fuse-plug 
fuse-plug (fuz'plug), n. A wooden or metallic 
case made to hold the fuse employed to explode 
the charge in a shell. It is driven into the shell 1m- 
iiR-dhitely before service, and the fuse is inserted at the 
moment of tiring. See wooden fuse, under/<(*<'-. 
fuse-setter (fuz'sef'er), n. A cylinder of wood 
or brass with a recess in the end fitting the end 
of the fuse, used with a fuse-mallet in driving 
wooden fuses into shells when loading. 
fuse-wheel (fuz'hwel), n. Same as fusee 2 , 2. 
Thinking men considered how it [a clock] might he 
made portable, by some means answerable to a weight; 
and so instead of that put the spring UlA flue-wheel, which 
make a watch. -V. GVew, Cosmologia Sacra, II. vi. 86. 
fuse-wrench (fuz'rench), n. A T-shaped 
wrench used for inserting metallic fuse-plugs 
in shells. One arm is a screw-driver, one has forks to 
screw in the ping, and the third has forks to screw the 
water cap into the fuse. 
fusibility (fu-zi-bil'i-ti), . [=F. fusilrilite = 
Sp. fusibilidad = Pg" fusibilidade = It. fusibili- 
td ; 'as fusible + -ity : see -bility .] The quality 
of being fusible, or of being convertible from 
a solid to a fluid state by heat. 
I found, low down in the sandstone, a bed ... of a 
white, friable, harsh-feeling sediment, which adheres to 
the tongue, is of tufflutmaty, and of little specific grav- 
ity. Darwin, Geol. Observations, ii. 371. 
fusible (fu'zi-bl), a. [< ME. fusible, < OF. fusi- 
ble, F. fusible = Pr. Sp. fusible = Pg. fusicel = 
It. fusibile, < L. as if *fusibilis, < fundere, pp. 
fusiis, pour, melt : see/!<sel,/owj<Z 3 .] Capable 
of being fused, or melted or liquefied by the 
application of heat. The scale of fusibility of Von Ko- 
bell, used in mineralogy to define the approximate rela- 
tive fusibility of different minerals, is as follows : 1, stib- 
nite; 2, natrolite; 3, almandine garnet; 4, actinolite; 5, 
orthoclase ; 6, bronzite. 
The first is the River of Belus, . . . whose sand afford- 
eth matter for glasse, becommiug/i(xaM with the heat of 
the furnace. Sandys, Travailes, p. 159. 
The chemists define salt, from some of its properties, to 
be a body fusible in the fire, congealable again by cold 
into brittle globes or crystals. 
Arbuthnot, Aliments, p. 25. 
Fusible calculus. See calculus. Fusible conductors, 
short conductors of a metal which fuses at a low tempera- 
ture inserted in an electric circuit to protect other parts 
of the circuit from damage that might arise from an ex- 
cessive current. The short conductor melts when a mod- 
erately high temperature is reached, and thus breaks the 
circuit. Fusible metal, any alloy which melts at a low 
temperature. Such alloys usually contain bismuth. Fu- 
sible metal is used for safety-plugs, and occasionally for 
taking impressions from dies, etc. See bismuth, bell- 
metal, and Newton's metal and Rose's metal (under metal}. 
Fusible plug, in steam-engines, a plug of fusible metal 
placed in the skin of the boiler, intended to melt and 
allow the steam to escape when a dangerous heat is 
reached. Fusible porcelain, a silicate of alumina and 
soda obtained from cryolite and sand, fused and worked 
as glass. Wood's fusible alloy. See alloy. 
Fusicladium (fu-si-kla'di-um), n. [NL., < L. 
fusus, a spindle, + Or. tOMiav, dim. of K/ladof, a 
young shoot of a tree, a branch: see cladus.] 
A genus of hyphomycetous fungi, belonging to 
the Dematiei. The fertile hypha; are short, erect, and 
straight, somewhat fascicled, and the conidia continuous 
2419 
as the radish, and in zoology to joints, organs, 
marks, etc., which are broadest in the middle 
and diminish regularly and rapidly to the 
ends. 
I am not unacquainted with that/tMi/unn, spiral-wound 
bundle of chopped stems and miscellaneous incombusti- 
bles, the cigar. 0. W. Iloinies, Autocrat, v. 
A very great quantity of fusiform nervous cells. 
Alien, and Neural., VI. 317. 
2. In ichth., haying the dorsal and ventral con- 
tours symmetrical, and approximated to each 
other from a middle point toward each end, as 
the mackerel, tunny, and stickleback. Also 
fitKtite, fumid. Fusiform palpi, in entoin., those pal- 
pi in which the two terminal joints are cone-shaped with 
their broadest ends together. 
fusil 1 ! (fu'zil), n. [Formerly also fusel (also 
fusee : see fusee 1 ) ; < F. fusil, a steel for strik- 
ing fire (jet. pierre a fusil, a gun-flint), hence 
also a gun, musket (> Sp. fusil, firelock, a small 
musket, = Pg. fusil, a musket, fusil, a steel for 
striking fire), = It. facile, a steel for striking 
fire, fucile, a steel for striking fire, firelock, a 
musket, < ML. facile, a steel for striking fire, 
< L. focus, a fireplace, ML. fire (> F.feu, etc., 
fire): see focus, fuel.] A flint-lock musket: 
originally so called in English, to distinguish 
it from the matchlock previously in use, from 
the French name of the piece of steel against 
which the flint strikes fire. 
