_b._ (BUCKWHEAT FRITTERS, B. CAKES, BOCKINGS.) Made by beating up
buckwheat flour to a batter with some warm milk, adding a little yeast,
letting it rise before the fire for 30 or 40 minutes, then beating in some
eggs and milk or warm water, as required, and frying them like pancakes.
Buckwheat fritters, when well prepared, are excellent. Made without eggs
and served up with molasses, they form a common dish in almost every
breakfast in North America.
_c._ (CURD FRITTERS.) From dried curd, beaten with yolk of egg and a
little flour, and flavoured with nutmeg.
_d._ (FRENCH FRITTERS.) Common pancakes, beaten up with eggs, almonds, and
flavouring sugar, orange-flower water, and nutmeg, and the paste dropped
into a stew- or frying-pan half full of boiling lard, so as to form cakes
the size of large nuts, which are cooked till brown.
_e._ (FRUIT FRITTERS.) From the sliced fruits, with rich batter.
_f._ (SOUFFLÉ FRITTERS.) Rich pancakes, flavoured with lemon.
_g._ (SPANISH FRITTERS.) From slices of French rolls soaked in a mixture
of cream, eggs, sugar, and spices, and fried brown.
=FROG.= The esculent variety, in Europe, is the common green or gibbous
frog, the _Rana esculenta_ of Linnæus. As an aliment, it is much esteemed
on the Continent, the hind legs only being eaten. Its liver is among the
simples of the Ph. L. 1618, and was once considered a useful remedy in
certain forms of ague.
The Americans eat the bull-frog (the _Rana taurina_). This variety of the
edible frog, which is a native of the Northern States and is much prized
as a table delicacy, has been lately introduced into France by the Société
d'Acclimatisation. Its flesh, when cooked, is said to have a taste very
like that of turtle. In South Africa, a large frog called Matlamétlo is
eaten. Frogs are also favourite food with the natives of China and
Australia.
=FROG OINTMENT or Thrush Mixture.= Brown syrup, 90 grammes; verdigris, 6
grammes; strong acetic acid, 10 grammes; solution of perchloride of iron,
2 grammes. (Hager.)
=FROST-BITES.= When those parts of the body in which the circulation of
the blood is most languid are exposed to extreme cold, they quickly become
frozen, or, as it is called, 'frost bitten.' The fingers, toes, ears,
nose, and chin are most liable to this attack. The remedy is
long-continued friction with the hands or cold flannel, avoiding the fire,
or even a heated apartment.
=FROSTBEULENTINCTUR, FROSTBEULENWASSER--Chilblain Tincture, Chilblain
Water.= Manufactured by a chiropodist of Munich. It is a solution of 2
grammes zinc sulphate in 60 grammes water. (Wittstein.)
=FROSTSALBE--Frost Ointment= (Wahler, Kupferzell). Mutton tallow, 24;
hog's lard, 24; iron oxide, 4; heat it in an iron vessel, stirring
continually with an iron rod until the whole has become black; then add 4
parts Venice turpentine, 2 parts bergamot oil, and 2 parts Armenian bole
rubbed smooth with olive oil.
=FRUIT.= _Syn._ FRUCTUS, L. Among botanists this is the mature ovary or
pistil, containing the ripened ovules or seeds. In familiar language, the
term is applied to any product of a plant containing the seed, more
especially those that are eatable.
Fruits are extensively employed as articles of diet by man, both as
luxuries and nutriment. The fruit of the cereals furnishes our daily
bread; that of the vine gives us the well-known beverage, wine, whilst
other varieties enrich our desserts, and provide us with some of our most
valuable condiments and aromatics. The acidulous and subacid fruits are
antiseptic, aperient, attenuant, diuretic, and refrigerant. They afford
little nourishment, and are apt to promote diarrh[oe]a and flatulency.
They are, however, occasionally exhibited medicinally, in putrid
affections, and are often useful in bilious and dyspeptic complaints. The
farinaceous fruits (grain), as already stated, furnish the principal and
most useful portion of the food of man. The oleo-farinaceous (nuts, &c.)
are less wholesome and less easy of digestion than those purely
farinaceous. The saccharine fruits, or those abounding in sugar, are
nutritious and laxative, but are apt to ferment and disagree with delicate
stomachs when eaten in excess. Stone fruits are more difficult of
digestion than the other varieties, and are very apt to disorder the
stomach and bowels.
As a rule, fruit should never be eaten in large quantities at a time, and
only when quite ripe. It then appears to be exceedingly wholesome, and to
be a suitable corrective to the grossness of animal food. It also
exercises a powerful action on the skin, and is a specific for scurvy in
its early stages. Many cutaneous diseases may likewise be removed by the
daily use of a moderate quantity of fruit, or other fresh vegetable food.
Cases are not uncommon which, after resisting every variety of ordinary
medical treatment, yield to a mixed fruit or vegetable diet.
Fruits should be gathered in dry weather, and preferably about noon,
because the dew and moisture deposited on them during the night and
earlier part of the morning has then evaporated. They should be quite ripe
when gathered, but the sooner they are removed from the tree after this
point is arrived at, the better. Immature fruit never keeps so well as
that which has ripened on the tree; and overripe fruit is liable to be
bruised and to lose flavour. The less fruit is handled in gathering the
better. Some of them, as PEACHES, NECTARINES, GRAPES, PLUMS, &c., require
to be treated with great delicacy, to avoid bruising them or rubbing off
the bloom. Some fruit, as a few varieties of APPLES, PEARS, and ORANGES,
&c., are gathered before they are fully ripe, in order that they may the
better undergo the perils of transit and storage.
