240 



KOSS FOULAIIS. 



li:, with his Thyesies, in which lie endeavoured to 

 preserve the simplicity and strictness of Alfieri and 

 the Greeks. ( >n account of the applause which this 

 piece received, he wrote a severe criticism on it him- 

 self. At the time of the overthrow of the ancient 

 arUu>cracy of Venice, and the establishment of a 

 democracy, Foscoio showed himself an ardent advo- 

 cate of the new principles. But his prospects of 

 advancement in the new republic were cut oft' by the 

 cession of Yen ice to Austria. To divert his mind, he 

 wrote a romance, remarkable for vehemence of passion 

 and feeling, under the title Ultime Lettere di Jacopo 

 Ortis (Milan, 1802). An imitation of VV erter is observ- 

 ;il>le iii this work, but it is the political matter inter- 

 woven in it, and a sort of melancholy patriotism about 

 the work, which made it so generally attractive to 

 the Italians. The style is excellent. Foscoio then 

 went to Milan, where his friend general Pino pro- 

 cured him a military commission. In 1803, he 

 wrote a satire on some learned men, under the form 

 of a commentary on the Hair of Berenice, a poem of 

 Callimachus, translated by Catullus. When some 

 of the French troops were returning to France, Fos- 

 coio took this opportunity to go to Paris. After his 

 return, 1807, he published the small poem Dei 

 Sepolcri, in which he handled the Milanese severely. 

 The critics justly found fault with his verse, as rough 

 and unmusical, and he determined therefore to try 

 another path. He undertook an edition of the 

 works of Montecuculi,from the original manuscripts. 

 This important undertaking was not accomplished 

 entirely to the satisfaction of competent judges, who 

 accused him of ignorance of the fundamental princi- 

 ples of the art of war, and of too great freedom in 

 supplying defective passages in the manuscripts. 

 When Monti, of whom he had been a friend and 

 defender, was on the point of publishing a transla- 

 tion of the Iliad, Foscoio produced a translation of 

 the first book, accompanied with remarks evidently 

 directed against Monti. This produced a coolness 

 between the two friends ; and Foscoio was thought 

 to have written his two tragedies Ricciarda and 

 Ajace with the same view. But the government, 

 who found other feelings in these pieces, ordered 

 him to leave Milan. To save appearances, his 

 friend Pino sent him, with a pretended commission, 

 to Mantua. Here lie lived until the abdication of 

 Napoleon. He advocated, with great warmth, the 

 independence of Italy. When Murat began the war, 

 he became so obnoxious to the Austrians, that he 

 found it necessary to leave Italy. He retired to 

 Switzerland, then to Russia. In 1815, he went to 

 London, where his reputation secured him a favour- 

 able reception from the most distinguished literati of 

 the country. He took part in the contest about the 

 digamma, and contributed many articles to the 

 English periodicals, among which were two on 

 Dante, in the twenty-ninth and thirtieth volumes of 

 the Edinburgh Review. The forty-eighth number 

 of the Quarterly Review contains a critique on his 

 Ricciarda. His Essays on Petrarch (London, 1821), 

 and his Discorso sul Testo di Dante (1826), are valu- 

 able criticisms. He left dissertations and notes on 

 the Divina Commedia, which have since been pub- 

 lished. He died, Sept. 10, 1827, in the neighbour- 

 hood of London. 



FOSS (from the Latin fossa), in fortification ; a 

 hollow place, commonly full of water, lying between 

 the scarp and counterscarp, below the rampart, 

 and turning round a fortified place, or a post that is 

 to be defended. 



FOSS WAY ; one of the four principal highways 

 of England, that anciently led through the kingdom, 

 supposed to l)o made by the Romans, having a ditch 

 upon one side. 



FOSSIL. See Organic Remains. 



FOTIIERGILL, JOHN, an eminent physician, was 

 born at Cam-end, in Yorkshire, in 1712, where his 

 father, who was a Quaker, resided upon a family 

 estate. He studied physic at Edinburgh, took his 

 degree of M. D. in 1736, and then went to London, 

 ana entered as a pupil in St Thomas's hospital. In 

 1740, he made a tour to the continent, and, on his 

 return, devoted himself to his profession. In 

 1748, he greatly distinguished himself by a publi- 

 cation entitled an Account of the Sore Throat 

 attended with Ulcers, which passed through several 

 editions, and was translated into French. He also 

 supplied a monthly account of the weather and 

 diseases of London, to the Gentleman's Magazine, 

 which is considered the parent of all statements of 

 the kind. For thirty years he was at the head of 

 his profession in London. In 1762, he purchased ail 

 estate at Upton, in Essex, and formed an excellent 

 botanic garden with hothouses and green-houses to 

 the extent of 260 feet. He acquired a large fortune, 

 of which he made a most liberal use. On his own 

 society he conferred great benefits, projecting and 

 carrying into effect the institution of a large public 

 school tor Quakers at Ackworth, in Yorkshire. He 

 was also the associate of Mr Howard, in his attempt 

 to alleviate the condition of poor prisoners. Dr 

 Fothergill was likewise zealous for the political inte- 

 rests of the country, and interfered to prevent that 

 fatal breach with the American colonies which pro- 

 duced their final separation from the parent country. 

 He was also a warm friend to the abolition of slavery. 

 He died in 1780, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. 

 His works were published, with memoirs of his life, 

 by doctor Lettsom, in 3 vols., 8vo, (1784). 



POTHERING; a peculiar method of endeavour- 

 ing to stop a leak in the bottom of a ship, while she 

 is afloat, either at sea or at anchor, which is per- 

 formed by fastening a sail at the four corners, letting 

 it down under the ship's bottom, and then putting a 

 quantity of chopped rope-yarn, oakum, wool, cotton, 

 &c., between it and the ship's side. By repeating 

 the latter part of this operation several times, the 

 leak generally sucks in a portion of the loose stuff, 

 and thereby becomes partly and sometimes wholly 

 stopped. Some persons prefer thrumming the sail, 

 instead of letting down the loose stuff; but in this 

 mode the sail is soon chafed through by the hole, if 

 the leak is considerable, without affording sufficient 

 substance to stop it. 



FOU; a Chinese ending of geographical names, 

 signifying cities of the first class. 



FOUL; a sea phrase that is used in distinction 

 from clear, and implies entangled, embarrassed. 

 Hence foul anchor, when the cable is twisted round 

 the stock and flukes ; foul bottom, when a bay is 

 covered with weeds, grass, shells, filth, and rocks. 



Foul hawse means that the cables are turned round 

 each other, by the ship having swung the wrong way 

 when moored. 



Foul rope ; a rope entangled, and unfit for imme- 

 diate use. 



Foul water is water troubled and rendered turbid 

 by the ship's bottom rubbing on the ground. 



Foul wind is used to express that the wind is 

 unfavourable, or contrary to the ship's course, as 

 opposed to large or fair. 



FOULAHS, or, as it is sometimes written, FOO- 

 LAHS; a numerous nation in central Africa. They 

 call themselves Fellan and Foulan. The negroes 

 call them Fellatahs. They extend from the Atlantic 

 to the confines of Darfour, and speak everywhere the 

 same language. In an interesting communication 

 from Mr Hodgson to Mr Puponceau, dated Algiers, 

 June 1, 1829, it is said, " Of all the nations of Central 



