=Eye Water, Dr White's= (T. Ehrhard, Altenfeld, Thuringia). Four cloves, a
piece of cinnamon the size of a large pea, 2 teaspoonfuls of rose water, 1
drop of vinegar, 10 drops of arnica tincture. Digest for an hour and
filter. Dissolve in the filtrate some white vitriol of the size of a pea.
(Hager.)
Sulphate of zinc, 3 parts; honey, 4 parts; water, 80 parts; perfumed with
oil of cloves and a trace of mustard oil. (Wittstein.)
=Eye Waters.= See WATER.
=FACE A'GUE.= The common name for the intermittent form of facial
NEURALGIA or TIC DOULOUREUX. See NEURALGIA.
=FACE PAINTS.= _Syn._ FARDS, Fr. See BLOOM, CARMINE, PEARL WHITE, ROUGE,
&c.
=FAC-SIM'ILE.= An exact imitation of an original in all its traits and
peculiarities. The term is chiefly used in relation to copies of old
manuscripts, or of the handwriting of famous men, or of interesting
documents, produced by engraving or lithography. See SIGNATURES.
=FACTI''TIOUS.= _Syn._ FACTITIUS, L. Artificial; made by art, in
distinction from that produced by nature. Numerous illustrations of the
application of this word occur in the pages of the present work.
=FÆCES.= Excrement. In the _laboratory_, the 'settling' or sediment
deposited by a liquor. See DEFECATION, EXCRETA.
=FAINT'ING.= _Syn._ SWOONING; SYNCOPE, DELIQUIUM ANIMI, L. In _pathology_,
a state in which the respiration and circulation are apparently suspended
for a time, or are extremely feeble. The symptoms are too well known to
require description. The causes are supposed to be--diminished energy of
the brain, and organic affections of the heart or neighbouring vessels.
This has led nosologists to divide syncope into two varieties:--
1. _Occasional_ (SYNCOPE OCCASIONALIS, S. ACCIDENTALIS, L.), primitively
induced by sudden and violent emotions of the mind, powerful odours,
derangement of the stomach or bowels, constrained position of the body,
tight-lacing, pressure, loss of blood, debility from disease, &c. This
variety is frequently followed by vomiting, and, occasionally, by
convulsions or epileptic fits. The recovery is accelerated by the
horizontal position, without the head being the least elevated, by which
the arterial blood is more vigorously thrown upon the brain, and thereby
stimulates it to resume its usual functions. Pungent substances
(smelling-bottle, vinaigrette, &c.) may be applied to the nostrils, and
cold water sprinkled on the face and chest. In all cases the dress
(corset, waist-band, neck-cloth, &c.) should be instantly loosened, and
indeed this is the first assistance which should be given, either in
syncope or apoplexy. As soon as the patient can swallow, a little
brandy-and-water, or wine, or a few drops of ether or spirit of sal
volatile, may be given.
2. _Cardiac_ (SYNCOPE CARDIACA, L.), arising without any apparent cause,
with violent palpitation during the intervals, and altogether of a more
formidable character than the preceding. The subsequent treatment must
here be directed to the cure or alleviation of the original disease.
=FAINTS.= The first and last runnings of the whiskey-still. The one is
technically termed the 'strong faints,' the other, the 'weak faints.' They
are both purified by rectification, &c. See DISTILLATION.
=FAITH.= Dr Pereira remarks, that "faith in the beneficial agency of
remedies, and confidence in the skill of the medical attendant, are
important adjuvants in the treatment of disease. To them both the
physician and empiric owe part of their success."
=FAL'LING SICK'NESS.= See EPILEPSY.
=FAMILIENSALBE=, Family Ointment (Göring). 16 grammes of a hard yellow
salve in a round box; a mixture of 9 parts wax, 3 parts fat; 2 parts
turpentine, 2 parts inspissated juice of _Ornithogalium scilloides_
Jacquin, or _O. candatum_ Aiton. These plants are known to the public as
Meerzwiebel (sea onion or squill), but they are only related to that plant
in appearance. (Hager.)
=FAR'CY.= See GLANDERS.
=FARDEL-BOUND.= _Syn._ CLUE-BOUND, WOOD-EVIL. An affection of the third
stomach of cattle, induced by their unduly partaking of coarse
indigestible food. Cattle are most commonly attacked by fardel in summer
and autumn, when they are able to get at tough, strong, and hard grass. It
is also frequently caused by rye-grass in seed and ripe vetches, as well
as by eating largely of the shoots of trees or the cuttings of hedges, a
circumstance which has given rise to the disease being called 'wood-evil.'
Sometimes an attack may be brought on through over-feeding, combined with
a deficiency of water. The symptoms vary greatly in intensity, and are
often some days before they definitely manifest themselves. The animal
ceases to ruminate, refuses food, and, if a cow, the secretion of milk is
stopped. Then, after a day or two fever (indicated by heat and dryness in
the nose and mouth) comes on, with somewhat quickened circulation and
breathing, the breathing by the second or third day being accompanied by a
grunt at the beginning and end of respiration, which is very noticeable
when an attempt is made to move the animal.
In all attacks the animal suffers from obstinate constipation. The first
stomach is frequently much distended, and if any fæces are passed they are
caked, dark coloured, and of variable consistence.
When the disease is attended with most of these symptoms, the animal may
live ten days or a fortnight; but unless relief is afforded, nausea very
frequently sets in, and continues to increase, the pulse at the same time
getting gradually weaker, and the strength failing. In some instances the
animal has an epileptic fit, and in others death is preceded by great
stupor; whilst in others, again, if it be a horse, it is attacked with
stomach staggers.
"The _treatment_ consists in removing the obstinate constipation by
powerful purgatives, advantage being taken to gain their utmost efficacy
by combining several together, and giving them along with plenty of fluid.
"Three-quarters of a pound each of Epsom and of common salt, twenty croton
beans, and a drachm of calomel, will suffice for a full-grown,
middle-sized ox or cow, and must be administered in three or four bottles
of water or very thin gruel. In this disease there is little fear of
giving too much medicine.
"The action of the purgatives is greatly expedited by the use of
occasional stimulants, which in diseases of the digestive organs of cattle
may be given without fear of engendering or aggravating inflammation.
Every encouragement must be used to get the animal to drink, for large
quantities of fluid are obviously most essential in washing out the
obstruction which causes the evil. The cessation of the grunt, the passage
of some hard cakes of dung, with the subsequent abatement of the fever,
are the signs of amendment for which we watch; but even after the first
movement of the bowels considerable attention, a sloppy diet, and several
doses of purgative medicine, are requisite to empty the canal and prevent
the recurrence of the obstruction. If twenty hours elapse after the
administration of the above combination without any action of the bowels,
the same dose may be repeated, along with a good quantity of some
stimulant, such as a bottle of ale, with two ounces of oil of turpentine
and two ounces of ginger. Half the quantity of the purgative may be given
at the end of a like interval, if no effect be produced; but the further
employment of purgatives is injurious, inasmuch as it increases the nausea
without expediting the action of the bowels.
"A week will sometimes elapse without any alvine evacuation; in some cases
I have known ten or eleven days, and in some fifteen days. Yet even in
these recovery took place; and so long as stupor and frenzy are staved
off, there is always hope of a cure. After the prompt and energetic
adoption of the treatment recommended, little further remains to be done
except to withhold all solid indigestible food, administer frequent
quantities of water, or any simple fluid, which must be horned over if the
beast will not take it; allow also plenty of treacle, and encourage the
action of the medicine by clysters, scalding the belly, and occasional
exercise. Blood-letting is not only useless, but even injurious." (FINLAY
DUN.)
=FAR'INA.= The flour of any species of corn, pulse, tuber, or starchy
root. The most important kinds of farina are noticed under their
respective heads. The following dietetic articles of a farinaceous
character are extensively advertised:--
BAKER'S ALIMENTARY COMPOUND. Fine flour (pastrycook's), 2 parts; finely
ground rice, 1 part.
BASTER'S COMPOUND FARINA. Wheat flour, 14 oz.; white sugar, 2 oz.
BRADEN'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Similar to Hard's (_below_).
BRIGHT'S NUTRITIOUS FARINA. Rice flour and potato starch, equal parts.
BRIGHT'S BREAKFAST POWDER. Chocolate, 1 part; nutritious farina (Bright's)
2 parts.
BULLOCK'S SEMOLA. Wheat flour, from which a portion of the starch has been
removed, so as to leave an excess of gluten.