_Pres._ Ripe fruits are commonly preserved in the fresh state by placing
them in a cool dry situation, on shelves, so that they do not touch each
other; or by packing them in clean, dry sand, sawdust, straw, bran, or any
similar substance, with like care, to preserve them from the action of air
and moisture. An excellent plan, commonly adopted for dessert fruit in
this country, is to wrap each separately in a piece of clean, dry paper,
and to fill small, wide-mouthed jars or honey-pots with them. The filled
pots are then packed one upon another (see _engr._) in a dry and cold
place (as a cellar), where the frost cannot reach them. The space (_a_)
between the two pots may be advantageously filled up with plaster of Paris
made into a paste with water. The joint is thus rendered air-tight, and
the fruit will keep good for a long time. The mouth of the top jar is
covered with a slate. For use, the jars should be taken one at a time from
the store-room as wanted, and the fruit exposed for a week or ten days in
a warm dry room before being eaten, by which the flavour is much improved.
[Illustration]
Fruit is preserved on the large scale for the London market by placing in
a cool situation first a layer of straw or paper, and so on alternately,
to the height of 20 or 25 inches, which cannot be well exceeded, as the
weight of the superincumbent fruit is apt to crush or injure the lower
layers. Sometimes alternate layers of fruit and paper are arranged in
baskets or hampers, which are then placed in the cellar or fruit-room. The
baskets admit of being piled one over the other without injury to the
fruit. The use of brown paper is inadmissible for the above purposes, as
it conveys its peculiar flavour to the fruit. Thick white-brown paper is
the cheapest and the best.
=Fruit Essences (Artificial).= These remarkable products first attracted
attention at the Exhibition of 1851. To speak somewhat generally, they are
mixtures of amylic, butyric, pelargonic, valerianic, and other ethers, in
alcohol. By judicious mixture, the flavour of almost any fruit can be more
or less perfectly imitated. The artificial essences are generally coloured
to represent the juice of the fruit from which they are supposed to be
derived. The ESSENCE OF JARGONELLE PEAR and the ESSENCE OF APPLE, which
are, perhaps, the best of all the artificial essences, are respectively
formed from the ACETATE and VALERIANATE OF AMYLE. See AMYLE, ESSENCE, &c.
=FRU'MENTY.= Wheat boiled in water until quite soft, then taken out,
drained, thinned with milk, sweetened with sugar, and flavoured with
nutmeg. When currants and eggs are added, it forms 'SOMERSETSHIRE
FRUMENTY,' Some persons boil the wheat like rice. "Eaten with milk, in the
evening, for some time, it will often relieve costiveness." (Griffith.)
=FRY'ING.= "The frying-pan is, without doubt, the most useful of all
kitchen implements, and, like a good-natured servant, is often imposed
upon and obliged to do all the work, while its companion, the gridiron, is
quietly reposing in the chimney corner." "The usual complaint of food
being rendered greasy by frying is totally remedied by sautéing the meat
in a small quantity of fat, butter, or oil, which has attained a proper
degree of heat, instead of placing it in cold fat, and letting it soak
while melting." "According to the (common) mode in which all objects are
cooked which are called fried, it would answer to the French word 'sauté,'
or the old English term 'frizzle,' but to fry any object, it should be
immersed in very hot fat, oil, or butter." "To frizzle, sauté, or, as I
will now designate it, semi-fry, is to place in the pan any oleaginous
substance, so that, when melted, it shall cover the bottom of the pan by
about two lines; and when hot, the article to be cooked is to be placed
therein. To do it to perfection requires a little attention, so that the
pan shall never get too hot. It should also be perfectly clean--a great
deal depends on this." (Soyer.)
According to the writer quoted above, a chop or steak, for frying, should
be chosen 3/4 of an inch thick, and should "never exceed one inch, nor be
less than half an inch, and to be as near as possible of the same
thickness all over." "An ill-cut chop (or steak) never can be but
ill-cooked; you can always equalise them (when badly cut) by beating them
out with a chopper."
"The motive of semi-frying food is to have it done quickly; therefore, to
fry a whole fowl, or even half (for example), is useless, as it could be
cooked in a different way in the same time; but to semi-fry a fowl (in
joints or pieces), with the object of having it quickly placed on the
table, in order to satisfy a good, and perhaps fastidious appetite, it
should be done in a similar way to that practised in Egypt some 3000 years
since, and of late years for the great Napoleon--that is, cooked in oil.
In France this dish is called '_Poulet à la Marengo_,' It is related that
the great conqueror, after having gained that celebrated victory, ate
three small chickens at one meal done in this way, and his appetite and
taste were so good, and he approved of them so highly, that he desired
that they may always be served in the same way during the campaign."
"For many objects I prefer the frying-pan to the gridiron; that is, if the
pan is properly used. As regards economy, it is preferable, securing all
the fat and gravy, which is often lost when the gridiron is used." "This
simple _batterie de cuisine_" may be employed "equally as well in the
cottage as in the palace, or in the bachelor's chamber as in the rooms of
the poor." (Soyer.)
=FUCH'SIN.= See TAR COLOURS.
