EL.= Matter used for the production of heat by burning. The principal substances employed as fuel are--ANTHRACITE, CHARCOAL, COAL GAS, COKE, OIL, SPIRIT, PITCOAL, TURF, and WOOD.

The heating power of almost every description of fuel has been determined by the direct experiments of Lavoisier, Regnault, Andrews, and others; the general principle of their methods consisting in the use of an apparatus wherein the entire heat of combustion was absorbed by a known weight of water, the whole arrangement being protected from the influence of external changes of temperature, and the increase of the temperature of the water being known by the simultaneous indication of several delicate thermometers suspended in it. The real value of such determinations is simply relative. The imperfect character of most boiler and furnace arrangements, and the large quantity of fuel which passes into the 'ash-pit' unconsumed, together with the irregular 'draught,' and the amount of heat absorbed by excess of cold air, result practically in an enormous loss of heating power, even under the most careful management. The mechanical condition of a fuel must be considered in estimating its value. In a series of trials instituted by the Government it was a _sine quâ non_ that the toughness of each kind of coal must be such, for naval use, as to resist, without crumbling, the constant friction in the ship's hold, at the same time that its 'fracture' must be such that it packs into the smallest possible space.[319]

[Footnote 319: For full information on coal and other fuels, refer to Ure's 'Dict. of Arts, Manufactures, &c.,' Percy's 'Metallurgy,' and Watt's 'Dict. of Chemistry.']

In the _chemical laboratory_ COAL GAS is now generally employed as fuel. It is cheap and manageable, and, with proper apparatus, may be made to supply almost any amount of heat. Where gas cannot be conveniently procured, OIL and SPIRIT are used as fuel for lamps. See ANTHRACITE, CHARCOAL, COKE, FURNACE, PITCOAL, &c., also _below_.

=Fuel, Econom'ical.= Various mixtures have been recommended under this name. The following is one of the best:--

_Prep._ Small coal, charcoal, or sawdust, 1 part; clay, loam, or marl, 1 part; sand, or ashes, 2 parts; water, q. s.; make the mass up wet into balls. For use, these balls are piled on an ordinary fire to a little above the top bar. They are said to produce a heat considerably more intense than that of common fuel, and ensure a saving of one half the quantity of coals, whilst a fire thus made up will require no stirring, nor fresh fuel for ten hours. The quantity of the combustible ingredient in them should be doubled, when they are intended to be used with a very little foundation of coal.

_Obs._ Of late years simple FIRE-CLAY BALLS have been much used for radiating heat from parlour-grates, and so effecting saving in the consumption of fuel. They are very useful for partially filling up those roomy, old-fashioned, badly-constructed grates, which are still to be found in many private houses.

PEAT and TURF, both recent and charred, are commonly used as fuel by the lower classes, in neighbourhoods where they are plentiful. FIR CONES or TOPS contain a great quantity of solid woody in addition to the resinous matter, and are well adapted for domestic fires.

=Fuel, Prepared.= _Syn._ COMPRESSED FUEL, PATENT F., STEAM F. Many artificial fuels are now in use. The greater number have one character in common--they are composed of small coal cemented by some bituminous matter. The following are the principal kinds:--

FUEL, ABERDARE PATENT STEAM. From the 'small' of the South Wales Steam Coal mixed with coal, pitch, and compressed by hydraulic machinery. The pitch is broken up, and thoroughly mixed with the small coal over a furnace, in iron pans, in which shafts with obliquely attached blades are continually revolving. The mixture is afterwards pressed into iron moulds by a force equal to about 2-1/2 tons per inch. The weight of a cubic foot of this excellent fuel is 80 lbs.; the space occupied by 1 ton, 28 cubic feet.

FUEL, CASE AND MORRIS'S PATENT. From the 'small' of the 'best steam coal,' ground moderately fine, treated so as to absorb a certain portion of liquid coal tar, and then pressed by machinery into blocks. It is said to occupy less space by about 10% than ordinary coal.