DENHAM'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Wheat flour, 3 parts; barley meal, 1 part; the
mixture is slightly baked, and again ground and sifted. Said to be
slightly laxative.
DURYEA'S MAIZENA. Indian corn starch prepared for food.
GARDINER'S ALIMENTARY PREPARATION. Pure rice flour, very finely ground.
HARD'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. Wheat flour, slightly baked, and resifted.
KINGSFORD'S OSWEGO PREPARED CORN. An excellent preparation of Indian corn.
LEATH'S ALIMENTARY FARINA. Wheat flour (baked), with some sugar, Indian
corn meal, and tapioca. According to some, it also contains potato starch.
MAIDMAN'S NUTRITIOUS FARINA. Potato starch tinged with beet-root or other
pink colouring matter.
PLUMBE'S FARINACEOUS FOOD. South-sea arrow-root, with about 1-3rd its
weight of pea flour.
POLSON'S CORN FLOUR. The starch of Indian corn or maize prepared with
great care. It is much used as a substitute for arrow-root, and for
custards, puddings, &c.
SMITH'S NURSING FARINA. Equal parts of baked wheat flour and rice flour.
_Obs._ Many of the above compounds are deficient in the nitrogenous
elements of nutrition, and all of them nearly destitute of the mineral and
saline matters which are absolutely necessary to the formation of the
bones and tissues, and the support of the body in health, and are
consequently utterly unsuitable as an exclusive article of diet,
especially for young children. Unfortunately, it has been too much the
fashion of medical men of late years to recommend these compounds, and
even to furnish testimonials as to their excellence, apparently relying
solely on the representation of their proprietors or vendors. We deem it,
however, to be a public duty to caution parents and nurses against their
injudicious use. As mere adjuvants or auxiliaries, when the natural food
supplied by the mother may be insufficient for the nutrition of the
infant, some of them may doubtless be of value; but in all other cases
they should be largely combined with pure cow's milk, beef tea, meat
broths or gravies, eggs, or other substances rich in the nitrogenous and
saline elements of nutrition.
=FARM'ING.= The business or management of a FARM. Formerly farming was
looked upon as a profession easily understood, and successfully pursued
only by an empiric. It is now, however, regarded in a different light, and
the farmer, to succeed, not only requires perseverance and observation,
but also a sound knowledge of natural sciences. See BUTTER, CHEESE,
IMPLEMENTS, MANURES, SOILS, &c.
=FARMS, SEWAGE.= See SEWAGE FARMS.
=FAT.= _Syn._ ADEPS, L. The fat of animals is a concrete oil contained in
the cellular membrane of their bodies, more especially round the kidneys,
in the folds of the omentum, at the base of the heart, upon the surface of
the intestines, and among many of the muscles. Fat varies in consistence,
colour, and odour, with the animal from which it is obtained. That of the
carnivora is usually soft and rank-flavoured; that of the ruminantia solid
and nearly scentless. It is generally whitest and most copious in the
well-fed young animal, and yellowish and more scanty in the old. That
under the skin and surrounding the kidneys (suet) is also more solid than
that in the neighbourhood of the movable viscera. In the cetacea, or whale
tribe, the fatty secretion assumes the form of oil. These variations in
consistency depend upon the relative proportions of solid stearin and
liquid olein present in the fat.
The vegetable fats are found in various parts of certain plants, but are
generally most abundant in the seeds. They are extracted by simple
pressure or else by boiling. Two kinds of vegetable fat, namely, palm-oil
and cocoa-nut oil, are extensively employed in the useful arts.
All fats are lighter than water. They are all soluble in ether, benzol,
and turpentine, and may be mixed with each other in any proportion.
In former times the fats of many animals were employed in pharmacy, but at
present those principally used are lard and suet. In perfumery, in
addition to these, beef marrow and bear's grease are employed. For both
these purposes the crude material is cut into small pieces, and freed as
much as possible from all extraneous membranes; after which it is placed
in a boiler with water, and heated until it is completely fused, when the
whole is strained, and allowed to cool very slowly. By this means a cake
of cleansed fat is obtained, which may be readily separated from any
adhering water.
Fats and the fat oils are best preserved by being run into glazed jars,
and secluded from the action of the air. A little benzoic acid or
gum-benzoin, dissolved in them by heat, will generally prevent, and in all
cases greatly defer, the accession of rancidity. We introduced this method
into the laboratory in our early days of manipulation, and ourselves, and
others to whom we have made it known, have since employed it with
undeviating advantage in the manufacture of cerates, ointments, and other
preparations containing fatty matter or the fixed oils. It has been shown
by Dr Griesler that nitric ether, and its alcoholic solution, act in the
same manner. A few drops are not only sufficient to prevent rancidity,
but, it is said, will even destroy the disagreeable odour of rancid fat.
When heated to remove the alcohol, they immediately become bright, clear,
and scentless. See OIL, GLYCERIN, OLEIN, PALMITIN, STEARIN, TALLOW, &c.,
also _below_.
=Fat, to melt down.= Let all the small pieces of fat cut off joints, &c.,
be collected, divided into small pieces, put in a stew pan (a little water
being added to prevent their burning), and placed on the fire. This must
be stirred carefully at intervals to prevent any of the pieces of fat
sticking to the bottom.
When thoroughly melted (which it will be in about an hour and a half) pour
through a strainer into a basin with some cold water in it. Thus prepared,
dripping or fat may be used instead of suet, and there are few who would
know any difference between them. Dripping, if clarified as above, may be
used over and over again for frying, provided it has not been previously
employed in dressing fish, in which case it will impart a fishy taste. But
it can be used repeatedly for fish if it is kept for that purpose only.
The skimmings off the top of the saucepans, while a piece of meat is
boiling, will also do capitally for light puddings.[296]
[Footnote 296: 'Artisan Cookery.' Griffith and Farran.]
=FAT'TY ACIDS.= In _chemistry_, compounds having acid properties derived
from the various fats and oils. The radicals of these acids exist in the
natural fats combined with a base called glyceryl. When fats are
saponified by an alkali, stearate, palmitate, and oleate of potassa or
soda, as the case may be, are produced and glycerin is set free. On
decomposing either of these compounds with sulphuric acid a sulphate of
the alkali is formed, and the fatty acid is precipitated. Some of the
fatty acids, as stearic, cerotic, palmitic, and lauric, are solid at
ordinary temperatures; others, as oleic, are liquid. The hard fatty acids
are extensively used as candle materials, being superior in every respect
to the natural fats from which they are derived.
=FAT'TENING.= Until comparatively a recent date, the plan used to fatten
domestic animals was to prevent their taking exercise, and to gorge them
with food. The excessive fat produced by these means was, however, found
to be far from wholesome, and was less delicate than that arising in the
natural way. This system was therefore gradually abandoned in favour of
the present one, which consists in supplying the animal with abundance of
wholesome food, and with the means of taking exercise as far as the
disposition or feelings dictate. Hence the farmers "in the most
enlightened districts, such as Berwickshire, East Lothian, &c., instead of
tying up their fattening cattle in stables like horses, and placing their
food before them, put two or three together in small yards with sheds
attached, in which they can run about, eat when they choose, and take
shelter from the rain, or cold, or the sun, at pleasure, under the open
shed. Swine are treated in the same manner, and also spring lambs that are
fattened for the market. Poultry are no longer kept in coops and crammed,
or rabbits in hutches; but the former are allowed to take exercise in
fields sown with various herbs, and the latter are kept in a species of
artificial warren, where they can take exercise by burrowing." (Loudon.)
=FAVOURITE PRESCRIPTION (Dr Pierce's)= for the cure of those chronic
weaknesses and complaints peculiar to females. 280 grammes of a turbid
greenish-brown fluid with a bulky deposit of the same colour, made
according to the following recipe:--Savin tops, 10 grammes; larch agaric
and cinnamon, of each 5 grammes; China Jaën (ash cinchona bark), 10
grammes; boil with sufficient water to make 220 grammes when strained.
Dissolve in the filtrate gum Arabic, 10 grammes; white sugar, 5 grammes;
and add tinct. digitalis and tinct. opii, of each 2 grammes; star anise
oil, 8 drops; 90 per cent. spirit, 45 grammes. (Hager.)