=FUCUS'AMID, FU'CUSINE, and FU'CUSOL.= Compounds obtained by Dr Stenhouse
from several varieties of FUCUS by treatment with sulphuric acid, as in
the preparation of FURFURINE (which _see_).
=FU'EL.= Matter used for the production of heat by burning. The principal
substances employed as fuel are--ANTHRACITE, CHARCOAL, COAL GAS, COKE,
OIL, SPIRIT, PITCOAL, TURF, and WOOD.
The heating power of almost every description of fuel has been determined
by the direct experiments of Lavoisier, Regnault, Andrews, and others; the
general principle of their methods consisting in the use of an apparatus
wherein the entire heat of combustion was absorbed by a known weight of
water, the whole arrangement being protected from the influence of
external changes of temperature, and the increase of the temperature of
the water being known by the simultaneous indication of several delicate
thermometers suspended in it. The real value of such determinations is
simply relative. The imperfect character of most boiler and furnace
arrangements, and the large quantity of fuel which passes into the
'ash-pit' unconsumed, together with the irregular 'draught,' and the
amount of heat absorbed by excess of cold air, result practically in an
enormous loss of heating power, even under the most careful management.
The mechanical condition of a fuel must be considered in estimating its
value. In a series of trials instituted by the Government it was a _sine
quâ non_ that the toughness of each kind of coal must be such, for naval
use, as to resist, without crumbling, the constant friction in the ship's
hold, at the same time that its 'fracture' must be such that it packs into
the smallest possible space.[319]
[Footnote 319: For full information on coal and other fuels, refer to
Ure's 'Dict. of Arts, Manufactures, &c.,' Percy's 'Metallurgy,' and Watt's
'Dict. of Chemistry.']
In the _chemical laboratory_ COAL GAS is now generally employed as fuel.
It is cheap and manageable, and, with proper apparatus, may be made to
supply almost any amount of heat. Where gas cannot be conveniently
procured, OIL and SPIRIT are used as fuel for lamps. See ANTHRACITE,
CHARCOAL, COKE, FURNACE, PITCOAL, &c., also _below_.
=Fuel, Econom'ical.= Various mixtures have been recommended under this
name. The following is one of the best:--
_Prep._ Small coal, charcoal, or sawdust, 1 part; clay, loam, or marl, 1
part; sand, or ashes, 2 parts; water, q. s.; make the mass up wet into
balls. For use, these balls are piled on an ordinary fire to a little
above the top bar. They are said to produce a heat considerably more
intense than that of common fuel, and ensure a saving of one half the
quantity of coals, whilst a fire thus made up will require no stirring,
nor fresh fuel for ten hours. The quantity of the combustible ingredient
in them should be doubled, when they are intended to be used with a very
little foundation of coal.
_Obs._ Of late years simple FIRE-CLAY BALLS have been much used for
radiating heat from parlour-grates, and so effecting saving in the
consumption of fuel. They are very useful for partially filling up those
roomy, old-fashioned, badly-constructed grates, which are still to be
found in many private houses.
PEAT and TURF, both recent and charred, are commonly used as fuel by the
lower classes, in neighbourhoods where they are plentiful. FIR CONES or
TOPS contain a great quantity of solid woody in addition to the resinous
matter, and are well adapted for domestic fires.
=Fuel, Prepared.= _Syn._ COMPRESSED FUEL, PATENT F., STEAM F. Many
artificial fuels are now in use. The greater number have one character in
common--they are composed of small coal cemented by some bituminous
matter. The following are the principal kinds:--
FUEL, ABERDARE PATENT STEAM. From the 'small' of the South Wales Steam
Coal mixed with coal, pitch, and compressed by hydraulic machinery. The
pitch is broken up, and thoroughly mixed with the small coal over a
furnace, in iron pans, in which shafts with obliquely attached blades are
continually revolving. The mixture is afterwards pressed into iron moulds
by a force equal to about 2-1/2 tons per inch. The weight of a cubic foot
of this excellent fuel is 80 lbs.; the space occupied by 1 ton, 28 cubic
feet.
FUEL, CASE AND MORRIS'S PATENT. From the 'small' of the 'best steam coal,'
ground moderately fine, treated so as to absorb a certain portion of
liquid coal tar, and then pressed by machinery into blocks. It is said to
occupy less space by about 10% than ordinary coal.
FUEL, GRANT'S PATENT. This is formed of coal dust, 1 cwt., and coal-tar
pitch, 20 lbs., melted together by a heat of 220° Fahr., and moulded into
blocks the size of common bricks, under a pressure of 5 or 6 tons. These
are, lastly, whitewashed. It is heavier than common steam coal, and is
said to go fully one third further, by which facility of transport and
economy is combined.
FUEL, PURIFIED BLOCK. This is prepared by the torrefaction of washed coal
dust, and is said to possess in a remarkable degree the advantages of both
coke and steam coal.
=FU'LIGOKA'LI.= _Prep._ (Dr Polya.) Caustic potassa, 1 part; water, q. s.;
dissolve; add of wood soot, 5 parts; boil 1 hour, dilute with water,
filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, and put the product at once
into warm, dry bottles.--_Dose_, 2 to 3 gr., thrice a day, made into
pills, which must be coated with gum and kept from the air. (See _below_.)