FUEL, GRANT'S PATENT. This is formed of coal dust, 1 cwt., and coal-tar pitch, 20 lbs., melted together by a heat of 220° Fahr., and moulded into blocks the size of common bricks, under a pressure of 5 or 6 tons. These are, lastly, whitewashed. It is heavier than common steam coal, and is said to go fully one third further, by which facility of transport and economy is combined.

FUEL, PURIFIED BLOCK. This is prepared by the torrefaction of washed coal dust, and is said to possess in a remarkable degree the advantages of both coke and steam coal.

=FU'LIGOKA'LI.= _Prep._ (Dr Polya.) Caustic potassa, 1 part; water, q. s.; dissolve; add of wood soot, 5 parts; boil 1 hour, dilute with water, filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, and put the product at once into warm, dry bottles.--_Dose_, 2 to 3 gr., thrice a day, made into pills, which must be coated with gum and kept from the air. (See _below_.)

=Fuligokali, Sulphuretted.= _Syn._ FULIGOKALI SULPHURETUM, L. _Prep._ (Dr Polya.) Caustic potassa, 7 parts; sulphur, 2 parts; water, q. s.; dissolve with heat, add of fuligokali, 30 parts, evaporate to dryness, and preserve it in well-corked dry bottles.--_Dose, &c._ As the last.

_Obs._ M. Gibert states that he has tried both fuligokali and sulphuretted fuligokali on his patients at the Hospital Saint-Louis, both internally and externally, with manifest advantage in various obstinate chronic skin diseases. He made a pomade of 30 grammes (say 1 oz.) of lead ointment, and 1 or 2 grammes (say 20 to 25 gr.) of fuligokali, in which he recognised positive resolvent, detersive, and stimulant properties. See ANTHRACOKALI.

=FULLER'S EARTH.= _Syn._ CIMOLIA, C. TERRA, L. A soft, unctious, friable, greenish or yellowish-grey species of clay, containing 53% of silica, 10% of alumina, and about 9% of oxide of iron. After being dug out of the earth it is thoroughly dried in ovens, and then thrown into cold water, where it soon falls to powder, and is purified by the common process of edulcoration or washing-over. It is extensively used to extract oil and grease from cloth in the process of 'fulling,' it forms an excellent filtering powder for oils, and is applied as a cooling and healing dressing by the poor to inflamed breasts, excoriations, &c.

=FUL'MINATING COMPOUNDS.= These are numerous, and are scattered through several distinct classes of bodies. Among the most powerful and dangerous are the chloride and iodide of nitrogen and the fulminates of silver and mercury.

=Fulminating An'timony.= _Syn._ PYROPHORUS OF ANTIMONY, L. _Prep._ Tartar emetic (dried), 100 parts; lampblack or charcoal powder, 3 parts; triturate together, put it into a crucible that it will three fourths fill (previously rubbed inside with charcoal powder), cover it with a layer of dry charcoal powder, and lute on the cover; after 3 hours' exposure to a strong heat in a 'reverberatory furnace,' and 6 or 7 hours' repose to allow it to cool, &c., cautiously transfer the solid contents of the crucible, as quickly as possible, without breaking it, to a wide-mouthed stoppered phial, where, after some time, it will spontaneously crumble down into a powder.

_Obs._ When the above process is properly conducted, the resulting powder contains potassium, and fulminates violently on contact with water. A piece the size of a pea introduced into a mass of gunpowder explodes it on being thrown into water, or on its being moistened in any other manner.

=Fulminating Bis'muth.= _Prep._ From bismuth, 120 parts; carburetted cream of tartar, 60 parts; nitre, 1 part. Very rich in potassium.--_Prop., &c._, resemble those of the last. We have been assured that this is the compound used by the late Capt. Warner for some of his secret fusees.

=Fulminating Cop'per.= _Syn._ FULMINATE OF COPPER. _Prep._ Digest copper (in powder or filings) with fulminate of mercury or of silver, and a little water. It forms soluble green crystals that explode with a green flame.

