(a) Forgeries of debentures.
(b) Forgeries of documents relating to the registering of deeds, &c.
(c) Forgeries of instruments purporting to be made by the accountant
general and other officers of the court of chancery, &c.
(d) Drawing bill of exchange, &c., on account of another, per
procuration or otherwise, without authority.
(e) Obtaining property by means of a forged instrument, knowing it to
be forged, or by probate obtained on a forged will, false oath, &c.
3. Forgeries punishable with seven years' penal servitude:--Forgeries
of seals of courts, of the process of courts, of certificates, and of
documents to be used in evidence, &c.
By the Merchandise Marks Acts 1887 and 1891, forgery of trade marks is
an offence punishable on conviction by indictment with imprisonment not
exceeding two years or to fine, or both, and on conviction by summary
proceedings with imprisonment not exceeding four months or with a fine.
The Forged Transfers Act 1891, made retrospective by the Forged
Transfers Act 1892, enables companies and local authorities to make
compensation by a cash payment out of their funds for any loss arising
from a transfer of their stocks, shares or securities through a forged
transfer.
_United States._--Forgery is made a crime by statute in most if not all
the states, in addition to being a common law cheat. These statutes have
much enlarged the common definition of this crime. It is also made a
crime by a Federal statute (U.S. Rev. Stat., ch. 5), which includes
forgery of national banknotes, letters patent, public bid, record,
signature of a judge, land warrants, powers of attorney, ships' papers
or custom-house documents, certificates of naturalization, &c.; the
punishment is by fine or by imprisonment from one to fifteen years with
or without hard labour.
In Illinois, fraudulently connecting together different parts of several
banknotes or other genuine instruments so as to produce one additional
note or instrument with intent to pass all as genuine, is a forgery of
each of them (Rev. Stats. 1901, ch. 38, S 108). The alleged instrument
must be apparently capable of defrauding (_Goodman_ v. _People_ [1907],
228, Ill. 154).
In Massachusetts, forgery of any note, certificate or bill of credit
issued by the state treasurer and receiver general, or by any other
officer, for a debt of that commonwealth, or a bank bill of any bank, is
punishable by imprisonment for life or any term of years (Rev. Laws
1902, ch. 209, SS 4 and 5).
In New York, forgery includes the false making, counterfeiting,
alteration, erasure or obliteration of a genuine instrument (Penal Code,
S 520). An officer or agent of a corporation who with intent to defraud
sells, pledges or issues a fraudulent scrip, share certificate, is
guilty of forgery in third degree. Falsely making any instrument which
purports to be issued by a corporation bearing a pretended signature of
a person falsely indicated as an officer of the company, is forgery just
as if such person were in truth such officer (id. S 519). Counterfeiting
railroad tickets is forgery in the third degree. Falsely certifying that
the execution of a deed has been acknowledged is forgery (id. S 511). So
also is the forging a fictitious name (_People_ v. _Browne_ [1907], 103
N.Y. suppl. 903). Punishment for forgery in the first degree may be
twenty years, in the second degree ten years, in the third degree five
years.
In Pennsylvania, fraudulently making, signing, altering, uttering or
publishing any written instrument other than bank bills, cheques or
drafts, was punishable by fine and imprisonment "by separate or
solitary confinement at labour for a term not exceeding ten years" (L.
1860, March 31); forging bank bills, &c., for a term not exceeding five
years. Defacing, removing, or counterfeiting brands from lumber floating
in any river is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two
years or a fine (L. 1887, May 23). Fraudulently using the registered
mark of another on lumber is punishable by fine or imprisonment by
solitary confinement for a term not exceeding three years (id.).
In Tennessee, forgery may be committed by typewriting the body of and
signature to an instrument which may be the subject of forgery (1906;
_State_ v. _Bradley_, 116 Tenn. 711).
In Vermont, the act of 1904, p. 135, no. 115, S 24, authorizes licensees
to sell intoxicating liquors only on the written prescription of a
legally qualified physician stating that it "is given and necessary for
medicinal use." It was held that a prescription containing no such
statement was invalid and the alteration thereof was not forgery (1906;
_State_ v. _McManus_, 78 St. 433).
AUTHORITIES.--Pollock and Maitland, _History of English Law_; Stephen,
_Digest of Criminal Law_; _History of Criminal Law_; L.O. Pike,
_History of Crime in England_, 1873-1876; Russell, _On Crimes_;
Archbold, _Criminal Pleadings_.
FORGET-ME-NOT, or SCORPION-GRASS (Ger. _Vergissmeinnicht_, Fr.
_gremillet_, _scorpionne_), the name popularly applied to the small
annual or perennial herbs forming the genus _Myosotis_ of the natural
order _Boraginaceae_, so called from the Greek [Greek: mys], a mouse,
and [Greek: ous], an ear, on account of the shape of the leaves. The
genus is represented in Europe, north Asia, North America and Australia,
and is characterized by oblong or linear stem-leaves, flowers in
terminal scorpioid cymes, small blue, pink or white flowers, a
five-cleft persistent calyx, a salver- or funnel-shaped corolla, having
its mouth closed by five short scales and hard, smooth, shining nutlets.
