FIRES. 



FIR TREE. 



ing fields, and may, in contact with farming J 

 stock, prove a serious evil; and I have wit- 1 

 nessed brushwood and tufts of grass consumed 

 by this means. A green taper, coloured as it 

 is by means of oxide of copper, when blown 

 out, acts on an aphlogistic principle, and may 

 continue to the end of the coil in an ignited 

 though flameless state, and, in contact with 

 v combustible materials, may prove seriously 

 destructive. It has set a mahogany table on 

 fire providentially discovered in time. Damp 

 rags, en masse, may spontaneously take fire, 

 and have consumed the premises. Linseed 

 and other oils, but especially that of linseed, 

 have been the fruitful sources of conflagration 

 in cotton factories and the warehouses of the 

 merchants. Nets dipped in oil, and cast over 

 the rafters in an outer shed, set them on fire; 

 and a bale of cotton wool burst into a flame 

 from linseed oil being poured upon it. Even 

 animal matters, such as woollen, under such 

 circumstances, come within the precincts of 

 danger, I find that strong red fuming nitrous 

 acid will set fire to straw ; and an accident of 

 this kind once occurred to myself. The vapour 

 of sulphuric ether, instead of being volatile, 

 and ascending, as is generally supposed, falls 

 to the ground like water ; and accidents in the 

 laboratory and shop of the druggist, from igno- 

 rance of this fact, are*by no means unfrequent. 

 I am personally acquainted with three distinct 

 cases, wherein the premises were set on fire 

 originating in this source. Specks or bull's 

 eyes in window glass may, on the principle of 

 burning lens, ignite inflammable substances 

 brought within the limits of their focus ; hence 

 the curtains used in some factories may be 

 easily ignited: thus, too, a water-bottle left in 

 a window may in sunshine be the means of 

 setting premises on fire, especially in a house 

 shut up during the absence of the family ; and 

 I have seen a silk curtain consumed to tinder 

 by the concentrated rays of the sun, in passing 

 through the show-bottle in the druggist's win- 

 dow. Spirits of turpentine will inflame if 

 poured out in 'the hot sunbeam ; and I am in- 

 formed by the distillers of tar and turpentine 

 that the head of the still cannot be safely re- 

 moved for 30 hours after the fire has been ex- 

 tinguished, as an explosion might be otherwise 

 anticipated. Lucifers, or Congreve matches, 

 are one of the fruitful sources of fires. Those 

 that are called Dutch, containing phosphorus, 

 and having a very foetid phosphoric smell, are 

 exceedingly dangerous : they may ignite spon- 

 taneously at the temperature of summer heat ; 

 and it may now suffice to say that a recent 

 conflagration has been traced to this cause. 

 The cigar and the pipe are pre-eminent sources 

 of modern conflagration ; and I have no doubt 

 that of the seat of the Marquis of Londonderry, 

 and the late one of York Minster, are entirely 

 attributable to the pipe or cigar used by the 

 workmen engaged in repairs. It is not gene- 

 rally known that tobacco contains nitre, and 

 that,lfke "touch-wood," it may continue ignited 

 for hours. Fires occurring from this "cause 

 are, I apprehend, too notorious to need specific 

 detail. It is clear that the end of a cigar drop- 

 ped among wood shavings might be fanned 

 into a flame by a current of air; and tossed 

 476 



from the top of the coach into an adjoining field, 

 and carried by the breeze into a farmer's stack- 

 yard, hay-ricks and wheat stacks may even 

 burst into a flame. I believe many a cigar 

 smoker is an unintentional incendiary." 



Fires in farm yards, also, may originate from, 

 quick lime left in a cart under a shed, and 

 moisture getting to it. Heat sufficient to cause 

 combustion is developed. The spontaneous 

 combustion of haystacks from the dampness 

 of the hay, is a danger to which the negligent 

 farmer is often exposed. In our present state 

 of chemical knowledge it is idle to attempt to 

 follow this phenomenon through its course, or 

 explain the reasons for the heat produced in 

 fermentation. As water must be present in 

 fermentation, it is probable that it is decom- 

 posed, and it is commonly said that the flame 

 produced is the result of intense chemical 

 action ; but, as Dr. Thomson remarks (System 

 of Chem. vol. iv. p. 364), "All the phenomena 

 of fermentation lay for many years concealed 

 in complete darkness, and no chemist was 

 bold enough to hazard an attempt even to ex- 

 plain them. They were employed, however, 

 and without hesitation too, in the explanation 

 of other phenomena; as if giving to one pro- 

 cess the name of another of which we are 

 equally ignorant, could, in reality, add any 

 thing to our knowledge." 



FIRE-WEED (Hieraciitm-leaved Senedo). An 

 American plant with an annual root, growing 

 in moist grounds, and remarkable for its preva- 

 lence in recent clearings, especially in and 

 around spots where brushwood has been 

 burned, from whence it derives its popular 

 name. The stem grows 2, 4 or 5 feet high, 

 stout, succulent and tender when young, more 

 or less hairy, sometimes nearly smooth. Flowers 

 whitish. (Flor. Cestrica.') See ALKALI. 



FIRING. In farriery, an operation perform- 

 ed on different parts of the horse, but which is 

 growing into disuse. It is principally resorted 

 to in bad cases of sprains. In firing about the 

 sinews and nervous parts, great care should 

 be taken not to go too deep, for if the fire once 

 touches the sinew the horse will go lame for 

 life. Firing is sometimes resorted to in cattle, 

 in order to remove bony tumours about the 

 region of the eye, which incommode or obstruct 

 the vision. In general, this operation is per- 

 formed in a manner calculated to excite great 

 pain to the horse. When the iron is white hot, 

 and is rapidly applied, the life of the part is 

 instantly extinguished, and all sensation being 

 destroyed, no pain, except when the iron is ap- 

 proaching the part, is experienced; but much 

 pain follows the application of an imperfectly 

 heated iron. 



FIRKIN. A measure of capacity in Eng- 

 land, being the fourth part of a barrel, or con- 

 taining 9 ale gallons, or 7 imperial gallons 

 that is, 2538 cubic inches. 



FIR, SCOTCH. See FIXES. 



FIR TREE (Lat. Mies; Sax. pnnh; Welsh, 

 fyrr ; fir-wood). "The fir, the pine, and the 

 larch," says Mr. Baxter, " constitute a perfectly 

 natural genus or family, and, next to the oak, 

 are the most valuable of our timber trees ; but, 

 independently of their value in this respect, 

 their beautiful foliage and magnificent appear 



