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for their dissolution. Mares have been known to void great quantities of small stones, like pebbles.

Strangles rarely attack horses after completing their sixth year. This curious complaint has been compared to various diseases incident to the human frame, however not with perfect propriety. It usually begins with a fever, a cough, a running at the nose, and a swelling of the sub-maxillary glands. If unheeded, those glands will suppurate, rendering the cure very tedious, and in some degree dangerous. Repel, if possible, by copious bleedings, opening the body, exciting perspiration, and by gentle diuretics. Give the following, night and morning nitre six drachms, cream of tartar six drachms, emetic tartar a drachm and a half, warm gruel one quart. Often great advantage is derived from blistering the throat, and from rowels in the chest. Strangles are supposed to be infectious but we believe that point has never been fully ascertained. It may, however, be prudent to obviate any hazard of contagion.

Swelled legs usually proceed from weakness, and are very frequent after long indispositions, during which horses could not be duly exercised. Bleed freely, if the horse be in good condition, and lower his diet; use gentle exercise, and rub the part with flannel, or a soft brush: put on a stocking at night dipt in spirits of turpentine, with a little goulard mixed. As the parts diminish gradually apply elastic rollers but take care not to impede the circulation. Give very mild purges and diuretics, observing to keep the body gently open. If the complaint proceeds from debility, feed well, and proportion the exercise to the animal's powers: never fatigue him. But friction will on all occasions be found the safest and the most effectual remedy. The stables should be kept cool, and sweating should be particularly avoided, since it would increase the complaint. In some strong habits, rowels in the thighs may be advantageously made.

Thrush, or running-thrush, is a discharge from the sensible frog, which soon becomes deeply diseased, if the pressure, &c. which occasioned the complaint, be not removed. It chiefly takes place in narrow heels, especially where the frog has been cut away, and the heels left high. The running ought to be dried, taking care to bring the frog into action, by lowering the heels gradually, and bear ing upon it by means of a bunch of tow.

Use this wash frequently, as warm as it can be borne: tar two ounces, oil of vitriol six drachms. Gentle purges and mild diuretics will greatly aid towards a cure, if the habit be full, and the discharge considerable. Horses that have bad standing are very subject to this complaint: in fact, dirty, damp stables give birth to an infinity of diseases.

Ulcers invariably require soft dressings, and that their edges should be kept low, and free from callous or horny matter.

Dress often, and in case of a sinus be careful to have the vent downwards, so that the discharge may be free. We have not any complaint more various than this, nor one more difficult to heal. Indeed, in some instances, that should not be attempted. Cleanliness and mild treatment are indispensable. If fungous flesh should arise, or the edges become hard, touch with blue vitriol, or with lunar caustic, and make way for the flesh to granulate, and for the skin to collapse. When the habit is foul, topical applica tions alone will not answer; alteratives must be given, and the diet be such as may check the acrimony. When the wound cicatrizes, apply a little lard very gently to soften the skin; and if the flies are troublesome, mix a very small quantity of tobacco in the lard.

Warbles, from under the saddle, in consequence of unequal pressure. Perfect rest is the best remedy; but a solution of sugar of lead in vinegar will greatly promote dispersion. If the warbles become firm, (i. e. sit-fasts) blister them, or, if necessary, let them be carefully extirpated by the knife.

Wind-galls must be removed by firm pressure on a bolster, that immediately sets upon the swelling: when subdued, the part should be fired, to prevent recurrence of the complaint. The sweating blister, made by steeping Spanish flies in vinegar, often has a fine effect, as will any preparation that causes speedy evapora tion; but the compress is what we chiefly advise: for unless the parts be brought together by pressure, the object will rarely be attained.

Worms frequently cause extreme indisposition before their existence is even suspected: many horses have, indeed, died in consequence. It is proper there. fore to state, that when a horse rubs his tail, and that a yellow matter appears at times about the anus, worms may be suspected; especially if he eats heartily, yet has a staring coat, and does not thrive; or that he stands with his hind

legs straddling, has slight attacks of gripes, and frequently turns his head towards his belly, which commonly appears large and low. Bots may often be found among the dung; these are very tenacious of life, and resist most of our strong vermifuges. Common salt is one of the most powerful remedies; but subjects the horse to considerable inquietude. The root of the male fern, levigated and given fresh, is highly extolled, as is soot also. But we believe that strong doses of calomel and gamboge will be found the most efficient, provided they be persevered in so as to scour for a number of days, or even perhaps a fortnight, in succession; but this must greatly depend on the condition and constitution of the horse. The teretes, or long round worms, are commonly white, about ten inches in length, and require very strong purges to dislodge them. The ascarides, which are very small worms, scarcely longer than a common needle, are not so bad as the preceding, in their effect on the intestines, but give considerable uneasiness. We recommend the continued purge, as affording the best prospect of expulsion.