=FEAR.= Although fear is a depressing and debilitating emotion, and
sometimes acts prejudicially on the health, it frequently acts as a
curative or preventive of disease. It is a well-known fact that females
who are the most faint-hearted and desponding during the period of their
sex's trial, generally experience a more rapid convalescence than those
who are more confident and resolute. During the raging of an epidemic fear
generally induces temperance, cleanliness, and the adoption of other
precautions which tend powerfully to prevent disease. Boerhaave, according
to Pereira, is said to have prevented the occurrence of epileptic attack
(brought on by the sight of a person falling down in a fit in the sight of
the hospital patients), by directing a red-hot iron to be applied to the
person who should next be affected.
=FEA'THERS.= Ostrich feathers are those most esteemed as articles of
personal decoration, and goose feathers for beds; but the feathers of
other birds are commonly used for both purposes.
Feathers are prepared for ornamental purposes by scouring them with white
soap-and-water (1 oz. to the pint), used hot; they are next well rinsed in
several successive portions of pure water, and after being drained and
shaken, are, lastly, passed through water slightly blued with pure indigo,
and dried out of the dust. When dry, the ribs are generally rubbed with a
piece of glass, having a curved notch in it, for the purpose of increasing
their pliancy, and the filaments are curled by drawing them, between the
edge of a blunt knife and the ball of the thumb of the hand which holds
it.
=Feathers, Bleaching of:=--
A new trade has sprung up within the past ten years, by which black,
brown, or grey feathers are bleached sufficiently to enable them to be
dyed any required colour.
The process is as follows:--The feathers are first thoroughly washed with
soap-and-water, to free them from any oil they may contain. They are next
transferred to a bath composed of bichromate of potash dissolved in water,
to which has been added a few drops of nitric or sulphuric acid. In this
bath they rapidly lose their black, brown, or grey colour, and become
almost white. On being removed from this bath they are well rinsed in
water, and are then fit to be dyed, even the most delicate colour. Great
care is required in the process, as the flue of the feather is apt to be
destroyed, if kept too long in the bath. A bleached feather may be readily
known by the yellow colour of its stem.
Other methods have been adopted, such as a bath of chloride of lime,
peroxide of hydrogen, or sulphurous acid, &c., but the bichromate bath
gives the best results.
=Feathers, Dyeing of:=--
BLACK. By immersion for 2 or 3 days in a bath (at first hot) of logwood, 8
parts, and copperas or acetate of iron, (about) 1 part.
BLUE. With the indigo vat.
BROWN. By any of the brown dyes for silk or woollen.
CRIMSON. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot bath of brazil wood, and
afterwards by a weak one of cudbear.
PINK or ROSE. With safflower and lemon juice.
PLUM. The red dye, followed by alkaline bath.
RED. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot brazil-wood bath.
YELLOW. From an alum mordant, followed by a bath of turmeric or weld.
Other shades may be obtained by a mixture of the above dyes.
Feathers may also be dyed by simple immersion, for two or three minutes,
in a bath of any of the aniline colours.
Goose feathers for BEDS are generally PURIFIED by simply exposing them to
the sun or in a stove until perfectly dry, and then beating them to remove
loose dirt. When carelessly collected and dirty, they are sometimes first
cleansed with lime water, or, better still, with a weak solution of
carbonate of soda, or water to which a little solution of chloride of lime
has been added; after which they are rinsed in clean water, and dried or
stoved as before. Old feathers are cleansed or purified in the same way.
=FEB'RIFUGES.= _Syn._ FEBRIFUGA, L. In pharmacy, substances or agents
which cure or alleviate fever. The term is more particularly applied to
medicines used against the ague, as CINCHONA BARK and ARSENIOUS ACID, and
their preparations. The extreme value of cold water, as a drink in ardent
fever, has been known in all ages. In 1723 Dr Hancocke published a work
entitled--'Febrifugum Magnum, or Common Water the best Cure for Fevers,
and probably for the Plague,' which in a short time ran through several
large editions, but appears to have been overlooked by the hydropaths of
the present day.
=FEC'ULA.= _Syn._ FÆCULA, L. The matter which subsides from cold water in
which bruised or rasped vegetable substances have been washed. The fecula
obtained from the seeds of the cereals and leguminosæ, and from tuberous
or bulbous roots, consists of nearly pure STARCH. In some cases the starch
is associated with the green colouring matter (CHLOROPHYLL) and the
narcotic principles of the vegetables which yield it. The green fecula
obtained by straining the expressed juices of the leaves and herbaceous
parts of plants is of this character.
The fecula of all the amylaceous roots, rhizomes, and tubers, may be
easily obtained, on the small scale, by rasping them, pressing, and
working the pulp in cold water, and after straining the resulting milky
liquid through a hair sieve, allowing it to settle. The sediment may be
again washed by diffusion through clean cold water, and must be, lastly,
collected, and dried out of the dust, and, without artificial heat.
The fecula of narcotic plants for medicinal purposes is obtained by
allowing the expressed juice to repose for 24 hours, and then decanting
the clear portion, and drying the residue. Sometimes heat is employed. See
ARROW-ROOT, STARCH, &c.
=FEEDING BOTTLES.= We extract from 'The Sanitary Record' the following
valuable paper on 'Feeding Bottles,' by Dr Eustace Smith,
assistant-physician to the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the
Chest, and Physician to the East London Hospital for Children:--"In the
artificial rearing of infants it is of importance that food should be
given to them from a feeding-bottle. By this means the natural method of
taking nourishment is imitated; the muscles of the mouth and cheeks are
brought into play; and the secretion of saliva--a secretion which, very
scanty at birth, becomes gradually more copious and takes so active a part
in digestion--is encouraged and increased.
"Almost all babies will take their food more readily by this method, their
instinct teaching them to suck everything that is put into their mouths.
Even in cases where a deficiency in the hard palate presents so great an
obstacle to sucking, on account of the impossibility of creating the
necessary vacuum in the mouth, the difficulty can be overcome by a simple
mechanical contrivance. Therefore, in every case of hand-feeding, a
suitable bottle is the first thing to be desired.
"To be satisfactory a feeding-bottle must fulfil three indispensable
conditions: it must be simple in construction and easily manageable; it
must be capable of being readily cleaned; and in its use the milk must
flow easily and without great effort on the part of the infant. The
ordinary feeder in use at the present time consists of a flattened glass
flask, closed at the mouth by a cap, which fits over the neck. A
caoutchouc tube passes through the cap, and is connected inside the bottle
with a straight glass pipe. The other end of the elastic tube is attached
to the teat, or mouth-piece, by means of a short hollow cylinder called
the 'union-joint.' The teat is firmly fixed to this by means of the
shield. In the construction of the cap and union-joint, metal,
earthenware, or wood, is employed. The metal used by the best makers is
tin, and this, if cleanliness be properly attended to, is not
objectionable. In cheaper bottles, sold in the shops for sixpence, the
mouth is closed by a perforated cork, through which the flexible tube
passes. Here there is no cap, but in all essential points the construction
is the same as in the more expensive articles.
"In this apparatus it is important that the channel through the tubes
should be perfectly free. The point at which the channel is narrowest is
the union-joint, which connects the mouth-piece with the flexible tube. In
a badly made bottle an impediment may exist at this point from
carelessness in the manufacture, and may present a great obstacle to the
ready passage of the fluid. Care also should be taken that the flexible
tube passes completely through the cap, before it becomes connected with
the glass pipe. This is very important. In the early feeding-bottles
constructed upon this model by O'Connel, the glass pipe passed from within
the bottle through the cap, and was attached outside this to the
caoutchouc tube. It was thus held rigidly in the centre of the bottle, and
as a natural consequence, when the apparatus was in use, unless the bottle
was held upright during the whole meal, long before its contents were
exhausted the milk ceased to flow, as the end of the pipe soon came to be
above the surface of the fluid, which necessarily gravitated to the lowest
part as the bottle lay on its side.
"When, however, the connection between the two tubes is made within
instead of outside the bottle, this disadvantage no longer exists, for the
glass tube being free to move, its end is able to sink to whichever side
of the bottle is undermost, and therefore always remains below the level
of the fluid. The best bottles have a small cylindrical stop, _i.e._ a
thick ring of metal or wood placed within the flexible tube, just above
its junction with the glass pipe. The object of this is to prevent the
latter being drawn through the cap, and thus held rigidly in the centre of
the bottle.