=Fuligokali, Sulphuretted.= _Syn._ FULIGOKALI SULPHURETUM, L. _Prep._ (Dr
Polya.) Caustic potassa, 7 parts; sulphur, 2 parts; water, q. s.; dissolve
with heat, add of fuligokali, 30 parts, evaporate to dryness, and preserve
it in well-corked dry bottles.--_Dose, &c._ As the last.
_Obs._ M. Gibert states that he has tried both fuligokali and sulphuretted
fuligokali on his patients at the Hospital Saint-Louis, both internally
and externally, with manifest advantage in various obstinate chronic skin
diseases. He made a pomade of 30 grammes (say 1 oz.) of lead ointment, and
1 or 2 grammes (say 20 to 25 gr.) of fuligokali, in which he recognised
positive resolvent, detersive, and stimulant properties. See ANTHRACOKALI.
=FULLER'S EARTH.= _Syn._ CIMOLIA, C. TERRA, L. A soft, unctious, friable,
greenish or yellowish-grey species of clay, containing 53% of silica, 10%
of alumina, and about 9% of oxide of iron. After being dug out of the
earth it is thoroughly dried in ovens, and then thrown into cold water,
where it soon falls to powder, and is purified by the common process of
edulcoration or washing-over. It is extensively used to extract oil and
grease from cloth in the process of 'fulling,' it forms an excellent
filtering powder for oils, and is applied as a cooling and healing
dressing by the poor to inflamed breasts, excoriations, &c.
=FUL'MINATING COMPOUNDS.= These are numerous, and are scattered through
several distinct classes of bodies. Among the most powerful and dangerous
are the chloride and iodide of nitrogen and the fulminates of silver and
mercury.
=Fulminating An'timony.= _Syn._ PYROPHORUS OF ANTIMONY, L. _Prep._ Tartar
emetic (dried), 100 parts; lampblack or charcoal powder, 3 parts;
triturate together, put it into a crucible that it will three fourths fill
(previously rubbed inside with charcoal powder), cover it with a layer of
dry charcoal powder, and lute on the cover; after 3 hours' exposure to a
strong heat in a 'reverberatory furnace,' and 6 or 7 hours' repose to
allow it to cool, &c., cautiously transfer the solid contents of the
crucible, as quickly as possible, without breaking it, to a wide-mouthed
stoppered phial, where, after some time, it will spontaneously crumble
down into a powder.
_Obs._ When the above process is properly conducted, the resulting powder
contains potassium, and fulminates violently on contact with water. A
piece the size of a pea introduced into a mass of gunpowder explodes it on
being thrown into water, or on its being moistened in any other manner.
=Fulminating Bis'muth.= _Prep._ From bismuth, 120 parts; carburetted cream
of tartar, 60 parts; nitre, 1 part. Very rich in potassium.--_Prop., &c._,
resemble those of the last. We have been assured that this is the compound
used by the late Capt. Warner for some of his secret fusees.
=Fulminating Cop'per.= _Syn._ FULMINATE OF COPPER. _Prep._ Digest copper
(in powder or filings) with fulminate of mercury or of silver, and a
little water. It forms soluble green crystals that explode with a green
flame.
=Fulminating Gold.= _Prep._ Recently precipitated peroxide of gold is
digested in strong liquor of ammonia for 24 hours, and the resulting
product is dried in the open air or at a temperature below 180° Fahr.,
care being taken to avoid the slightest friction, lest it should explode.
A deep olive-coloured powder.
_Obs._ This compound can only be safely made in very small quantities at a
time, as without great care it explodes with extreme violence. This is
caused by the slightest friction or sudden increase of heat. Its
fulminating property may be destroyed by boiling it in pearlash lye, or
weak oil of vitriol; and by heating the residuum after washing it in
water, pure gold will be obtained.
=Fulminating Mer'cury.= _Syn._ FULMINATE, FULMINATE OF MERCURY. _Prep._ 1.
Mercury, 1 part; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·375), 12 parts; dissolve, add at
intervals, to this solution, alcohol (sp. gr. ·850), 16·3 parts; apply
heat till the effervescence and cloud of gas disappears, adding,
gradually, on the action becoming violent, 16·3 parts more of
alcohol.--_Product._ 112% of the mercury employed.
2. Mercury, 100 parts; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·4), 1000 parts (or 740 parts
by measure); dissolve by a gentle heat, and when the solution has acquired
the temperature of 130° Fahr., slowly pour it through a glass funnel tube
into alcohol (sp. gr. ·830), 830 parts (or 1000 parts by measure); as soon
as the effervescence is over, and white fumes cease to be evolved, filter
through double paper, wash with cold water, and dry by steam (not hotter
than 212°) or hot water. The fulminate is then to be packed in 100 gr.
paper parcels, and these stored in a tight box or corked
bottle.--_Product_, 130% of the weight of mercury employed.
_Prop., &c._ Small brownish-grey crystals, which sparkle in the sun;
entirely soluble in 130 parts of boiling water, and deposited as the
solution cools under the form of beautiful pearly spangles. It greatly
resembles fulminate of silver in its appearance and general properties. It
explodes violently by both friction and percussion, but unlike the
silver-salt, merely burns with a sudden and almost noiseless flash when
kindled in the open air.
