F L E 
F L E 
FLEAM, in surgery and farriery, an in- 
strument for letting a horse or other ani- 
mal blood. See Fa trier y. 
, FLEECE, the covering of wool; shorn off 
the bodies of sheep. See \\ ool. 
Fleece, order of the golden, an order ol 
knighthood instituted by Philip If. duke ot 
Burgundy. These knights at first Were 
twenty-four, besides the duke himself, who 
reserved the nomination of six more : but 
Charles V. increased them to fifty. lie gave 
the guardianship of this order to ins son Phi- 
llip king of Spain, since which the Spanish 
monarchs are chiefs of the order. Ihe 
knights had three different mantles ordained 
them at the grand solemnity, tire collar, and 
fleece. 
FLEECY-IIOSIERY, a very useful kind 
of manufacture, in which line fleeces ot wool 
are interwoven into a cotton piece of the 
common stocking texture. The following is 
the specification of the patent granted to Mr. 
Holland, of Broad-street, Bloomsbury, in the 
county of Middlesex, for a method ot mak- 
ing stockings, socks, waistcoats, and other 
clothing, for persons afflicted with complaints 
requiring warmth, and .for common use in 
cold climates, and for making false or downy 
calves in stockings. 
“ Having in the common stocking-frame, 
twisted silk, cotton-yarn, flaxen or hempen 
thread, worsted or woollen yarn, or any such- 
like twisted or spun materials, begin the work 
in the common manner of manufacturing ho- 
siery, and having worked one or more course 
or courses in the common way, begin to add 
a coating, thus: draw the frame over the 
arch, and then hang wool or jersey, raw or 
unspun, upon the beards ot the needles, and 
slide the same off their beards upon then- 
stems, till it comes exactly under the nibs of 
the sinkers ; then sink the jacks and sinkers, 
and bring forward the frame, till the wool or 
jersey is drawn under the beards of the nee- 
dles, and having done this, draw the frame 
over the arch, and place a thread of spun 
materials upon the needles (under the nibs 
of the sinkers), and proceed in finishing the 
course in the usual way ol manufacturing ho- 
siery with spun materials. Any thing manu- 
factured in this way has, on the one side, the 
appearance of common hosiery, and on the 
other side the appearance ot raw wool. 1 he 
raw or unspun materials may be worked in 
with every course, or with every second, 
third, or other course or courses, in quantity 
proportioned to the warmth and thickness 
required. The above-mentioned raw or un- 
spun materials may be fixed also thus : hav- 
ing drawn the frame over the arch, hang 
them upon the beards of the needles, slide 
them off the beards upon their stems, and 
without sinking the jacks and sinkers, draw 
the frame off the arch; and bring tire raw or 
unspun materials forward under the beards of 
the needles ; then draw the same over the 
arch, and proceed in finishing the course, as 
before-directed. The said raw or unspun 
materials may be fixed likewise thus : hang 
them upon the beards of the needles, with- 
out having the frame over the arch, and slide 
them off their beards upon their stems ; then 
bring forward the frame till the raw or un- 
spun materials are drawn under the beards of 
the needles, and, having done this, draw the 
frame over the arch, and proceed in finishing 
F L E 
the course as before directed. Hosiery may 
be coated by any of these methods, not only 
with wool or jersey, but also with silk, cot- 
ton, flax, hemp, hair, or other things of the 
like nature, raw or unspun, but the method 
first described lixes them most firmly. The 
common stocking-frame is mentioned above, 
but any other frame, upon a similar princi- 
ple, may answer the purpose. The method 
of making the false or downy calves in stock- 
ings, is by working raw or unspun wool, or 
jersey, or any other raw or imspun mate- 
rials, into the calves of stockings, in the dif- 
ferent methods before described, and to any 
required form or thickness.” the latter use 
to which this invention is applied, we may be 
allowed to say, is so mew-hat ludicrous. 
FLEET, commonly implies a company of 
ships of war, belonging to any prince or 
state ; but sometimes it denotes any number 
of trading-ships, employed in a particular 
branch of commerce. 
In sailing, a fleet of men of war is usually 
divided Into three squadrons; the admiral’s, 
the vice-admiral’s, and the rear-admiral’s 
squadron, all which, being distinguished by 
their flags and pendants, are to put them- 
selves, and, as near as may be, to keep them- 
selves in their customary places, viz. the ad- 
miral, with his squadron, to sail in the van, 
that so he may lead the way to all the rest in 
the day-time/ by the sight of his flag on the 
maintopmast-head ; and in tire night-time by 
his lights or lanterns. The vice-admiral and 
his squadron are to sail in the centre, or middle 
of the fleet. The rear-admiral, and the ships 
of his squadron, to bring up the rear. But 
sometimes other divisions are made; and 
those composed of the lighter ships and the 
best sailers, are placed as wings to the van, 
centre, and rear. 