=Fulminating Gold.= _Prep._ Recently precipitated peroxide of gold is digested in strong liquor of ammonia for 24 hours, and the resulting product is dried in the open air or at a temperature below 180° Fahr., care being taken to avoid the slightest friction, lest it should explode. A deep olive-coloured powder.

_Obs._ This compound can only be safely made in very small quantities at a time, as without great care it explodes with extreme violence. This is caused by the slightest friction or sudden increase of heat. Its fulminating property may be destroyed by boiling it in pearlash lye, or weak oil of vitriol; and by heating the residuum after washing it in water, pure gold will be obtained.

=Fulminating Mer'cury.= _Syn._ FULMINATE, FULMINATE OF MERCURY. _Prep._ 1. Mercury, 1 part; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·375), 12 parts; dissolve, add at intervals, to this solution, alcohol (sp. gr. ·850), 16·3 parts; apply heat till the effervescence and cloud of gas disappears, adding, gradually, on the action becoming violent, 16·3 parts more of alcohol.--_Product._ 112% of the mercury employed.

2. Mercury, 100 parts; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·4), 1000 parts (or 740 parts by measure); dissolve by a gentle heat, and when the solution has acquired the temperature of 130° Fahr., slowly pour it through a glass funnel tube into alcohol (sp. gr. ·830), 830 parts (or 1000 parts by measure); as soon as the effervescence is over, and white fumes cease to be evolved, filter through double paper, wash with cold water, and dry by steam (not hotter than 212°) or hot water. The fulminate is then to be packed in 100 gr. paper parcels, and these stored in a tight box or corked bottle.--_Product_, 130% of the weight of mercury employed.

_Prop., &c._ Small brownish-grey crystals, which sparkle in the sun; entirely soluble in 130 parts of boiling water, and deposited as the solution cools under the form of beautiful pearly spangles. It greatly resembles fulminate of silver in its appearance and general properties. It explodes violently by both friction and percussion, but unlike the silver-salt, merely burns with a sudden and almost noiseless flash when kindled in the open air.

_Obs._ The second formula is not only the cheapest, but the best and safest. The first is more expensive and dangerous. There is no little hazard in pouring the alcohol into the nitric solution; for at each effusion an explosive blast takes place; whereas, by pouring the solution into the alcohol, no danger whatever is incurred. This preparation is used for priming the copper percussion caps for fowling-pieces, muskets, &c. Dr Ure, in his first report to the Board of Ordnance, recommended the use of a spirituous solution of gum sandarac, as the best substance for diluting the fulminate, and fixing it in the caps; but in a subsequent report to the same Board, he stated that a solution of mastic in spirit was to be preferred. At the present time the following composition is applied to the interior of percussion caps in quantities varying from ·2 to ·3 of a grain:--Chlorate of potassium, 26 parts; nitre, 30; fulminate of mercury, 12; sulphur, 17; ground glass, 14; gum, 1, making altogether 100 parts. (Watts.)

_Caution._ Fulminate of mercury should only be dried in small parcels at a time, and these should be placed at a distance from each other. The dreadful explosion which occurred some years ago at Apothecaries' Hall, and by which Mr Hennel, the talented chemist of the Apothecaries' Company, lost his life, was occasioned by the spontaneous detonation of this substance.

=Fulminating Plat'inum.= _Syn._ PLATINUM FULMINANS, L. _Prep._ By acting on binoxide of platinum with pure ammonia. It is analogous to the gold and silver ammonio-compound.

=Fulminating Powder.= _Syn._ DETONATING POWDER; PULVIS FULMINANS, L. _Prep._ 1. Nitre, 3 parts; carbonate of potash (dry), 2 parts; flowers of sulphur, 1 part; reduce them separately to fine powder, before mixing them. A little of this compound (20 to 30 gr.), slowly heated on a shovel over the fire, first fuses and becomes brown, and then explodes with a deafening report.

2. Sulphur, 1 part; chlorate of potassa, 3 parts. When triturated, with strong pressure, in a marble or wedgwood-ware mortar, it produces a series of loud reports. It also fulminates by percussion.