_Obs._ The second formula is not only the cheapest, but the best and
safest. The first is more expensive and dangerous. There is no little
hazard in pouring the alcohol into the nitric solution; for at each
effusion an explosive blast takes place; whereas, by pouring the solution
into the alcohol, no danger whatever is incurred. This preparation is used
for priming the copper percussion caps for fowling-pieces, muskets, &c. Dr
Ure, in his first report to the Board of Ordnance, recommended the use of
a spirituous solution of gum sandarac, as the best substance for diluting
the fulminate, and fixing it in the caps; but in a subsequent report to
the same Board, he stated that a solution of mastic in spirit was to be
preferred. At the present time the following composition is applied to the
interior of percussion caps in quantities varying from ·2 to ·3 of a
grain:--Chlorate of potassium, 26 parts; nitre, 30; fulminate of mercury,
12; sulphur, 17; ground glass, 14; gum, 1, making altogether 100 parts.
(Watts.)
_Caution._ Fulminate of mercury should only be dried in small parcels at a
time, and these should be placed at a distance from each other. The
dreadful explosion which occurred some years ago at Apothecaries' Hall,
and by which Mr Hennel, the talented chemist of the Apothecaries'
Company, lost his life, was occasioned by the spontaneous detonation of
this substance.
=Fulminating Plat'inum.= _Syn._ PLATINUM FULMINANS, L. _Prep._ By acting
on binoxide of platinum with pure ammonia. It is analogous to the gold and
silver ammonio-compound.
=Fulminating Powder.= _Syn._ DETONATING POWDER; PULVIS FULMINANS, L.
_Prep._ 1. Nitre, 3 parts; carbonate of potash (dry), 2 parts; flowers of
sulphur, 1 part; reduce them separately to fine powder, before mixing
them. A little of this compound (20 to 30 gr.), slowly heated on a shovel
over the fire, first fuses and becomes brown, and then explodes with a
deafening report.
2. Sulphur, 1 part; chlorate of potassa, 3 parts. When triturated, with
strong pressure, in a marble or wedgwood-ware mortar, it produces a series
of loud reports. It also fulminates by percussion.
3. Chlorate of potassa, 6 parts; pure lampblack, 4 parts; sulphur, 1 part.
A little placed on an anvil detonates with a loud report, when struck with
a hammer. No. 1 is the substance commonly known as 'FULMINATING POWDER,'
See BLASTING POWDER.
=Fulminating Sil'ver.= _Syn._ ARGENTUM FULMINANS, L. Two very distinct
compounds are known by this name, the one containing oxide of silver and
ammonia, and the other being a true fulminate of silver.
_Prep._ 1. (AMMONIA-COMPOUND OF SILVER, BERTHOLLET'S FULMINATING
SILVER.)--_a._ Digest oxide of silver (recently precipitated and dried by
pressure between bibulous paper) in concentrated liquor of ammonia, for 12
or 15 hours, pour off the liquid, and cautiously dry the black powder in
the air, in divided portions. The decanted ammoniacal liquor, when gently
heated, yields, on cooling, small crystals, which possess a still more
formidable power of detonation than the black powder, and will scarcely
bear touching, even whilst under the liquid.
_b._ Dissolve chloride of silver in strong liquor of ammonia, cautiously
add pure potassa (in fragments), and when effervescence ceases, decant the
fluid portion, and wash and dry the powder, as before.
2. (FULMINATE OF SILVER, BRUGNATELLI'S FULMINATING SILVER; ARGENTI
FULMINAS, L.)--_a._ Pour alcohol, 1 oz., on nitrate of silver (in fine
powder), 100 gr., previously placed in a capacious flask or beaker glass,
and shortly afterwards add strong nitric acid, 1 oz.; as soon as all the
powdered nitrate assumes the form of white clouds, add cold distilled
water, q. s. to suspend the ebullition, and next collect the powder on a
filter, and otherwise proceed as with the ammonia-compound (_above_).
_b._ (Fownes.) Metallic silver, 40 to 50 gr.; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·37),
3/4 fl. oz.; dissolve by the aid of a gentle heat, add, whilst the
solution is still hot, alcohol, 2 fl. oz., and again apply heat until
reaction commences; the fulminate slowly separates from the hot liquid
under the form of small, brilliant, white, crystalline plates, which,
after being slightly washed with a little cold distilled water, are to be
distributed upon separate pieces of filtering paper, in portions not
exceeding 1 or 2 gr. each, and left to dry in the air. When dry, the
papers are to be folded up, and carefully preserved in a box or bottle. A
sixpence and the strongest commercial nitric acid and rectified spirit
answer for the above purpose.
_c._ (Liebig.) Grain silver, 1 part; nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·36 to 1·38),
10 parts; dissolve at a gentle heat, and add the solution to alcohol of
85%, 23 parts; apply a gentle heat till the liquid begins to boil, then
remove it from the fire and set it aside to cool; the fulminate of silver
is deposited in lustrous, snow-white, acicular crystals, and when washed
and dried, equals in weight that of the silver employed.
_Prop., &c._ The properties of both compounds are very similar. Those of
the true FULMINATE OF SILVER (No. 2) need only be considered here. This
dissolves in 36 parts of boiling water, but the solution deposits the
greater portion of the fulminate as it cools. It is one of the most
dangerous substances for which we are indebted to modern chemistry. It
explodes with unparalleled violence by friction or percussion, or when
strongly heated, or when touched with strong sulphuric acid; the metal is
reduced, and a large volume of gaseous matter suddenly liberated. Strange
to say, though its explosive tendency is so great that it can be hardly
made, handled or kept, with safety, it may, when very cautiously mixed
with oxide of copper, be burned in a tube to determine its composition, in
a similar manner to that employed in the analysis of other organic
substances. Many frightful accidents have happened from the spontaneous
explosion of this substance. 1 or 2 gr. are the most that can be exploded
with safety in a building or confined space.
