Chapter VI: Part 6

FORGET-ME-NOT, or SCORPION-GRASS (Ger. _Vergissmeinnicht_, Fr. _gremillet_, _scorpionne_), the name popularly applied to the small annual or perennial herbs forming the genus _Myosotis_ of the natural order _Boraginaceae_, so called from the Greek [Greek: mys], a mouse, and [Greek: ous], an ear, on account of the shape of the leaves. The genus is represented in Europe, north Asia, North America and Australia, and is characterized by oblong or linear stem-leaves, flowers in terminal scorpioid cymes, small blue, pink or white flowers, a five-cleft persistent calyx, a salver- or funnel-shaped corolla, having its mouth closed by five short scales and hard, smooth, shining nutlets. The common or true forget-me-not, _M. palustris_, is a perennial plant growing to a height of 6 to 18 in., with rootstock creeping, stem clothed with lax spreading hairs, leaves light green, and somewhat shining, buds pink, becoming blue as they expand, and corolla rotate, broad, with retuse lobes and bright blue with a yellow centre. The divisions of the calyx extend only about one-third the length of the corolla, whereas in the other British species of _Myosotis_ it is deeply cleft. The forget-me-not, a favourite with poets, and the symbol of constancy, is a frequent ornament of brooks, rivers and ditches, and, according to an old German tradition, received its name from the last words of a knight who was drowned in the attempt to procure the flower for his lady. It attains its greatest perfection under cultivation, and, as it flowers throughout the summer, is used with good effect for garden borders; a variety, _M. strigulosa_, is more hairy and erect, and its flowers are smaller. In _M. versicolor_ the flowers are yellow when first open and change generally to a dull blue; sometimes they are permanently yellowish-white. Of the species in cultivation, _M. dissitiflora_, 6 to 8 in., with large handsome abundant sky-blue flowers, is the best and earliest, flowering from February onwards; it does well in light cool soils, preferring peaty ones, and should be renewed annually from seeds or cuttings. _M. rupicola_, or _M. alpestris_, 2 to 3 in., intense blue, is a fine rock plant, preferring shady situations and gritty soil; _M. azorica_ (a native of the Azores) with purple, ultimately blue flowers about half an inch across, has a similar habit but larger flowers; _M. sylvatica_, 1 ft., blue, pink or white, used for spring bedding, should be sown annually in August.

FORGING, the craft of the smith, or "blacksmith," exercised on malleable iron and steel, in the production of works of constructive utility and of ornament. It differs from founding (q.v.) in the fact that the metal is never melted. It is essentially a moulding process, the iron or steel being worked at a full red, or white, heat when it is in a plastic and more or less pasty condition. Consequently the tools used are in the main counterparts of the shapes desired, and they mould by impact. All the operations of forging may be reduced to a few very simple ones: (1) Reducing or drawing down from a larger to a smaller section ("fullering" and "swaging"); (2) enlargement of a smaller to a larger portion ("upsetting"); (3) bending, or turning round to any angle of curvature; (4) uniting one piece of metal to another ("welding"); (5) the formation of holes by punching; and (6) severance, or cutting off. These include all the operations that are done at the anvil. In none of these processes, the last excepted, is the use of a sharp cutting tool involved, and therefore there is no violence done to the fibre of the malleable metal. Nor have the tools of the smith any sharp edges, except the cutting-off tools or "setts." The essential fact of the flow of the metal, which is viscous when at a full red heat, must never be lost sight of; and in forging wrought iron the judgment of the smith must be exercised in arranging the direction of the fibre in a way best calculated to secure maximum strength.

Fullering and swaging.

Fullering denotes the preliminary roughing-down of the material
between tools having convex edges; swaging, the completion or
finishing process between swages, or dies of definite shape, nearly
hemispherical in form. When a bar has to be reduced from larger to
smaller dimensions, it is laid upon a fuller or round-faced stake, set
in the anvil, or, in some cases, on a flat face (fig. 1), and blows
are dealt upon that portion of the face which lies exactly opposite
with a fullering tool A, grasped by a rather loosely-fitting handle
and struck on its head by a sledge. The position of the piece of work
is quickly changed at brief intervals in order to bring successive
portions under the action of the swages until the reduction is
completed; the upper face, and if a bottom fuller is used the under
face also, is thus left corrugated slightly. These corrugations are
then removed either by a flatter, if the surfaces are plane (fig. 2),
or by hollow swages, if the cross section is circular (fig. 3). Spring
swages (fig. 4) are frequently used instead of separate "top and
bottom tools." Frequently swaging is practised at once, without the
preliminary detail of fullering. It is adopted when the amount of
reduction is slight, and also when a steam hammer or other type of
power hammer is available. This process of drawing down or fullering
is, when practicable, adopted in preference to either upsetting or
welding, because it is open to no objection, and involves no risk of
damage to the material, while it improves the metal by consolidating
its fibres. But its limitations in anvil work lie in the tediousness
of the operation, when the part to be reduced is very much less in
diameter, and very much longer, than the original piece of bar. Then
there are other alternatives.

Upsetting.

If a long bar is required to have an enlargement at any portion of its
length, not very much larger in diameter than the bar, nor of great
length, upsetting is the method adopted. The part to be enlarged is
heated, the parts adjacent remaining cold, and an end is hammered, or
else lifted and dropped heavily on the anvil or on an iron plate, with
the result that the heated portion becomes both shortened and enlarged
(figs. 5 and 6). This process is only suitable for relatively short
lengths, and has the disadvantage that the fibres of wrought iron are
liable to open, and so cause weakening of the upset portion. But
steel, which has no direction of fibre, can be upset without injury;
this method is therefore commonly adopted in steel work, in power
presses to an equal extent with drawing down. The alternative to
upsetting is generally to weld a larger to a smaller bar or section,
or to encircle the bar with a ring and weld the two (fig. 7), and then
to impart any shape desired to the ring in swages.