Merchant-fleets generally take their deno- 
mination from the place they are bound to, 
as the Turkey fleet, East India fleet, &c. 
These, in time of peace, go in fleets for their 
mutual aid and assistance : in time ot war, 
besides this security, they likewise procure 
convoys of men of war, either to escort 
them to the places whither they are bound, 
or only a part of the way, to a certain place 
or latitude, beyond which they are judged 
out of danger of privateers, & c. 
Fleet, a prison in London, to which 
persons are committed for contempt of the 
king and his law-s, particularly of his courts of 
justice: or for debt, where any person will 
not, or is unable to pay his creditors, i here 
are large rules, and a warden belonging to 
the Fleet prison, which had its name from the 
float or fleet of the river or ditch on the side 
whereof it stands. 
FLESH, in anatomy, a fibrous part of 
an animal body, soft and bloody, being that 
of which most of the other parts are com- 
posed, and by which they are connected to- 
gether: or, more properly, it is that part 
of the body where the blood-vessels are so 
small, as only to retain blood enough to pre- 
serve their colour red. 
By chemical analysis it is found that mus- 
cular flesh is composed of a great number of 
fibres or threads, commonly of a reddish or 
whitish colour ; but its appearance is too well 
known to require any description. Hitherto 
it has not been subjected to a perfectly ac- 
curate chemical analysis. Mr. Thou v end, 
JT4» 
indeed, has published a very valuable disser- 
tation on the subject ; and it is to him that 
we are indebted for almost all the facts known 
concerning the composition of muscle. Some 
additions have also been made by M. Four- 
croy. And Mr. Hatchett has not neglected 
this part of the subject in his interesting dis- 
sertations on animal substances. 
It is scarcely possible to separate the muscle 
from all the other substances with which it is 
mixed. A quantity of fat often adheres to it 
closely ; blood pervades the whole of it: and 
every fibre is enveloped in a particular thin 
membranous matter/which anatomists distin- 
guish by the name of cellular substance. 
The analysis of the muscle, then, cannot be 
supposed to exhibit an accurate view of the 
composition of pure muscular fibre, but only 
of muscular fibre not perfectly separated 
from other substances. 
When a muscle is cut in small pieces, and 
well washed with water, the blood and other 
liquids contained in it are separated, and part 
of the muscular substance is also dissolved. 
The muscle, by this process, is converted into 
a white fibrous substance, still retaining the 
form of the original body. The water as- 
sumes the colour w hich results from mixing 
water with some blood. When heated it co-v 
gulates ; brown flakes swim on the surface, 
consisting of albumen combined with the co- 
louring matter of the blood ; some iibrina 
likewise precipitates. If the evaporation is 
continued, more albumen precipitates, and 
at last the whole assumes the form of a jelly. 
When evaporated to dryness, and treated 
with alcohol, the gelatine thus formed, toge- 
ther with a little phosphat of soda and of am- 
monia, remain undissolved; but the alcohol 
dissolves a peculiar extractive matter, first 
observed by Thouvenel. This matter may- 
be obtained by evaporating the alcohol to 
dryness. It has a reddish-brown colour, a: 
strong acrid taste, and an aromatic odour. It 
is soluble botli in water and alcohol ; and 
when its watery solution is very much con- 
centrated, it assumes an acid and bitter taste. 
It swells upon hot coals, and melts, emitting 
an acid and penetrating smell. It attracts 
moisture from the air, and forms a saline ef- 
florescence. In a hot atmosphere it becomes 
sour and putrefies. When distilled it yields 
an acid partly combined with ammonia. 
If the muscle, after being thus treated with 
cold w ater, is boiled for a sufficient time in 
water, an additional portion of the same sub- 
stances is separated from it. Some albu- 
men collects on the surface in the form of 
scum, accompanied with melted fat. The 
water, when sufficiently concentrated by 
evaporation, assumes the form of a jelly. 
When evaporated to dryness, and treated 
with alcohol, the gelatine and phosphoric 
salts remain, while the extractive matter of 
Thouvenel is dissolved, and may beobtained 
by evaporating to dryness. It is by this pro- 
cess that it is procured in a sufficient quantity 
for examination, cold water abstracting only 
a very small portion from the muscle. 
The muscle, thus treated with water, is left 
in the state of grey fibres, insoluble in water, 
and becoming brittle when dry. This sub- 
stance possesses all the properties of fibrina. 
From these facts, ascertained by Thouve- 
nel and Fourcroy, it appears that the muscles 
are composed chiefly of fibrina, to which 
they owe their fibrous structure and their. 
