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POO 



FLT'IKO-PIS'ION, that part of a clock 

 having a fly or fan, by which it beats the 

 air, and thereby checks the velocity of 

 the descent of the weight in the striking 

 department. 



FLY-OR'CHIS, a plant, the orchis muci- 

 fera, supposed to bear some resemblance 

 to a fly. 



FOCILE. In anatomy, the ulna and the 

 radius have been denominated by the 

 barbarous appellations of facile majus and 

 minus ; the tibia and fibula have also been 

 so called. 



Fo'cus, Lat. focus, a fireplace or hearth. 

 A point in which light, and consequently 

 heat, is concentrated. In optics, the focus 

 is a point where several rays are collected 

 together in consequence of reflection or 

 refraction. The focus of a glass is the 

 point of convergence where the rays cross 

 the axis after their refraction by the glass. 

 The/oeMS of a parabola is a point in the 

 axis within the figure, and distant from 

 the vertex by a fourth part of the para- 

 meter or latus rectum. The foci of an 

 ellipse are two points, one towards each 

 end of the longer axis, whence two right 

 lines being drawn to any point in the 

 circumference, shall be together equal to 

 that of the longer axis. The focus of a 

 hyperbola is a point in the principal axis 

 (within the opposite hyperbola), from 

 which, if any two lines are drawn, meet- 

 ing in the curve of either of the opposite 

 hyperbolas, the difference of these lines 

 will be equal to the shortest transverse 

 diameter. 



FOD'DER or POTHER. 1. The name of a 

 weight by which lead and some other me- 

 tals are sold : it varies from 20 to 23 cwts. 



in different parts of the kingdom. 2. A 



name for dry food for cattle, horses, and 

 sheep, as hay, straw, &c. ; newly cut grass, 

 &C., go by the name of green fodder ; straw 

 and dry hay go by the name of-dry fodder. 



FOG, Ital. sfogo, an exhalation. A dense 

 watery vapour, exhaled from the earth, 

 rivers, lakes, &c., floating in the atmo- 

 sphere, usually close on the surface of the 

 earth. It appears to differ from mist, 

 which is the condensed moisture of the at- 

 mosphere forming rain in very small drops. 



FOG-BANK, an appearance, in hazy wea- 

 ther, which frequently resembles land at 

 a distance, but which vanishes as you 

 approach it. 



FOIL. 1. "Fr.feuille, a leaf of metal, as 

 tin foil. Among jewellers, a thin leaf of 

 metal, as gold, silver, tin, &c., placed 

 under bits of glass cut like gems, to give 

 them the appearance of particular stones. 

 The same artifice is employed to improve 



the appearance of inferior gems. 2. 



"Wei. ftcyl, an elastic piece of steel, or a 

 small sword, without a point, or with a 

 button or piece of cork on the point, used 

 *n fencing for exercise. 



FOLD. In agriculture, a temporary en- 

 closure for keeping cattle <\r other ani- 

 mals together. In painting, the lapping 

 of one piece of drapery over another. 



FO'LIAGE. In architecture, a group o/ 

 leaves of plants, so arranged as to form 

 an appropriate ornament, as in friezes, 

 panels, and the Corinthian order. 



FO'LIATE, the name of a curve, whose 

 equation is x' + if = axy, having some 

 resemblance to a leaf. 



FO'LIO. 1. In account books, a paze, or 

 rather both the right andleft-hand pases, 

 these being expressed by the same figure. 



2. A folio book is one in which the 



leaves are formed by once doubling a 

 sheet of paper, the sheet making thereby 

 two leaves. 



FO'LIOLE, Lat. foliolum, from folium, a 

 leaf. A leaflet or little leaf. 



FOLX'LAND, copyhold land, or land held 

 by the commonalty at the will of the lord. 



FOL'KMOTE, Sax. folcgemote, conventua 

 populi. A term used before the Norman 

 conquest, to denote the annual assembly 

 of the people, answering in some measure 

 to the modern parliament. 



FOLK.STONE MARL, a stiff marl, better 

 known by the provincial term Gait. 



FOL'LICLE, Lat. follieulits, a little bag. 

 In anatomy, a simple gland. In botany, a 

 one-valved pericarp or seed-vessel. 



FO'MALHACT. In astronomy, a star of 

 the first magnitude, in the constellation 

 Aquarius. 



FO'MES (Lat.), fuel. A term in medical 

 language for any porous substance capa- 

 ble of absorbing and retaining contagious 

 effluvia. "Wool and woollen cloth are 

 among the most active fomites. 



FONT or FOCWT, a complete assortment 

 of printing types of one size, including a 

 due proportion of all the letters of the 

 alphabet, large and small, points, accents, 

 and whatever else is necessary for print- 

 ing with letter. 



FOXTANEL', Tr.fontanffle. An interstice 

 in the infant cranium, between the frontal 

 and parietal bones, is commonly called 

 the mould, and scientifically the anterior 

 fontanel; and a lesser vacancy, between 

 the occipital and parietal bones, is termed 

 the posterior fontanel. These interstices 

 are subsequently filled up with osseous 

 deposit. 



FOOLS, FEAST or. A festival anciently 

 celebrated in every church and monastery 

 in France, on Xew-Year's-Day, in which 

 every absurdity and indecency was prac- 

 tised. It was equivalent to the Saturnalia 

 of the Romans. 



FOOT, the lower extremity of the leg. 

 Animals are distinguished with respec* 

 to the number of their feet, as bipeds, qua- 

 drvptds, and multipeds. Foot is also the 

 name of a measure of length consisting of 

 12 inches, supposed to have been taken 