3. Chlorate of potassa, 6 parts; pure lampblack, 4 parts; sulphur, 1 part. A little placed on an anvil detonates with a loud report, when struck with a hammer. No. 1 is the substance commonly known as 'FULMINATING POWDER,' See BLASTING POWDER.

=Fulminating Sil'ver.= _Syn._ ARGENTUM FULMINANS, L. Two very distinct compounds are known by this name, the one containing oxide of silver and ammonia, and the other being a true fulminate of silver.

_Prep._ 1. (AMMONIA-COMPOUND OF SILVER, BERTHOLLET'S FULMINATING SILVER.)--_a._ Digest oxide of silver (recently precipitated and dried by pressure between bibulous paper) in concentrated liquor of ammonia, for 12 or 15 hours, pour off the liquid, and cautiously dry the black powder in the air, in divided portions. The decanted ammoniacal liquor, when gently heated, yields, on cooling, small crystals, which possess a still more formidable power of detonation than the black powder, and will scarcely bear touching, even whilst under the liquid.

_b._ Dissolve chloride of silver in strong liquor of ammonia, cautiously add pure potassa (in fragments), and when effervescence ceases, decant the fluid portion, and wash and dry the powder, as before.

2. (FULMINATE OF SILVER, BRUGNATELLI'S FULMINATING SILVER; ARGENTI FULMINAS, L.)--_a._ Pour alcohol, 1 oz., on nitrate of silver (in fine powder), 100 gr., previously placed in a capacious flask or beaker glass, and shortly afterwards add strong nitric acid, 1 oz.; as soon as all the powdered nitrate assumes the form of white clouds, add cold distilled water, q. s. to suspend the ebullition, and next collect the powder on a filter, and otherwise proceed as with the ammonia-compound (_above_).

_b._ (Fownes.) Metallic silver, 40 to 50 gr.; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·37), 3/4 fl. oz.; dissolve by the aid of a gentle heat, add, whilst the solution is still hot, alcohol, 2 fl. oz., and again apply heat until reaction commences; the fulminate slowly separates from the hot liquid under the form of small, brilliant, white, crystalline plates, which, after being slightly washed with a little cold distilled water, are to be distributed upon separate pieces of filtering paper, in portions not exceeding 1 or 2 gr. each, and left to dry in the air. When dry, the papers are to be folded up, and carefully preserved in a box or bottle. A sixpence and the strongest commercial nitric acid and rectified spirit answer for the above purpose.

_c._ (Liebig.) Grain silver, 1 part; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·36 to 1·38), 10 parts; dissolve at a gentle heat, and add the solution to alcohol of 85%, 23 parts; apply a gentle heat till the liquid begins to boil, then remove it from the fire and set it aside to cool; the fulminate of silver is deposited in lustrous, snow-white, acicular crystals, and when washed and dried, equals in weight that of the silver employed.

_Prop., &c._ The properties of both compounds are very similar. Those of the true FULMINATE OF SILVER (No. 2) need only be considered here. This dissolves in 36 parts of boiling water, but the solution deposits the greater portion of the fulminate as it cools. It is one of the most dangerous substances for which we are indebted to modern chemistry. It explodes with unparalleled violence by friction or percussion, or when strongly heated, or when touched with strong sulphuric acid; the metal is reduced, and a large volume of gaseous matter suddenly liberated. Strange to say, though its explosive tendency is so great that it can be hardly made, handled or kept, with safety, it may, when very cautiously mixed with oxide of copper, be burned in a tube to determine its composition, in a similar manner to that employed in the analysis of other organic substances. Many frightful accidents have happened from the spontaneous explosion of this substance. 1 or 2 gr. are the most that can be exploded with safety in a building or confined space.

=Fulminating Zinc.= _Syn._ FULMINATE OF ZINC; ZINCUM FULMINANS, ZINCI FULMINAS, L. _Prep._ From fulminate of silver, zinc filings, and a little water, digested together, as FULMINATING COPPER.