Under the article Equus the reader will find what appertains more particularly to the nature of that useful animal : we shall conclude this with strongly inculcating the expediency of avoiding communication with farriers, and in advising the introduction of regular medical or surgical aid, whenever horses suffer under such indisposition, as cannot be removed by the cheap and simple recourse to good bedding, ease, moderate warmth, generous diet, suited to the case and where there appear inflammatory symptoms, to bleed to the amount of two, three, or even four quarts, substituting diluent beverage, such as warm hay or linseed-tea, or scalded bran, or malt, in lieu of more substantial food. By such attention, and by forbearance from violent or harsh measures, we have seen horses speedily recover from complaints, that, under the farrier's auspices, would have induced long disease, and a long bill. There will be found in every town some person capable of giving advice at least; and in most places some one of the profession will be found willing to take charge of a sick horse. Formerly, indeed, such a request would have appeared an affront; but in these more enlightened times, that apprehension need not be entertained indeed many eminent surgeons pride themselves

on a familiar acquaintance with veterinary subjects. Perhaps we may be right in observing, that the designation of horse doctor being banished from our country establishments, to make way for the more respectable title of doctor of horse, has not a little contributed towards the present liberality of sentiment to this useful profession.

To such readers as may be desirous of obtaining a full acquaintance with the subject, we recommend personal application to Mr. Coleman, and that they subscribe to the college fund. By such means they will derive the utmost advantage from the liberality and abilities of that gentleman, and gradually become competent to the treatment of the most ordinary class of accidents and distempers. Mr. Coleman's work will also be found a cheap and highly useful member of the library.

FASCIE, in astronomy, certain parts on Jupiter's body resembling belts or swathes. They are more lucid than the rest of that planet, and are terminated by parallel lines, sometimes broader and sometimes narrower. M. Huygens ob

served a facia in Mars much broader than those of Jupiter, and possessing the middle part of his disk, but very ob

scure.

small wood of about a foot diameter, and FASCINES, in fortification, faggots, of six feet long, bound in the middle and at both ends. They are used in raising batteries, making chandeliers, in filling up the moat to facilitate the passage to the wall, in binding the ramparts where the earth is bad, and in making parapets of trenches to screen the men.

FASCIOLA, in natural history, gourdworm, a genus of the Vermes Intestina class and order. Body flattish, with an aperture or pore at the head, and generally another at a distance beneath, seldom a single one. About fifty species have been described. They are divided into different sections, viz. those infesting mammalia, birds, reptiles, fish, and worms; among the first is F. hepatica, fluke or gourd-worm; which is found in the liver of sheep, and is often vomited in brooks, and is generally found fixed by a pore at the extremity, and another in the middle of the abdomen, and occasions dropsy, and the disorder which is called the rot. The body of this animal is about an inch long, broader on the fore-part, and terminated by a tube; the back marked with

about eight longitudinal furrows, in two series.

FAT, an oleaginous or butyraceous matter, secreted from the blood, and filling up the cavity of the adipose cells. See ANATOMY.