=Fulminating Zinc.= _Syn._ FULMINATE OF ZINC; ZINCUM FULMINANS, ZINCI
FULMINAS, L. _Prep._ From fulminate of silver, zinc filings, and a little
water, digested together, as FULMINATING COPPER.
=FULMINA'TION.= _Syn._ FULMINATIO, L. Detonation. A sudden explosion,
accompanied with a loud report and extreme violence. Some chemists,
without sufficient reason, have endeavoured to confine the application of
the term to the explosion of a fulminate.
=FUMIGA'TION.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO, SUFFUMIGATIO, L. Fumigations
(FUMIGATIONES) are vapours of gases extemporaneously extricated for the
purpose of destroying contagious or noxious miasmata or effluvia, or to
mask unpleasant odours, or to produce a medicinal action on those parts of
the body with which they are brought in contact.
Fumigations, for the purpose of obviating or masking unpleasant odours in
the sick chamber, must never be employed to the neglect of cleanliness and
ventilation; for most of them, instead of purifying the air, actually
render it less fit for respiration. The common practice of burning scented
paper, pastilles, sugar, juniper berries, benzoin, cascarilla, &c., so as
to create an odoriferous smoke, is of this character. As disinfecting
agents, they are probably useless, and are relics of an ancient custom of
burning frankincense and other odorous substances in vitiated air, to
overcome the fetor which is more or less present. The fumes thus diffused
through the atmosphere "disguise unpleasant odours; but they accomplish
nothing more. The infection remains not only unaltered by the diffusion of
the most powerful aromatic vapours, but its deleterious properties are
sometimes augmented by them."[320]
[Footnote 320: We deem it right to remark that a different opinion
respecting the disinfecting power of odoriferous smoke is now held by many
scientific men. According to this opinion, the minute particles of
aromatic substances do really destroy or render inert the noxious
miasmata.]
Among the various substances used as DISINFECTING FUMIGATIONS, chlorine,
by almost general consent, holds the first place. Dr Carmichael Smyth
recommended nitrous acid, which is even now preferred by Dr Christison to
chlorine; whilst Prof. Graham regarded the fumes of burning sulphur as
more efficacious than either of these substances. The vapours of
hydrochloric acid and of vinegar, and the smoke of gunpowder, which once
had their advocates, have now justly sunk into disfavour.
No apartment should be submitted to fumigation until it is vacated; as
until then its thorough disinfection is impossible, and but little benefit
or immunity from contagion is conferred by any aërial disinfecting agent,
the presence of which fails to cause discomfort to the patient.
Of all common diseases, scarlet fever appears to be the one most requiring
fumigation. For this purpose, chlorine gas or heat should be employed. The
infectious matters of certain diseases, especially scarlet fever, are
either dissipated or destroyed at a heat slightly above that of boiling
water. (Dr Henry.) Contagious diseases are very commonly propagated in
this metropolis by persons having their linen washed by laundresses who
perform their operations in the same sinks of dirt and misery in which
they live. See CIGARS (in _pharmacy_), DISINFECTANT, INHALATION, &c., and
_below_.
=Fumigation, Ace'tic.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ACETICA, L. The fumes of strong
vinegar or acetic acid, obtained by heating the liquid over a lamp, or by
sprinkling it on a hot shovel. Aromatic vinegar in this way yields very
refreshing fumes, and was formerly thought more efficacious than simple
acetic acid.
=Fumigation, An'odyne.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ANODYNA, L. _Prep._ (Trousseau &
Reveil.) Stramonium and sage, equal parts, sufficient to fill a small
pipe. Smoked in spasmodic asthma, irritating coughs, &c.
=Fumigation, Aromat'ic.= See BALSAMIC FUMIGATION.
=Fumigation, Balsam'ic.= _Syn._ AROMATIC FUMIGATION; FUMIGATIO AROMATICA,
F. BALSAMICA, L. _Prep._ 1. From gum benzoin, either alone or mixed with
olibanum or styrax, thrown on hot cinders or a heated shovel.
2. (Dr Dohrn.) Gum olibanum, 4 parts; gum benzoin, styrax, and flowers of
roses and lavender, of each 1 part; to be reduced to powder, and used as
before.
3. Amber, mastic, and olibanum, of each 3 oz.; benzoin and styrax, of each
1 oz.; camphor, 1 dr. As last. The above are used in hooping-cough,
asthma, &c.; a small quantity only being employed at a time.
=Fumigation, Belladon'na.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO BELLADONNÆ, L. _Prep._ (M.
Schroeder.) From dried belladonna leaves, 1 to 2 dr.; as before. In
spitting of blood, asthma, tickling cough, &c.
=Fumigation, Chlorine.= _Syn._ DISINFECTING FUMIGATION, GUYTON-MORVEAU'S
F.; FUMIGATIO CHLORINII, L. _Prep._ 1. (P. Cod.) Common salt, 3 parts;
water and sulphuric acid, of each 2 parts; black oxide of manganese 1
part; mix in a shallow vessel, placed in the centre of the apartment. This
is used to disinfect unoccupied rooms.