=FULMINA'TION.= _Syn._ FULMINATIO, L. Detonation. A sudden explosion, accompanied with a loud report and extreme violence. Some chemists, without sufficient reason, have endeavoured to confine the application of the term to the explosion of a fulminate.

=FUMIGA'TION.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO, SUFFUMIGATIO, L. Fumigations (FUMIGATIONES) are vapours of gases extemporaneously extricated for the purpose of destroying contagious or noxious miasmata or effluvia, or to mask unpleasant odours, or to produce a medicinal action on those parts of the body with which they are brought in contact.

Fumigations, for the purpose of obviating or masking unpleasant odours in the sick chamber, must never be employed to the neglect of cleanliness and ventilation; for most of them, instead of purifying the air, actually render it less fit for respiration. The common practice of burning scented paper, pastilles, sugar, juniper berries, benzoin, cascarilla, &c., so as to create an odoriferous smoke, is of this character. As disinfecting agents, they are probably useless, and are relics of an ancient custom of burning frankincense and other odorous substances in vitiated air, to overcome the fetor which is more or less present. The fumes thus diffused through the atmosphere "disguise unpleasant odours; but they accomplish nothing more. The infection remains not only unaltered by the diffusion of the most powerful aromatic vapours, but its deleterious properties are sometimes augmented by them."[320]

[Footnote 320: We deem it right to remark that a different opinion respecting the disinfecting power of odoriferous smoke is now held by many scientific men. According to this opinion, the minute particles of aromatic substances do really destroy or render inert the noxious miasmata.]

Among the various substances used as DISINFECTING FUMIGATIONS, chlorine, by almost general consent, holds the first place. Dr Carmichael Smyth recommended nitrous acid, which is even now preferred by Dr Christison to chlorine; whilst Prof. Graham regarded the fumes of burning sulphur as more efficacious than either of these substances. The vapours of hydrochloric acid and of vinegar, and the smoke of gunpowder, which once had their advocates, have now justly sunk into disfavour.

No apartment should be submitted to fumigation until it is vacated; as until then its thorough disinfection is impossible, and but little benefit or immunity from contagion is conferred by any aërial disinfecting agent, the presence of which fails to cause discomfort to the patient.

Of all common diseases, scarlet fever appears to be the one most requiring fumigation. For this purpose, chlorine gas or heat should be employed. The infectious matters of certain diseases, especially scarlet fever, are either dissipated or destroyed at a heat slightly above that of boiling water. (Dr Henry.) Contagious diseases are very commonly propagated in this metropolis by persons having their linen washed by laundresses who perform their operations in the same sinks of dirt and misery in which they live. See CIGARS (in _pharmacy_), DISINFECTANT, INHALATION, &c., and _below_.

=Fumigation, Ace'tic.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ACETICA, L. The fumes of strong vinegar or acetic acid, obtained by heating the liquid over a lamp, or by sprinkling it on a hot shovel. Aromatic vinegar in this way yields very refreshing fumes, and was formerly thought more efficacious than simple acetic acid.

=Fumigation, An'odyne.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ANODYNA, L. _Prep._ (Trousseau & Reveil.) Stramonium and sage, equal parts, sufficient to fill a small pipe. Smoked in spasmodic asthma, irritating coughs, &c.

=Fumigation, Aromat'ic.= See BALSAMIC FUMIGATION.

=Fumigation, Balsam'ic.= _Syn._ AROMATIC FUMIGATION; FUMIGATIO AROMATICA, F. BALSAMICA, L. _Prep._ 1. From gum benzoin, either alone or mixed with olibanum or styrax, thrown on hot cinders or a heated shovel.

2. (Dr Dohrn.) Gum olibanum, 4 parts; gum benzoin, styrax, and flowers of roses and lavender, of each 1 part; to be reduced to powder, and used as before.

3. Amber, mastic, and olibanum, of each 3 oz.; benzoin and styrax, of each 1 oz.; camphor, 1 dr. As last. The above are used in hooping-cough, asthma, &c.; a small quantity only being employed at a time.