The common or true forget-me-not, _M. palustris_, is a perennial plant
growing to a height of 6 to 18 in., with rootstock creeping, stem
clothed with lax spreading hairs, leaves light green, and somewhat
shining, buds pink, becoming blue as they expand, and corolla rotate,
broad, with retuse lobes and bright blue with a yellow centre. The
divisions of the calyx extend only about one-third the length of the
corolla, whereas in the other British species of _Myosotis_ it is deeply
cleft. The forget-me-not, a favourite with poets, and the symbol of
constancy, is a frequent ornament of brooks, rivers and ditches, and,
according to an old German tradition, received its name from the last
words of a knight who was drowned in the attempt to procure the flower
for his lady. It attains its greatest perfection under cultivation, and,
as it flowers throughout the summer, is used with good effect for garden
borders; a variety, _M. strigulosa_, is more hairy and erect, and its
flowers are smaller. In _M. versicolor_ the flowers are yellow when
first open and change generally to a dull blue; sometimes they are
permanently yellowish-white. Of the species in cultivation, _M.
dissitiflora_, 6 to 8 in., with large handsome abundant sky-blue
flowers, is the best and earliest, flowering from February onwards; it
does well in light cool soils, preferring peaty ones, and should be
renewed annually from seeds or cuttings. _M. rupicola_, or _M.
alpestris_, 2 to 3 in., intense blue, is a fine rock plant, preferring
shady situations and gritty soil; _M. azorica_ (a native of the Azores)
with purple, ultimately blue flowers about half an inch across, has a
similar habit but larger flowers; _M. sylvatica_, 1 ft., blue, pink or
white, used for spring bedding, should be sown annually in August.
FORGING, the craft of the smith, or "blacksmith," exercised on malleable
iron and steel, in the production of works of constructive utility and
of ornament. It differs from founding (q.v.) in the fact that the metal
is never melted. It is essentially a moulding process, the iron or steel
being worked at a full red, or white, heat when it is in a plastic and
more or less pasty condition. Consequently the tools used are in the
main counterparts of the shapes desired, and they mould by impact. All
the operations of forging may be reduced to a few very simple ones: (1)
Reducing or drawing down from a larger to a smaller section ("fullering"
and "swaging"); (2) enlargement of a smaller to a larger portion
("upsetting"); (3) bending, or turning round to any angle of curvature;
(4) uniting one piece of metal to another ("welding"); (5) the formation
of holes by punching; and (6) severance, or cutting off. These include
all the operations that are done at the anvil. In none of these
processes, the last excepted, is the use of a sharp cutting tool
involved, and therefore there is no violence done to the fibre of the
malleable metal. Nor have the tools of the smith any sharp edges, except
the cutting-off tools or "setts." The essential fact of the flow of the
metal, which is viscous when at a full red heat, must never be lost
sight of; and in forging wrought iron the judgment of the smith must be
exercised in arranging the direction of the fibre in a way best
calculated to secure maximum strength.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
Fullering and swaging.
Fullering denotes the preliminary roughing-down of the material
between tools having convex edges; swaging, the completion or
finishing process between swages, or dies of definite shape, nearly
hemispherical in form. When a bar has to be reduced from larger to
smaller dimensions, it is laid upon a fuller or round-faced stake, set
in the anvil, or, in some cases, on a flat face (fig. 1), and blows
are dealt upon that portion of the face which lies exactly opposite
with a fullering tool A, grasped by a rather loosely-fitting handle
and struck on its head by a sledge. The position of the piece of work
is quickly changed at brief intervals in order to bring successive
portions under the action of the swages until the reduction is
completed; the upper face, and if a bottom fuller is used the under
face also, is thus left corrugated slightly. These corrugations are
then removed either by a flatter, if the surfaces are plane (fig. 2),
or by hollow swages, if the cross section is circular (fig. 3). Spring
swages (fig. 4) are frequently used instead of separate "top and
bottom tools." Frequently swaging is practised at once, without the
preliminary detail of fullering. It is adopted when the amount of
reduction is slight, and also when a steam hammer or other type of
power hammer is available. This process of drawing down or fullering
is, when practicable, adopted in preference to either upsetting or
welding, because it is open to no objection, and involves no risk of
damage to the material, while it improves the metal by consolidating
its fibres. But its limitations in anvil work lie in the tediousness
of the operation, when the part to be reduced is very much less in
diameter, and very much longer, than the original piece of bar. Then
there are other alternatives.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
Upsetting.
If a long bar is required to have an enlargement at any portion of its
length, not very much larger in diameter than the bar, nor of great
length, upsetting is the method adopted. The part to be enlarged is
heated, the parts adjacent remaining cold, and an end is hammered, or
else lifted and dropped heavily on the anvil or on an iron plate, with
the result that the heated portion becomes both shortened and enlarged
(figs. 5 and 6). This process is only suitable for relatively short
lengths, and has the disadvantage that the fibres of wrought iron are
liable to open, and so cause weakening of the upset portion. But
steel, which has no direction of fibre, can be upset without injury;
this method is therefore commonly adopted in steel work, in power
presses to an equal extent with drawing down. The alternative to
upsetting is generally to weld a larger to a smaller bar or section,
or to encircle the bar with a ring and weld the two (fig. 7), and then
to impart any shape desired to the ring in swages.
Bending.
Bending is effected either by the hammer or by the simple exercise of
leverage, the heated bar being pulled round a fulcrum. It is always,
when practicable, preferable to cutting out a curved or angular shape
with a hot sett or to welding. The continuity of the fibre in iron is
preserved by bending, and the risk of an imperfect weld is avoided.
Hence it is a simple and safe process which is constantly being
performed at the anvil. An objection to sharp bends, or those having a
small radius, is that the fibres become extended on the outer radius,
the cross section being at the same time reduced below that of the bar
itself. This is met by imparting a preliminary amount of upsetting to
the part to be bent, sufficient to counteract the amount of reduction
due to extension of the fibres. A familiar example is seen in the
corners of dip cranks.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
Welding.
