FHA 
TOVRCHE'E, or fourchy, in heraldry, 
an appellation given to a cross forked at the 
ends. 
Fourche'e, or four chine, in law, signifies 
the delaying or putting oil an action, "which 
might have been brought to determination 
in a sh rter time. 
FOURTEENTH, in music the octave, 
or replicate, of the seventh. A distance 
comprehending thirteen diatonic inter- 
vals. 
FOURTH, in music, a distance compris- 
ing three diatonic intervals : i. c. two tones 
and a half. 'The fourth is the third of the 
consonances in the order of their genera- 
tion. 
Lesser Fourth, an interval consisting of 
five semitones. 
Greater or sharp Fourth, an interval con- 
sisting ofsix semitones. 
FOX. .See Canis. 
Fox-glove. See Digitalis. 
FRACTION. See Algebra and Arith- 
metic. 
FRACTURE, in surgery, a rupture of a 
bone, or a solution of continuity in a bone, 
when it is crushed or broken by some exter- 
nal cause. See Surgery. 
FRAGARIA, the strawberry ; a genus of 
the polvgynia order, in the icosandria class of 
plants ; and in the natural method ranking 
under the 35th order, senticosax The calyx 
is decemlid ; the petals five ; the receptacle 
of the seeds ovate, in the form of a berry and 
deciduous. There are three species, but only 
one is deserving of particular notice, viz. 1. 
the vesca, or "cultivated strawberry. The 
principal varieties are, 1. The svlveslris, or 
wood strawberry, with oval sawed leaves, 
and small round fruit. 2. The Virginian 
scarlet, or Virginia strawberry with oblong 
oval sawed leaves, and a roundish scarlet co- 
loured fruit. 3. The mosChatta, or hautboy, 
or musky strawberry, having oval, lanceolate 
rough leaves, and large pale red fruit. 4. 
The chiloensis, or Chili strawbery, of which the 
Carolina is a variety with large, oval, thick, 
downy leaves, large flowers, and very large 
firm fruit. 5. The alpina, alpine, or monthly 
strawberry, having small oval leaves, small 
Rowers, and moderate-sized, oblong, pointed 
fruit. All these varieties are hardy, low, pe- 
rennials, durable in root ; but the leaves and 
fruit-stalks are renewed annually in spring. 
They flower in May and June, and their fruit 
comes to perfection in June, July, and Au- 
gust; the alpine kind continuing till thebe- 
ginning of winter. They all thrive in any 
common garden soil, producing abundant 
crops annually without much trouble. They 
increase exceedingly every summer, both by 
off-sets or suckers from the sides of the plants, 
and by the runners or strings, all of these 
rooting and forming plants at everv joint, 
each of which separately planted bears a few 
fruit the following year, and bear in great per- 
fection the succeeding summer. Those of 
the alpine kind will even bear fruit the same 
year that they are formed. All the sorts are 
commonly cultivated in kitchen-gardens, in 
beds or borders of common earth, in rows 
lengthwise 15 or 18 inches distance; the plants 
the same distance from one another in each 
row. Patches of the different sorts, disposed 
here and there in the fronts of tke different 
compartments of the pleasure-ground, will 
F 11 A 
appear ornamental both in their flowers and 
fruit, and make an agreeable variety. Straw- 
berries, eaten either alone, or with sugar and 
cream, are universally esteemed a most deli- 
cious fruit » They arc grateful, cooling, sub- 
acid, and juiev. Though taken in large 
quantities, they seldom disagree. They pro- 
mote perspiration, impart a violet smell to 
the urine, and dissolve the tartareous incrus- 
tations on the teeth. People afflicted with 
the gout or stone have found relief by using 
them very largely; and Hoffman says, he 
has known consumptive people cured by 
them. The bark of the root is astringent. 
Sheep and goats eat the plant : cows are not 
fond of it; horses and swine refuse it. 
II. Themonophylla, or simple leaved straw- 
berry, produces also esculent fruit, and differs 
from the former species only in the leaf. 
III. The steriiis, or barren strawberry, is 
destitute of fruit, though it perfects seed. 
FR/ENUM, in anatomy, a term applied 
to some membranous ligaments of the body. 
Frajnum linguae, the ligament under 
the tongue, which sometimes ties it down too 
close to the bottom of the mouth ; and then 
requires to be incised or divided, in order to 
give this organ its proper and free motion. 
FRAISE, in fortification, a kind of defence 
consisting of pointed stakes, six or seven feet 
long, driven parallel to the horizon into the 
retrenchments of a camp, a half-moon, See. 
and to prevent any approach or scalade. 
See Fortification 1 . 