Bending.

Bending is effected either by the hammer or by the simple exercise of
leverage, the heated bar being pulled round a fulcrum. It is always,
when practicable, preferable to cutting out a curved or angular shape
with a hot sett or to welding. The continuity of the fibre in iron is
preserved by bending, and the risk of an imperfect weld is avoided.
Hence it is a simple and safe process which is constantly being
performed at the anvil. An objection to sharp bends, or those having a
small radius, is that the fibres become extended on the outer radius,
the cross section being at the same time reduced below that of the bar
itself. This is met by imparting a preliminary amount of upsetting to
the part to be bent, sufficient to counteract the amount of reduction
due to extension of the fibres. A familiar example is seen in the
corners of dip cranks.

Welding.

The property possessed by pieces of iron or steel of uniting
autogeneously while in a condition of semi-fusion is very valuable.
When portions which differ greatly in dimensions have to be united,
welding is the only method practicable at the anvil. It is also
generally the best to adopt when union has to be made between pieces
at right angles, or when a piece on which much work has to be done is
required at the end of a long plain bar, as in the tension rods of
cranes and other structures with eyes. The art of welding depends
chiefly on having perfectly clean joint faces, free from scale, so
that metal can unite to metal; union would be prevented by the
presence of oxide or of dirt. Also it is essential to have a
temperature sufficiently high, yet not such as to overheat the metal.
A dazzling white, at which small particles of metal begin to drop off,
is suitable for iron, but steel must not be made so hot. A very few
hammer blows suffice to effect the actual union; if the joint be
faulty, no amount of subsequent hammering will weld it. The forms of
weld-joints include the scarf (figs. 8 and 9), the butt (fig. 10), the
V (fig. 11) and the glut, one form of which is shown in fig. 12; the
illustrations are of bars prepared for welding. These forms give the
smith a suitable choice for different conditions. A convexity is
imparted to the joint faces in order to favour the expulsion of slag
and dirt during the closing of the joint; these undesirable matters
become entangled between concave faces. The ends are upset or enlarged
in order to leave enough metal to be dressed down flush, by swaging or
by flattering. The proportional lengths of the joint faces shown are
those which conform to good practice. The fluxes used for welding are
numerous. Sand alone is generally dusted on wrought iron, but steel
requires borax applied on the joint while in the fire, and also dusted
on the joint at the anvil and on the face of the latter itself.
Electric welding is largely taking the place of the hand process, but
machines are required to maintain the parts in contact during the
passage of the current. Butt joints are employed, and a large quantity
of power is absorbed, but the output is immensely greater than that of
hand-made welds.

Punching.

When holes are not very large they are formed by punching, but large
holes are preferably produced by bending a rod round and welding it,
so forming an eye (fig. 13). Small holes are often punched simply as a
preliminary stage in the formation of a larger hole by a process of
drifting. A piece of work to be punched is supported either on the
anvil or on a ring of metal termed a bolster, laid on the anvil,
through which the burr, when severed, falls. But in making small holes
through a thick mass, no burr is produced, the metal yielding sideways
and forming an enlargement or boss. Examples occur in the wrought iron
stanchions that carry light hand railing. In such cases the hole has
to be punched from each face, meeting in the centre. Punching under
power hammers is done similarly, but occupies less time.

Cutting-off.

The cutting-off or severance of material is done either on hot or cold
metal. In the first case the chisels used, "hot setts," have keener
cutting angles than those employed for the second, termed "cold
setts." One sett is held in a hole in the anvil face, the "anvil
chisel," the other is handled and struck with a sledge.

The difference between iron and steel at the forge is that iron possesses a very marked fibre whereas steel does not. Many forgings therefore must be made differently according as they are in iron or in steel. In the first the fibre must never be allowed to run transversely to the axis of greatest tensile or bending stress, but must be in line therewith. For this reason many forgings, of which a common eye or loop (fig. 13) is a typical example, that would be stamped from a solid piece if made in steel, must be bent round from bar and welded if in wrought iron. Further, welding which is practically uniformly trustworthy in wrought iron, is distrusted in steel. The difference is due to the very fibrous character of iron, the welding of which gives much less anxiety to the smith than that of steel. Welds in iron are frequently made without any flux, those in steel never. Though mention has only been made of iron and steel, other alloys are forged, as those of aluminium, delta metal, &c. But the essential operations are alike, the differences being in temperature at which the forging is done and nature of the fluxes used for welding. For hardening and tempering, an important section of smith's work, see ANNEALING.

_Die Forging._--The smith operating by hand uses the above methods only. There is, however, a large and increasing volume of forgings produced in other ways, and comprehended under the general terms, "die forging" or "drop forging."

Little proof is needed to show that the various operations done at the anvil might be performed in a more expeditious way by the aid of power-operated appliances; for the elementary processes of reducing, and enlarging, bending, punching, &c., are extremely simple, and the most elaborate forged work involves only a repetition of these. The fact that the material used is entirely plastic when raised to a white heat is most favourable to the method of forging in matrices or dies. A white hot mass of metal can be placed in a matrix, and stamped into shape in a few blows under a hammer with as much ease as a medal can be stamped in steel dies under a coining press. But much detail is involved in the translation of the principle into practice. The parallel between coining dies and forging dies does not go far. The blank for the coin is prepared to such exact dimensions that no surplus material is left over by the striking of the coin, which is struck while cold. But the blank used in die forging is generally a shapeless piece, taken without any preliminary preparation, a mere lump, a piece of bar or rod, which may be square or round irrespective of whether the ultimate forging is to be square, or round, or flat or a combination of forms. At the verge of the welding heat to which it is raised, and under the intensity of the impact of hammer blows rained rapidly on the upper die, the metal yields like lead, and flows and fills the dies.