The property possessed by pieces of iron or steel of uniting
autogeneously while in a condition of semi-fusion is very valuable.
When portions which differ greatly in dimensions have to be united,
welding is the only method practicable at the anvil. It is also
generally the best to adopt when union has to be made between pieces
at right angles, or when a piece on which much work has to be done is
required at the end of a long plain bar, as in the tension rods of
cranes and other structures with eyes. The art of welding depends
chiefly on having perfectly clean joint faces, free from scale, so
that metal can unite to metal; union would be prevented by the
presence of oxide or of dirt. Also it is essential to have a
temperature sufficiently high, yet not such as to overheat the metal.
A dazzling white, at which small particles of metal begin to drop off,
is suitable for iron, but steel must not be made so hot. A very few
hammer blows suffice to effect the actual union; if the joint be
faulty, no amount of subsequent hammering will weld it. The forms of
weld-joints include the scarf (figs. 8 and 9), the butt (fig. 10), the
V (fig. 11) and the glut, one form of which is shown in fig. 12; the
illustrations are of bars prepared for welding. These forms give the
smith a suitable choice for different conditions. A convexity is
imparted to the joint faces in order to favour the expulsion of slag
and dirt during the closing of the joint; these undesirable matters
become entangled between concave faces. The ends are upset or enlarged
in order to leave enough metal to be dressed down flush, by swaging or
by flattering. The proportional lengths of the joint faces shown are
those which conform to good practice. The fluxes used for welding are
numerous. Sand alone is generally dusted on wrought iron, but steel
requires borax applied on the joint while in the fire, and also dusted
on the joint at the anvil and on the face of the latter itself.
Electric welding is largely taking the place of the hand process, but
machines are required to maintain the parts in contact during the
passage of the current. Butt joints are employed, and a large quantity
of power is absorbed, but the output is immensely greater than that of
hand-made welds.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
Punching.
When holes are not very large they are formed by punching, but large
holes are preferably produced by bending a rod round and welding it,
so forming an eye (fig. 13). Small holes are often punched simply as a
preliminary stage in the formation of a larger hole by a process of
drifting. A piece of work to be punched is supported either on the
anvil or on a ring of metal termed a bolster, laid on the anvil,
through which the burr, when severed, falls. But in making small holes
through a thick mass, no burr is produced, the metal yielding sideways
and forming an enlargement or boss. Examples occur in the wrought iron
stanchions that carry light hand railing. In such cases the hole has
to be punched from each face, meeting in the centre. Punching under
power hammers is done similarly, but occupies less time.
Cutting-off.
The cutting-off or severance of material is done either on hot or cold
metal. In the first case the chisels used, "hot setts," have keener
cutting angles than those employed for the second, termed "cold
setts." One sett is held in a hole in the anvil face, the "anvil
chisel," the other is handled and struck with a sledge.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.]
The difference between iron and steel at the forge is that iron
possesses a very marked fibre whereas steel does not. Many forgings
therefore must be made differently according as they are in iron or in
steel. In the first the fibre must never be allowed to run transversely
to the axis of greatest tensile or bending stress, but must be in line
therewith. For this reason many forgings, of which a common eye or loop
(fig. 13) is a typical example, that would be stamped from a solid piece
if made in steel, must be bent round from bar and welded if in wrought
iron. Further, welding which is practically uniformly trustworthy in
wrought iron, is distrusted in steel. The difference is due to the very
fibrous character of iron, the welding of which gives much less anxiety
to the smith than that of steel. Welds in iron are frequently made
without any flux, those in steel never. Though mention has only been
made of iron and steel, other alloys are forged, as those of aluminium,
delta metal, &c. But the essential operations are alike, the differences
being in temperature at which the forging is done and nature of the
fluxes used for welding. For hardening and tempering, an important
section of smith's work, see ANNEALING.
_Die Forging._--The smith operating by hand uses the above methods only.
There is, however, a large and increasing volume of forgings produced in
other ways, and comprehended under the general terms, "die forging" or
"drop forging."
Little proof is needed to show that the various operations done at the
anvil might be performed in a more expeditious way by the aid of
power-operated appliances; for the elementary processes of reducing, and
enlarging, bending, punching, &c., are extremely simple, and the most
elaborate forged work involves only a repetition of these. The fact that
the material used is entirely plastic when raised to a white heat is
most favourable to the method of forging in matrices or dies. A white
hot mass of metal can be placed in a matrix, and stamped into shape in a
few blows under a hammer with as much ease as a medal can be stamped in
steel dies under a coining press. But much detail is involved in the
translation of the principle into practice. The parallel between coining
dies and forging dies does not go far. The blank for the coin is
prepared to such exact dimensions that no surplus material is left over
by the striking of the coin, which is struck while cold. But the blank
used in die forging is generally a shapeless piece, taken without any
preliminary preparation, a mere lump, a piece of bar or rod, which may
be square or round irrespective of whether the ultimate forging is to be
square, or round, or flat or a combination of forms. At the verge of the
welding heat to which it is raised, and under the intensity of the
impact of hammer blows rained rapidly on the upper die, the metal yields
like lead, and flows and fills the dies.
Herein lies a difference between striking a coin and moulding a forging.
A large amount of metal is squeezed out beyond the concavity of the
forging dies, and this would, if allowed to flow over between the
joints, prevent the dies from being closed on the forging. There are two
methods adopted for removing this "fin," or "flash" as it is termed, one
being that of suppression, applicable to circular work, the other that
of stripping, applied to almost all other cases.
The suppression of fin means that the circular bar is rotated in the
dies (fig. 14) through a small arc, alternating between every few
blows, with the result that the fin is obliterated immediately when
formed, this being done at the same time that reduction of section is
being effected over a portion or the whole of the bar.