2. Hydrochloric acid and powdered black oxide of manganese mixed in
proportions so as to make a thin paste. Used as directed under 1.
3. Chloride of lime, either sprinkled on the floor (if uncarpeted) or (if
carpeted) placed about the room in shallow dishes. Used for inhabited
rooms, and on shipboard, &c.
4. A solution of chloride of lime (1 oz. of the chloride to each quart of
water). Used as the last but more freely.
_Obs._ Chlorine fumigations, although so popular, and so much relied on by
many medical practitioners, are apparently useless in preventing the
progress of certain contagious diseases. "In Moscow, chlorine was
extensively tried and found unavailing, nay, even injurious, in cholera."
(Dr Pereira.) "At the time that the cholera hospital was filled with
clouds of chlorine, then it was that the greatest number of the attendants
were attacked." (Dr Albers.) At the Smallpox Hospital, where chlorine was
tried, with the view of arresting the progress of erysipelas, "all
offensive smell was removed, but the power of communicating the disease
remained behind." ('Lond. Med. Gaz.') Notwithstanding these marked
failures, the confidence of many eminent members of the profession
continues unabated. "As a fumigating agent, disinfectant and antiseptic,
chlorine, I believe, stands unrivalled." "For destroying miasmata, noxious
effluvia, and putrid odours, it is the most powerful agent known." (Dr
Pereira.) Our own experience leads us to the conclusion that chlorine is
more useful in neutralising the contagious or morbific matter of fevers
(especially of scarlet fevers) and putrid diseases generally, than of the
other diseases in which it has been employed.
=Fumigation, Hydrochlo''ric.= _Syn._ MURIATIC FUMIGATION; FUMIGATIO
MURIATICA, F. ACIDI HYDROCHLORICI, L. _Prep._ From common salt placed in a
cup or saucer, and an equal weight of sulphuric acid poured over it. Now
seldom used. It rapidly neutralises ammoniacal fumes.
=Fumigation, I'odine.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO IODINII, L. _Prep._ 1. From
iodine, 5 to 25 gr., or more, according to extent of surface, placed on a
heated iron contained in a box or case in which the limb is enclosed. In
the usual skin diseases in which the use of iodine is indicated. Iodine
may be readily diffused through the atmosphere by placing a small quantity
on a hot plate. Duroy says iodine powerfully arrests putrefaction.
2. (Compound; FUMIGATIO IODINII COMPOSITA--Sellers.) Iodine, 20 gr.; red
sulphide of mercury, 40 gr.; sulphur, 6 dr.; mix, and divide into 12
powders. One to be used, as the last, 3 times daily; in lepra, psoriasis,
&c.
=Fumigation, Mercu''rial.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO MERCURIALIS, L. _Prep._
(Bouchardat.) Olibanum (in powder), 2 parts; red sulphide of mercury, 3
parts. A little is sprinkled on red-hot coals or a heated shovel held
beneath the part; or the fumes are inhaled. _Obs._ Abernethy used the
black oxide of mercury (1-1/2 to 2 dr.), and applied it to the whole body,
excepting the head, in a similar way to the sulphur bath, and continued
the application for about a quarter of an hour. See CANDLES, (Mercurial),
and No. 2 (_above_).
=Fumigation, Mu'riatic.= See HYDROCHLORIC F. (_above_).
=Fumigation, Ni'trous.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO NITROSA. _Prep._ (P. Cod.)
Sulphuric acid, diluted with half its weight of water, is placed in a
porcelain cup (any shallow vessel of glass or earthenware will do), placed
over heated cinders, and small quantities of powdered nitre added to it
from time to time.
_Obs._ Heat causes the gas to be evolved more rapidly, and thus renders
the fumes more offensive, without increasing their efficacy. Equal weights
of oil of vitriol and water are the proportions usually employed, 1/4 oz.
of nitre is said to be sufficient for a small room. (Dr Bateman.) The
vessel containing the ingredients should be placed in an elevated position
in the centre of the apartment.
Dr Carmichael Smith, who introduced nitrous acid gas as a fumigation
(1799), received a reward of £5000 from Parliament for publishing his
formula.
=Fumigation, Sulphu'rous.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO SULPHUROSA, F. SULPHURIS, L.
_Prep._ 1. The gas produced by burning sulphur, sulphurous anhydride, or,
as Mr Keates has suggested, by burning bisulphide of carbon.
To guard against the danger arising from fire, when sulphur is burnt for
the purposes of fumigation, the operator is advised to proceed as
follows:--Having closed the fireplace, windows, &c., of the apartment to
be disinfected, procure a common pail or a large earthenware pan, and
place it in the centre of the room; then into the middle of the pail or
pan put upside down an ordinary flower-pot. Then pour water into the pail
or pan (as the case may be) until it nearly reaches to the top of the
inverted flower-pot. Now stand on the flower-pot a plate or saucer of
earthenware or common crockery, sufficiently large to hold the quantity of
sulphur required; place this quantity of sulphur in the plate or saucer,
and put on it a few live coals; then close the door of the apartment, and
leave it undisturbed for six or eight hours. At the expiration of this
time the door may be opened, as well as the windows, the barricade being
at the same time removed from the fireplace; a thorough draught of air
being thus established, the sulphurous smell will soon disappear. During
the fumigation all articles within the room should be spread out so as to
expose as great a surface as possible. "The cubic space to be thus
disinfected should be calculated by multiplying the length, height, and
breadth together, and taking an ounce and a half of sulphur for every 100
cubic feet. For a small bedroom one pound of sulphur would be sufficient.