Herein lies a difference between striking a coin and moulding a forging. A large amount of metal is squeezed out beyond the concavity of the forging dies, and this would, if allowed to flow over between the joints, prevent the dies from being closed on the forging. There are two methods adopted for removing this "fin," or "flash" as it is termed, one being that of suppression, applicable to circular work, the other that of stripping, applied to almost all other cases.

The suppression of fin means that the circular bar is rotated in the
dies (fig. 14) through a small arc, alternating between every few
blows, with the result that the fin is obliterated immediately when
formed, this being done at the same time that reduction of section is
being effected over a portion or the whole of the bar.

Stripping means that when a considerable amount of fin has been
formed, it is removed by laying the forging on a die pierced right
through with an opening of the same shape and area as the forging, and
then dealing the forging a blow with the hammer. The forging is thus
knocked through the die, leaving the severed or stripped fin behind.
The forging is then returned to the dies and again treated, and the
stripping may be repeated twice, or even oftener, before the forging
can be completed.

Figs. 15 and 16 illustrate the bottom dies of a set for forging in a
particular form of eye, the top dies being of exactly the same shape.
The first operation takes place in fig. 15, in which a bar of metal is
reduced to a globular and cylindrical form, being constantly rotated
meanwhile. The shank portion is then drawn down in the parallel recess
to the left. The shape of the eye is completed in fig. 16, and the
shank in the recess to the left of that. Fig. 17 shows how a lever is
stamped between top and bottom dies. The hole in the larger boss is
formed by punching, the punches nearly meeting in the centre, and the
centre for the hole to be drilled subsequently in the smaller boss is
located by a conical projection in the top die.

It is evident that the methods of die forging, though only explained
here in barest outline, constitute a principle of extensive
application.

An intricate or ornamental forging, which might occupy a smith a
quarter of a day in making at the anvil, can often be produced in dies
within five minutes (fig. 18). On the other hand, there is the cost of
the preparation of the dies, which is often heavy, so that the
question of method is resolved into the relative one of the cost of
dies, distributed over the number of identical forgings required. From
this point of view it is clear that given say a thousand forgings,
ordered all alike, the cost of even expensive dies distributed over
the whole becomes only an infinitesimal amount per forging.

There is, further, the very important fact that forgings which are
produced in dies are uniform and generally of more exact dimensions
than anvil-made articles. This is seen to be an advantage when
forgings have to be turned or otherwise tooled in the engineer's
machine shop, since it lessens the amount of work required there.
Besides, for many purposes such forgings do not require tooling at
all, or only superficial grinding, while anvil-made ones would, in
consequence of their slight inaccuracies.

Yet again, die forging is a very elastic system, and herein lies much
of its value. Though it reaches its highest development when thousands
of similar pieces are wanted, it is also adaptable to a hundred, or
even to a dozen, similar forgings. In such cases economy is secured by
using dies of a very cheap character; or, by employing such dies as
supplementary to anvil work for effecting neat finish to more precise
dimensions than can be ensured at the anvil. In the first case use is
made of dies of cast iron moulded from patterns (fig. 19) instead of
having their matrices laboriously cut in steel with drills, chisels
and milling tools. In the second, preliminary drawing down is done
under the steam hammer, and bending and welding at the anvil, or under
the steam hammer, until the forgings are brought approximately to
their final shape and dimensions. Then they are reheated and inserted
in the dies, when a few blows under the steam or drop hammer suffice
to impart a neat and accurate finish.

The limitations of die forging are chiefly those due to large
dimensions. The system is most successful for the smallest forgings
and dies which can be handled by one man without the assistance of
cranes; and massive forgings are not required in such large numbers as
are those of small dimensions. But there are many large articles
manufactured which do not strictly come under the term forgings, in
which the aid of dies actuated by powerful hydraulic presses is
utilized. These include work that is bent, drawn and shaped from steel
plate, of which the fittings of railway wagons constitute by far the
largest proportion. The dies used for some of these are massive, and a
single squeeze from the ram of the hydraulic press employed bends the
steel plate between the dies to shape at once. Fairly massive forgings
are also produced in these presses.

Die forging in its highest developments invades the craft of the
skilled smith. In shops where it is adopted entirely, the only
craftsmen required are the few who have general charge of the shops.
The men who attend to the machines are not smiths, but unskilled
helpers. (J. G. H.)

FORK (Lat. _furca_), an implement formed of two or more prongs at the end of a shaft or handle, the most familiar type of which is the table-fork for use in eating. In agriculture and horticulture the fork is used for pitching hay, and other green crops, manure, &c.; commonly this has two prongs, "tines"; for digging, breaking up surface soil, preparing for hand weeding and for planting the three-pronged fork is used. The word is also applied to many objects which are characterized by branching ends, as the tuning-fork, with two branching metal prongs, which on being struck vibrates and gives a musical note, used to give a standard of pitch; to the branching into two streams of a river, or the junction where a tributary runs into the main river; and in the human body, to that part where the legs branch off from the trunk.

The _furca_, two pieces of wood fastened together in the form of the letter [Lambda], was used by the Romans as an instrument of punishment. It was placed over the shoulders of the criminal, and his hands were fastened to it, condemned slaves were compelled to carry it about with them, and those sentenced to be flogged would be tied to it; crucifixions were sometimes carried out on a similar shaped instrument. From the great defeat of the Romans by the Samnites at the battle of the Caudine Forks (_Furculae Caudinae_), a narrow gorge, where the vanquished were compelled to pass under the yoke (_jugum_), as a sign of submission, the expression "to pass through or under the forks" has been loosely used of such a disgraceful surrender. The "forks" in any allusion to this defeat should refer to the topographical name and not to the _jugum_, which consisted of two upright spears with a third placed transversely as a cross-bar.