Stripping means that when a considerable amount of fin has been
formed, it is removed by laying the forging on a die pierced right
through with an opening of the same shape and area as the forging, and
then dealing the forging a blow with the hammer. The forging is thus
knocked through the die, leaving the severed or stripped fin behind.
The forging is then returned to the dies and again treated, and the
stripping may be repeated twice, or even oftener, before the forging
can be completed.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.]
Figs. 15 and 16 illustrate the bottom dies of a set for forging in a
particular form of eye, the top dies being of exactly the same shape.
The first operation takes place in fig. 15, in which a bar of metal is
reduced to a globular and cylindrical form, being constantly rotated
meanwhile. The shank portion is then drawn down in the parallel recess
to the left. The shape of the eye is completed in fig. 16, and the
shank in the recess to the left of that. Fig. 17 shows how a lever is
stamped between top and bottom dies. The hole in the larger boss is
formed by punching, the punches nearly meeting in the centre, and the
centre for the hole to be drilled subsequently in the smaller boss is
located by a conical projection in the top die.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.]
It is evident that the methods of die forging, though only explained
here in barest outline, constitute a principle of extensive
application.
An intricate or ornamental forging, which might occupy a smith a
quarter of a day in making at the anvil, can often be produced in dies
within five minutes (fig. 18). On the other hand, there is the cost of
the preparation of the dies, which is often heavy, so that the
question of method is resolved into the relative one of the cost of
dies, distributed over the number of identical forgings required. From
this point of view it is clear that given say a thousand forgings,
ordered all alike, the cost of even expensive dies distributed over
the whole becomes only an infinitesimal amount per forging.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.]
There is, further, the very important fact that forgings which are
produced in dies are uniform and generally of more exact dimensions
than anvil-made articles. This is seen to be an advantage when
forgings have to be turned or otherwise tooled in the engineer's
machine shop, since it lessens the amount of work required there.
Besides, for many purposes such forgings do not require tooling at
all, or only superficial grinding, while anvil-made ones would, in
consequence of their slight inaccuracies.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.]
Yet again, die forging is a very elastic system, and herein lies much
of its value. Though it reaches its highest development when thousands
of similar pieces are wanted, it is also adaptable to a hundred, or
even to a dozen, similar forgings. In such cases economy is secured by
using dies of a very cheap character; or, by employing such dies as
supplementary to anvil work for effecting neat finish to more precise
dimensions than can be ensured at the anvil. In the first case use is
made of dies of cast iron moulded from patterns (fig. 19) instead of
having their matrices laboriously cut in steel with drills, chisels
and milling tools. In the second, preliminary drawing down is done
under the steam hammer, and bending and welding at the anvil, or under
the steam hammer, until the forgings are brought approximately to
their final shape and dimensions. Then they are reheated and inserted
in the dies, when a few blows under the steam or drop hammer suffice
to impart a neat and accurate finish.
The limitations of die forging are chiefly those due to large
dimensions. The system is most successful for the smallest forgings
and dies which can be handled by one man without the assistance of
cranes; and massive forgings are not required in such large numbers as
are those of small dimensions. But there are many large articles
manufactured which do not strictly come under the term forgings, in
which the aid of dies actuated by powerful hydraulic presses is
utilized. These include work that is bent, drawn and shaped from steel
plate, of which the fittings of railway wagons constitute by far the
largest proportion. The dies used for some of these are massive, and a
single squeeze from the ram of the hydraulic press employed bends the
steel plate between the dies to shape at once. Fairly massive forgings
are also produced in these presses.
Die forging in its highest developments invades the craft of the
skilled smith. In shops where it is adopted entirely, the only
craftsmen required are the few who have general charge of the shops.
The men who attend to the machines are not smiths, but unskilled
helpers. (J. G. H.)
FORK (Lat. _furca_), an implement formed of two or more prongs at the
end of a shaft or handle, the most familiar type of which is the
table-fork for use in eating. In agriculture and horticulture the fork
is used for pitching hay, and other green crops, manure, &c.; commonly
this has two prongs, "tines"; for digging, breaking up surface soil,
preparing for hand weeding and for planting the three-pronged fork is
used. The word is also applied to many objects which are characterized
by branching ends, as the tuning-fork, with two branching metal prongs,
which on being struck vibrates and gives a musical note, used to give a
standard of pitch; to the branching into two streams of a river, or the
junction where a tributary runs into the main river; and in the human
body, to that part where the legs branch off from the trunk.
The _furca_, two pieces of wood fastened together in the form of the
letter [Lambda], was used by the Romans as an instrument of punishment.
It was placed over the shoulders of the criminal, and his hands were
fastened to it, condemned slaves were compelled to carry it about with
them, and those sentenced to be flogged would be tied to it;
crucifixions were sometimes carried out on a similar shaped instrument.
From the great defeat of the Romans by the Samnites at the battle of the
Caudine Forks (_Furculae Caudinae_), a narrow gorge, where the
vanquished were compelled to pass under the yoke (_jugum_), as a sign of
submission, the expression "to pass through or under the forks" has been
loosely used of such a disgraceful surrender. The "forks" in any
allusion to this defeat should refer to the topographical name and not
to the _jugum_, which consisted of two upright spears with a third
placed transversely as a cross-bar.
