F'UL 
FUL' 
figure of the insect by its own light. On 
examination, however, we cannot iind the 
least authority for this declaration on the part 
of madam Merian, who relates only what is 
above stated, with the observation that the 
light of one of the insects is sufficient to read 
a common newspaper by. It may be proper 
to add, that this celebrated lady falls into a 
mistake in supposing that a species ot cicada, 
which she represents on the same plate with 
the lantern-fly, was its larva ; and that it gra- 
dually was transformed into the fulgora. 
This information indeed she merely gives as 
the popular report, but at the same time 
takes the liberty of representing the insect 
in its supposed half-complete state, with tne 
head of the fulgora, and the wings and body 
of the cicada. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 211. 
2. The fulgora candelaria is, a much small- 
er species than the preceding, and is a native 
of China. It measures nearly two inches in 
length, and two inches and a half in breadth, 
with the wings expanded : the body is oval, 
and the head produced into a long horn- 
shaped process; the* colours are very ele- 
gant, the head and horn being ot a fine red- 
dish brown or purple, and covered with nu- 
merous white specks ot a mealy appearance ; 
the thorax is of a deep or orange-yellow, 
and the body black above, but deep yellow 
beneath; the wings are oval, the upper pair 
blackish, with very numerous and c ose-set 
green reticulations, dividing tne whole sur- 
face into innumerable squares or marks, and 
are farther decorated bv several yellow bars 
and spots; the under wings are orange- 
coloured, with broad black tips. 
3. Fulgora diadema is an Indian species, 
and is distinguished by having a long, spiny, 
or muricated front, with a triple division at 
the tip ; its colour is brown, with red and 
yellow variegations ; it seems to have been 
first described and figured in the work ot 
Seba : in size it is nearly similar to that ot 
the preceding species. 
FULICA, the gallinule and coot, in orni- 
thology, a genus of birds of the order of gral- 
]je. ft has a convex bill, with the upper 
mandible fornicated owr the lower at the 
edge; the lower mandible is gibbous behind 
the tip. The forehead is bald, and the feet 
have four toes, subpinnated. There are 25 
species, 13 of which belong to tire gallinule 
division, distinguished by having the toesiur- 
nlshed with broad scalloped membranes, and 
seven comprehend the coots v.hicn have the 
toes divided to their origin. The following 
species are among the most distinguished: 
1. The chloropus, or common gallinule, is 
in length about 14 inches, and lias a bald 
forehead and broad fiat toes. It gets its food 
on grassy banks, and borders near fresh wa- 
ters, and in the very waters if they are weedy. 
It builds upon low trees and shrubs by the 
water-side, breeding twice or thrice in a sum- 
mer, and, when the young are grown up, 
drives them away to shift for themselves. 
This bird strikes with its bill like a hen, and 
in the spring has a shrill call. In flying, it 
hangs down its legs; in running, it often 
flirts up its tail, and shows the white feathers. 
We may observe, that the bottoms of its 
toes are so, very flat and broad that it seems 
to be the bird' which connects the cloven- 
footed aquatics with the next tribe, viz. the 
fm-toed. It is pretty common on the con- 
! tinent, though in some parts more scarce 
than in others. It is also an inhabitant oi 
America, from New York to Carolina, and 
is recorded as a native of Jamaica and other 
islands in the West Indies. It is said to feed 
on plants and small fish, and the flesh is for 
the most part pretty good. See Plate Nat. 
Hist. tig. 213. 
2. The porphyrio, or purple gallinule, is 
about the size of a domestic fowl, or 17 in- 
ches in length. It is more or less common 
in all the warmer parts of the globe. On the 
coasts of Barbary they abound, as well as in 
some of the islands ot the Mediterranean. In 
Sicily they are bred in plenty, and kept for 
their beauty ; but whether indigenous there, 
is uncertain. It is frequently met with in 
various parts of the south of Russia and the 
western parts of Siberia, among reedy places: 
in the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea it is 
not uncommon ; but in the cultivated rice 
grounds of Ghilar in Persia,, it is in great 
plenty and high plumage. The female 
makes her nest among the reeds in the mid- 
dle of March ; lays three or four eggs, and 
sits from three to four weeks. It wifi feed 
on many things, such as fruit, roots of plants, 
and grain; but will eat fish with avidity, dip- 
ping them into the water before it swallows 
them. It will frequently stand on one leg, 
and lift the food to its mouth with the other 
like a parrot. A pair of these kept in an 
aviary in France made a nest of small sticks 
mixed with a quantity of straw, and laid six 
white eggs, perfectly round; but the hen 
was careiess of them, and they came to no- 
thing. The flesh is said to be exquisite in 
flavour. 