FORKEL, JOHANN NIKOLAUS (1749-1818), German musician, was born on the 22nd of February 1749 at Meeder in Coburg. He was the son of a cobbler, and as a practical musician, especially as a pianoforte player, achieved some eminence; but his claims to a more abiding name rest chiefly upon his literary skill and deep research as an historian of musical science and literature. He was an enthusiastic admirer of J.S. Bach, whose music he did much to popularize. His library, which was accumulated with care and discrimination at a time when rare books were cheap, forms a valuable portion of the royal library in Berlin and also of the library of the Koniglicher Institut fur Kirchenmusik. He was organist to the university church of Gottingen, obtained the degree of doctor of philosophy, and in 1778 became musical director of the university. He died at Gottingen on the 20th of March 1818. The following is a list of his principal works: _Uber die Theorie der Musik_ (Gottingen, 1777); _Musikalisch kritische Bibliothek_ (Gotha, 1778); _Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik_ (Leipzig, 1788). The last is his most important work. He also wrote a _Dictionary of Musical Literature_, which is full of valuable material. To his musical compositions, which are numerous, little interest is to-day to be attached. But it is worth noting that he wrote variations on the English national anthem "God save the king" for the clavichord, and that Abt Vogler wrote a sharp criticism on them, which appeared at Frankfort in 1793 together with a set of variations as he conceived they ought to be written.

FORLI (anc. _Forum Livii_), a town and episcopal see of Emilia, Italy, the capital of the province of Forli, 40 m. S.E. of Bologna by rail, 108 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 15,461 (town); 43,321 (commune). Forli is situated on the railway between Bologna and Rimini. It is connected by steam tramways with Ravenna and Meldola, and by a road through the Apennines with Pontassieve. The church of S. Mercuriale stands in the principal square, and contains, besides paintings, some good carved and inlaid choir stalls by Alessandro dei Bigni. The facade has been considerably altered, but the campanile, erected in 1178-1180, still exists; it is 252 ft. in height, square and built of brickwork, and is one of the finest of Lombard campanili. The pictures in this church are the work of Marco Palmezzano (1456-1537) and others; S. Biagio and the municipal picture gallery also contain works by him. The latter has other interesting pictures, including a fresco representing an apprentice with pestle and mortar (Pestapepe), the only authentic work in Forli of Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494), an eminent master whose style was formed under the influence of Piero della Francesca, and who was the master of Palmezzano; the frescoes in the Sforza chapel in SS. Biagio e Girolamo are from the former's designs, though executed by the latter. The church also contains the fine tomb (1466) of Barbara Manfredi. The cathedral (Santa Croce) has been almost entirely rebuilt since 1844. The Palazzo del Podesta, now a private house, is a brick building of the 15th century. The citadel (Rocca Ravaldina), constructed about 1360-1370, and later rebuilt, is now used as a prison. Flavio Biondo, the first Renaissance writer on the topography of ancient Rome (1388-1463), was a native of Forli.

Of the ancient Forum Livii, which lay on the Via Aemilia, hardly anything is known. In the 12th century we find Forli in league with Ravenna, and in the 13th the imperial count of the province of Romagna resided there. In 1275 Forli defeated Bologna with great loss. Martin IV. sent an army to besiege it in 1282, which was driven out after severe fighting in the streets; but the town soon afterwards surrendered. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was under the government of the Ordelaffi; and in 1500 was taken by Caesar Borgia, despite a determined resistance by Caterina Sforza, widow of Girolamo Riario. Forli finally became a part of the papal state in 1504. (T. As.)

FORLIMPOPOLI (anc. _Forum Popillii_), a village of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Forli, from which it is 5 m. S.E. by rail, 105 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 2299 (town); 5795 (commune). The ancient Forum Popillii, a station on the Via Aemilia, was destroyed by Grimuald in 672. Whether its site is occupied by the present town is not certain; the former should perhaps be sought a mile or so farther to the S.E., where were found most of the inscriptions of which the place of discovery is certain. Forlimpopoli was again destroyed by Cardinal Albornoz in 1360, and rebuilt by Sinibaldo Ordelaffi, who constructed the well-preserved medieval castle (1380), rectangular with four circular towers at the corners. (T. As.)

FORLORN HOPE (through Dutch _verloren hoop_, from Ger. _verlorene Haufe_ = "lost troop"; _Haufe_, "heap," being equivalent in the 17th century to "body of troops"; the French equivalent is _enfants perdus_), a military term (sometimes shortened to "forlorn"), used in the 16th and 17th centuries for a body of troops thrown out in front of the line of battle to engage the hostile line, somewhat after the fashion of skirmishers, though they were always solid closed bodies. These troops ran great risks, because they were often trapped between the two lines of battle as the latter closed upon one another, and fired upon or ridden down by their friends; further, their mission was to facilitate the attacks of their own main body by striking the first blow against or meeting the first shock of the fresh and unshaken enemy. In the following century (18th), when lines of masses were no longer employed, a thin line of skirmishers alone preceded the three-deep line of battle, but the term "forlorn hope" continued to be used for picked bodies of men entrusted with dangerous tasks, and in particular for the storming party at the assault of a fortress. In this last sense "forlorn hope" is often used at the present time. The misunderstanding of the word "hope" has led to various applications of "forlorn hope," such as to an enterprise offering little chance of success, or, further still from the original meaning, to the faint or desperate hope of such success.