=Fumigation, Belladon'na.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO BELLADONNÆ, L. _Prep._ (M. Schroeder.) From dried belladonna leaves, 1 to 2 dr.; as before. In spitting of blood, asthma, tickling cough, &c.

=Fumigation, Chlorine.= _Syn._ DISINFECTING FUMIGATION, GUYTON-MORVEAU'S F.; FUMIGATIO CHLORINII, L. _Prep._ 1. (P. Cod.) Common salt, 3 parts; water and sulphuric acid, of each 2 parts; black oxide of manganese 1 part; mix in a shallow vessel, placed in the centre of the apartment. This is used to disinfect unoccupied rooms.

2. Hydrochloric acid and powdered black oxide of manganese mixed in proportions so as to make a thin paste. Used as directed under 1.

3. Chloride of lime, either sprinkled on the floor (if uncarpeted) or (if carpeted) placed about the room in shallow dishes. Used for inhabited rooms, and on shipboard, &c.

4. A solution of chloride of lime (1 oz. of the chloride to each quart of water). Used as the last but more freely.

_Obs._ Chlorine fumigations, although so popular, and so much relied on by many medical practitioners, are apparently useless in preventing the progress of certain contagious diseases. "In Moscow, chlorine was extensively tried and found unavailing, nay, even injurious, in cholera." (Dr Pereira.) "At the time that the cholera hospital was filled with clouds of chlorine, then it was that the greatest number of the attendants were attacked." (Dr Albers.) At the Smallpox Hospital, where chlorine was tried, with the view of arresting the progress of erysipelas, "all offensive smell was removed, but the power of communicating the disease remained behind." ('Lond. Med. Gaz.') Notwithstanding these marked failures, the confidence of many eminent members of the profession continues unabated. "As a fumigating agent, disinfectant and antiseptic, chlorine, I believe, stands unrivalled." "For destroying miasmata, noxious effluvia, and putrid odours, it is the most powerful agent known." (Dr Pereira.) Our own experience leads us to the conclusion that chlorine is more useful in neutralising the contagious or morbific matter of fevers (especially of scarlet fevers) and putrid diseases generally, than of the other diseases in which it has been employed.

=Fumigation, Hydrochlo''ric.= _Syn._ MURIATIC FUMIGATION; FUMIGATIO MURIATICA, F. ACIDI HYDROCHLORICI, L. _Prep._ From common salt placed in a cup or saucer, and an equal weight of sulphuric acid poured over it. Now seldom used. It rapidly neutralises ammoniacal fumes.

=Fumigation, I'odine.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO IODINII, L. _Prep._ 1. From iodine, 5 to 25 gr., or more, according to extent of surface, placed on a heated iron contained in a box or case in which the limb is enclosed. In the usual skin diseases in which the use of iodine is indicated. Iodine may be readily diffused through the atmosphere by placing a small quantity on a hot plate. Duroy says iodine powerfully arrests putrefaction.

2. (Compound; FUMIGATIO IODINII COMPOSITA--Sellers.) Iodine, 20 gr.; red sulphide of mercury, 40 gr.; sulphur, 6 dr.; mix, and divide into 12 powders. One to be used, as the last, 3 times daily; in lepra, psoriasis, &c.

=Fumigation, Mercu''rial.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO MERCURIALIS, L. _Prep._ (Bouchardat.) Olibanum (in powder), 2 parts; red sulphide of mercury, 3 parts. A little is sprinkled on red-hot coals or a heated shovel held beneath the part; or the fumes are inhaled. _Obs._ Abernethy used the black oxide of mercury (1-1/2 to 2 dr.), and applied it to the whole body, excepting the head, in a similar way to the sulphur bath, and continued the application for about a quarter of an hour. See CANDLES, (Mercurial), and No. 2 (_above_).

=Fumigation, Mu'riatic.= See HYDROCHLORIC F. (_above_).