FORKEL, JOHANN NIKOLAUS (1749-1818), German musician, was born on the
22nd of February 1749 at Meeder in Coburg. He was the son of a cobbler,
and as a practical musician, especially as a pianoforte player, achieved
some eminence; but his claims to a more abiding name rest chiefly upon
his literary skill and deep research as an historian of musical science
and literature. He was an enthusiastic admirer of J.S. Bach, whose music
he did much to popularize. His library, which was accumulated with care
and discrimination at a time when rare books were cheap, forms a
valuable portion of the royal library in Berlin and also of the library
of the Koniglicher Institut fur Kirchenmusik. He was organist to the
university church of Gottingen, obtained the degree of doctor of
philosophy, and in 1778 became musical director of the university. He
died at Gottingen on the 20th of March 1818. The following is a list of
his principal works: _Uber die Theorie der Musik_ (Gottingen, 1777);
_Musikalisch kritische Bibliothek_ (Gotha, 1778); _Allgemeine Geschichte
der Musik_ (Leipzig, 1788). The last is his most important work. He also
wrote a _Dictionary of Musical Literature_, which is full of valuable
material. To his musical compositions, which are numerous, little
interest is to-day to be attached. But it is worth noting that he wrote
variations on the English national anthem "God save the king" for the
clavichord, and that Abt Vogler wrote a sharp criticism on them, which
appeared at Frankfort in 1793 together with a set of variations as he
conceived they ought to be written.
FORLI (anc. _Forum Livii_), a town and episcopal see of Emilia, Italy,
the capital of the province of Forli, 40 m. S.E. of Bologna by rail, 108
ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 15,461 (town); 43,321 (commune). Forli
is situated on the railway between Bologna and Rimini. It is connected
by steam tramways with Ravenna and Meldola, and by a road through the
Apennines with Pontassieve. The church of S. Mercuriale stands in the
principal square, and contains, besides paintings, some good carved and
inlaid choir stalls by Alessandro dei Bigni. The facade has been
considerably altered, but the campanile, erected in 1178-1180, still
exists; it is 252 ft. in height, square and built of brickwork, and is
one of the finest of Lombard campanili. The pictures in this church are
the work of Marco Palmezzano (1456-1537) and others; S. Biagio and the
municipal picture gallery also contain works by him. The latter has
other interesting pictures, including a fresco representing an
apprentice with pestle and mortar (Pestapepe), the only authentic work
in Forli of Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494), an eminent master whose style
was formed under the influence of Piero della Francesca, and who was the
master of Palmezzano; the frescoes in the Sforza chapel in SS. Biagio e
Girolamo are from the former's designs, though executed by the latter.
The church also contains the fine tomb (1466) of Barbara Manfredi. The
cathedral (Santa Croce) has been almost entirely rebuilt since 1844. The
Palazzo del Podesta, now a private house, is a brick building of the
15th century. The citadel (Rocca Ravaldina), constructed about
1360-1370, and later rebuilt, is now used as a prison. Flavio Biondo,
the first Renaissance writer on the topography of ancient Rome
(1388-1463), was a native of Forli.
Of the ancient Forum Livii, which lay on the Via Aemilia, hardly
anything is known. In the 12th century we find Forli in league with
Ravenna, and in the 13th the imperial count of the province of Romagna
resided there. In 1275 Forli defeated Bologna with great loss. Martin
IV. sent an army to besiege it in 1282, which was driven out after
severe fighting in the streets; but the town soon afterwards
surrendered. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was under the government
of the Ordelaffi; and in 1500 was taken by Caesar Borgia, despite a
determined resistance by Caterina Sforza, widow of Girolamo Riario.
Forli finally became a part of the papal state in 1504. (T. As.)
FORLIMPOPOLI (anc. _Forum Popillii_), a village of Emilia, Italy, in the
province of Forli, from which it is 5 m. S.E. by rail, 105 ft. above
sea-level. Pop. (1901) 2299 (town); 5795 (commune). The ancient Forum
Popillii, a station on the Via Aemilia, was destroyed by Grimuald in
672. Whether its site is occupied by the present town is not certain;
the former should perhaps be sought a mile or so farther to the S.E.,
where were found most of the inscriptions of which the place of
discovery is certain. Forlimpopoli was again destroyed by Cardinal
Albornoz in 1360, and rebuilt by Sinibaldo Ordelaffi, who constructed
the well-preserved medieval castle (1380), rectangular with four
circular towers at the corners. (T. As.)
FORLORN HOPE (through Dutch _verloren hoop_, from Ger. _verlorene Haufe_
= "lost troop"; _Haufe_, "heap," being equivalent in the 17th century to
"body of troops"; the French equivalent is _enfants perdus_), a
military term (sometimes shortened to "forlorn"), used in the 16th and
17th centuries for a body of troops thrown out in front of the line of
battle to engage the hostile line, somewhat after the fashion of
skirmishers, though they were always solid closed bodies. These troops
ran great risks, because they were often trapped between the two lines
of battle as the latter closed upon one another, and fired upon or
ridden down by their friends; further, their mission was to facilitate
the attacks of their own main body by striking the first blow against or
meeting the first shock of the fresh and unshaken enemy. In the
following century (18th), when lines of masses were no longer employed,
a thin line of skirmishers alone preceded the three-deep line of battle,
but the term "forlorn hope" continued to be used for picked bodies of
men entrusted with dangerous tasks, and in particular for the storming
party at the assault of a fortress. In this last sense "forlorn hope" is
often used at the present time. The misunderstanding of the word "hope"
has led to various applications of "forlorn hope," such as to an
enterprise offering little chance of success, or, further still from the
original meaning, to the faint or desperate hope of such success.