3. The atra or common coot, has a bald 
forehead, a black body, and lobated toes, 
and is about 15 inches in length. They fre- 
quent lakes and still rivers; making their 
nests among the rushes, with grass, reeds, 
&c. floating on the water, so as to rise and 
fall with it.' They lay five or six large eggs, 
of a dirty whitish hue, sprinkled over with 
minute clecp rust- coloured spots; and it is 
said that sometimes they will lay l4or more 
eggs. The young, when just hatched, are 
very deformed, and the head mixed with a 
red* coarse down. In winter they often re-, 
pair to the sea; and the channel near Sou h- 
ampton is sometimes observed almost cover- 
ed with them. They are often brought to 
that market, where they are exposed to sale 
without their feathers, and scalded like pigs. 
This species is not so numerous as might be 
expected; for we find that vast numbers fall 
a prey while young to the buzzards, which 
frequent the marshes. Their tood is small 
fish and water-insects ; but they will some- 
times eat the roots of the bulrush, and with 
it feed the young: they are said likewise to 
eat grain. This species is supposed to ex- 
tend throughout the old continent, and per- 
haps the new also. 
4. The aterrima, or greater coot, is of a 
larger size than the last, and its plumage is 
blacker. This species is said to be found in 
Lancashire and Scotland; but is more plen- 
tiful on the continent, being found in Russia 
and the western parts of Siberia very com- 
mon. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 212. 
FULLER, a workman employed in the 
woollen manufactories to mill or scour cloths, 
serges, and other stuff*, in order to render 
F U L 783 
them more thick, compact, and durable. See 
Fulling. 
FULLER’S Earth, in natural history, a 
species of clay, of a greyish ash-colouted 
brown, in all degrees from very pale to al- 
most black, and it lias generally something 
of a greenish cast. It is very hard and firm, 
of a compart texture, of a rough and some- 
what dusty surface that adheres slightly to 
the tongue. It is very soft to the touch, not 
staining the hands, nor breaking easily be- 
tween the fingers. It has a little harshness 
between the teeth, and melts freely in the 
mouth. Thrown into water, it makes no 
ebullition or hissing; but swells gradually in 
bulk, and falls into a fine soft powder. It 
makes no effervescence with nitrous acid. 
A specimen from Hampshire, analysed by 
Bergman, contained 
51.8 silica 
25.0 alumina x 
3.3 carbonat of lime 
3.7 oxyd of iron 
0.7 carbonat of magnesia 
15.5 moisture 
100.0 
This earth is used by fullers to take grease 
out of their cloth before they apply soap. It 
.is essential to fuller’s earth that the particles 
of silica should be very fine, otherwise they 
would cut the cloth. Any clay possessed of 
this property may be considered as fuller's 
earth ; lor it is the alumina alone which acts 
upon the cloth, on account of its strong affi- 
nity for greasy substances. 
FULLING, the art or act of cleansing,, 
scouring, and pressing cloths, stuffs, and 
stockings, to render them stronger, closer, 
and firmer; called also milling. The fulling 
of cloths and other stuffs is performed by a 
kind of water-mill, thence called a fulling or 
scouring-mill. These mills, except in what 
relates to the mill-stones and hopper, are 
much the same with corn-mills: and there 
are even some which serve indifferently for 
either use; corn being ground, and cloths 
fulled, by the motion of the same wheel. 
Whence in some places, particularly, in 
France, the fullers are called millers;, as 
grinding corn and milling stuffs at the s-ame 
time. 
The principal parts of the fulling-mill are: 
the wheel, with its trundle; which gives mo- 
tion to the tree or middle, whose teeth com- 
municate it to the pestles or stampers, which 
are hereby raised and made to fall alternate- 
ly, according as its teeth catch on or quit a. 
kind of latch in the middle of each pestle. 
The pestles and troughs are of wood ; eacli 
trough having at least two, sometimes three, 
pestles, at the discretion of the master, or ac- 
cording to the force of the stream ot water. 
In these troughs are laid the cloths, stuffs, 
Ac. intended to be fulled: then, letting the 
current of water fall on the wheel, the pest les 
are successively let fall thereon, and by then- 
weight and velocity stamp and press the 
stuffs very strongly,* which by this means be- 
come thickened and condensed. In the 
course of the operation, they sometimes 
make use of urine, sometimes of fuller’s 
earth, and sometimes of soap. To prepare 
the stuffs to receive the first impressions of 
the pestle, they are usually laid in urine; 
then m fuller’s earth and water ; and, lastly, 