=Fumigation, Ni'trous.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO NITROSA. _Prep._ (P. Cod.) Sulphuric acid, diluted with half its weight of water, is placed in a porcelain cup (any shallow vessel of glass or earthenware will do), placed over heated cinders, and small quantities of powdered nitre added to it from time to time.

_Obs._ Heat causes the gas to be evolved more rapidly, and thus renders the fumes more offensive, without increasing their efficacy. Equal weights of oil of vitriol and water are the proportions usually employed, 1/4 oz. of nitre is said to be sufficient for a small room. (Dr Bateman.) The vessel containing the ingredients should be placed in an elevated position in the centre of the apartment.

Dr Carmichael Smith, who introduced nitrous acid gas as a fumigation (1799), received a reward of £5000 from Parliament for publishing his formula.

=Fumigation, Sulphu'rous.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO SULPHUROSA, F. SULPHURIS, L. _Prep._ 1. The gas produced by burning sulphur, sulphurous anhydride, or, as Mr Keates has suggested, by burning bisulphide of carbon.

To guard against the danger arising from fire, when sulphur is burnt for the purposes of fumigation, the operator is advised to proceed as follows:--Having closed the fireplace, windows, &c., of the apartment to be disinfected, procure a common pail or a large earthenware pan, and place it in the centre of the room; then into the middle of the pail or pan put upside down an ordinary flower-pot. Then pour water into the pail or pan (as the case may be) until it nearly reaches to the top of the inverted flower-pot. Now stand on the flower-pot a plate or saucer of earthenware or common crockery, sufficiently large to hold the quantity of sulphur required; place this quantity of sulphur in the plate or saucer, and put on it a few live coals; then close the door of the apartment, and leave it undisturbed for six or eight hours. At the expiration of this time the door may be opened, as well as the windows, the barricade being at the same time removed from the fireplace; a thorough draught of air being thus established, the sulphurous smell will soon disappear. During the fumigation all articles within the room should be spread out so as to expose as great a surface as possible. "The cubic space to be thus disinfected should be calculated by multiplying the length, height, and breadth together, and taking an ounce and a half of sulphur for every 100 cubic feet. For a small bedroom one pound of sulphur would be sufficient. Indeed, eighteen ounces would suffice for a room measuring 12 ft. × 10 ft. × 10 ft."[321]

[Footnote 321: 'Water, Air, and Disinfectants,' by Noel Hartley.]

2. Flowers of sulphur, 7 parts; nitre, 4 parts; benzoin and olibanum, of each 2 parts; camphor, 1 part; pressed into the bowls of tobacco-pipes, and lighted with a quick-match. See BATH and DISINFECTANT.

=Fumigation, Tar.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO PICEA, SUFFUMIGATIO PICIS LIQUIDÆ, L. _Prep._ 1. Vegetable tar, 1 part; water, 7 or 8 parts; mix, and let it simmer in an open vessel set over a spirit lamp placed near the centre of the apartment.

2. (Sir A. Crichton.) Norway tar, 1 lb.; powdered carbonate of potash, 1/2 oz. or 1 oz.; mix, and heat it as last. The potash is added to neutralise any volatile acid. Formerly highly thought of in bronchitis and pulmonary consumption.

=Fumigation, Tooth'ache.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ODONTALGICA, F. ANTI-NEURALGICA, L. _Prep._ 1. From henbane seeds, powdered and thrown into a basin of boiling water, and the affected part held in the steam. Sometimes a little of the seed is placed on a heated iron spoon, and the part exposed to the fumes.

2. (Beasley.) A popular remedy is to throw henbane seed on hot cinders, inverting a cup over them to receive the smoke and empyreumatic oil produced. The cup is then filled with hot water, and the steam conveyed to the affected side of the mouth.

=FU''MING LIQUORS.= See AMMONIUM SULPHYDRATE, ARSENIC TRICHLORIDE, TIN BICHLORIDE, &c.

=FUNG'I.= In _botany_, a natural order of cellular plants, producing their fructification in the air; growing in or upon decaying or living organic substances, and nourished through their vegetative structure called the spawn or mycelium. Fungi have very variable properties. Some are medical, others edible, others are deadly poisons. The various diseases of plants known as blight, mildew, rust, smut, vine-mildew, potato-disease, ergot, &c., are either caused by or accelerated by the agency of fungi. See AGARIC, MUSHROOM, &c.