A small anonymous Military Treatise, printed in the 
year 1680, says the fusil or firelock was then in use in our 
army. Grose, Military Antiq., I. 159. 
Fusil de rempart [F., rampart gun], in the seventeenth 
century and later, a firearm adapted for use in defending 
fortifications. It was mounted on a swivel or some similar 
contrivance, and the stock was often made to fit the shoul- 
der for convenience of pointing ; the barrel was of great 
length, and the piece threw a ball an inch in diameter or 
even larger. 
fusil 2 (fu'zil), n. [Formerly also fusille ; < ML. 
*fusillus, fusellusC> F. fuseau), 
a spindle, dim. of L. fusus ( > It. 
Pg. fuso = Sp. huso = Pg. /MS), 
a spindle : see fusee^.] In her. : 
(a) A bearing differing from 
the lozenge in being longer in 
proportion to its breadth, and 
named from its shape, which 
resembles that of a spindle. 
This collar, . . . with its double fusittes interchanged 
with these knobs which are supposed to represent flint 
stones sparkling with nre, ... is the badge of the noble 
Order of the Golden Fleece. Scott, Kenilworth, vii. 
(6) A representation of a spindle covered with 
yarn. 
Heralds have not omitted this order or imitation there- 
of, whiles they symbolically adorn their scuchions with 
mascles, fusils, and saltyrs. 
Sir T. Browne, Garden of Cyrus, ii. 
fusiPt, fusilet (fu'zil), a. [< L. fusilis, fluid, 
liquid, molten, < fundere, pp. fusus, pour, melt: 
see fuse 1 and found 3 .'] 1. Capable of being 
melted or rendered fluid by heat. 
The liquid ore he drain 'd 
Into fit moulds prepared ; from which he form'd 
First his own tools : then, what might else be wrought 
Fusil or graven in metal. Milton, P. L., xi. 573. 
2. Running or flowing, as a liquid. 
Perpetual flames, 
O'er sand and ashes, and the stubborn flint, 
Prevailing, turn into & fusil sea. 
J. Philips, Cider, ii. 
Some . . . fancy these scapi that occur in most of the 
larger Gothick buildings of England are artificial, and will 
have it that they are a kind of fugil marble. 
Woodward, Essay towards a Nat. Hist, of the Earth. 
The Scab-fungus (Fusicladium dendriticum). 
a, an infested apple, showing scabs caused by the fungus ; *, portion 
of an infested leaf, showing the fungus in black patches ; c , section 
(highly magnified) of a diseased spot in the fruit, showing the spores 
of the fungus in position. 
or oftener uniseptate, and acrogenously produced. F. 
dendritimm is very common in Europe and America, 
causing the disease called scab on apples and pears. It 
grows on twigs, leaves, and fruit of apple- and pear-trees, 
often causing the fruit to fall when very young. In other 
cases it causes distortion, or produces a scab-like or gnarly 
appearance upon the fruit. 
Fusidae (fu'si-de), n. pi. [NL., < Fusus + -ida;.] 
A family of gastropods, named from the genus 
Fusus : same as Fasciolariidte. 
Fusidium (fu-sid'i-um), w. [NL., < L./MSMS, a 
spindle, + -idium.] A white hyphomycetous 
mold having short, simple hyphie and fusiform 
concatenate conidia, which are hyaline or light- 
ly tinted. The species grow on dead stems and 
leaves. 
fusiform (fu'si-form), a. [< L./MSMS, a spindle, 
+ forma, shape.] 1. Tapering both ways from 
the middle : applied in botany to certain roots, 
= 
< fusil, a musket: eee'fusil 1 .] Properly, a sol- 
dier armed with a fusil ; in general, an infantry 
soldier who bears firearms, as formerly distin- 
guished from a pikeman or an archer. The name 
is still retained by a regiment of the line in the British 
army (the 7th), called the Royal Fusiliers. 
fusillade (fu-zi-lad'), n. [< F. fiisillade = Pg. 
fuzilada (after U.fucilata), < fusilier (= li.fuci- 
lare = Pg.fueilar), shoot, < fusil, a musket : see 
fusil 1 .] A simultaneous or continuous dis- 
charge of musketry: sometimes used figura- 
tively. 
Then both men broke into a fusillade of excited and ad- 
miring ejaculations. 
S. L. Clemens, Life on Mississippi, p. 357. 
The men found relief in such fusillades of swearing as I 
had never before heard or even imagined. 
Geikie, Geol. Sketches, ii. 18. 