"The method of connection of the cap with the neck of the bottle is not
unimportant. It should not be too tight or air will be prevented from
entering the bottle to supply the place of the milk which is withdrawn. A
common plan is to line the interior of the cap with cork, but this
substance, besides its risk of being broken and detached by careless
handling, has the further disadvantage of absorbing milk, which turns sour
and may afterwards set up fermentation in fresh milk put into the bottle
for a subsequent meal. In the best bottles the cap is constructed to screw
on to the neck, as in the 'Alexandra' Feeding bottle made by the Messrs
Maw; or is united to it by an application of the 'bayonet catch,' as in
the 'Improved' feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch and Son. In this very
admirable apparatus three grooves in the inside of the cap pass over
corresponding projections on the neck of the bottle; the cap is then
turned to the right, with a slight screwing motion, and becomes securely
fastened.
"With badly made bottles infants often have very great difficulty in
drawing up the milk, and can only do so by violent efforts, which soon
exhaust their strength or their patience. There are two reasons why milk
in these cases may not flow easily--either the cap fits too tightly, so
that air cannot enter with sufficient facility in proportion as the liquid
contents become diminished, as has just been mentioned; or the caoutchouc
forming the flexible tube is too thin, so that it collapses when suction
is applied. In the first case a small hole should be made through the cap,
so as to allow a free admission of air, or if the bottle be a simpler
one, closed at the mouth by a perforated cork, this may be slightly eased
at the neck of the bottle, so as to fit less closely. In the second case,
stouter caoutchouc should be used in the construction of the tube. In
weakly infants, or those much reduced in strength by acute disease,
special attention should be paid to these points, as such children will
often refuse to take the bottle, if they find any difficulty in drawing up
the milk.
"Infants born with a cleft palate cannot suck from an ordinary bottle, as
the deficiency in the hard palate prevents the necessary vacuum being
formed in the mouth. Such children are, therefore, usually brought up with
a spoon, and often waste and die through insufficient nourishment. An
ingenious contrivance first suggested by Mr Oakley Coles will, however,
entirely remove the difficulty, and enable them to suck with as much ease
as if they suffered from no such congenital difficulty. The plan is a very
simple one, and consists in attaching to the nipple of any ordinary
feeding-bottle a flap of sheet elastic, cut to fit the roof of the mouth.
This flap must be of the shape and about the size of the bowl of a
teaspoon, and is to be sewn to the upper part of the stalk of the teat,
where this projects from the shield. In the mouth of the child the flap
forms an artificial palate, which if the sheet elastic chosen be
sufficiently stout, offers firm resistance to the tongue pressing against
in sucking, and prevents fluid from passing into the nose in the act of
swallowing.
"The closest attention must be paid to the cleaning of feeding-bottles.
Each time after being used the whole apparatus should be well washed out
with water containing a little soda in solution.
"The inside of the cap must be carefully cleaned, and the brush should be
carried several times through the whole length of the tubing. Afterwards
the bottle and tubes should be laid in cold water until again wanted. An
objection to the common brush usually supplied with each feeder is, that
after a few days' use the softened bristles are apt to get detached and be
caught in the joints of the tubing, whence they may afterwards be washed
by the stream of fluid and be swallowed by the child. Accordingly, a new
cleaner has been manufactured by Messrs Maw and Sons, in which bristles
are entirely dispensed with. They are replaced by a thin strip of
caoutchouc, which is wound round in a spiral form, at the end of the
ordinary wire handle. This instrument answers all the purposes of a brush,
without the disadvantages alluded to, and is besides far more durable.
"Excellent feeding-bottles are now made by many different manufacturers,
and are sold at prices which place them within the reach of the poorest.
These cannot all be mentioned, but some of the bottles more commonly met
with, may be shortly referred to. The six-penny feeder made by Messrs Maw,
Son, and Thompson, can be recommended for its simplicity of construction,
and at the same time for its perfect efficiency. In this instrument there
is no cap, instead the mouth of the bottle is closed by a cork, which is
perforated for the passage of the flexible tube. In all other respects the
construction of this apparatus is the same as in the more expensive
instruments. The 'Alexandra' feeding-bottle, price half-a-crown, by the
same makers, is an admirable bottle. The cap screws on to the neck, and is
furnished with a small hole for the admission of air. A 'stop' in the
lower part of the flexible tube prevents the glass pipe being drawn into
the cap, and the instrument is supplied with all the latest improvements.
The bottles made by Messrs Maw are all furnished with the new patent
cleaner just described. The improved feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch
and Son, at one shilling and eighteen pence, has been before referred to.
The material used for the cap is boxwood. It is a capital bottle, and will
give the fullest satisfaction to the purchaser. Mr Lang's 'Alma Mater'
feeding-bottle can also be recommended. In this instrument the cap is made
of earthenware and is lined with cork. A good bottle is made by Mr Elam,
of Oxford Street, price two shillings; the cap is formed of britannia
metal, and screws on to the neck. A cheaper bottle, but one which for
elegance of design and accuracy of detail cannot be surpassed, is Mr
Mather's 'Princess' feeding-bottle. A tin cup screws on the neck, and is
pierced by a small hole for the admission of air. The opening is fitted
with a 'cone valve' of simple and ingenious construction, which allows air
to enter freely when suction is applied to the tube, but closes firmly
against any escape through the air-hole of the fluid contents of the
bottle. The bottle itself has a double curve towards the neck to provide
against too sudden bending of the flexible tube against the tap. This is
apt to happen when the curve is single, if the bottle lie with the
convexity downwards, and partial obstruction of the tube may be the
result. The 'Princess' feeding-bottle is sold in the shops for eighteen
pence.
"All bottles bear their name in raised letters upon the glass, but a
report which has obtained currency that these letters are hollow in the
interior, and difficult to cleanse is without any foundation in fact. Any
one may test this for himself by placing a finger within the bottle
underneath the letters, when the internal surface will be found perfectly
plain and uniform. In all cases where cork enters into the construction of
a feeding-bottle, especial care should be taken in cleansing the
apparatus, and the cork should be well soaked in soda and water in order
that any sour milk it may contain may be neutralised at once."
=FEET (The).= To preserve the feet in a proper condition, they should be
frequently soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid water. The nails of
the toes should be pared, to prevent their becoming inconveniently long,
and from growing into the flesh, soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid
water. Many persons suffer severely from TENDER FEET. This generally
arises from the use of thin cotton or silk stockings, and boots or shoes
that are either too tight or stiff, or not sufficiently porous to permit
of the escape of the perspiration. Waterproof boots and shoes which are
also air-tight (as those of gutta percha and India rubber), are common
causes of tender feet, and even of headaches, dyspepsia, and apoplexy. The
best treatment of tender feet is the immediate adoption of worsted
stockings or socks, and light, easy shoes of buckskin, goatskin, or some
other equally soft kind of leather. It is highly necessary for the
preservation of health to preserve the feet DRY; persons who are,
therefore, exposed to the wet, or who are frequently passengers through
the public streets in bad weather, should regard sound and good boots and
shoes as of the first importance. In fact, in a hygienic point of view, a
wet back should be less shunned than wet feet. Many persons frequently
experience EXTREME COLDNESS and NUMBNESS OF THE FEET. The best and most
natural remedy for this is active exercise or friction, the former being
always adopted when possible. In such cases the use of warm woollen
stockings is absolutely necessary, and the debilitated and aged may
advantageously keep them on throughout the night, or at all events until
the feet acquire a comfortable degree of warmth. The DISAGREEABLE ODOUR
which is evolved by the feet of some individuals in hot weather may be
removed by the observance of extreme cleanliness, and by occasionally
soaking the feet in warm water, to which a small quantity of chloride of
lime or sal ammoniac has been added. A good deodoriser for unpleasant
smelling feet is said to be the following, invented by M Paulcke:--A
mixture of equal parts of salicylic acid, soap, talc, and starch, to be
applied in the form of powder.
DISTORTION OF THE FEET is not uncommon in childhood, being sometimes
congenital, but as frequently the result of weakness or bad nursing. "A
child with its feet turned inwards is called VARUS; when they are turned
outwards it is styled VALGUS. The proper use of bandages, early applied,
will generally correct these deformities; but if they be neglected in
infancy they become incurable." ('Med. Lex.') CLUBFOOT, of which there are
several varieties, may also be frequently relieved by a simple surgical
operation. See BOOTS and SHOES, DISTORTIONS.
