FIS 



F1S 



motion from west to east, which last it 

 finishes, according to Tycho, in 25,412 

 years : according to Ptolemy, in 36,000 ; 

 and according to Copernicus, in 25,800 ; 

 in which time the fixed stars return 

 to the same points in which they were 

 at the beginning. This period is com- 

 monly called the Platonic year, or the 

 great year. 



FIRST fniits and tenths, in law. First 

 fruits are the profits of every spiritual liv- 

 ing for one year ; and tenths are the 

 tenth of the yearly value of such living, 

 given anciently to the Pope throughout 

 all Christendom ; but by stat. 26 Jt-Ienry 

 VIII. c. 3- transferred to the King of 

 England. By stat. 27 Henry VIII. c. 3. 

 no tenths are to be paid for the first year, 

 as then the first fruits are due ; and by 

 several statutes in the reign of Queen 

 Anne, benefices under 50/. per ann. shall 

 be discharged of the payment of first 

 fruits and tenths. She also restored the 

 profits of this revenue to the church, by 

 establishing a perpetual fund therefrom, 

 vested in trustees, for the augmentation 

 of poor livings under 50^. a year. This 

 is called*Queen Anne's bounty, and is 

 further regulated by subsequent statutes ; 

 but as the number of livings under 50/. 

 was at the commencement ^of it 5,597, 

 averaged at 23/. per ann. its operation 

 will be very slow. 



FISC, in the civil law, the treasury of 

 a prince. It differs from the zerarium, 

 which was the treasury of the public or 

 people : thus, when the money arising 

 from the sale of condemned persons' 

 goods was appropriated for the use of 

 the public, their goods were s&ulpublicari; - 

 but when it was destined for the sup- 

 port of the prince, they were called cun- 

 fiscari. 



FISCAL, in the civil law, something 

 relating to the pecuniary interest of the 

 prince or people. The officers appointed 

 for the management of the fisc were 

 called procurators jisci, and advocati Jlsc't ; 

 and among the cases enumerated in the 

 constitutions of the empire, where it was 

 their business to plead, one is against 

 those who have been condemned to pay 

 a fine to the fisc, on account of their liti- 

 giousness, or frivolous appeals. 



FISH, in natural history, constitutes a 

 class of animals which have no feet, but 

 always fins ; add to this, that their hody 

 is either altogether naked, or only cover- 

 ed with scales; and that they are aquatic 

 animals, which live mostly, if not always, 

 in water. See PISCES. 



FISH, in law, the property in fish in a 



river is in the lord of the manor, where 

 he has the soil on both sides ; but where 

 the river ebbs and flows, and is an arm of 

 the sea, it is common to all, and he who 

 claims a privilege must prove it. To se- 

 cure the property of fish in ponds, or 

 drains, there are several statutes creat- 

 ing offences and enacting punishments 

 with respect to them, which are too nu- 

 merous to be here mentioned. 



FISHES, in heraldry, are the emblems 

 of silence and watchfulness, and are 

 borne either upright, imbowed, extended, 

 endorsed respecting each other, sur- 

 mounting one another, fretted, &c. 



In blazoning fishes, those borne feed- 

 ing should be termed devouring ; all fish- 

 es borne upright, and having fins, should 

 be blazoned hauriant ; and those borne 

 transverse the escutcheon must be term- 

 ed naiant. 



FISHERY, a place where great num- 

 bers of fish are caught. 



The principal fisheries for salmon, her- 

 ring, mackarel, pilchards, &c. are along 

 the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ire- 

 iand ; for cod, on the banks of Newfound- 

 land ; for whales, about Greenland; 

 and for pearls, in the East and' West 

 Indies. 



FISHERY denotes also the commerce 

 of fish, more particularly the catching 

 them for sale. 



Were we to enter into a very minute 

 and particular consideration of fisheries, 

 as at present established in this kingdom, 

 this article would swell beyond its pro- 

 per bounds ; because to do justice to a 

 subject of that concernment to the British 

 nation, requires a very ample and distinct 

 discussion. We shall, However, observe, 

 that since the coasts of Great Britain and 

 Ireland abound with the most valuable 

 fish; and since fisheries, if successful, 

 become permanent nurseries for breeding 

 expert seamen ; it is a duty we owe to 

 our country, for its natural security, to 

 extend this trade to the utmost. No na- 

 tion can have a navy, where there is not 

 a fund of business to breed and employ 

 seamen, without any expense to the pub- 

 lic ; and no trade is so well calculated for 

 training up these useful members of tiiis 

 society as fisheries. 



The situation of the British coasts is 

 the most advantageous for catching fish 

 in the world ; the Scottish islands, parti- 

 cularly those to the north and west, lie 

 most commodious for carrying on the 

 fishing trade to perfection ; for no country 

 in Europe can pretend to come up to 

 Scotland in the abundance of the finest 