FORM (Lat. _forma_), in general, the external shape, appearance,
configuration of an object, in contradistinction to the matter of which
it is composed; thus a speech may contain excellent arguments,--the
_matter_ may be good, while the style, grammar, arrangement,--the
_form_--is bad. The term, with its adjective "formal" and the derived
nouns "formality" and "formalism," is hence contemptuously used for that
which is superficial, unessential, hypocritical: chap. xxiii. of
Matthew's gospel is a classical instance of the distinction between the
formalism of the Pharisaic code and genuine religion. With this may be
compared the popular phrases "good form" and "bad form" applied to
behaviour in society: so "format" (from the French) is technically used
of the shape and size, e.g. of a book (octavo, quarto, &c.) or of a
cigarette. The word "form" is also applied to certain definite objects:
in printing a body of type secured in a chase for printing at one
impression ("form" or "forme"); a bench without a back, such as is used
in schools (perhaps to be compared with O. Fr. _s'asseoir en forme_, to
sit in a row); a mould or shape on or in which an object is
manufactured; the lair or nest of a hare. From its use in the sense of
regulated order comes the application of the term to a class in a school
("sixth form," "fifth form," &c.); this sense has been explained without
sufficient ground as due to the idea of all children in the same class
sitting on a single form (bench).
The word has been used technically in philosophy with various shades of
meaning. Thus it is used to translate the Platonic [Greek: idea],
[Greek: eidos], the permanent reality which makes a thing what it is, in
contrast with the particulars which are finite and subject to change.
Whether Plato understood these forms as actually existent apart from all
the particular examples, or as being of the nature of immutable physical
laws, is matter of discussion. For practical purposes Aristotle was the
first to distinguish between matter ([Greek: hyle]) and form ([Greek:
eidos]). To Aristotle matter is the undifferentiated primal element: it
is rather that from which things develop ([Greek: hypokeimenon], [Greek:
dynamis]) than a thing in itself ([Greek: energeia]). The development of
particular things from this germinal matter consists in differentiation,
the acquiring of particular _forms_ of which the knowable universe
consists (cf. CAUSATION for the Aristotelian "formal cause"). The
perfection of the form of a thing is its entelechy ([Greek:
entelecheia]) in virtue of which it attains its fullest realization of
function (_De anima_, ii. 2, [Greek: he men hyle dynamis to de eidos
entelecheia]). Thus the entelechy of the body is the soul. The origin of
the differentiation process is to be sought in a "prime mover" ([Greek:
proton kinoun]), i.e. pure form entirely separate ([Greek: choriston])
from all matter, eternal, unchangeable, operating not by its own
activity but by the impulse which its own absolute existence excites in
matter ([Greek: hos eromenon], [Greek: ou kinoumenon]). The Aristotelian
conception of form was nominally, though perhaps in most cases
unintelligently, adopted by the Scholastics, to whom, however, its
origin in the observation of the physical universe was an entirely
foreign idea. The most remarkable adaptation is probably that of
Aquinas, who distinguished the spiritual world with its "subsistent
forms" (_formae separatae_) from the material with its "inherent forms"
which exist only in combination with matter. Bacon, returning to the
physical standpoint, maintained that all true research must be devoted
to the discovery of the real nature or essence of things. His induction
searches for the true "form" of light, heat and so forth, analysing the
external "form" given in perception into simpler "forms" and their
"differences." Thus he would collect all possible instances of hot
things, and discover that which is present in all, excluding all those
qualities which belong accidentally to one or more of the examples
investigated: the "form" of heat is the residuum common to all. Kant
transferred the term from the objective to the subjective sphere. All
perception is necessarily conditioned by pure "forms of sensibility,"
i.e. space and time: whatever is perceived is perceived as having
spacial and temporal relations (see SPACE AND TIME; KANT). These forms
are not obtained by abstraction from sensible data, nor are they
strictly speaking innate: they are obtained "by the very action of the
mind from the co-ordination of its sensation."
FORMALIN, or FORMALDEHYDE, CH2O or H.CHO, the first member of the series
of saturated aliphatic aldehydes. It is most readily prepared by passing
the vapour of methyl alcohol, mixed with air, over heated copper or
platinum. In order to collect the formaldehyde, the vapour is condensed
and absorbed, either in water or alcohol. It may also be obtained,
although only in small quantities, by the distillation of calcium
formate. At ordinary temperatures formaldehyde is a gas possessing a
pungent smell; it is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant, a 40%
solution of the aldehyde in water or methyl alcohol, sold as _formalin_,
being employed as a deodorant, fungicide and preservative. It is not
possible to obtain the aldehyde in a pure condition, since it readily
polymerizes. It is a strong reducing agent; it combines with ammonia to
form _hexamethylene tetramine_, (CH2)6N4, and easily "condenses" in the
presence of many bases to produce compounds which apparently belong to
the sugars (q.v.). It renders glue or gelatin insoluble in water, and is
used in the coal-tar colour industry in the manufacture of
para-rosaniline, pyronines and rosamines. Several polymers have been
described. _Para-formaldehyde_, or trioxymethylene, obtained by
concentrating solutions of formaldehyde _in vacuo_, is a white
crystalline solid, which sublimes at about 100 deg. C. and melts at a
somewhat higher temperature, changing back into the original form. It is
insoluble in cold water, alcohol and ether. A diformaldehyde is supposed
to separate as white flakes when the vapour is passed into chloroform
(Korber, _Pharm. Zeit._, 1904, xlix. p. 609); F. Auerbach and H.