=FELT'ING.= This is a process by which various species of fur, hair, and
wool, are blended into a compact texture, in many respects resembling
cloth. It depends on the peculiar anatomical construction of these
substances, enabling them to interlace and intertwine with each other, by
which they become permanently matted together. Felt was formerly chiefly
employed for hats. It is now commonly used for mill-bands, filters, &c.;
and when varnished or japanned, or saturated with asphalte or bitumen, is
a durable substitute for japanned leather, and for roofing.
=FENNEL.= _Syn._ F[OE]NICULUM (Ph. L.), L. The fruit (seed) of
_F[oe]niculum dulce_, or sweet fennel; the oil distilled from the fruit
(OIL OF FENNEL; OLEUM F[OE]NICULI, L.) as well as a distilled water
(FENNEL WATER; AQUA F[OE]NICULI, L.), are officinal in the
Pharmacop[oe]ias. They are stimulant and carminative; but are now seldom
employed.
=FEN'UGREEK.= The seeds of _Trigonella F[oe]num Græcum_. Resolvent and
stomachic. The seeds dye yellow; formerly roasted for coffee; now chiefly
employed in veterinary medicine.
=FER'MENT.= _Syn._ FERMENTUM, L. A substance which induces fermentation.
According to one view ferments are compounds whose decomposition proceeds
simultaneously with that of the body undergoing metamorphosis. They all
contain albuminous or azotised principles, which in a moist state putrefy
and suffer decomposition. According to Pasteur, however, fermentation is
excited by living organisms--fungi and infusoria. See FERMENTATION and
YEAST.
=FERMENTA'TION.= _Syn._ FERMENTATIO, L. In _chemistry_, a peculiar
metamorphosis of a complex organic substance, by a transposition of its
elements under the agency of an external disturbing force. Fermentation,
according to the theory proposed by Liebig, is a metamorphosis, by which
the elements of a complex molecule group themselves so as to form more
intimate and stable compounds. It is excited by the contact of all bodies
the elements of which are in a state of active decomposition or
fermentation. "In nitrogenised substances of a very complex constitution,
putrefaction or fermentation is spontaneously established when water is
present, and the temperature sufficiently high, and it continues till the
original compounds are wholly destroyed. Substances destitute of nitrogen,
on the contrary, require, in order to their undergoing this metamorphosis,
the presence of a nitrogenised substance, already in a state of
putrefaction (fermentation)." (Liebig.) The substances which promote this
change are termed FERMENTS, and among these the principal are gliadin,
gluten, vegetable albumen, and all nitrogenous substances in a state of
spontaneous decomposition or fermentation. "It is imagined that when these
substances, in the act of undergoing change, are brought into contact with
neutral ternary compounds of small stability, as sugar, the molecular
disturbance of the body, already in a state of decomposition, may be, as
it were, propagated to the other, and bring about the destruction of the
equilibrium of forces to which it owes its being. The complex body, under
these circumstances, breaks up into simpler products, which possess
greater permanence." (Fownes.) YEAST, the ferment most commonly employed
for inducing the vinous fermentation, is such a substance in an active
state of putrefaction, and whose atoms are in continual motion. Putrefying
animal substances are equally capable of exciting the same action. "If we
add to a solution of pure sugar an albuminous substance, a caseous or
fleshy matter, the development of yeast becomes manifest, and an
additional quantity of it is found at the end of the operation. Thus, with
nourishment, ferment engenders ferment. It is for this reason that a
little fermenting must, added to a body of fresh grape juice, excite
fermentation in the whole mass. These effects are not confined to
alcoholic (vinous) fermentation. The smallest portion of sour milk, of
sour dough, or sour juice of beet-root, of putrefied flesh and blood,
occasions like alterations in fresh milk, dough, juice of beet-root,
flesh, and blood. But further, and which is a very curious circumstance,
if we put into a liquid containing any fermenting substance another in a
sound state, the latter would suffer decomposition under the influence of
the former. If we place urea in the presence of beer-yeast, it experiences
no change; while if we add it to sugar-water in a fermenting state, the
urea is converted into carbonate of ammonia. "We thus possess two modes of
decomposition; the one direct, the other indirect." (Ure.)
A very remarkable circumstance connected with fermentation is that it is
always accompanied by the development of microscopic living
organism--fungi and infusoria. "So constantly, indeed, is this the case,
that many chemists and physiologists regard these organisms as the
existing cause of fermentation and putrefaction; and this view appears to
be corroborated by the fact that each particular kind of fermentation
takes place most readily in contact with certain living organisms."
(Fownes.) Thus the vinous or alcohol-producing fermentation is
accompanied, or caused, by two fungi, called _Torula cerevisiæ_ and
_Penicillium glaucum_; the acetous or vinegar-producing fermentation by
_Torula aceti_; the lactous fermentation (souring of milk) by _Penicillium
glaucum_.
The butyric fermentation by an animal--an _infusorium_, which cannot exist
in free oxygen, but flourishes in an atmosphere of hydrogen, &c.
Of late years these latter views as to the cause of fermentation have been
accepted by most of the scientific world, notwithstanding the opposition
they experienced from so powerful an antagonist as Liebig.
From the researches of Pasteur, the distinguished author of the modern
theory of fermentation, as opposed to the chemico-physical theory of
Liebig, it appears that when yeast is placed in a solution of sugar and
water, or in a solution of sugar and water containing albuminous
substances, under proper conditions as to temperature, the fermentation
that ensues is due to the process of growth taking place in the yeast
plant; the new cells of which, in assimilating part of the sugar and
converting it into cellulose and fat, cause, at the same time, the
breaking up of the sugar molecule, and resolve it into the more stable
combinations of alcohol and carbonic acid.
In order that the ferment or fungus should grow it is essential that, in
addition to the cellulose and fat, it should be supplied with ammoniacal
salts and soluble phosphates. These are generally present in the liquid
about to be fermented; but when yeast is added to pure sugar and water "it
lives at the expense of the sugar, and of the nitrogenous and mineral
substances contained within itself."[297]
[Footnote 297: Pasteur.]
Speaking of the influence of oxygen on the development of yeast on
alcoholic fermentation, Pasteur states that ready-formed yeast can
germinate and grow in a liquid containing sugar and albuminous matters,
even when oxygen is completely excluded. The quantity of yeast formed,
however, in this case, is but small, and the fermentation goes on slowly;
nevertheless, a large quantity of sugar disappears (sixty to eighty parts
to one part of yeast). If the air has access to a large surface the
fermentation goes on quickly, and a much larger quantity of yeast is
formed in proportion to the quantity of sugar which disappears.
In this case, also, oxygen is absorbed by the yeast, which grows quickly,
but does not act so decidedly as a ferment, inasmuch as only four to ten
parts of sugar disappear for one part of yeast produced.
When the air is excluded the same yeast again acts as a powerful ferment.
Pasteur, therefore, infers that yeast which acts as a ferment in the
absence of air abstracts oxygen from the sugar, and that upon this
deoxidising power its action as a ferment depends. The violent activity of
the yeast at the commencement of the fermentation is due to oxygen
dissolved in the liquid. In liquids containing albumen (yeast and water,
&c.) yeast likewise grows, though sparingly, even if the solution does not
contain a trace of sugar, provided there is a sufficient access of air.
But if the air is excluded this does not take place, even though the
liquid may contain, besides albumen, a non-fermentable sugar, such as milk
sugar. The yeast formed in a liquid not containing sugar possesses all the
properties of a ferment, and excites fermentation in a solution of sugar
excluded from the air.[298]
[Footnote 298: 'Bull. Soc. Chem.,' 1861, pp. 61, 79.]
Similarly, Pasteur regards putrefaction as a kind of fermentation, set up
and maintained by an animal organism, or ferment belonging to the genus
_Vibrio_. Putrefaction, when taking place in contact with the air, is
always accompanied by decay or EREMACAUSIS. The abandonment of the old
theory as to the nature of eremacausis, viz. that it consisted in the
gradual combustion of decaying organic matters by atmospheric oxygen, has
been necessitated by the experiments of Pasteur, Schröder, and others,
which have conclusively established the facts that organic substances are
not oxidised by perfectly pure air, and that their decomposition and
subsequent destruction are due to the presence in the air of the sporules
or seeds of certain low organisms. Pasteur cites numerous instances
corroborative of the statement that perfectly pure oxygen fails to affect,
save to a very limited extent, organic substances.