FATA morgana, a very remarkable aerial phenomenon, which is sometimes observed from the harbour of Messina and adjacent places, at a certain height in the atmosphere. The name, which signifies the fairy morgana, is derived from an opinion of the superstitious Sicilians, that the whole spectacle is produced by fairies, or such-like visionary invisible beings. The populace are delighted whenever it appears, and run about the streets shouting for joy, calling every body out to partake of the glorious sight. This singular meteor has been described by various authors; but the first who mentioned it with any degree of precision was father Angelucci, whose account is thus quoted by Mr. Swinburne in his tour through Sicily: "On the 15th of August, 1643, as I stood at my window, I was surprised with a most wonderful delectable vision; the sea that washes the Sicilian shore swelled up, and became for ten miles in length like a chain of dark mountains; while the waters near our Calabrian coast grew quite smooth, and in an instant appeared as one clear polished mirror reclining against the ridge. On this glass was depicted, in chiaro-scuro, a string of several thousand of pilasters, all equal in altitude, distance, and degree of light and shade. In a moment they lost half their height, and bent into arcades, like Roman aqueducts. A long cornice was next formed on the top, and above it rose castles innumerable, all perfectly alike. These soon split into towers, which were shortly after lost in colonnades, then windows, and at last ended in pines cypresses, and other trees, even and similar. This is the fata morgana, which for twenty-six years I have thought a mere fable." To produce this pleasing deception, many circumstances must concur, which are not known to exist, at least to the same extent, in any other situation. The spectator must stand with his back to the east, in some elevated place behind the city, that he may command a view of the whole bay; beyond which the mountains of Messina rise like a wall, and darken the back-ground of the picture. The winds must be hushed, the surface quite smooth, and the tide

at its height. All these events coinciding, as soon as the sun surmounts the eastern hills behind Reggio, and rises high enough to form an angle of fortyfive degrees on the water before the city, every object existing or moving at Reggio will be repeated a thousand-fold, as if in a looking-glass composed of facets or planes inclined to each other. Each image will pass rapidly off in succession as the day advances, and the stream appears to carry down the face upon which it appeared. Thus the parts of this moving picture will vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Sometimes the air is at the same moment so loaded with vapours, and undisturbed by winds, as to reflect objects in a kind of aerial screen, rising about thirty feet above the level of the sea. In cloudy heavy weather they are drawn on the surface of the water, bordered with fine prismatic colours.

Father Antonio Menasi published an express treatise at Rome, in 1773, entitled "Dissertazione prima sopra un fenomeno vulgaremente detto Fata Morgana," of which a short abridgment is given in Nicholson's Journal, 4to. vol. i. p. 225, with a large engraving. This author does not appear to have philosophized successfully upon the appearan ces, which are, indeed, very far from having been at all explained. The reader who may wish to consider the facts, is referred to Huygens, "De Coronis et Parhelus;" Priestley's "Optics for Atmospheric Phenomena;" Huddart, in the Phil. Trans. 1797; Vince, in the same work for 1799; and Wollaston for 1800; which three last are in the journal last quoted. The fata morgana seems to depend upon the general principles of looming, which Wollaston has very successfully displayed, together with the reflection from particles of water floating in the air. These particles doubtless assume prismatic figures by coagulation; and it is, perhaps, a mistake, to suppose them to be spherical, even at their primary condensation, in the fluid state of minute floating particles.

FATHOM, a long measure, containing six feet, chiefly used at sea for measuring the length of cables and cordage.

FEATHER, in physiology, a general name for the covering of birds; it being common to all the animals of this class to have their whole body, or at least the greatest part of it, covered with feathers or plumage.

There are two sorts of feathers found on birds, viz. the strong and hard kind, called quills, found in the wings and tail; and the other plumage, or soft feathers, serving for the defence and ornament of the whole body. All birds, so far as yet known, moult the feathers of their whole body yearly.

The feathers of birds make a considerable article of commerce, particularly those of the ostrich, heron, swan, peacock, goose, and other poultry, for plumes, ornaments of the head, filling of beds, and writing pens. There are scarcely any birds but what bed-feathers may be procured from, particularly those of the domestic kind; yet swans, geese, and ducks, are those that furnish most, and the best. Geese are plucked three times a year, towards the end of May, about Midsummer, and at the latter end of August; but chiefly when the feathers are ripe, that is, when they are perceived to fall off of themselves. The feathers of dead birds are in the least esteem, upon account of the blood imbibed by the quill, which putrefying, communicates an offensive smell to the feather, and takes some time to evaporate; for which reason live birds should not be stripped till their feathers are ripe. They are imported in this country from Poland and Germany. They are divided in white, half grey, and grey, and valued accordingly. The best feathers should be white, downy, void of large stems, fresh, and sweet. Care should be taken that no sand be intermixed, which is frequently practised to increase the weight. Ostrish feathers are dyed and dressed by the feather-dressers, to serve as ornaments, They are a very costly article, brought to us from Africa, and particularly the coast of Barbary. See Down.