FORM (Lat. _forma_), in general, the external shape, appearance, configuration of an object, in contradistinction to the matter of which it is composed; thus a speech may contain excellent arguments,--the _matter_ may be good, while the style, grammar, arrangement,--the _form_--is bad. The term, with its adjective "formal" and the derived nouns "formality" and "formalism," is hence contemptuously used for that which is superficial, unessential, hypocritical: chap. xxiii. of Matthew's gospel is a classical instance of the distinction between the formalism of the Pharisaic code and genuine religion. With this may be compared the popular phrases "good form" and "bad form" applied to behaviour in society: so "format" (from the French) is technically used of the shape and size, e.g. of a book (octavo, quarto, &c.) or of a cigarette. The word "form" is also applied to certain definite objects: in printing a body of type secured in a chase for printing at one impression ("form" or "forme"); a bench without a back, such as is used in schools (perhaps to be compared with O. Fr. _s'asseoir en forme_, to sit in a row); a mould or shape on or in which an object is manufactured; the lair or nest of a hare. From its use in the sense of regulated order comes the application of the term to a class in a school ("sixth form," "fifth form," &c.); this sense has been explained without sufficient ground as due to the idea of all children in the same class sitting on a single form (bench).

The word has been used technically in philosophy with various shades of meaning. Thus it is used to translate the Platonic [Greek: idea], [Greek: eidos], the permanent reality which makes a thing what it is, in contrast with the particulars which are finite and subject to change. Whether Plato understood these forms as actually existent apart from all the particular examples, or as being of the nature of immutable physical laws, is matter of discussion. For practical purposes Aristotle was the first to distinguish between matter ([Greek: hyle]) and form ([Greek: eidos]). To Aristotle matter is the undifferentiated primal element: it is rather that from which things develop ([Greek: hypokeimenon], [Greek: dynamis]) than a thing in itself ([Greek: energeia]). The development of particular things from this germinal matter consists in differentiation, the acquiring of particular _forms_ of which the knowable universe consists (cf. CAUSATION for the Aristotelian "formal cause"). The perfection of the form of a thing is its entelechy ([Greek: entelecheia]) in virtue of which it attains its fullest realization of function (_De anima_, ii. 2, [Greek: he men hyle dynamis to de eidos entelecheia]). Thus the entelechy of the body is the soul. The origin of the differentiation process is to be sought in a "prime mover" ([Greek: proton kinoun]), i.e. pure form entirely separate ([Greek: choriston]) from all matter, eternal, unchangeable, operating not by its own activity but by the impulse which its own absolute existence excites in matter ([Greek: hos eromenon], [Greek: ou kinoumenon]). The Aristotelian conception of form was nominally, though perhaps in most cases unintelligently, adopted by the Scholastics, to whom, however, its origin in the observation of the physical universe was an entirely foreign idea. The most remarkable adaptation is probably that of Aquinas, who distinguished the spiritual world with its "subsistent forms" (_formae separatae_) from the material with its "inherent forms" which exist only in combination with matter. Bacon, returning to the physical standpoint, maintained that all true research must be devoted to the discovery of the real nature or essence of things. His induction searches for the true "form" of light, heat and so forth, analysing the external "form" given in perception into simpler "forms" and their "differences." Thus he would collect all possible instances of hot things, and discover that which is present in all, excluding all those qualities which belong accidentally to one or more of the examples investigated: the "form" of heat is the residuum common to all. Kant transferred the term from the objective to the subjective sphere. All perception is necessarily conditioned by pure "forms of sensibility," i.e. space and time: whatever is perceived is perceived as having spacial and temporal relations (see SPACE AND TIME; KANT). These forms are not obtained by abstraction from sensible data, nor are they strictly speaking innate: they are obtained "by the very action of the mind from the co-ordination of its sensation."

FORMALIN, or FORMALDEHYDE, CH2O or H.CHO, the first member of the series of saturated aliphatic aldehydes. It is most readily prepared by passing the vapour of methyl alcohol, mixed with air, over heated copper or platinum. In order to collect the formaldehyde, the vapour is condensed and absorbed, either in water or alcohol. It may also be obtained, although only in small quantities, by the distillation of calcium formate. At ordinary temperatures formaldehyde is a gas possessing a pungent smell; it is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant, a 40% solution of the aldehyde in water or methyl alcohol, sold as _formalin_, being employed as a deodorant, fungicide and preservative. It is not possible to obtain the aldehyde in a pure condition, since it readily polymerizes. It is a strong reducing agent; it combines with ammonia to form _hexamethylene tetramine_, (CH2)6N4, and easily "condenses" in the presence of many bases to produce compounds which apparently belong to the sugars (q.v.). It renders glue or gelatin insoluble in water, and is used in the coal-tar colour industry in the manufacture of para-rosaniline, pyronines and rosamines. Several polymers have been described. _Para-formaldehyde_, or trioxymethylene, obtained by concentrating solutions of formaldehyde _in vacuo_, is a white crystalline solid, which sublimes at about 100 deg. C. and melts at a somewhat higher temperature, changing back into the original form. It is insoluble in cold water, alcohol and ether. A diformaldehyde is supposed to separate as white flakes when the vapour is passed into chloroform (Korber, _Pharm. Zeit._, 1904, xlix. p. 609); F. Auerbach and H. Barschall (_Chem. Zentr._, 1907, ii. p. 1734) obtained three polymers by acting with concentrated sulphuric acid on solutions of formaldehyde, and a fourth by heating one of the forms so obtained. The strength of solutions of formaldehyde may be ascertained by the addition of excess of standard ammonia to the aldehyde solution (hexamethylene tetramine being formed), the excess of ammonia being then estimated by titration with standard acid. On the formation of formaldehyde by the oxidation of methane at high temperatures, see W.A. Bone (_Journ. Chem. Soc._, 1902, 81, p. 535; 1903, 83, p. 1074). Formaldehyde also appears to be a reduction product of carbon dioxide (see _Annual Reports of the Chemical Society_).