In one case an aqueous infusion of yeast mixed with sugar was enclosed in
a sealed flask with double its volume of air, which had been previously
depurated by being made to pass through a red-hot tube. At the end of
three years the liquid (which had during part of the time been kept at a
temperature of from 25° to 30° Cent.) was found to be perfectly fresh and
transparent, and the air when examined gave 18·1 vols. of oxygen, 80·5
vols. of nitrogen, and 1·4 of carbonic acid. Under the same conditions
urine and milk, whether fresh or previously boiled, showed minute traces
only of oxidation; crystals of uric acid and phosphates formed in the
urine, but the milk was unaltered, having preserved its alkaline reaction,
and showed no disposition to curdle.
Very different, however, was the result when either of the above
substances was enclosed with ordinary air. It was then found that in a few
days the whole of the oxygen was absorbed, carbonic acid being at the same
time simultaneously formed. A certain quantity of moistened oak sawdust
kept in contact with ordinary air for a fortnight was found at the end of
that time to have absorbed 140 cubic centimètres of oxygen; whilst the
same amount of sawdust enclosed with an equal volume of purified air had
removed only a few cubic centimètres of the gas in a month. In the former
experiment a microscopic film of mycelia and spores of Mucidineæ formed on
the sawdust.
From numerous experiments of a like nature with the above, and attended
with analogous results, chemists and physiologists now generally regard
eremacausis as effected by agencies similar in character to those which
produce fermentation and putrefaction.
"The observations of Schröder upon the processes of fermentation and
putrefaction are remarkable. He has shown that any organic liquid may be
prevented from fermenting or putrefying if it be heated under pressure to
about 266° F. (130° C.), then transferred to a flask and boiled, the mouth
of the flask being plugged whilst boiling with a pellet of cotton wool,
which is left in the neck of the flask. In this way he preserved, during a
hot summer, various liquids, including freshly-boiled wort, blood, white
of egg, whey, urine, broth, and milk; but when afterwards the plug of
cotton wool was withdrawn these liquids in a few days began to undergo
decomposition. He explains these results by supposing that the spores of
some organism must find access to the substance in order to set up the
process of decomposition. By a temperature of 260° F. (126·7° C.) any such
spores which the substance itself might contain are destroyed, and as the
air is filtered through the cotton wool before it reaches the interior of
the flask, none of these organic germs can afterwards gain access to the
body under experiment. I have repeated some of these experiments with
complete success.[299]
[Footnote 299: The Editor of this work has also repeated Schröder's
experiments on milk, and obtained the same results.]
"If air be transmitted with suitable precautions slowly through narrow
ignited platinum tubes, so as to destroy all suspended organic particles,
no fermentation or putrefaction will take place on admitting such air into
contact with putrescible substances previously heated to 260° for an
hour."[300]
[Footnote 300: Miller.]
Pasteur has shown the existence of these floating germs in the air by
drawing a large volume of atmospheric air, by means of an aspirator,
through a narrow tube obstructed by collodion wool. On subsequently
dissolving this wool in a mixture of alcohol and ether various microscopic
sporules were left undissolved.
The entire absence of the exciting causes--warmth, air, and
moisture--leaves even those substances which under ordinary circumstances
are most liable to change, in a state in which they may remain for an
almost indefinite period without perceptible alteration. Thus, animal
substances in a frozen or dry state do not undergo decomposition, nor does
a solution of sugar or the juice of grapes (must) when perfectly excluded
from the air; but on the mere exposure of these substances to warmth,
moisture, or atmospheric air, putrefaction or fermentation immediately
commences. Remove the cork from the bottle of 'capillaire' on the parlour
sideboard, or pierce the skin of one of the grapes on the dessert table
with a needle, and these bodies, which would have otherwise suffered no
change for weeks, or even months, will soon exhibit symptoms of
spontaneous decomposition. The knowledge of this fact has been practically
applied to the preservation of animal and vegetable substances for food.
Even the most putrescible of these may be preserved for an unlimited
period by enclosure in metallic cases, or glass bottles, from which the
air has been completely removed and excluded.
The important duties which fermentation or putrefaction performs in the
economy of our globe, and in several of the arts of life and civilisation,
have long rendered the development of its principles an object of the
highest interest and importance, both in a scientific and practical point
of view. In its most extended sense, this subtile process of nature,
though occasionally productive of injurious effects, may be regarded as
one of the most necessary and beneficial with which we are acquainted.
Like the labours of a scavenger, it speedily removes from the surface of
our globe those matters which would otherwise remain for some time without
undergoing decomposition. It either dissipates in air, or reduces to more
fixed and useful forms of matter, those organic substances which, by their
presence, would prove noxious, or, at all events, useless to the animal
and vegetable kingdoms. It is the giant power that cleans the Augean
stable of nature, at the same time that it provides some of the most
esteemed articles of utility and luxury for the well-being and enjoyment
of man.
Chemists have distinguished fermentation into different varieties, which,
in general, are named after the more important products of its action. Of
late years, the number of these varieties has been greatly increased by
the extension of the term to several operations besides those formerly
included under it. See ACETIFICATION, BREAD, PUTREFACTION, BREWING, &c.
=FERN (Male).= _Syn._ MALE SHIELD FERN, FILIX MAS, RADIX FILICIS, L. The
root (rhizome) of the _Lastræa Filix-mas_, or male fern. It is bitter,
astringent, or vermifuge.--_Dose_, 1 to 3 dr. in powder, or made into a
decoction, repeated for 3 or 4 days, and followed by a purge. It is
chiefly given in tapeworm. In Switzerland it is deemed almost infallible,
but has proved less successful in these countries. See OILS.
=FERRICY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANIDE, FERRIDCYANURET. A compound of
ferricyanogen with a metal or other basic radical. The FERRICYANIDE OF
POTASSIUM, or 'RED PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often improperly called,
is a well-known example. The ferricyanides of AMMONIUM and the ALKALIES
and ALKALINE EARTHS are soluble; those of most of the METALS, insoluble.
See _below_.
=FERRICYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANOGEN, FERRIC-CYANOGEN. The peculiar
salt-radical which exists in the so-called red prussiate of potash. It is
isomeric with ferrocyanogen, from which it differs in capacity of
saturation (being tribasic), and in the behaviour of its compounds with
solutions of the metals. It has not been isolated. See POTASSIUM
(Ferricyanide).
=FERROCY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERROCYANURET, PRUSSIATE; FERROCYANIDUM,
FERROCYANURETUM, L. A compound of ferrocyanogen with a metal or other
basic radical. The principal substance of this kind is the FERROCYANIDE OF
POTASSIUM or 'YELLOW PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often called. See the
respective basis--AMMONIUM, POTASSIUM, SODIUM, &c., and _below_.
=FERROCYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERROCYANOGENIUM, L. A bibasic salt radical,
composed of the elements of 3 equivalents of CYANOGEN and 1 equivalent of
the metal IRON. It has never been isolated. It unites with the various
bases to form FERROCYANIDES. See CYANOGEN, HYDROFERROCYANIC ACID, IRON,
&c.
=FERRU'GO.= [=L=.] Rust of iron. See IRON (Sesquioxide).
=FE'VER.= _Syn._ FEBRIS, PYREXIA, L. In pathology a condition
characterised by loss of appetite, thirst, languor, debility,
unwillingness to move, accelerated pulse, increased heat of surface, and
general disturbance of all the functions. A large number of diseases in
which all or some of these symptoms appear are called FEVERS. They have
been divided by nosologists into intermittent (INTERMITTENTES), remittent
(REMITTENTES), and continued fevers (CONTINUÆ). The first of these are
generally known as AGUES; the second differ from agues in there being one
or more marked exacerbations and remissions of the symptoms every 24
hours, but without any entire intermission. The terms 'hectic,' 'nervous,'
'bilious,' 'inflammatory,' &c., have also been applied to particular
varieties of fever; and names indicative of certain cutaneous appearances
connected with them have been given to others; as 'scarlet' fever,
'yellow' fever, &c.
The usual symptoms of incipient fever (febrile symptoms) are--chilliness
(varying from a simple shiver to a sensation of cold water running down
the back), a quick pulse, hot and dry skin or flushing, languor, often
evinced by yawning, depression of spirits, alternate fits of shivering and
heat, hurried and uneasy respiration, flying pains in various parts of the
body, as the head, back, and loins; loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting,
dry mouth, furred tongue, costiveness, urine small in quantity, and
usually of a deep colour, &c. When any of these symptoms appear, their
progress may often be arrested by the timely exhibition of an emetic,
followed by a saline purgative, and diaphoretics; at the same time
promoting the action of these remedies by a low diet and drinking
copiously of diluents, and carefully avoiding animal food, spirits,
fermented liquors, or anything at all stimulant. Whenever symptoms of
fever become established, medical advice should be sought and implicitly
followed. In parts where it cannot be obtained the treatment recommended
under AGUE, INFLAMMATION, REMITTENT FEVER, and TYPHUS, may be followed
with advantage.
