EYE. 



vering of animals, and also the shells and other 

 marine productions met with in the bowels of 

 the earth, having been deposited there for a 

 vast length of time. The lobster casts his shell, 

 the toad and snake shed their skin periodically, j 

 leeches and fishes seem to cast off exuvial j 

 layers of mucus only ; but in most reptiles the 

 epidermis is periodically moulted, either entire 

 or in large coherent masses. The periodi- 

 cally moulted feathers of birds, and hairs of 

 various species of mammalia, may also be re- 

 garded as exuviae. Substances of these kinds, 

 where they can be procured in sufficient quan- 

 tities, are highly valuable as manures, and 

 capable of extensive application, especially on 

 all the clay soils. 



EYE (Sax. eaj; Ice. eiza). In the manage- 

 ment of fruit-trees, implies the germ, small 

 bud, or shoot inserted into a tree. 



EYE-BRIGHT (Ki'phnisi.i njfirinalit). An 

 elegant plant, indigenous to England, very com- 

 mon in mountainous pastures and dry heaths, 

 vary in? in height from one to six inches. It 

 flowers from July to September; its stalk is 

 square and hard ; the leaves of a bright green, 

 flat, broad, and indented at the edges. The 

 flowers are small and white, streaked and 

 spotted with dark colours. On the mountains 

 of Scotland there is a more slender variety, 

 with smaller but more richly tinted blo^>in^; 

 on the Alps a dwarf, large-flowered, more pur- 

 pled variety is common. It must be gathered 

 about September, when it has done flowed nj*. 

 The distilled water is spoken of by the old 

 herbalists as a fine eye-water to strengthen 

 and improve the sight. This reputation gave 

 it the name of eye-bright, but, like many other 

 ancient opinions respecting the virtues of 

 plants, the value of the reputation is worn out. 

 The eye-bright will not grow in gardens; it 

 loves to hide itself in grass or heath, and will 

 not thrive unless it be surrounded by plants 

 that are taller than itself. It is eaten by cattle 

 and sheep, but refused by hogs. (Eng. Flora, 

 vol. iii. p. 122.) 



Two herbs are known in the United States 

 by this popular name. One is the Hypericum- 

 leaved Euphorbia (Euphorbia hypericifolia), a 

 milky annual plant common in pastures and 

 on road-sides. The juice applied to the eye 

 causes severe smarting. The severe saliva- 

 tion to which grazing horses are subject is 

 said to be caused by their eating this species 

 of Euphorbia. 



The other plant also sometimes called eye- 

 bright, is the Indian tobacco, or Lobelia influta, a 

 biennial found abundantly in pastures, or road- 

 sides, &c., flowering in July and August, and ri- 

 pening its seeds in August and October. This 

 plant is possessed of highly acrimonious pro- 

 perties, and is an active emetic, cathartic, and 

 narcotic. These properties render it capable 

 of doing much harm or good according to the 

 judgment and discrimination with which it is 

 employed in different diseases and the proper 

 stages. Without such attention, and in the 

 hands of ignorant professed quacks and rash 

 pretenders, the indiscriminate use of this po- 

 tent herb has been fraught with serious injury 

 to the constitution, and not unfrequently with 

 death more or less speedy. 

 57 



F^flR. 



EYE OF THE HORSE. The eye of tke 

 horse appears to be naturally more disposed 

 to disease than that of any other animal. The 

 diseases of the eye, although few in number, 

 are frequent in their appearance, obstinate, 

 and generally baffle all the skill of the vete- 

 rinarian. The following are the principal: 

 common inflammation, specific ophthalmia or 

 moon blindness, cataract, and gutta sere no, or 

 amattrosis. For the last there is no cure. Moon 

 blindness, as it is termed, is brought on in a 

 great measure by close confinement in dark, 

 heated, and unwholesome stables. No specific 

 remedies can be given for these diseases. (Tht 

 Horse, p. 113 ; Lib. Use. Know.} See BLINDNESS 

 and CATARACT. 



F. 



FACTOR (Lat./ac/or,- Fr./nrto<r). In mer- 

 cantile law, an agent who is intrusted with the 

 property of others, which he is commissioned 

 to dispose of. In Scotland the word factor is 

 used synonymously with steward in England, 

 signify in -4 one who has the overlooking or 

 management of an estate or a farm for another 

 person. 



FAGOT (Welsh fagod; Fr. fagot). A 

 bundle of small cut wood tied together closely 

 for fuel or other purposes. They are made up 

 from the cuttings or thinnings of coppices or 

 hedges ; and, in many districts, are sold to the 

 bakrrs. 



FAIR (Old Fr.fiere; Lai. feria or forum). A 

 public place where merchants, traders, and 

 other persons assemble from remote parts on 

 some fixed day in the y^r to buy and sell 

 commodities, and to partake of the diversions 

 usually to be met with on such occasions. See 

 MARKET. Fairs and markets are very closely 

 allied. A fair, as the term is now generally 

 understood, is only a greater species of market 

 recurring at more distant intervals. Both are 

 appropriated to the sale of one or more kinds 

 of goods, the hiring of servants or labourers, 

 &c.; but fairs are in most cases attended by a 

 greater concourse of people, for whose amuse- 

 ment various exhibitions are got up. 



Fairs originated in England in monkish 

 days, when proud bishops and mitred abbots 

 were not unwilling to increase their revenues 

 by the tolls which they were empowered by 

 royal charter to levy on the crowds who com- 

 monly attended the festivals of their patron 

 saints. Spreading rumours with an intent to 

 increase the price at fairs or markets is in 

 England an offence at common law. (Rex. v. 

 Waddington, 1 East, 143.) 



Various statutes have been passed to regu- 

 late fairs. By the 2 & 3 P. and M. c. 7, the 

 owner or keeper of every fair must appoint a 

 certain open place for the sale of horses, and 

 must, under a penalty of 40 shillings, appoint 

 some one to attend to take toll, from 10 A. M. 

 till sunset ; must keep a book, and enter there- 

 in the marks, price, colour, <Su, , ller's and 

 buyer's name and residence, or forfeit 40 shil- 

 lings. By the 31 Eliz. c. 12, if the parties are 

 strangers to the book-keeper, they must pro- 

 cure a person to vouch for them; his fee for 

 2 P 2 419 



