FISH. 



FIXTURES. 



ters offish is finished, there is very little or no 

 earthy or solid matter remaining useless in the 

 soil. In this, again, the experience of the far- 

 mer substanl.iates the chemist's doctrines, for 

 he uniformly tells us, in answer to our in- 

 quiries, that the fish only last for one crop." 



In the east of England, the farmers of those 

 soils conveniently situated for water carriage, 

 employ to a very considerable extent, as manure, 

 several kinds offish besides sprats, such as five- 

 fingers, cockles, muscles, &c., and this use is 

 only limited by the supply, or what is com- 

 monly a more important impediment, the diffi- 

 culty of transporting them any distance while 

 sufficiently fresh. When once the fish begin 

 to putrefy, their fertilizing properties rapidly 

 diminish ; the oil from the fermenting sprats I 

 have seen dripping from the wagons as they 

 travelled along : thus they speedily lose in 

 weight, and become intolerably obnoxious to 

 the district through which they pass ; several 

 convictions have, indeed, taken place among 

 my neighbours in Essex, for carrying putrefy- 

 ing fish through towns and populous villages. 



This is hardly a matter of astonishment, 

 since the farmer, who has to convey a freight 

 of several hundred bushel of sprats, perhaps 

 ten or twelve miles, has often much too little 

 time allowed him for that purpose. The fish, 

 perhaps, arrive stale. It is a load detained by 

 contrary winds, or prevented by circumstances 

 from reaching another destination? th'e farmer 

 has to be informed of their arrival ; he cannot 

 despatch his teams as speedily as the nature 

 of the case requires, the fish become offensive, 

 and his ardour for the improvement of his land 

 is checked by a magistrate's summons and a 

 conviction for a nuisance. These are the rea- 

 sons which retard the use of these kinds of fish 

 as a manure, but cannot entirely prevent their 

 being employed. Their use is still, in spite 

 of all impediments, annually increasing, espe- 

 cially in the neighbourhood of those places to 

 which the fishing smacks find a ready access. 



By the general formation of railroads, the 

 culivator, even of the inland soils of England, 

 will have all these valuable sources of im- 

 provement offered for his service fertilizers 

 of even national interest, since they are drawn 

 from an inexhaustible source, afford employ- 

 ment to a branch of industry invaluable in a 

 maritime p int of view, as a nursery for sea- 

 men, and have, moreover, this great and para- 

 mount advantage, that they add to the perma- 

 nent riches of the land, and are not, as is the 

 case with other fertilizers, drawn from one dis- 

 trict of the state to enrich another. There need 

 be no fear of the supply not keeping pace with 

 the demand, for the ocean is inexhaustibly 

 tenanted with fish. As fresh agricultural mar- 

 kets arise and are furnished by the railways, 

 fresh sources of supply will be discovered, 

 other coasts explored, and increased fisheries 

 established. (Johnson on Fertilizers, p. 113.) 



On Long Island and those parts of the New 

 England States bordering upon the sound, or 

 the sea, fish are very extensively and profitably 

 used as manure. In the Chesapeake and tribu- 

 taries, where herring fisheries abound, these 

 fish are also often appropriated to the same 

 purpose. 



61 



FISTULA (iof.). A long sinous ulf", oltcn 

 communicating with a larger cavity, and hav- 

 ing a small external opening. 



All animals are liable to fistulas, but the 

 horse more particularly so; they attack the 

 withers and the poll. They are produced by 

 blows, by bruises from the saddle, and what- 

 ever causes inflammation ; also by the pre- 

 sence of extraneous substances. 



In curing this disease, it is requisite, in the 

 first instance, to ascertain the direction the fis- 

 tula pursues, and whether it materially inter- 

 feres with any of the larger blood-vessels, so 

 as to render a full incision into the parts a 

 matter of too much hazard to be attempted. 

 When secure from any danger of this nature, 

 the most effectual practice is, to lay the fistula, 

 or fistulas, when more than one, so thoroughly 

 open as to have a complete view of their inter- 

 nal surfaces. It is not, however, necessary in 

 the simple sinus, where the matter is in a 

 healthy state, and requires only a sufficient 

 passage ; but in cases where the discharge, by 

 having been long detained, indurates and cor- 

 rodes the contiguous parts ; as the means fully 

 adequate to remove the former avail little in 

 the radical cure of the latter, a more severe 

 practice of course becomes necessary. 



When the fistular cavities have been fully 

 laid open by the knife, they should be dressed 

 with powerful caustic compositions, until the 

 unsound parts slough away, and the wound 

 presents a healthy appearance. Cleanliness, 

 with more mild applications, should now be 

 had recourse to, taking care that the wound be 

 not closed before the cavities are properly and 

 uniformly healed. 



FIVE-FINGER. See CIIC<IUE-FOIL. 



FIXTURE^. In Law, a term generally ap- 

 plied to all articles of a personal nature affixed 

 to land. This annexation must be by the arti- 

 cle being let into, or united with the land, or 

 with some substance previously connected 

 therewith. Thus a barn built on a frame not 

 let into the earth, is not a fixture ; a brewer's 

 stills set in brickwork resting on a foundation, 

 are fixtures, and the application of the same 

 principle gives in every case the true rule to 

 judge whether a thing be a fixture or not. What- 

 ever is thus fixed becomes by law parcel of the 

 freehold or realty. It is, therefore, on general 

 principles, not removable ; but there are ex- 

 ceptions to this rule established by custom. 

 (Brande's Diet, of Science.) 



The English common law with regard to 

 fixtures or any thing affixed to the freehold, is 

 by no means so clear and defined as is desira- 

 ble ; and what is granted in favour of trade, to 

 the removal of fixtures erected for the purpose 

 of manufacture, does not extend to the erec- 

 tions made by tenants for agricultural purposes. 

 The agreement made between the farmer and 

 his landlord should therefore always contain a 

 covenant by which this power should be clearly 

 defined. The celebrated judgment of Lord 

 Ellenborough in Elwes v. Mawe, 3 East, 38, con 

 tains such an epitome of the law of fixtures, 

 that I shall insert at length the opening portiou 

 of it: 



"This was an action upon the case in the 

 1 nature of waste by a landlord, the reversionei 

 28 491 



