FIR 



830 



:^ea in composition, as goldfinch, chaf- 

 in. '.., . See FRINOILLA. 



FINE. In tow, a pecuniary punishment ; 

 sum of money paid as compensation for 

 ?. n offence ; a mulct. The term seems to 

 Ne the Lat. finis, and the application of it 

 to pecuniary compensation seems to have 

 proceeded from its feudal use in the trans- 

 fer of lands, in which a final agreement 

 between a lord and his vassal. It was 

 made the basis of the word finance. 



FINE ARTS, Fr. fin, whence finesse. 

 Those arts which depend chiefly on men- 

 tal labour and the imagination, combined 

 with manual dexterity : called also polite 

 arts. Poetry, music, paintiiig, and sculp- 

 ture are tine arts. 



FINE OF LANDS. In law, a species of 

 conveyance or record, for the settling or 

 securing lands and tenements, now abo- 

 lished. 



FI'NERS (of gold and silver) are those 

 who separate those metals from their 

 coarser ores. 



FI'NERT. In metallurgy, the name of a 

 furnace at which cast iron is converted 

 into malleable iron. 



FINE STUFF. In architecture, plaister 

 used in common ceilings or walls, for the 

 reception of paper or colour ; composed 

 of fin ely-sifted lime, mixed with hair and 

 fine sand. Coarse stuff is a mixture of lime 

 and hair, used in the first coat. 



FIN'IAL. In Gothic architecture, the 

 figure of a lily, trefoil, endive, acorn, or 

 the like, made to terminate canopies, pin- 

 nacles, high-pointed pediments, and other 

 parts of buildings. 



FIN'FOOTED, > Palmipedous . having feet 



FIN'TOED. ] with membranes between 

 the toes connecting, them with each 

 other. 



FIN'OER-BOARD, the board at the neck 

 of a violin, guitar, &c., where the fingers 

 act on the strings. 



FIN'GERING. In music, the manner of 

 touching an instrument, so as to give 

 passages with articulation, accent, and 

 expression. It is on dexterity of finger- 

 ing that graceful execution depends. 



FINISH. In the fine arts, the last 

 touching up of any object, so as to com- 

 plete it. 



FIJJISHINO-COAT. In architecture, the 

 best coat of stucco, when three coats are 

 used. 



FI'NITE. In mathematics, an epithet 

 for a series, line, &c., which is limited in 

 extent, duration, &c., in distinction from 

 infinite. 



FINTO (Italian), a feint. A term in 

 music. See FA FINTO. 



FIR, FIR-TREE, a name common to all 

 the species of the genus Pimu. The 

 Scotch fir (P. sylvestris). Spruce fir (P. 

 r.i}~z and abies), and Larch (P. larijc), are 

 weL" \-.. w-.i soecie*. 



FIR-IN-BOND, a name given to linUJs, 

 bond-timbers, wall- plates, and indeed ail 

 timbers built in walls. 



FIRE, the evolution of light and heat 

 which attends combustion. Fire was for 

 a long time regarded as a constituent of 

 bodies, which required only a concurrence 

 of favourable circumstances for its deve- 

 lopment ; hence the ancients regarded it 

 as one of their four elements. No theory 

 respecting fire is as yet fully established, 

 though many have been proposed. 



FIRE, GREEK ; this fire was employed 

 in the wars between the Christians and 

 Saracens in the middle ages ; naphtha 

 was its principal ingredient. 



FIRE-ARSIS. Under this name is com- 

 prised all sorts of guns, fowling-pieces, 

 blunderbusses, and pistols. All gun- 

 barrels are to be proved in a public proof- 

 house, under a penalty of 201. 



FIRE-ARROW, an iron or steel dart 

 armed with combustible matter, used by 

 privateers and pirates, to set fire to the 

 sails of ships. 



FIRE-BALLS. 1. In meteorology, globu- 

 lar masses of luminous matter, occasion- 

 ally seen moving through the atmosphere. 



2. In military operations, masses of 



combustible matter to be thrown from 

 mortars or howitzers upon the enemy's 

 works, houses, &c. 



FIRE-BARRELS, hollow cylinders filled 

 with reeds and fire-brand composition ; 

 as sulphur, pitch, tallow, &c., used in 

 fire-ships to convey the flame to the 

 shrouds. 



FIRE-BLAST. In agriculture, sometimes 

 applied to plants suffering from the mil- 

 dew fungi, or from minute insects; also 

 used when the delicate parts of plants are 

 too suddenly exposed to a brilliant sun, 

 whereby they are shrivelled up. 



FIRE-BOTE. In old customs, fire-wood 

 allowed to tenants out of the landlord's 

 grounds. 



FIRE-ENOINK, the name generally given 

 to a machine by which water is thrown, 

 upon fires in order to extinguish them. 



FIRE-ESCAPE, a machine for removing 

 persons from upper stories of houses when 

 on fire. There are many sorts, but all 

 partake of the nature of ladder work. 



FIRE-FI AIRE, a fish. The sting ray or 

 common trygon (Trygon Pastinaca, Yarr., 

 Cuv. ; Raia Pastinaca, Penn. Jeu. Don.) 



FIRE-FLIES, a name common to two 

 species of American flies which emit a 

 beautiful phosphorescent light. See LA.M- 

 PYRIS. 



FIRE-SHIP, a vessel filled with combus- 

 tible materials and fitted with grappling- 

 irons, which, with the advantage of a 

 favourable wind, hook on to the enemy'a 

 ships and set them on fire. 



FIRE-STONE, an old name for pyrites. 

 The fire- stone of the geologists is an art- 



