FUL 



FUL 



furnaces so, that heat may be obtained 

 from the volatile parts of the fuel, as well 

 as from the fixed ; for when this is done, 

 less fuel serves the purpose than would 

 otherwise be necessary. But this is lit- 

 tle attended to, or ill understood, in many 

 of those manufactories. It is not uncom- 

 mon to see vast clouds of black smoke 

 and vapour coming out of their vents. 

 This happens in consequence of their 

 throwing- too large a quantity of crude 

 fuel into the furnace at once. The heat 

 is not sufficient to inflame it quickly, 

 and the consequence is a great loss of 

 heat. See LABORATOY. 



FUGUE, in music, signifies a compo- 

 sition, in which one part leads off some 

 determined succession of notes called the 

 subject, which, after being answered in 

 the fifth and eighth by the other parts, is 

 interspersed through the movement, and 

 distributed amid all the parts in a desul- 

 tory manner, at the pleasure of the com- 

 poser. There are three distinct descrip- 

 tions of fugues : the simple, which con- 

 tains but one subject ; the double, that 

 which consists of two subjects ; and 

 the counter fugue, is that in which the 

 subjects move in a direction contrary to 

 each other. 



FUIRENA, in botany, so named in me- 

 mory of George Fuiren, a genus of the 

 Triandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Calamariae. Cyperoi- 

 deae, Jussieu. Essential character: ament 

 imbricate, with awned scales ; calyx 

 none ; corolla with three-petal shaped 

 obcordate glumes, ending in a tendril. 

 There is but one species, viz. F. panicu- 

 lata, a lofty grass. Native of Surinam 

 and Jamaica. 



FULCRUM, in mechanics, the prop or 

 support, by which a lever is sustained. 

 See MECHANICS. 



FULGORA, in natural history, lantern- 

 fy, a genus of insects of the order Hemip- 

 tera. Head hollow, inflated, extended 

 forward ; antenna short, seated beneath 

 the eyes, consisting of two joints, the 

 outer one larger and globular; snout 

 elongated, inflected, four-jointed ; legs 

 formed for walking. There are about 25 

 species, most of which inhabit hot cli- 

 mates. Mr. Donovan has described the 

 F. Europxa ; the body of which is green ; 

 wings hyaline, reticulate ; front conic. 

 This is a small insect, and destitute of the 

 shining quality, by which foreign species 

 are distinguished. But the F. lanternaria, 

 or Peruvian lantern-fly, is one of the most 

 curious of insects i it is three inches long, 

 and the breadth between the tips of the 



VOL. V. 



expanded wings is about five or six in- 

 ches. This beautiful insect is a native of 

 Surinam and other parts of South Ame- 

 rica, and during the night it diffuses so 

 strong a phosphoric splendour from its 

 head, which is nearly as large as the rest 

 of the body, that it may be employed for 

 the purpose of a candle or torch. 



Some have asserted that these insects 

 were a source of much alarm to the 

 Spaniards when newly arrived in South 

 America. Observing one night a number 

 of lights passing to and fro with much 

 rapidity in the forest, they betook them- 

 selves precipitately to their ships, fearing 

 an immediate attack from the natives, and 

 were much chagrined, when they disco- 

 vered the source of their alarm to be the 

 light of this insect. 



FULICA, theu#mufeand the coo?, in 

 natural history, a genus of birds of the 

 order Grallx. Generic character : bill 

 strong, thick, and sloping to the point; 

 upper mandible arched over the lower at 

 the edge, and reaching far up the fore- 

 head : nostrils nearly oval ; front bald , 

 toes four, long, and furnished with broad 

 scalloped membranes. There are twen- 

 ty-five species. 



F. atra-coot, is distinguished from the 

 gallinule by pinnated feet. It inhabits 

 Europe, Asia, and America, and is about 

 the size of a small fowl. It feeds oft 

 small fish and water insects, is common 

 in some parts of this country at all sea- 

 sons, but in the breeding season is seen 

 almost always in pairs, about the borders 

 of ponds and lakes well fringed with 

 rushes, of which it mats itself a large 

 nest, said to be often observed floating on 

 the water. These birds are devoured 

 when young by the buzzards, which in- 

 fest their haunts, and prevent them from 

 that great multiplication which might be 

 otherwise expected. Rallus crex, or the 

 crake gallinule, is found in various parts 

 of Europe, and is particularly abundant 

 in Ireland, where it is supposed by 

 Latham to winter. Wherever quails are, 

 the crake is to be met with. It runs fast, 

 but flies with great awkwardness, with its 

 legs hanging down. Its food is grain and 

 insects. On its arrival in England, where 

 it is migratory, it is poor and emaciated, 

 but fattens afterwards with great rapidi- 

 ty, and is esteemed excellent for the 

 table. Its full weight is about eight 

 ounces. 



F. porphyrio, or the purple water-hen, 

 occurs in almost all the warmer latitudes 

 of the globe. It is of the size of a fowl ; 

 in Sicily it is kept merely for its beauty, 



Hh 