FRANCHISE, in a general sense, a privi- 
lege or exemption from ordinary jurisdiction; 
as that for a corporation to hold' pleas among 
themselves to such a value, or the like. 
Franchises and liberties being usually held 
by charter, are all said to be derived from the 
crown, but some lie in prescription without 
the help of any charter. 
Franchise royal, seems to be that 
where the king’s writ does not run ; hut 
Bracton says, that a franchise royal is where 
the king grants to one and his heirs an ex- 
emption of toll, Sec. 
Franchise of quarters, a certain 
place or district at Rome, wherein are the 
houses of the ambassadors of the princes of 
Europe ; and where such as retire cannot be 
arrested or seized by the sbirri or serjeants, 
nor prosecuted at law. Several of the popes 
published their bulls and ordinances against 
the abuse made of this privilege, which res- 
cued so considerable a part of the city, by 
the enlargement of these places, from their 
authority, and rendered them a retreat for 
the most abandoned persons. At last Inno- 
cent XI. expressly refused to receive any 
more ambassadors, but such as would make a 
formal renunciation of the franchise of quar- 
ters. 
FRANCISCAN MONKS, Friars’ Mi- 
nor, or Grey Friars, religious of the or- 
der of St. Francis, founded by him in the 
year 1209. 
The rule of the Franciscans, as established 
by St. Francis himself, is briefly this : they 
are to live in common, to observe chastity, 
and to pay r obedience to the pope and their 
superiors. Before they can be admitted into 
the order they are obliged to sell all they 
have, and give it to the poor : they are to 
perform a year’s noviciate, and when ad- 
mitted, never to quit the order on any account. 
F R A ;ri 
They &fe to fart from the feast of All Saints 
to the Nativity. This order has produced 
four popes, forty-two cardinals, and an infi- 
nite number of patriarchs. The Franciscans 
had sixty-three monasteries in England, one 
of which was In the parish of St. Nicholas i* 
London. Jt is said this order possessed (be- 
fore the French revolution) 40,000 monaste- 
ries, hermitages, or chapels, in the diflereut 
quarters of the globe. 
FRANK AEMOIGN, signifies a tenure 
by spiritual service, where lands or tenement 
were held by an ecclesiastical corporation, 
sole or aggregate, to them and their succes- 
sors, of some lord and his heirs, in free and 
perpetual alms. 
Frank fee, signifies the same thing a; 
holding lands and tenements in fee simple ; 
that is, to any person and his heirs^and not 
by such service as is required by antient de- 
mesne, but is pleaded at common law. 
Frank ferm, antiently signified lands 
charged in the nature of "the fee by feoff-* 
ment, Sec. out of the knight’s service for 
other certain yearly services. 
Frank fold, is where the lord has the 
liberty of folding his tenants’ sheep within 
his manor. 
F rank-incense, in chemistry. It is 
well known that a resinous juice exudes front 
the pinus svlveslris, or common Scotch lir, 
which hardens into tears. The same, ,or a 
similar exudation, appears in the spruce fir. 
These tears constitute the substance called 
thus, or common frankincense. See Resin 
and Pinus. 
Franklanguage, or lingua franca, a 
kind of jargon spoken on the Mediterranean, 
and particularly throughout the coasts and 
parts of the Levant, composed of Italian, 
Spanish, French, vulgar Greek, and other 
languages. 
Frank law; a word applied to the free 
and common law of the land, or the benefit a 
person has by it. 
Frank marriage, is where a person, 
seized in fee of lands or tenements, has given 
them to another with his daughter, sister, or 
some woman otherwise of kin to him, in free 
marriage, by virtue of which the husband and 
wife have an estate in special tail, and shall 
hold the land of the donor, discharged of all 
services, except fealty, to the fifth degree. 
Frank pledge, in our lavv, signifies a 
pledge or surety for the behaviour of free- 
men. According to the antient custom of 
England, for ihe preservation of the public 
peace, every free-born man, at the age of 
14, except religious persons, clerks, knights, 
anil their eldest sons, was obliged to give se- 
curity for his truth and behaviour towards the 
king and his subjects, or else be imprisoned. 
Accordingly, a certain number of neighbours 
became interchangeably bound for each 
other, to see each person of their pladge 
forthcoming at all times, or to answer for the 
offence of any one gone away ; so that when- 
ever any person offended, it was presently 
inquired in what pledge he was ; and there 
the persons bound either produced the of- 
fender in 31 days, or made satisfaction for his. 
offence. 
Frank, or Franc, an antient coin, either 
of gold or silver, struck and current in 
France. The value of the gold frank, was 
somewhat more than that of the gold cro'wu ; 
