FUR 



343 



FUS 



ammonia and prussic acid. All attempts 

 to insulate the fulminlc acid have hitherto 

 proved ineffectual. 



FU'MINO. The fuming liquor of Boyle is 

 hydro- sulphuret of ammonia ; that of 

 Cadet is chloride of arsenic : and, that of 

 Libavins is bichloride of tin. 



FUNC'TION. In mathematics, a quantity 

 is said to be a function of another quan- 

 tity, when its value depends on that 

 quantity and known quantities only. In 

 physiology, a function is any action by 

 which vital phenomena are produced, 

 as the action of the heart, the digestion 

 of aliment, or the sense of touch. 



FUNDAMENTAL BASS. In music, the low- 

 est note or root of a chord. 



FUNDS, stock or capital, Lit. fintdus, 

 foundation. The term is taken in the 

 sense of a sum of money appropriated as 

 the foundation of some undertaking with 

 a view to profit, and by means of which 

 expenses and credit are supported. The 

 money lent to government and known ex- 

 perimentally as the National debt, is col- 

 lectively called funds, as constituting the 

 stock of that debtor, as being a public 

 funded debt due by government : hence 

 called the public funds; and the funds are 

 said to rise or fall when a given amount 

 of that debt sells for more or less in the 

 market. The sinking fund is a sum of 

 money appropriated to the purchase of 

 'the public stocks by government, with a 

 Tiew to pay off the National debt. 



FCN'OI, Lat.-pl. of fungus; mushrooms, 

 toadstools, &c. ; an order of the class 

 Cryptogamia. 



FUN'GUS (Latin), a mushroom. In sur- 

 gery, any morbid excrescence of a softer 

 texture than that which is natural to the 

 part where it grows. 



FUNIC'CLAR MACHINE, Lat. fitMS, TOpC. 



In mechanics, if a body fixed to two or 

 more ropes is sustained by powers which 

 act by means of those ropes, the whole 

 system is termed the funicular machine. 



FUNNEL, Lat. infundibnlum. In archi- 

 tecture, the upper part of a chimney. 



FUNNEL-SHAPED. In botany, applied to 

 the general form of a calyx or other part. 



FUR, the short, fine soft hair of certain 

 animals, growing thick on the skin and 

 distinguished from hair, which is longer 

 and coarser. In commerce, the skins of 

 animals with fur are called furs, the 

 inner side being converted into a soft 

 leather by a peculiar process called peltry. 



FUB'CATE, lAt.furcatvs, forked, or fork- 

 like : applied to parts of plants. 



FUU.IJ.-G, in nautical language, the 

 wrapping up and binding of any sail close 

 to the yard. 



FCR'LOXG, a measure of length, the 

 eighth part of a mile, or forty poles. 



FUR'NACE, Lat. fornar, a vessel or 

 building according to size^ for the pur- 



pose of containing combustible and fasible 

 matters, whether of coal, wood or metal ; 

 and so constructed that great heat may 

 be produced and concentrated. Furnaces 

 are as various in their construction as are 

 the forms of operation to which they are 

 subservient, but they may all be reduced 

 to three sorts, evaporating furnaces, for 

 the reduction of substances to vapour by 

 means of heat ; reverberatory furnaces, 

 where the flame is prevented from rising ; 

 and forge furnaces, in which the current 

 of air is determined by bellows. 



FUR'NITURE. In printing, the materials 

 used to extend pages of type to their 

 proper length, and to set them at a just 

 distance from each other when imposed, 

 so as to print off properly on the sheet. 

 In architecture (Fr. fournir, to furnish), 

 the brass-work of locks, doors, shutters, 

 &c. 



FD'KO, the ferret, a species of mustela 

 or weasel. 



FuR'RiNo,Fr. fourrer, to thrust in. The 

 small slips nailed to joists, &e,, to bring 

 their surfaces to one plane, and thus to 

 render the braiding nailed upon them 

 regular. 



FUSAR'OLE, ] In architecture, a small 



FL-SUR'OLE, ) member in the form of a 

 collar, with somewhat long beads under 

 the echinus or quarter-round, of pillars 

 of the Doric, Ionic and Composite orders. 



FUSE'E, (Fr. from Lat. fusus, a spindle). 

 1. In clockwork, the conical part round 

 which is wound the chain or cord of a 

 watch or clock, thus constructed to equa- 

 lise the power of the main-spring. 2. 



In gwmery,the tube fixed into a bomb or 

 grenade-shell. It is usually a wooden 

 pipe filled with combustible matter to fire 

 the contents of the shell. 3. A descrip- 

 tion of small neat musket was till re- 

 cently called a fusee, but the word fusil is 

 now adopted. 



FUSIBLE METAL, a compound of 8 parts 

 of bismuth, 5 parts oflead, and 3 parts of 

 tin. It melts at 212 F. Hose's fusiUe 

 metal is 2 parts bismuth, 1 of tin, and 1 

 of zinc. It melts at 200 F. 



FU'SIFORM, l.at. fusifonnis, spindle- 

 shaped. Applied to parts of plants, as 

 roots, &c. 



FUSIL. 1. A description of musket. See 

 FUSEE, No. 3. 2. In heraldry, is a bear- 

 ing of a rhomboidal figure. 



FUSILIE'RS, are now termed light infan- 

 try. They were formerly armed with 

 fusils, but their muskets are not now dif- 

 ferent from those of other soldiers. 



FUST, FOT. In architecture, the shaft 

 of a column ; also the trunk of a pilaster. 



FUS'TI AN, Fr. Futaine, a description of 

 cotton stuff ribbed on one side. In criti- 

 cism, applied to compositions possessing 

 a forced elevation of style >n exag- 

 gerated use of metaphor. 