=FUR'NACE.= An enclosed fireplace for obtaining a high degree of heat. Furnaces vary much in construction and size, according to the particular manufacture in which they are employed. They may be broadly divided into two classes--WIND-FURNACES and BLAST FURNACES. In the former a high temperature is produced without the aid of bellows by means of a powerful draught. In the latter heated air is blown in through a pipe or pipes at the bottom. For many metallurgic and large chemical operations REVERBERATORY FURNACES are employed. A furnace of this kind is usually long, with a low roof to keep down the flame and hot air upon the 'hearth' or space between the fireplace and the flue.[322] For the smaller operations in chemistry, a variety of furnaces have been invented, and the introduction of coal-gas as a fuel by Develle, Griffin, Gore, Fletcher, and others, has wrought a complete change in the arrangements of the laboratory. The GAS-FURNACES of Mr J. J. Griffin are adapted for almost every operation performed by the aid of heat. Those more recently introduced by Mr W. Gore are very compact and portable, and will rapidly produce a 'white heat,' without the help of bellows or high chimney, by means of ordinary coal-gas and atmospheric air. The first and smallest size consumes 33 cubic feet of gas (value seven farthings) per hour, and is suitable for assayers, jewellers, analytical chemists, experimentalists, dentists, and others. It is capable of fusing eight ounces of copper or six ounces of cast iron, copper begins to melt in it in about twelve minutes from the time of lighting. The second-sized one consumes about twice that quantity of gas, is suitable for manufacturing jewellers generally, and for a great variety of practical persons who require to melt small quantities of gold, silver, copper, german silver, brass, cast iron, glass, and other substances, or require a small crucible heated to high temperatures. It is capable of melting 45 ounces of copper, or 40 ounces of cast iron, and with its heat up it melts one pound of copper in eight minutes; copper begins to melt in about twenty minutes from the time of lighting.

[Footnote 322: For an illustration of this kind of furnace, see SODIUM, Carbonate of.]

Fletcher's[323] UNIVERSAL FURNACES for high temperatures, which are said to require neither blast nor attention, are intended for laboratory purposes, enamel burning, heating soldering irons, and for jewellers' and dentists' work. These furnaces are made in two distinct types; one with a perforated cover to the crucibles and muffles to attain the maximum heat; the other with a slide chimney and a double lid over the crucible.

[Footnote 323: Manufactured by Thos. Fletcher, Museum Street, Warrington.]

The power and rapidity of working depend in each case on the length of the chimney used. A furnace with a four-feet chimney will melt a crucible of cast-iron in thirty-five minutes; a furnace with an eight-feet chimney will melt the same quantity of iron in about twenty minutes, starting with the furnace cold. The stove with the side chimney, although more convenient in use, is slower in working, taking about twice as long to obtain the same temperature.

The following are varieties of Fletcher's UNIVERSAL FURNACE:--

1. SMALL LABORATORY FURNACE for crucibles, with nickel-plated burner tubes. This takes crucibles up to 2-1/2 by 2-1/4 inches outside, and with a three-feet chimney, as supplied with the furnace, will, it is stated, melt copper, gold, silver, &c., in about ten minutes, or cast-iron in thirty-five minutes from the time the gas is lighted. Small muffle fittings, with muffles 2-1/4 by 3 by 2-1/2 inches inside, can be supplied with this furnace.

2. SMALL CRUCIBLE FURNACE, with fixed chimney. This furnace is more especially designed for gold, silver, copper, &c., and, as sent out with a four-feet chimney and a single lid, is amply powerful, and practically of a very convenient form.

3. SMALL MUFFLE FURNACE, with three feet chimney. This requires about eighteen inches longer chimney than the small crucible furnace to obtain the same temperature in the same time, owing to a slight loss of heat by radiation from the stoppers.