In visiting or attending persons labouring under fevers, it is advisable
to avoid immediate contact with them or their clothing, or standing near
them in such a position as to inhale their breath, or the effluvia evolved
(in some cases) by their bodies; and when remaining for some time in the
apartment it is preferable to sit or stand near the fireplace, or between
the window and door, as such parts of the room are generally better
ventilated than the other portions. The greatest purifier of the
atmosphere of a sick chamber is a good fire, because it occasions a
continual current of the impure air up the chimney, and a corresponding
influx of fresh air from without. Chloride of lime, or chloride of zinc,
or their solutions, are also good purifiers. The first, however, should
not be used in quantity, as the evolved chlorine might in that case impede
the respiration of the patient. It is also advisable to avoid entering the
room of a patient labouring under contagious diseases of any class when
the stomach is empty or the spirits depressed; and it has been recommended
to clear the mouth of the saliva immediately after quitting the chamber.
See ABLUTION, &c.
=FEVER DROPS (C. Warburg's Vegetable).= Camphor and aloes, 2-1/2; orange
peel, 10; elecampane root, 12; digest with 90 per cent. spirit 240, mixed
with ac. sulphuric dil. 24. To the tincture add quinine sulphate 9; tinct.
opii crocatæ, 2-1/2. (Ragsky.)
=FEVER POWDERS (James's, also called James's Powder and Pulvis Jacobi).=
It consists essentially of phosphate and antimoniate of lime with free
antimonic acid.
=FEVERSTONE--Lapis Anti-febrilis--Fieber Stein.= Lead oxide, 54 parts;
arsenic acid, 46 parts; melted together. (Winckler.)
=FI'BRIN.= _Syn._ FIBRINE. An azotised substance, forming the coagulable
portion of fresh-drawn blood, and the principal constituent of the
muscular or fleshy parts of animals. It is eminently nutritious, and
capable of yielding in the animal body albumen, caseine, and the tissues
derived from them. (Liebig.)
_Prep._ Fibrin is easily obtained in a nearly pure state, by agitating or
beating newly drawn blood with a small bundle of twigs, when it attaches
itself to the latter under the form of long reddish filaments, which
become white when worked with the hands in a stream of cold water. It may
also be procured by washing the coagulum of blood, tied up in a cloth, in
cold water, until all the soluble portions are removed. A small quantity
of fat, which it still contains, may be removed by digesting it in ether.
_Prop., &c._ Pure fibrin occurs as long, white, elastic filaments, which
are tasteless, inodorous, and insoluble in both hot and cold water. Wetted
with acetic acid, it forms, after a time, a transparent jelly, which is
slowly soluble in pure water. Very dilute solutions of the caustic
alkalies dissolve it completely, and the new solution greatly resembles
liquid albumen. Dried by a gentle heat it loses about 80% of water.
=FICHTENNADEL-BRUSTZUCKER (Pine-needle Pectoral Sugar).= (L. Morgenthau,
Mannheim.) For irritable cough, hoarseness, tightness of the chest,
asthma, stubborn lung affections, chronic catarrh, &c. Little sticks of
bonbon, containing a very little opium, and wrapped in tinfoil. (Hager.)
=FICHTENNADEL-TABAK (Pine-Needle Tobacco.= (L. Morgenthau.) Is said to be
patented in England. Ordinary tobacco moistened or sprinkled with a weak
spirituous solution of wood wool extract and wood wool oil and dried; made
up in cigars for smoking. (Hager.)
=FIG.= _Syn._ FICUS (B. P., Ph. L. E. & D.), CARICA, CARICÆ FRUCTUS, L.
The figs of commerce are the dried fruit of _Ficus Carica_, the common
fig-tree. They are demulcent, emollient, laxative, and pectoral. Roasted
and boiled figs are occasionally employed as poultices to gumboils and
other affections of the mouth.
=FILARIA DRACUNCULUS.= The Guinea worm. The female of this parasite is to
be met with in tropical climates only, infesting the subcutaneous cellular
tissue of man and some animals. In appearance it resembles a piece of
white whip-cord of uniform thickness. According to Mr Ewart it varies in
length from twelve and three quarters to forty inches, and is on an
average twenty-five and a half inches long. It usually contains only one
young worm, although rare instances have occurred in which as many as
fifty of its progeny have been discovered in the same parent. In almost
every case when this creature leaves the body, it does so by the lower
extremities; occasionally, however, it does so by the mouth, the cheeks,
or below the tongue. When the young of the guinea worm are placed in pure
water they survive only four or five days; in foul water they will exist
for three weeks. It appears that immersion in water, of the body of the
person afflicted with the parasite, sometimes has the effect of inducing
the creature to leave his human quarters, since Dr Lorimer states "that
many people belonging to the bazaars in the vicinity of the lines,
affected with the parasite, come, for the express purpose of extracting
the worm, to the same tank where the men of the regiment bathe. The people
so infested swim about in the water, with the worm hanging loose, drawing
the limb quickly backwards and forwards, and from side to side, until the
expulsion is affected." Outside the body the guinea worm is generally
found beneath organic débris in wells, tanks, and other reservoirs for
water, from whence it appears to be now pretty universally admitted it
effects an entrance through the skin during bathing or wading.
=FILARIA SANGUINIS HOMINIS.= In 1872, Dr T. R. Lewis, in examining
microscopically the blood and urine of some of his patients in India,
discovered a worm enveloped in an extremely delicate tube, closed at both
ends, within which it could either elongate or shorten itself. This
parasite (called from its principal habitat the _Filaria Sanguinis
Hominis_) is about 1/75th of an inch in length, and about 1/35000th of an
inch in diameter. When removed from the body with a small quantity of
blood, it is described as being in a state of incessant motion,
unceasingly coiling and uncoiling itself, lashing the blood-corpuscles in
all directions, and insinuating itself between them.
The worms are said, when first taken from the body, to present a
translucent appearance; the larger specimens, however, frequently exhibit
an aggregation of granules towards the junction of the lower and middle
half. Occasionally a bright spot, suggestive of a mouth, is seen at the
thicker extremity. It is stated that they continue active from six to
thirty hours. Mr Lewis does not believe they are able to perforate the
tissues.
"These parasites," says Mr Lewis, "are so persistently ubiquitous, as to
be obtained day after day by simply pricking any portion of the body, even
to the tips of the fingers and toes of both hands and both feet of one and
the same person, with a finely pointed needle. On one occasion six
excellent specimens were obtained in a single drop of blood by merely
pricking the lobule of the ear."
Dr Lewis estimates, from the number of the Filaria found in one drop of
the blood of one patient, that his body must have contained more than
140,000. The presence of these creatures in the blood is believed to be
the cause of chylous urine, which is a very common disease in the East. It
seems probable they gain admission into the body from being present in
drinking water.
=FIL'BERT.= _Syn._ FILBERD. The fruit of the cultivated hazel or nut-tree
(_Corylus Avellana_). Filberts are distinguished from common nuts by their
lengthened figure and larger size. The best are imported from Spain.
=FILES.= The manufactures of these articles do not come within the limits
of this work. It may, however, be useful to mention that FILES, FLOATS,
and RASPS, which "cut dull" from age, dirt, or being much worn, are
greatly improved by being kept wet, immersed in water for some hours, or
even for a day or two.
Mr Ernest Spon recommends the following method for renovating files:--The
file to be first cleansed from all foreign matter, and then dipped in a
solution of one part of nitric acid, three parts of sulphuric acid, and
seven parts of water; the time of immersion will be according to the
extent the file has been worn, and the fineness of the teeth, varying from
five seconds to five minutes. On taking it out of the mixture, wash in
water, then dip in milk of lime, wash off the lime, dry by a gentle heat,
rub over equal parts of olive oil and turpentine, and finally brush over
with powdered coke.
=FIL'TER.= _Syn._ FILTRUM, L. An instrument or apparatus for straining or
filtering liquids.