Barschall (_Chem. Zentr._, 1907, ii. p. 1734) obtained three polymers by
acting with concentrated sulphuric acid on solutions of formaldehyde,
and a fourth by heating one of the forms so obtained. The strength of
solutions of formaldehyde may be ascertained by the addition of excess
of standard ammonia to the aldehyde solution (hexamethylene tetramine
being formed), the excess of ammonia being then estimated by titration
with standard acid. On the formation of formaldehyde by the oxidation of
methane at high temperatures, see W.A. Bone (_Journ. Chem. Soc._, 1902,
81, p. 535; 1903, 83, p. 1074). Formaldehyde also appears to be a
reduction product of carbon dioxide (see _Annual Reports of the Chemical
Society_).
FORMAN, ANDREW (c. 1465-1521), Scottish ecclesiastic, was educated at
the university of St Andrews and entered the service of King James IV.
about 1489. He soon earned the favour of this king, who treated him with
great generosity and who on several occasions sent him on important
embassies to the English, the French and the papal courts. In 1501 he
became bishop of Moray and in July 1513 Louis XII. of France secured his
appointment as archbishop of Bourges, while pope Julius II. promised to
make him a cardinal. In 1514 during a long absence from his own land
Forman was nominated by Pope Leo X. to the vacant archbishopric of St
Andrews and was made papal legate in Scotland, but it was some time
before he secured possession of the see owing to the attempts of Henry
VIII. to subject Scotland to England and to the efforts of his rivals,
Gavin Douglas, the poet, and John Hepburn, prior of St Andrews, and
their supporters. Eventually, however, he resigned some of his many
benefices, the holding of which had made him unpopular, and through the
good offices of the regent, John Stewart, duke of Albany, obtained the
coveted archbishopric and the primacy of Scotland. Afterwards he was one
of the vice-regents of the kingdom and he died on the 11th of March
1521. As archbishop he issued a series of constitutions which are
printed in J. Robertson's _Concilia Scotiae_ (1866). Mr Andrew Lang
(_History of Scotland_, vol. i.) describes Forman as "the Wolsey of
Scotland, and a fomenter of the war which ended at Flodden."
See the biography of the archbishop which forms vol. ii. of _The
Archbishops of St Andrews_, by J. Herkless and R.K. Hannay (1909).
FORMAN, SIMON (1552-1611), English physician and astrologer, was born in
1552 at Quidham, a small village near Wilton, Wiltshire. At the age of
fourteen he became apprentice to a druggist at Salisbury, but at the end
of four years he exchanged this profession for that of a schoolmaster.
Shortly afterwards he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied
chiefly medicine and astrology. After continuing the same studies in
Holland he commenced practice as a physician in Philpot Lane, London,
but as he possessed no diploma, he on this account underwent more than
one term of imprisonment. Ultimately, however, he obtained a diploma
from Cambridge university, and established himself as a physician and
astrologer at Lambeth, where he was consulted, especially as a
physician, by many persons of rank, among others by the notorious
countess of Essex. He expired suddenly while crossing the Thames in a
boat on the 12th of September 1611.
A list of Forman's works on astrology is given in Bliss's edition of
the _Athenae Oxonienses_; many of his MS. works are contained in the
Bodleian Library, the British Museum and the Plymouth Library. _A
Brief Description of the Forman MSS. in the Public Library, Plymouth_,
was published in 1853.
FORMERET, a French architectural term for the wall-rib carrying the web
or filling-in of a vault (q.v.).
FORMEY, JOHANN HEINRICH SAMUEL (1711-1797), Franco-German author, was
born of French parentage at Berlin on the 31st of May 1711. He was
educated for the ministry, and at the age of twenty became pastor of the
French church at Brandenburg. Having in 1736 accepted the invitation of
a congregation in Berlin, he was in the following year chosen professor
of rhetoric in the French college of that city and in 1739 professor of
philosophy. On the organization of the academy of Berlin in 1744 he was
named a member, and in 1748 became its perpetual secretary. He died at
Berlin on the 7th of March 1797. His principal works are _La Belle
Wolfienne_ (1741-1750, 6 vols.), a kind of novel written with the view
of enforcing the precepts of the Wolfian philosophy; _Bibliotheque
critique, ou memoires pour servir a l'histoire litteraire ancienne et
moderne_ (1746); _Le Philosophe chretien_ (1750); _L'Emile chretien_
(1764), intended as an answer to the _Emile_ of Rousseau; and _Souvenirs
d'un citoyen_ (Berlin, 1789). He also published an immense number of
contemporary memoirs in the transactions of the Berlin Academy.
FORMIA (anc. _Formiae_, called Mola di Gaeta until recent times), a town
of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, from which it is 48 m.
W.N.W. by rail. Pop. (1901) 5514 (town); 8452 (commune). It is situated
at the N.W. extremity of the Bay of Gaeta, and commands beautiful views.
It lay on the ancient Via Appia, and was much frequented as a resort by
wealthy Romans. There was considerable imperial property here and along
the coast as far as Sperlonga, and there are numerous remains of ancient
villas along the coast and on the slopes above it. The so-called villa
of Cicero contains two well-preserved _nymphaea_ with Doric
architecture. Its site is now occupied by the villa Caposele, once a
summer residence of the kings of Naples. There are many other modern
villas, and the sheltered hillsides (for the mountains rise abruptly
behind the town) are covered with lemon, orange and pomegranate gardens.
