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FRUCTIDOR FRU11 BEARING SOCIETY. 



coldness of the air. Many fluids expand by frost, as 

 water, which expands about one-tenth part, for 

 whirh reason ice floats in water ; but others, again, 

 contract, as quicksilver, and thence frozen quick- 

 silver sinks in the fluid metal. 



Frost, being produced by contact with the atmo- 

 sphere, naturally proceeds from the external parts of 

 bodies inwards ; so, the longer a frost is continued, 

 the thicker tlie ice becomes upon the water in ponds, 

 and the deeper into the earth is the ground frozen. 

 In about sixteen or seventeen days' frost, Mr Boyle 

 found it had penetrated fourteen inches into the 

 ground. At Moscow, in a hard season, the frost will 

 penetrate two feet deep into the ground; and captain 

 James found it penetrated ten feet deep in Charlton 

 island ; and the water in the same island was frozen to 

 the depth of six feet. Schefter assures us, that, in Swe- 

 den, the frost pierces two cubits, or Swedish ells, into 

 the earth, and turns what moisture is found there into 

 n whitish substance, like ice, and penetrates stand- 

 ing water to three ells or more. The same author 

 also mentions sudden cracks or rifts in the ice of the 

 lakes of Sweden, nine or ten feet deep, and many 

 leagues long, the rupture being made with a noise 

 not less loud than if many guns were discharged to- 

 gether. By such means, however, the fishes are fur- 

 nished with air, so that they are rarely found dead. 



The natural history of frosts furnishes very extra- 

 ordinary results. The trees are often scorched and 

 burnt up, as with the most excessive heat, in conse- 

 quence of the separation of water from the air, which 

 is therefore very drying. In the great frost in 1683, 

 the trunks of oak, ash, walnut, &c., were miserably 

 split and cleft, so that they might be seen through, 

 and the cracks were often attended with dreadful 

 noises, like the explosion of fire-arms. Philosophi- 

 cal Transactions, No. 105. 



The close of the year 1708, and the beginning of 

 1709, were remarkable, throughout the greater part 

 of Europe, for a severe frost. Doctor Derham says 

 it was the greatest in degree, if not the most univer- 

 sal, in the memory of man ; extending through most 

 parts of Europe, though scarcely felt in Scotland or 

 Ireland. In very cold countries, meat may be pre- 

 served by the frost six or seven months, and proves 

 tolerably good eating. (See captain Middleton's ob- 

 servations made in Hudson's bay, in the Philosophi- 

 cal Transactions, No. 465, sect. 2.) In that climate, 

 the frost seems never out of the ground, it having 

 been found hard frozen in the two summer months. 

 Brandy and spirit, set out in the open air, freeze to 

 solid ice in three or four hours. Lakes and standing 

 waters, not above ten or twelve feet deep, are frozen 

 to the ground in winter, and all their fish perish. 

 But in rivers, where the current is strong, the ice 

 does not reach so deep, and the fish are preserved. 



Hoar frost is the dew frozen or congealed early in 

 cold mornings; chiefly in autumn. 



FRUCTIDOR, 18th (Sept. 4, 1797). On this day 

 the majority of the French directory (see Barras) 

 overthrew the opposite party, Carnot and Barthel- 

 emy. Sixty-five deputies (Pichegru, &c.) were con- 

 demned to deportation, as guilty of a conspiracy for 

 the restoration of the monarchy ; and with them 

 Barthelemy. Carnot escaped. The councils re- 

 newed their oath of hatred against royalty on this 

 occasion. See Calendar. 



FRUGONI, CARLO INNOCENZO, a celebrated and 

 prolific poet, was born at Genoa, in 1692, and was 

 obliged to renounce his patrimonial inheritance in 

 favour of his two elder brothers, and to embrace the 

 ecclesiastical profession. He entered, in 1707, the 

 congregation of the brothers of Somasquo. The 

 quickness of his genius, and the vivacity of his ima- 

 gination, enabled him to make rapid progress in the 



sciences and in belles-lettres. When, in 1716, he 

 began to .teach rhetoric at Brescia, he had already 

 attained the reputation of an elegant writer, in prose 

 and verse, both in the Latin and Italian languages. 

 He there founded an Orcadian colony, as it was 

 called, in which he bore the name of Comante Egine- 

 tico. But it was in Rome that his genius, excited 

 by the grandeur of surrounding objects, and by the 

 example of the poets assembled there, first fully de- 

 veloped itself. He followed especially Rolli and 

 Metastasio. From 1719, he instructed (first at 

 Genoa and afterwards at Bologna) the young eccle- 

 siastics of his order. In Modena, he caught the 

 small-pox, and, during his convalescence, finished 

 the Italian translation of the Rhadamiste of Crebillon. 

 By the patronage of cardinal Bentivoglio, he found 

 an honourable retreat at the court of Parma, but was 

 here obliged to tax his muse for occasional poems 

 for banquets and other occasions. At the marriage 

 of duke Antonio Farnese, Frugoni made an entire 

 collection of his poems. At the same time, he wrote 

 the Memoirs of the House of Farnese. They ap- 

 peared in 1729 ; and the title of royal historian was 

 his recompense. The duke Antonio died. For eight 

 months, his wife was thought pregnant. Frugoni 

 celebrated the fulfilment of the general wishes by a 

 series of twenty-five beautiful sonnets, but his predic- 

 tion was not accomplished. He could win no favour 

 at the new court, and therefore returned to Genoa. 

 His monastic vows now became burdensome to 

 him, and, after much solicitation, he was freed 

 from them by Benedict XIV. His great canzone, 

 on the taking of Oran by the Spanish troops under 

 the command of count Montemar, and other poems 

 which he addressed at the same time to Philip V. and 

 the queen of Spain, met with great success. He was 

 recalled to the court of Parma. The war which had 

 broken out in Italy between Spain and Austria, fur- 

 nished him with the subject of many excellent poems, 

 but often placed him in difficult situations. He had 

 recourse to his talent for burlesque and satiric poetry. 

 He composed a number of poems of this kind, among 

 others the tenth canto of that singular poem, Ber- 

 toldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno, upon which twenty 

 poets laboured. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapeile, 

 he returned again to the court of Parma. He now 

 gave himself up more freely to his inclination for 

 poetry. He enriched the Italian theatre with the 

 translation of several French operas, but he had to 

 struggle against the attacks of criticism. He thus 

 lived, until 1768, a life of continual change. Few 

 Italian poets have obtained so great a reputation 

 during their life, or have been equally celebrated 

 after their death. An edition of his works, in nine 

 volumes, was published at Parma in 1779, and a 

 complete edition in fifteen volumes, at Lucca. A 

 selection was published hi six volumes at Brescia in 

 1782. Frugoni's poems are sometimes bombastic, 

 but the greater part of them are rich in excellent 

 thoughts and truly beautiful images. 



FRUITBEARING SOCIETY, or ORDER OF 

 PALMS ; a society founded in 1617, at the castle of 

 Weimar, by Kaspar von Teutleben, governor of the 

 young prince John Ernest, having for its object the 

 preservation and restoration of the purity of the 

 German language, which was in danger of losing all 

 its peculiarities by the introduction of foreign words 

 and idioms. Five German princes took part in its 

 foundation ; three dukes of Weimar, and two princes 

 of Anhalt. The society numbered also Charles Gus- 

 tavus, king of Sweden, among its members. It was 

 organized in a great measure like the Italian acade- 

 mies ; for example, in order to avoid all disputes 

 about precedency, and to make all the members 

 equal, a name was given to each one, which he was 