FORMAN, ANDREW (c. 1465-1521), Scottish ecclesiastic, was educated at the university of St Andrews and entered the service of King James IV. about 1489. He soon earned the favour of this king, who treated him with great generosity and who on several occasions sent him on important embassies to the English, the French and the papal courts. In 1501 he became bishop of Moray and in July 1513 Louis XII. of France secured his appointment as archbishop of Bourges, while pope Julius II. promised to make him a cardinal. In 1514 during a long absence from his own land Forman was nominated by Pope Leo X. to the vacant archbishopric of St Andrews and was made papal legate in Scotland, but it was some time before he secured possession of the see owing to the attempts of Henry VIII. to subject Scotland to England and to the efforts of his rivals, Gavin Douglas, the poet, and John Hepburn, prior of St Andrews, and their supporters. Eventually, however, he resigned some of his many benefices, the holding of which had made him unpopular, and through the good offices of the regent, John Stewart, duke of Albany, obtained the coveted archbishopric and the primacy of Scotland. Afterwards he was one of the vice-regents of the kingdom and he died on the 11th of March 1521. As archbishop he issued a series of constitutions which are printed in J. Robertson's _Concilia Scotiae_ (1866). Mr Andrew Lang (_History of Scotland_, vol. i.) describes Forman as "the Wolsey of Scotland, and a fomenter of the war which ended at Flodden."

See the biography of the archbishop which forms vol. ii. of _The
Archbishops of St Andrews_, by J. Herkless and R.K. Hannay (1909).

FORMAN, SIMON (1552-1611), English physician and astrologer, was born in 1552 at Quidham, a small village near Wilton, Wiltshire. At the age of fourteen he became apprentice to a druggist at Salisbury, but at the end of four years he exchanged this profession for that of a schoolmaster. Shortly afterwards he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied chiefly medicine and astrology. After continuing the same studies in Holland he commenced practice as a physician in Philpot Lane, London, but as he possessed no diploma, he on this account underwent more than one term of imprisonment. Ultimately, however, he obtained a diploma from Cambridge university, and established himself as a physician and astrologer at Lambeth, where he was consulted, especially as a physician, by many persons of rank, among others by the notorious countess of Essex. He expired suddenly while crossing the Thames in a boat on the 12th of September 1611.

A list of Forman's works on astrology is given in Bliss's edition of
the _Athenae Oxonienses_; many of his MS. works are contained in the
Bodleian Library, the British Museum and the Plymouth Library. _A
Brief Description of the Forman MSS. in the Public Library, Plymouth_,
was published in 1853.

FORMERET, a French architectural term for the wall-rib carrying the web or filling-in of a vault (q.v.).

FORMEY, JOHANN HEINRICH SAMUEL (1711-1797), Franco-German author, was born of French parentage at Berlin on the 31st of May 1711. He was educated for the ministry, and at the age of twenty became pastor of the French church at Brandenburg. Having in 1736 accepted the invitation of a congregation in Berlin, he was in the following year chosen professor of rhetoric in the French college of that city and in 1739 professor of philosophy. On the organization of the academy of Berlin in 1744 he was named a member, and in 1748 became its perpetual secretary. He died at Berlin on the 7th of March 1797. His principal works are _La Belle Wolfienne_ (1741-1750, 6 vols.), a kind of novel written with the view of enforcing the precepts of the Wolfian philosophy; _Bibliotheque critique, ou memoires pour servir a l'histoire litteraire ancienne et moderne_ (1746); _Le Philosophe chretien_ (1750); _L'Emile chretien_ (1764), intended as an answer to the _Emile_ of Rousseau; and _Souvenirs d'un citoyen_ (Berlin, 1789). He also published an immense number of contemporary memoirs in the transactions of the Berlin Academy.

FORMIA (anc. _Formiae_, called Mola di Gaeta until recent times), a town of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, from which it is 48 m. W.N.W. by rail. Pop. (1901) 5514 (town); 8452 (commune). It is situated at the N.W. extremity of the Bay of Gaeta, and commands beautiful views. It lay on the ancient Via Appia, and was much frequented as a resort by wealthy Romans. There was considerable imperial property here and along the coast as far as Sperlonga, and there are numerous remains of ancient villas along the coast and on the slopes above it. The so-called villa of Cicero contains two well-preserved _nymphaea_ with Doric architecture. Its site is now occupied by the villa Caposele, once a summer residence of the kings of Naples. There are many other modern villas, and the sheltered hillsides (for the mountains rise abruptly behind the town) are covered with lemon, orange and pomegranate gardens. The now deserted promontory of the Monte Scauri to the E. is also covered with remains of ancient villas; the hill is crowned by a large tomb, known as Torre Giano. To the E. at Scauri is a large villa with substructions in "Cyclopean" work. The ancient Formiae was, according to the legend, the home of the Laestrygones, and later a Spartan colony ([Greek: Hormiaidia to euormon], Strabo v. 3. 6, p. 233). It was a Volscian town, and, like Fundi, received the _civitas sine suffragio_ from Rome in 338 (or 332 B.C.) because the passage through its territory had always been secure. This was strategically important for the Romans, as the military road definitely constructed by Appius Claudius in 312 B.C., still easily traceable by its remains, and in part followed by the high-road, traversed a narrow pass, which could easily be blocked, between Fundi and Formiae. In 188 B.C., with Fundi, it received the full citizenship, and, like it, was to a certain extent under the control of a _praefectus_ sent from Rome, though it retained its three aediles. Mamurra was a native of Formia. Cicero possessed a favourite villa here, and was murdered in its vicinity in 43 B.C., but neither the villa nor the tomb can be identified with any certainty. It was devastated by Sextus Pompeius, and became a colony, with _duoviri_ as chief magistrates, under Hadrian. Portus Caietae (the modern Gaeta) was dependent upon it.