Indeed, eighteen ounces would suffice for a room measuring 12 ft. × 10 ft.
× 10 ft."[321]
[Footnote 321: 'Water, Air, and Disinfectants,' by Noel Hartley.]
2. Flowers of sulphur, 7 parts; nitre, 4 parts; benzoin and olibanum, of
each 2 parts; camphor, 1 part; pressed into the bowls of tobacco-pipes,
and lighted with a quick-match. See BATH and DISINFECTANT.
=Fumigation, Tar.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO PICEA, SUFFUMIGATIO PICIS LIQUIDÆ, L.
_Prep._ 1. Vegetable tar, 1 part; water, 7 or 8 parts; mix, and let it
simmer in an open vessel set over a spirit lamp placed near the centre of
the apartment.
2. (Sir A. Crichton.) Norway tar, 1 lb.; powdered carbonate of potash, 1/2
oz. or 1 oz.; mix, and heat it as last. The potash is added to neutralise
any volatile acid. Formerly highly thought of in bronchitis and pulmonary
consumption.
=Fumigation, Tooth'ache.= _Syn._ FUMIGATIO ODONTALGICA, F.
ANTI-NEURALGICA, L. _Prep._ 1. From henbane seeds, powdered and thrown
into a basin of boiling water, and the affected part held in the steam.
Sometimes a little of the seed is placed on a heated iron spoon, and the
part exposed to the fumes.
2. (Beasley.) A popular remedy is to throw henbane seed on hot cinders,
inverting a cup over them to receive the smoke and empyreumatic oil
produced. The cup is then filled with hot water, and the steam conveyed to
the affected side of the mouth.
=FU''MING LIQUORS.= See AMMONIUM SULPHYDRATE, ARSENIC TRICHLORIDE, TIN
BICHLORIDE, &c.
=FUNG'I.= In _botany_, a natural order of cellular plants, producing their
fructification in the air; growing in or upon decaying or living organic
substances, and nourished through their vegetative structure called the
spawn or mycelium. Fungi have very variable properties. Some are medical,
others edible, others are deadly poisons. The various diseases of plants
known as blight, mildew, rust, smut, vine-mildew, potato-disease, ergot,
&c., are either caused by or accelerated by the agency of fungi. See
AGARIC, MUSHROOM, &c.
=FUR'NACE.= An enclosed fireplace for obtaining a high degree of heat.
Furnaces vary much in construction and size, according to the particular
manufacture in which they are employed. They may be broadly divided into
two classes--WIND-FURNACES and BLAST FURNACES. In the former a high
temperature is produced without the aid of bellows by means of a powerful
draught. In the latter heated air is blown in through a pipe or pipes at
the bottom. For many metallurgic and large chemical operations
REVERBERATORY FURNACES are employed. A furnace of this kind is usually
long, with a low roof to keep down the flame and hot air upon the 'hearth'
or space between the fireplace and the flue.[322] For the smaller
operations in chemistry, a variety of furnaces have been invented, and the
introduction of coal-gas as a fuel by Develle, Griffin, Gore, Fletcher,
and others, has wrought a complete change in the arrangements of the
laboratory. The GAS-FURNACES of Mr J. J. Griffin are adapted for almost
every operation performed by the aid of heat. Those more recently
introduced by Mr W. Gore are very compact and portable, and will rapidly
produce a 'white heat,' without the help of bellows or high chimney, by
means of ordinary coal-gas and atmospheric air. The first and smallest
size consumes 33 cubic feet of gas (value seven farthings) per hour, and
is suitable for assayers, jewellers, analytical chemists,
experimentalists, dentists, and others. It is capable of fusing eight
ounces of copper or six ounces of cast iron, copper begins to melt in it
in about twelve minutes from the time of lighting. The second-sized one
consumes about twice that quantity of gas, is suitable for manufacturing
jewellers generally, and for a great variety of practical persons who
require to melt small quantities of gold, silver, copper, german silver,
brass, cast iron, glass, and other substances, or require a small crucible
heated to high temperatures. It is capable of melting 45 ounces of copper,
or 40 ounces of cast iron, and with its heat up it melts one pound of
copper in eight minutes; copper begins to melt in about twenty minutes
from the time of lighting.
[Footnote 322: For an illustration of this kind of furnace, see SODIUM,
Carbonate of.]
Fletcher's[323] UNIVERSAL FURNACES for high temperatures, which are said
to require neither blast nor attention, are intended for laboratory
purposes, enamel burning, heating soldering irons, and for jewellers' and
dentists' work. These furnaces are made in two distinct types; one with a
perforated cover to the crucibles and muffles to attain the maximum heat;
the other with a slide chimney and a double lid over the crucible.
[Footnote 323: Manufactured by Thos. Fletcher, Museum Street, Warrington.]
The power and rapidity of working depend in each case on the length of the
chimney used. A furnace with a four-feet chimney will melt a crucible of
cast-iron in thirty-five minutes; a furnace with an eight-feet chimney
will melt the same quantity of iron in about twenty minutes, starting with
the furnace cold. The stove with the side chimney, although more
convenient in use, is slower in working, taking about twice as long to
obtain the same temperature.