The now deserted promontory of the Monte Scauri to the E. is also
covered with remains of ancient villas; the hill is crowned by a large
tomb, known as Torre Giano. To the E. at Scauri is a large villa with
substructions in "Cyclopean" work. The ancient Formiae was, according to
the legend, the home of the Laestrygones, and later a Spartan colony
([Greek: Hormiaidia to euormon], Strabo v. 3. 6, p. 233). It was a
Volscian town, and, like Fundi, received the _civitas sine suffragio_
from Rome in 338 (or 332 B.C.) because the passage through its territory
had always been secure. This was strategically important for the Romans,
as the military road definitely constructed by Appius Claudius in 312
B.C., still easily traceable by its remains, and in part followed by the
high-road, traversed a narrow pass, which could easily be blocked,
between Fundi and Formiae. In 188 B.C., with Fundi, it received the full
citizenship, and, like it, was to a certain extent under the control of
a _praefectus_ sent from Rome, though it retained its three aediles.
Mamurra was a native of Formia. Cicero possessed a favourite villa here,
and was murdered in its vicinity in 43 B.C., but neither the villa nor
the tomb can be identified with any certainty. It was devastated by
Sextus Pompeius, and became a colony, with _duoviri_ as chief
magistrates, under Hadrian. Portus Caietae (the modern Gaeta) was
dependent upon it.
See T. Ashby, "Dessins inedits de Carlo Labruzzi," in _Melanges de
l'ecole francaise de Rome_ (1903), 410 seq. (T. As.)
FORMIC ACID, H2CO2 or H.COOH, the first member of the series of
aliphatic monobasic acids of the general formula CnH_(2n)O2. It is
distinguished from the other members of the series by certain
characteristic properties; for example, it shows an aldehydic character
in reducing silver salts to metallic silver, and it does not form an
acid chloride or an acid anhydride. Its nitrile (prussic acid) has an
acid character, a property not possessed by the nitriles of the other
members of the series; and, by the abstraction of the elements of water
from the acid, carbon monoxide is produced, a reaction which finds no
parallel in the higher members of the series. Finally, formic acid is,
as shown by the determination of its affinity constant, a much stronger
acid than the other acids of the series. It occurs naturally in red ants
(Lat. _formica_), in stinging nettles, in some mineral waters, in animal
secretions and in muscle. It may be prepared artificially by the
oxidation of methyl alcohol and of formaldehyde; by the rapid heating of
oxalic acid (J. Gay-Lussac, _Ann. chim. phys._, 1831 [2] 46, p. 218),
but best by heating oxalic acid with glycerin, at a temperature of
100-110 deg. C. (M. Berthelot, _Ann._, 1856, 98, p. 139). In this
reaction a glycerol ester is formed as an intermediate product, and
undergoes decomposition by the water which is also produced at the same
time.
C3H5(OH)3 + H2C2O4 = C3H5(OH)2.OCHO+CO2 + H2O
C3H5(OH)2O.CHO + H2O = C3H5(OH)3 + H2CO2.
Many other synthetical processes for the production of the acid or its
salts are known. Hydrolysis of hydrocyanic acid by means of
hydrochloric acid yields formic acid. Chloroform boiled with alcoholic
potash forms potassium formate (J. Dumas, _Berzelius Jahresberichte_,
vol. 15, p. 371), a somewhat similar decomposition being shown by
chloral and aqueous potash (J. v. Liebig, _Ann._, 1832, 1, p. 198).
Formates are also produced by the action of moist carbon monoxide on
soda lime at 190-220 deg. C. (V. Merz and J. Tibicira, _Ber._, 1880,
13, p. 23; A. Geuther, _Ann._, 1880, 202, p. 317), or by the action of
moist carbon dioxide on potassium (H. Kolbe and R. Schmitt, _Ann._,
1861, 119, p. 251). H. Moissan (_Comptes rend._, 1902, 134, p. 261)
prepared potassium formate by passing a current of carbon monoxide or
carbon dioxide over heated potassium hydride,
KH + CO2 = KHCO2 and KH + 2CO = KHCO2 + C.
A concentrated acid may be obtained from the diluted acid either by
neutralization with soda, the sodium salt thus obtained being then
dried and heated with the equivalent quantity of anhydrous oxalic acid
(Lorin, _Bull. soc. chim._, 37, p. 104), or the lead or copper salt
may be decomposed by dry sulphuretted hydrogen at 130 deg. C. L.
Maquenne (_Bull. soc. chim._, 1888, 50, p. 662) distils the commercial
acid, _in vacuo_, with concentrated sulphuric acid below 75 deg. C.
Formic acid is a colourless, sharp-smelling liquid, which crystallizes
at 0 deg. C., melts at 8.6 deg. C. and boils at 100.8 deg. C. Its
specific gravity is 1.22 (20 deg./4 deg.). It is miscible in all
proportions with water, alcohol and ether. When heated with zinc dust,
the acid decomposes into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The sodium and
potassium salts, when heated to 400 deg. C., give oxalates and
carbonates of the alkali metals, but the magnesium, calcium and
barium salts yield carbonates only. The free acid, when heated with
concentrated sulphuric acid, is decomposed into water and pure carbon
monoxide; when heated with nitric acid, it is oxidized first to oxalic
acid and finally to carbon dioxide. The salts of the acid are known as
_formates_, and are mostly soluble in water, those of silver and lead
being the least soluble. They crystallize well and are readily
decomposed. Concentrated sulphuric acid converts them into sulphates,
with simultaneous liberation of carbon monoxide. The calcium salt,
when heated with the calcium salts of higher homologues, gives
aldehydes. The silver and mercury salts, when heated, yield the metal,
with liberation of carbon dioxide and formation of free formic acid;
and the ammonium salt, when distilled, gives some formamide, HCONH2.
The esters of the acid may be obtained by distilling a mixture of the
sodium or potassium salts and the corresponding alcohol with
hydrochloric or sulphuric acids.
_Formamide_, HCONH2, is obtained by heating ethyl formate with
ammonia; by heating ammonium formate with urea to 140 deg. C.,