See T. Ashby, "Dessins inedits de Carlo Labruzzi," in _Melanges de
l'ecole francaise de Rome_ (1903), 410 seq. (T. As.)

FORMIC ACID, H2CO2 or H.COOH, the first member of the series of aliphatic monobasic acids of the general formula CnH_(2n)O2. It is distinguished from the other members of the series by certain characteristic properties; for example, it shows an aldehydic character in reducing silver salts to metallic silver, and it does not form an acid chloride or an acid anhydride. Its nitrile (prussic acid) has an acid character, a property not possessed by the nitriles of the other members of the series; and, by the abstraction of the elements of water from the acid, carbon monoxide is produced, a reaction which finds no parallel in the higher members of the series. Finally, formic acid is, as shown by the determination of its affinity constant, a much stronger acid than the other acids of the series. It occurs naturally in red ants (Lat. _formica_), in stinging nettles, in some mineral waters, in animal secretions and in muscle. It may be prepared artificially by the oxidation of methyl alcohol and of formaldehyde; by the rapid heating of oxalic acid (J. Gay-Lussac, _Ann. chim. phys._, 1831 [2] 46, p. 218), but best by heating oxalic acid with glycerin, at a temperature of 100-110 deg. C. (M. Berthelot, _Ann._, 1856, 98, p. 139). In this reaction a glycerol ester is formed as an intermediate product, and undergoes decomposition by the water which is also produced at the same time.

C3H5(OH)3 + H2C2O4 = C3H5(OH)2.OCHO+CO2 + H2O
C3H5(OH)2O.CHO + H2O = C3H5(OH)3 + H2CO2.

Many other synthetical processes for the production of the acid or its
salts are known. Hydrolysis of hydrocyanic acid by means of
hydrochloric acid yields formic acid. Chloroform boiled with alcoholic
potash forms potassium formate (J. Dumas, _Berzelius Jahresberichte_,
vol. 15, p. 371), a somewhat similar decomposition being shown by
chloral and aqueous potash (J. v. Liebig, _Ann._, 1832, 1, p. 198).
Formates are also produced by the action of moist carbon monoxide on
soda lime at 190-220 deg. C. (V. Merz and J. Tibicira, _Ber._, 1880,
13, p. 23; A. Geuther, _Ann._, 1880, 202, p. 317), or by the action of
moist carbon dioxide on potassium (H. Kolbe and R. Schmitt, _Ann._,
1861, 119, p. 251). H. Moissan (_Comptes rend._, 1902, 134, p. 261)
prepared potassium formate by passing a current of carbon monoxide or
carbon dioxide over heated potassium hydride,

KH + CO2 = KHCO2 and KH + 2CO = KHCO2 + C.

A concentrated acid may be obtained from the diluted acid either by
neutralization with soda, the sodium salt thus obtained being then
dried and heated with the equivalent quantity of anhydrous oxalic acid
(Lorin, _Bull. soc. chim._, 37, p. 104), or the lead or copper salt
may be decomposed by dry sulphuretted hydrogen at 130 deg. C. L.
Maquenne (_Bull. soc. chim._, 1888, 50, p. 662) distils the commercial
acid, _in vacuo_, with concentrated sulphuric acid below 75 deg. C.

Formic acid is a colourless, sharp-smelling liquid, which crystallizes
at 0 deg. C., melts at 8.6 deg. C. and boils at 100.8 deg. C. Its
specific gravity is 1.22 (20 deg./4 deg.). It is miscible in all
proportions with water, alcohol and ether. When heated with zinc dust,
the acid decomposes into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The sodium and
potassium salts, when heated to 400 deg. C., give oxalates and
carbonates of the alkali metals, but the magnesium, calcium and
barium salts yield carbonates only. The free acid, when heated with
concentrated sulphuric acid, is decomposed into water and pure carbon
monoxide; when heated with nitric acid, it is oxidized first to oxalic
acid and finally to carbon dioxide. The salts of the acid are known as
_formates_, and are mostly soluble in water, those of silver and lead
being the least soluble. They crystallize well and are readily
decomposed. Concentrated sulphuric acid converts them into sulphates,
with simultaneous liberation of carbon monoxide. The calcium salt,
when heated with the calcium salts of higher homologues, gives
aldehydes. The silver and mercury salts, when heated, yield the metal,
with liberation of carbon dioxide and formation of free formic acid;
and the ammonium salt, when distilled, gives some formamide, HCONH2.
The esters of the acid may be obtained by distilling a mixture of the
sodium or potassium salts and the corresponding alcohol with
hydrochloric or sulphuric acids.

_Formamide_, HCONH2, is obtained by heating ethyl formate with
ammonia; by heating ammonium formate with urea to 140 deg. C.,

2HCO.ONH4 + CO(NH2)2 = 2HCONH2 + (NH4)2CO3;

by heating ammonium formate in a sealed tube for some hours at 230
deg. C., or by the action of sodium amalgam on a solution of potassium
cyanate (H. Basarow, _Ber._, 1871, 4, p. 409). It is a liquid which
boils _in vacuo_ at 150 deg., but at 192-195 deg. C. under ordinary
atmospheric pressure, with partial decomposition into carbon monoxide
and ammonia. It dissolves mercuric oxide, with the formation of
mercuric formamide, (HCONH)2Hg.