FEATHER edged, among carpenters, an appellation given to planks or boards, which have one side thicker than the

other.

FEATHER, prince's, a plant, otherwise called amaranth. See AMARANTHUS.

FECES. The excrementitious matter of animals, evacuated per anum, consists of all that food which cannot be employed for purposes of nutrition, considerably altered, at least in part, and mixed or united with various bodies employed during digestion, to separate the useless part of the food from the nutritious. An accurate examination of these matters has long been wished for by physiologists, as likely to throw much new light on the process of digestion; but it must

be admitted, that our knowledge on this subject is still very imperfect. Some of the older chemists have turned their attention to the excrements of animals; (Van Helmont's Custos Errans, sect. 6; Opera Helmont, p. 247; Neumann's Works, p. 585.) but no discovery of importance rewarded them for their disagreeable lalour. Vauquelin has ascertained some curious facts respecting the excrementitious matter of fowls; and in the summer of 1806, a laborious set of experiments on human feces was published by Berzelius, undertaken, as he informs us, chiefly with a view to elucidate the function of digestion. (Gehlen's Jour. VI. 509.) About two years before, Thaer and Einhof had published a similar set of experiments on the excrements of cattle, made chiefly to discover, if possible, how they act so powerfully as manure. (Ibid III. 276.)

The human feces, according to the experiments of Berzelius, were found to contain

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consequently, there must have been formed by digestion in the fowl, no less than 137.796 grains of phosphate of lime, besides 511.911 grains of carbonate; consequently, lime (and perhaps also phosphorus) is not a simple substance, but a compound, formed of ingredients which exist in oat-seed, water and air, the only substances to which the fowl had access; silica may enter into its composition, as part of the silica had disappeared; but if so, it must be combined with a great quantity of some other substance. (Ann. de Chim. xxix. 61.)

"These consequences," as Dr. Thompson observes, whom we follow in this article, "are too important to be admitted without a very rigorous examination. The experiments must be repeated frequently, and we must be absolutely certain that the hen has no access to any calcareous earth, and that she is not diminished in weight; because, in that case, some of the calcareous earth, of which part of the body is composed, may have been employed. This rigour is the more neces

sary, as it seems pretty evident, from experiments made long ago, that some birds, at least, cannot produce eggs, unless they have access to calcareous earth. Dr. Fordyce found, that if the canary bird was not supplied with lime at the time of her laying, she frequently died, from her eggs not coming forward properly. (On Digestion.) He divided a number of these birds, at the time of their laying eggs, into two parties to the one he gave a piece of mortar, which the little animals swallowed greedily; they laid their eggs as usual, and all of them lived; whereas many of the other party, which were supplied with no lime, died.

Vauquelin also ascertained, according to Fourcroy, that pigeon's dung contained an acid of a peculiar nature, which increased when the matter is diluted with water; but gradually gives place to ammonia, which is at last exhaled in abundance. (Fourcroy, i. 70.)

FEE, in law, feudum beneficium, all land in England is in the nature of a feud or fee, and subject to the original conditions of the grant, which is supposed to come from the crown; but now that distinction is very immaterial.

FEE simple, is an estate to a man and his heirs, and is the largest estate which one can have; it descends to heirs of all kinds, and may be granted or devised at pleasure. When it is created by deed, it must be expressly stated to be to the grantee and his heirs; for an estate to A, for ever, is only good for life: in a will, however, this strictness is not required; any words which shew the intent of the tes

tator will be sufficient. In a deed, a man cannot give a fee-simple to one, and then afterwards, in case he dies without heirs, to another. In a will, words which import this are often construed only to give the first taker an estate tail. It may be forfeited for treason or felony. Upon an exchange, a fee may pass without expressing the word heir; so also on a fine or recovery. A grant to the King, or a corporation, sole for ever, necessarily gives a fee, because they never die.

FEELERS, in natural history, a name used by some for the horns of insects, but is now used in familiar language instead of the word Palpi, 2, 4, or 6 articulated processes, placed in the mouth of insects, to assist in applying the food properly to the jaws. See ENTOMOLOGY.

FEELING, one of the five external senses, by which we obtain the ideas of solid, hard, soft, rough, hot, cold, wet,

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