FIC 



FIC 



except that it sooner becomes hard and 

 soapy when exposed to the air. 



The earths, as far as is known, have 

 little or no action on fibrin. Neither has 

 the action of the metallic oxides and 

 salts been examined. Fibrin is insoluble 

 in alcohol, ether, and oils. The effect of 

 other re-agents on it has not been exam- 

 ined. 



FIBROLITE, a species of the topaz 

 family, first observed by Bournon in the 

 matrix of the imperfect corundum. Co- 

 lour white, or dirty grey; hardness rather 

 greater than that of quartz ; specific gra- 

 vity 3.214 ; texture fibrous, cross fracture 

 compact; internal lustre glossy; infusible 

 by the blow-pipe : usually in shapeless 

 fragments. Bournon observed one speci- 

 men crystallized, jn a rhomboidal prism, 

 the angles of whose faces were 80 and 

 100. It is composed, according to Chene- 

 vix, of 52.25 alumina, 38.00 silica, and 

 3.75 a trace of iron and loss. 



FIBULA, in anatomy, a long bone pla- 

 ced on the outside of the leg, opposite to 

 the external angle of the tibia. See AXA- 



TOMT. 



FICTION of law, is allowed of in seve- 

 ral cases : but it must be framed accord- 

 ing to the rules of law ; and there ought 

 to be equity and possibility in every legal 

 fiction. Fictions were invented to avoid 

 inconvenience ; and it is a maxim invaria- 

 bly observed, that no fiction shall extend 

 to work an injury ; its proper operation 

 being to prevent a mischief, or remedy an 

 inconvenience, that might result from the 

 general rule of law. 



FICUS, in botany, English fig-tree* a 

 genus of the Polygamia Trio'ecia class 

 and order. Natural order of Scabridx. 

 Urticae, Jussieu. Essential character: re- 

 ceptacle common, turbinate, fleshy, con- 

 verging, concealing the fioscules, either 

 on the same or a distinct individual : male 

 calyx three-parted; corolla none; stamens 

 three : female calyx five-parted ; corolla 

 none ; pistil one ; seed one. There are 

 fifty-six species. 



The fig is a striking instance of that 

 contrivance which nature occasionally 

 employs for the continuation of her spe- 

 cies. We were for a long time unac- 

 quainted with the manner in which these 

 plants were propagated : in other kinds 

 it is the flower which contains the em- 

 bryo of the fruit. In this, on the contrary, 

 it is the fruit which encloses and con- 

 ceals the flower. The mode in which 

 the fig-trees are made to produce their 

 fruit is called caprification. Among the 

 several species of this genus wUich have 



been enumerated by botanists, the com- 

 mon fig is by far the most useful, and is 

 cultivated in many parts of Europe for the 

 excellence of its fruit. The wild as well 

 as the cultivated kind is supposed to have 

 been originally brought from Asia, from 

 whence they have been spread over the 

 southern parts of Europe, and are now 

 to be met with in Languedoc, in Pro- 

 vence, in Spain, in Italy, 5cc. not to men- 

 tion those of England, which are mere- 

 ly raised for the table, and not cultiva- 

 ted, like those abroad, for commercial 

 purposes. 



Where the climate is congenial to their 

 nature, figs seem to thrive in almost 

 any soil : but Duhamel observes, that 

 they produce the most succulent fruit 

 when growing among the rocks. They 

 require a certain degree of heat : for al- 

 though this gentleman saw figs of a mon- 

 strous size at Brest, yet they rarely be- 

 came perfectly ripe, for want of the neces- 

 sary warmth. The trees are generally 

 raised from slips or layers, which readily 

 strike root; and the manner which is 

 often practised to effect this is simple 

 enough, though rather singular. When 

 it is proposed to propagate the plant by 

 layers, a branch of the tree is made to 

 pass through a tin funnel, or a wicker 

 basket, filled with earth, into which the 

 branch will soon shoot several fibres ; it 

 should then be cut asunder, below the 

 basket, which should afterwards be pla- 

 ced in the earth. When it is desired to 

 raise fig-trees that will bear fruit the next 

 year, the finest branches of an old tree 

 are laid in the earth, and one of a mode- 

 rate size is caused to pass through a box, 

 after being stripped of its bark for about 

 a finger's breadth between two knots. 

 The part so stripped is then placed about 

 four fingers' breadth above the bottom of 

 the box, and covered with earth. In due 

 time the branch will shoot out several 

 roots from the wounded part, after which 

 it is separated from the stem by cutting 

 it off below the box. 



Several of the cultivated species, ac- 

 cording to Duhamel, require only the or- 

 dinary attention paid to fruit-trees to 

 make them ripen their fruit ; but in the 

 ArchipeJago, and in Malta, there are figs, 

 both wild and domestic, that require a 

 very singular mode of treatment to make 

 them bring their fruit to perfection ; the 

 assistance we here allude to is named ca- 

 prification, and is a phenomenon highly 

 deserving our attention. Only two kinds 

 of figs are cultivated in the Archipelago, 

 the domestic and the wild; from the 