=FIL'TERING POWDERS.= _Prep._ 1. Fuller's earth washed, dried without
heat, and reduced to coarse powder.
2. Pipe clay or potter's clay, as the last. Both the above are used to
filter and bleach oils.
3. Clay or fuller's earth, 1 part; fine siliceous sand, 2 parts; the two
are separately washed, after which they are drained, and mixed together,
and dried as before. Used for GLUTINOUS OILS.
4. Granulated animal charcoal, sifted and fanned from the dust. Used to
filter and bleach SYRUPS and VEGETABLE SOLUTIONS.
_Obs._ Filtering powders are prepared of several degrees of coarseness,
and should be chosen with reference to the degree of fluidity of the
liquid to be filtered through them. In no case should they be reduced to
fine powder, as not only is the process of filtration thereby rendered
unnecessarily tedious, but in some cases (as when charcoal dust is mixed
with glutinous vegetable solutions and syrups) the filtrate carries off a
portion of the powder, which can afterwards be separated from it only with
considerable difficulty. See CHARCOAL, FILTRATION, OIL, &c.
=FILTRA'TION.= _Syn._ FILTRATIO, L. The separation of liquids from
substances mechanically suspended in them, by passing them through media
having pores sufficiently fine to retain or keep back the solid matter.
Filtration is one of the most common and useful of the chemico-mechanical
operations of the arts, and its successful performance in an economical
and expeditious manner is therefore a matter of the highest importance in
the laboratory, and, indeed, in almost every branch of human skill and
industry, in which liquids are employed. Simple in principle, and
apparently easily performed, it is, nevertheless, one of those operations
which require no less of care than of tact and experience to conduct it
with certainty and success. The losses sustained in the laboratory, by
defective manipulation in this particular, often exceed those arising from
ignorance and accidents in every other department conducted in it.
Filtration is generally resorted to for the purpose of freeing liquids
from feculence, dirt, and other foreign matter, and for obtaining them in
a clear or transparent state; but, in some cases, it has for its object
the collection of the suspended substances, as precipitates, &c., and in
others both these intentions are combined. The word 'filtration' is
absolutely synonymous with 'straining,' but in the language of the
laboratory it is usually applied to the operation of rendering liquids
transparent, or nearly so, by passing them through fine media, as
filtering paper, sand, and the like; whilst the term 'straining' is
employed to designate the mere separation of the grosser portion, by
means of coarse media, flannel, horsehair cloth, &c., through which they
flow with considerable rapidity. Filtration is distinguished from
'clarification' by its mere mechanical action, whereas the latter operates
by depuration, or the subsidence of the suspended substances or fæces,
arising from their gravity being naturally greater than the fluid with
which they are mixed, or being rendered so by the application of heat, or
by the addition of some foreign substance.
The apparatus, vessels, or media, employed for filtration, are called
'FILTERS,' and are technically distinguished from 'STRAINERS' by the
superior fineness of their pores.
Both strainers and filters act on the same principles as the common sieve
on powders; they all, in like manner, retain or hold back the coarser
matter, and permit the liquid or smaller and more attenuated particles to
pass through. The term 'medium' (pleural 'media') is applied to the
substance or substances through the pores of which the liquid percolates.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The form of filters, and the substances of which they are composed, are
various, and depend upon the nature of the liquids for which they are
intended. On the small scale, funnels of tin, zinc, copper, wedgwood-ware,
earthenware, glass, or porcelain, are commonly employed as the containing
vessels. (See _engr._) The filtering medium may be any substance of a
sufficiently spongy or porous nature to allow of the free percolation of
the liquid, and whose pores are, at the same time, sufficiently small to
render it limpid or transparent. Unsized paper, flannel, linen, calico,
cotton wool, felt, sand, coarsely powdered charcoal, porous stone, or
earthenware, and numerous other substances of a similar kind, are employed
for this purpose.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
For many liquids that filter easily, and in which the suspended matter is
of a coarse and porous nature, it is often sufficient merely to place a
little cotton wool or tow, or a small piece of sponge, in neck of the
funnel, as at (_a_, fig. 1) in the above engr.; but such an apparatus,
from the small extent of the filtering surface, acts either slowly or
imperfectly, and soon gets choked up. Filters of unsized paper are well
suited for all liquids that are not of a corrosive or viscid nature, and
are universally employed for filtering small quantities of liquids in the
laboratory. A piece of the paper is taken of a size proportionate to the
quantity of the liquid to be filtered, and is first doubled from corner to
corner into a triangle (see _engr. a_), which is again doubled into a
smaller triangle _b_, and the angular portion of the margin being rounded
off with a pair of scissors _c_, it constitutes a paper cone, which is
placed on a funnel of proportionate capacity, and is then nearly filled
with the liquid. A piece of paper so cut, when laid flat upon the table,
should be nearly circular. Filtering paper is now sold ready cut in
circles of various sizes, which simply require doubling for use. Another
method of forming a paper filter, preferred by some persons, is to double
the paper once, as above, and then to fold it in a similar way to a fan,
observing so to open it and lay it on the funnel that a sufficient
interval be left between the two to permit of the free passage of the
filtered liquid on its descent towards the receiver. The 'plaited filter,'
as thus formed, is exceedingly useful for general purposes; it exposes the
entire surface of the paper to the liquid, and allows filtration to
proceed more rapidly than a 'plain filter' does. (See Fig. 3.)
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Mr Rother takes objection to the ordinary plain paper filter employed in
the laboratory, because of the superfluous fold which in two thicknesses
lies under one half of the extended surface of the filter. He says the
interposition of these two extra layers compels the liquid to pass through
three thicknesses of paper on the half side of the extended filter, whilst
the other half side presents only a single thickness. It is evident that
the two hidden layers are a very appreciable impediment to the current,
aside from the more important fact that the liquid will traverse this side
less rapidly than the other, and thus occasion an imperfect washing of the
precipitate, or at least prolong the operation beyond reasonable limits.
Recognising these objections to the old filter, Mr Rother has invented a
very simple modification of the plain filter which, whilst saving 50 per
cent. of the paper, he states, removes all the defects of the old form.
This new filter practically presents but a single thickness of paper to
penetrate, at the same time preserving an even surface, equal in all other
advantages to the plain filter.
The filtrations are said to be more rapid than with the usual form, and
the absence of the superfluous half sheet admits of more rapid drying.
To make the new filter:--Cut the circular disk of filtering paper in two
through the line of its diameter, take either half disk, and fold it
across the line of the radius, then turn down the double edge of the cut
side and fold it over several times--finally, run a hard smooth surface
along the seam thus produced, to compress it, and spread the finished
filter into an appropriate funnel, first moistening it with water before
the liquid to be filtered is poured in.
In reference to funnels, it may be remarked that those employed for
filtering rapidly should be deeply ribbed on the inside, or small rods of
wood or glass, or pieces of straw, or quills, should be placed between
them and the paper. The neck or tubular part of the funnel should, in like
manner, be deeply ribbed or fluted on the outside, to permit of the free
passage of the air, when it is placed in a narrow-mouthed bottle or
receiver. When this is not the case, filtration proceeds but slowly, and
the filtered liquid is apt to be driven up the outside of the neck of the
funnel by the confined air, and to be continually hissing and flowing over
the mouth of the vessel. The breadth of a funnel, to filter well, should
be about three fourths its height, reckoning from the throat (_a_). When
deeper, the paper is liable to be continually ruptured, from the pressure
of the superincumbent fluid; and when shallower, filtration proceeds
slowly, and an unnecessarily large surface of the liquid is exposed to the
atmosphere, and is lost by evaporation. To lessen this as much as
possible, the upper edge of the glass is frequently ground perfectly
smooth, and a piece of smooth plate-glass is laid thereon. When paper
filters are of large dimensions, or employed for aqueous fluids that
rapidly soften the texture of the paper, or for collecting heavy powders,
or metallic precipitates, it is usual to support them on linen or calico,
to prevent them breaking. This is best done by folding the cloth up with
the paper, and cutting the filter out of the two, in the same way as would
be done with doubled paper, observing so to place it in the funnel that
the paper and calico may remain close together, especially towards the
bottom.
[Illustration]
The filtration of small quantities of liquid, as in chemical experiments,
may often be conveniently performed by merely placing the paper on the
circular top of a recipient (see _engr._), or on a ring of glass or
earthenware laid on the top of any suitable vessel. A filter of this kind
that will hold one fluid ounce will filter many ounces of some liquids in
an hour.