F U L 



GAL 



marks of fusion from the action of light- 

 ning ; and occasionally vitreous tubes, 

 descending many feet into banks of sand, 

 mark the path of the electric fluid. Some 

 years ago, Dr. Fiedler exhibited several 

 of the fulgorites in London, which had 

 been dug out of the sandy plains of Si- 

 lesia and Eastern Prussia. Mrs. Somer- 

 ville. 



FULI'GINOUS. (fuliginosus, Lat. fuliyi- 

 neu#,-euse, Fr. fulliginoso, It.) Sooty; 

 dark ; smoky ; dusky ; of the colour of soot. 



FU'LLERS'-EARTH. A marl of a close tex- 

 ture, soft and unctuous, containing about 

 25 per cent, of alumina. It derives its 

 name from its being used by fullers to 

 take the grease out of cloth before they 

 apply soap. Any clay having its parti- 

 cles of silica very fine, may be considered 

 as fullers' earth ; for it is the alumina 

 alone which acts upon the cloth, on ac- 

 count of its strong affinity for greasy sub- 

 stances. 



FU'LVOUS. (fulvuSj Lat.) Of a light 

 brown, with much yellow. 



FU'NGUS. (Lat. pi. fungi.} One of the 

 orders of the class Cryptogamia, according 

 to the artificial system of Linnaeus. A 

 mushroom ; an excrescence from trees 

 or plants not naturally belonging to 

 them ; any morbid sponge-like excre- 

 scence. 



FU'NNEL-SHAPED. In botany, applied to 

 a monopetalous corolla, having a conical 

 border placed upon a tube. 



FU'RCATED. (furca, Lat.) Forked ; 

 branched. 



FU'RCULA. (Lat.) A fork. A peculiar 

 formation of bone in birds, of a fork-like 

 shape. The furcula, commonly known 

 as the merry-thought-bone, is seldom 

 wanting in birds. It is in form like 

 a V, common to both shoulders, and 

 joined by its point to the most prominent 

 part of the crista of the sternum, while 

 the other extremities are connected to 

 the humeral end of the clavicles, and the 

 point of the scapulae, where these two 

 bones are articulated with each other, and 



with the os humeri. The furcula serves 

 to keep the wings at a proper distance in 

 flying, and is strong and expanded in 

 birds which fly with great force and ra- 

 pidity. In the ostrich and cassowary, it 

 is imperfect, the lateral branches not 

 uniting together. 



The ornithorhynchus and ichthyosau- 

 rus both possess a peculiar form of ster- 

 num, resembling the furcula of birds. 

 The echidna is the only known land qua- 

 druped that has a similar furcula and 

 clavicles. A cartilaginous rudiment of a 

 furcula occurs also in the dasypus. 



FURFURA'CEOUS. ( furfuraceus, from 

 furfur, Lat,) Branny ; scaly. 



FU'SCITE. An opaque mineral of a greyish 

 or greenish-black colour, found in Nor- 

 way, in masses of granular quartz. 



Fu'scous. (fuscus, Lat.) Brown ; tawny ; 

 dusky. 



FUSIBI'LITY. (fusilibilite, Fr. qualita di 

 do che e fusibile, It.) The quality of 

 being rendered fluid by a heat attainable 

 by artificial means, and of again becom- 

 ing solid on cooling. 



FU'SIBLE. (fusus, from fundo, Lat. fu- 

 sibile, Fr. fusibile, It.) Capable of being 

 melted by the application of heat, and of 

 again becoming solid when cooled. 



FU'SION. (fusio, ~La.t.fusion,l?r.fusione, It.) 



1. The action of melting by heat. 



2. The state of being melted by heat. 

 Applied to minerals and metals. 



FU'SIFORM. Spindle-shaped, swelling in 

 the centre with the ends tapering ; inter- 

 mediate between the conical and the oval. 



Fu'sus. A subfusiform univalve, ventricose 

 in its middle or lower part, with a canali- 

 culated base, and no varicose sutures ; an 

 elongated spire, a smooth columella, and 

 the lip not slit. The genus comprises 

 many species. The genus fusus com- 

 prises all shells with a salient and straight 

 canal, which are destitute of varices. Fusi 

 are found at depths varying to eleven 

 fathoms, in mud, sandy mud, and sand. 



Fu'sus CONTRA'RIUS. A species of fusus 

 found in the crag of Suffolk, a sinister shell. 



G 



GA'BBRO. A synonymous name with Dial- 

 lage. 



GADO'LINITE. A mineral thus named after 

 Gadolin, who first ascertained its compo- 

 sition. Its colour is greenish-black ; that 

 of its powder greenish-grey. Occurs 

 massive ; in granular and prismatic con- 

 cretions. Fracture conchoidal and glassy. 

 According to Berzelius its constituent 

 parts are yttria 45-93, silica 24-16, pro- 

 toxide of cerium 16-90, protoxide of iron 



11-34. It was first discovered at Ytterby, 

 in Sweden, by Capt. Arhenius, in white 

 felspar ; it is found also in Ceylon, in 

 granite. 



GA'HNITE. Thus named from Gahn ; an- 

 other name for automalite. 



GALA'CTITE. (yaXeiKTiTrjc., Gr.) Milk- 

 stone. 



GA'LEA. (Lat.) A genus of echini, 

 found fossil only. They are distin- 

 guished by an oval base, from which 