FORMOSA, a northern territory of the Argentine republic, bounded N. by Bolivia, N.E. and E. by Paraguay, S. by the Chaco Territory, and W. by Salta, with the Pilcomayo and Bermejo forming its northern and southern boundaries. Estimated area, 41,402 sq. m. It is a vast plain, sloping gently to the S.E., covered with marshes and tropical forests. Very little is known of it except small areas along the Bermejo and Paraguay rivers, where attempts have been made to form settlements. The unexplored interior is still occupied by tribes of wild Indians. The climate is hot, the summer temperature rising to a maximum of 104 deg. F. Timber-cutting is the principal occupation of the settlers, though stock-raising and agriculture engage some attention in the settlements on the Paraguay. The capital, Formosa (founded 1879), is a small settlement on the Paraguay with a population of about 1000 in 1900. The settled population of the territory was 4829 in 1895, which it was estimated had increased to 13,431 in 1905. The nomadic Indians are estimated at 8000.

FORMOSA (called _Taiwan_ by the Chinese, and following them by the Japanese, into whose possession it came after their war with China in 1895), an island in the western Pacific Ocean, between the Southern and the Eastern China Sea, separated from the Chinese mainland by the Formosa Strait, which has a width of about 90 m. in its narrowest part. The island is 225 m. long and from 60 to 80 m. broad, has a coast-line measuring 731 m., an area of 13,429 sq. m.--being thus nearly the same size as Kiushiu, the most southern of the four chief islands forming the Japanese empire proper--and extends from 20 deg. 56' to 25 deg. 15' N. and from 120 deg. to 122 deg. E. It forms part of the long line of islands which are interposed as a protective barrier between the Asiatic coast and the outer Pacific, and is the cause of the immunity from typhoons enjoyed by the ports of China from Amoy to the Yellow Sea. Along the western coast is a low plain, not exceeding 20 m. in extreme width; on the east coast there is a rich plain called Giran, and there are also some fertile valleys in the neighbourhood of Karenko and Pinan, extending up the longitudinal valleys of the rivers Karenko and Pinan, between which and the east coast the Taito range intervenes; but the rest of the island is mountainous and covered with virgin forest. In the plains the soil is generally of sand or alluvial clay, covered in the valleys with a rich vegetable mould. The scenery of Formosa is frequently of majestic beauty, and to this it is indebted for its European name, happily bestowed by the early Spanish navigators.

On the addition of Formosa to her dominions, Fuji ceased to be Japan's highest mountain, and took the third place on the list. Mount Morrison (14,270 ft.), which the Japanese renamed Niitaka-yama (New High Mountain), stands first, and Mount Sylvia (12,480 ft.), to which they give the name of Setzu-zan (Snowy Mountain), comes second. Mount Morrison stands nearly under the Tropic of Cancer. It is not volcanic, but consists of argillaceous schist and quartzite. An ascent made by Dr Honda of the imperial university of Japan showed that, up to a height of 6000 ft., the mountain is clothed with primeval forests of palms, banyans, cork trees, camphor trees, tree ferns, interlacing creepers and dense thickets of rattan or stretches of grass higher than a man's stature. The next interval of 1000 ft. has gigantic cryptomerias and chamoecyparis; then follow pines; then, at a height of 9500 ft., a broad plateau, and then alternate stretches of grass and forest up to the top, which consists of several small peaks. There is no snow. Mount Morrison, being surrounded by high ranges, is not a conspicuous object. Mount Sylvia lies in 24 deg. 30' N. lat. There are many other mountains of considerable elevation. In the north is Getsurobi-zan (4101 ft.); and on either side of Setzu-zan, with which they form a range running due east and west across the island, are Jusampunzan (4698 ft.) and Kali-zan (7027 ft.). Twenty-two miles due south of Kali-zan stands Hakumosha-zan (5282 ft.), and just 20 m. due south of Hakumosha-zan begins a chain of three peaks, Suisha-zan (6200 ft.), Hoo-zan (4928), and Niitaka-yama. These five mountains, Hari-zan, Hakumosha-zan, Suisha-zan, Hoo-zan and Niitaka-yama, stand almost exactly under 121 deg. E. long., in the very centre of the island. But the backbone of the island lies east of them, extending S. from Setzu-zan through Gokan-zan, and Noko-zan and other peaks and bending S.W. to Niitaka-yama. Yet farther south, and still lying in line down the centre of the island, are Sankyakunan-zan (3752 ft.), Shurogi-zan (5729 ft.), Poren-zan (4957 ft.), and Kado-zan (9055 ft.), and, finally, in the south-east Arugan-zan (4985 ft.). These, it will be observed, are all Japanese names, and the heights have been determined by Japanese observers. In addition to these remarkable inland mountains, Formosa's eastern shores show magnificent cliff scenery, the bases of the hills on the seaside taking the form of almost perpendicular walls as high as from 1500 to 2500 ft. Volcanic outbreaks of steam and sulphur-springs are found. Owing to the precipitous character of the east coast few rivers of any size find their way to the sea in that direction. The west coast, on the contrary, has many streams, but the only two of any considerable length are the Kotansui, which rises on Shurogi-zan, and has its mouth at Toko after a course of some 60 m. and the Seirakei, which rises on Hakumosha-zan, and enters the sea at a point 57 m. farther north after a course of 90 m.

The climate is damp, hot and malarious. In the north, the driest and best months are October, November and December; in the south, December, January, February and March. The sea immediately south of Formosa is the birthplace of innumerable typhoons, but the high mountains of the island protect it partially against the extreme violence of the wind.