FUM 



FUN 



and stretched. This done, the cloth isim, 

 mediately returned into the same trough, 

 without any new soap, andthenfulled two 

 hours more. Then taking 1 it out, they 

 wring it well, to express all the grease 

 and filth. After the second fulling, the re- 

 mainder of the soap is dissolved as in the 

 former, and cast four different times on 

 the cloth, remembering to take out the 

 cloth every two hours to stretch it, and 

 undo the plates and wrinkles it has acquir- 

 ed in the trough. When,they perceive it 

 sufficiently fulled, and brought to the qua- 

 lity and thickness required, they scour it 

 m water, keeping it in the trough till it is 

 quite clean. As to white cloths, as these 

 full more easily and in less time than co- 

 loured ones, a third part of the soap may 

 be spared. 



FULMIANTION, in chemistry, differs 

 from detonation only in degree; they are 

 both the effects of rapid decomposition, 

 accompanied by a loud noise, either with 

 or without flame. See GOLD, MERCUHY, 

 POWDEII, SILVER. 



FUMAR1A, in botany, English fumito- 

 ry, a genus of the Diadelphia Hexandria 

 class and order. Natural order of Cory- 

 dales. Papaverace<E, Jussieu. Essential 

 character ; calyx two-leaved ; corolla rin- 

 gent; filamentstwo,membranaceous, with 

 three anthers on each. There are fifteen 

 species. 



FUMIGATION, in medicine, a process 

 by means of which the nitrous and other 

 mineral acids, in a state of vapour, is dis- 

 persed through the apartments of those 

 who lie sick of infectious fevers. This 

 method of destroying contagion,in crowd- 

 ed places, was first brought into practice 

 by Dr. Carmichael S my lh,who,having giv- 

 en some striking proofs of its efficacy, re- 

 ceived a reward from parliament. When 

 this fumigation is undertaken on board 

 ships, the ports and scuttles are closed, a 

 number of pipkins, containing hot sand, 

 are procured, and into each is plunged a 

 ;imall tea-cup, containing half an ounce of 

 sulphuric acid. As soon as the acid is pro- 

 perly heated, an equal quantity of pulve- 

 rised nitre is added, and the mixture stir- 

 red with a glass rod. The vapour result- 

 ing from the decomposition of nitre 

 ascends, and is by the nurses conducted to 

 every part of the apartment, which not 

 only abates the malignity of the fever, but 

 effectually stops the progress of infection. 

 In a late volume of the " Annales de Chy- 

 mie," we have some striking facts of the 

 efficacy of fumigation, according to the 

 method of M. Guyton de Morveau, who 

 makes use of sulphuric acid, sea-salt, and 

 manganese. It has been tried, and conv 



pletely succeeded in stopping the pro- 

 gress of the rot among sheep : it has de- 

 stroyed the putrid odours arising from, 

 meat in the worst possible state, as well as 

 having been eminently successful in the 

 cure of the most alarming fevers, and pre- 

 venting the effects of contagion. 



FUNARIA, in botany a genus of the 

 Cryptogamia Musci class and order. Cap- 

 sule obovate ; fringe double ; outer, of 16 

 oblique wedge-form teeth,cohering at the 

 tips ; inner, a membrane divided into 16 

 flat teeth ; veil square. There are three 

 species. 



FUNCTION, in algebra, denotes any 

 compound quantity; and when one of the 

 componeat quantities is variable, it is said 

 to be a variable function. 



Functions are formed either by addi- 

 tion, subtraction, multiplication, division, 

 involution, or evolution; as also by the re- 

 solution of equations. But besides these, 

 which are called algebraical functions, 

 there are others called transcendental, 

 arising from the management of expo- 

 nents, logarithms, &c. 



FUNDS, public, the taxes or other pub- 

 lic revenues appropriated to the payment 

 of the interest or principal of the national 

 debt. When the expedient of borrowing 

 large sums for the public service was first 

 adopted, it was found necessary to set 

 apart and assign to the lender the pro- 

 duce of some branch of the revenue, sup- 

 posed to be adequate to the payment of 

 the interest or principal, or both, accord- 

 ing to the terms of the contract ; each 

 loan had thus a separate fund provided for 

 it, which was usually distinguished by the 

 date of the transaction, the rate per cent, 

 payable, or some circumstance relating to 

 the mode of raising the money,or the pur- 

 pose to which it was to be applied. These 

 separate funds sometimes produced more 

 than the yearly payments with which they 

 were charged, but more frequently fell 

 short of them ; and as making good the 

 deficiencies of some, from the surpluses 

 of others, or from the current supplies, 

 created much trouble and useless intrica- 

 cy in the management of the public fi- 

 nances, it was found more convenient to 

 combine several of the funds, and to 

 charge the payments for which they had 

 been set apart on the aggregate produce 

 of the several duties. It then became ne- 

 cessary to give a more general deno- 

 mination to the fund: and thus have been 

 established, at different periods, the Ag- 

 gregate Fund, the South Sea Fund, the 

 General Fund, the Sinking Fund, and the 

 Consolidated Fund. 



The Aggregate Fund was established 