Those of them who had guns kept up a continued fusil- 
lade upon the koppie. Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 353. 
fusillade (fu-zi-lad'), v. t.; pret. and pp. fusil- 
InflcfJ, \>Tpr. fusillading. [<. fusillade, n.] To at- 
tack or shoot down by a fusillade. 
fusion 
Military execution on the instant : give them shriving 
if they want it; that done, fusillade them all. 
Carlyle, Sterling, i. 13. 
The Mahdi's adherents fusilladed his palace at Khar- 
toum. The Century, XXVIII. 660. 
fusillet, '" An obsolete form of fusil 2 . 
fusil!6e (F. pron. fu-ze-lya'), a. [Heraldic F., 
(.fusil 2 .] Same as /////. 
fusilly (fu'zi-li), u. [< F. fusillee.] In her., 
covered with fusils ; divided by diagonal lines 
bendwise dexter and sinister, but at more acute 
angles, so as to form fusils : said of the field. 
Fusilly bendy, having three, four, or more fusils touch- 
ing by their obtuse points, the whole series being arranged 
in the direction of the bend. 
fusil-mortar (fu'zil-m6r"tar), n. A small mor- 
tar fixed on a stock like tliat of a musket, for- 
merly used for throwing grenades. See hand- 
mortar. 
fusil-shapedt (fu'zil-shapt), a. Fusiform. 
Fusil-shaped spikes (of a Rowel-spur). 
J. Hewitt, Ancient Armour, II. 235. 
Fusinae (fu-si'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Fusus + 
-ince.] A subfamily of Fasciolariida;, typified 
by the genus Fusus, having a fusiform shell 
without varices, and the columella smooth, not 
plicate or tortuous ; the spindle-shells. See cut 
under Fusus. 
fusine (fu'sin), n. A gastropod of the subfamily 
Fusince. 
fusing-disk (fu'zing-disk), n. A flat circular 
plate of soft steel mounted on an axis and ro- 
tated with great rapidity, used for cutting metal 
bars. 
fusing-point (fu'zing-point), n. The degree of 
temperature at which a substance melts or li- 
quefies ; the point of fusion. See fusion. 
fusinist (fu'zin-ist), n. [< F.fusiniste, < fusain, 
spindle-tree, prickwood (crayon de fusain, or 
simply fusa in, charcoal-pencil), < ML. 'fusanus, 
< L. fusus, a spindle.] An artist who draws in 
charcoal. 
The modern art [of charcoal-drawing] is really a painter's 
art. ... It was first practised by some French painters. 
. . . Since their time the number of fusinistes has im- 
mensely increased in France. 
P. G. Hamerton, Graphic Arts, p. 158. 
fusion (fu'zhon), rc. [<ME. fusion, fuson, foison, 
etc., abundance (see foison), < OF. foison, fui- 
son, fuson, etc. ; in lit. sense < F. (after orig. 
L.) fusion = Pr.fusio = Sp. fusion = Pg. fusao, 
= It. fusione, < L. fusio(n-), a pouring out, 
founding (ML. also abundance, profusion), < 
fundere, fnp. fusus, pour, melt: see fuse 1 , found 3 , 
and cf. foison, a doublet of fusion.] 1. The 
act or operation of melting or rendering fluid 
by heat, without the aid of a solvent : as, the 
fusion of ice or of metals. 
After reduction [of iron] in platinum vessels by pure 
hydrogen, and fusion in lime crucibles by the oxyhydro- 
gen flame, . . . buttons of metal were obtained absolutely 
free from phosphorus. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 279. 
2. The state of being melted or dissolved by 
heat; a state of fluidity or flowing in conse- 
quence of heat : as, metals in fusion. 
Philosophers have taught that the planets were origi- 
nally masses of matter struck off in a state of fusion from 
the body of the sun. Paley, Nat. Theol., xxii. 
Hence 3. The act of uniting or blending to- 
gether, or the state of being united or blended, 
as if through melting; complete union, as of 
previously diverse elements or individuals. 
So far did the emperor advance in this work of fusion 
as to claim a place for himself among the Gaulish deities. 
Merivale. 
Important as was the union of Wessex and Mercia in 
itself as a step towards national unity, it led to a step yet 
more important in the fusion of the customary codes of 
the English peoples into a common law. 
./. It. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 139. 
The altruistic impulse is formed put of the social fusion 
and transmutation of the egoistic impulses. 
Maudsley, Body and Will, p. 252. 
Specifically 4. Inpolitics, the coalition of two 
parties or factions. 
In New Jersey the refusal of part of the Douglas men 
to support the Fusion ticket . . . had allowed four of the 
Lincoln electors to slip in over the two Bell and the two 
Breckinridge electors on the regular Democratic ticket. 
U. Greeley, Amer. Conflict, I. 328. 
5f. Abundance; plenty; profusion: same as 
foison. 
Labourers had plente and fuson. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1113. 
Off vitaill and wines saw he gret fusion, 
Which tho was had in this garnyson. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5466. 
Aqueous or watery fusion, the melting of certain crys- 
tals by heat in their own water of crystallization. Dry 
fusion, the liquefaction produced in salts by heat after 
the water of crystallization has been expelled.- Igneous 
