FUM 
trough, without any new soap, and then fulled 
two hours more. Then taking it out, they 
wring it well, to express all the grease and 
filth. After the second fulling, the remain- 
der 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 plaits 
and wrinkles it has acquired in the trough. 
When they perceive it sufficiently fulled, 
and brought to the quality and thickness 
required, they scour it in 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 coloured ones, a third part of 
the soap may be spared. 
FULMINATION, in chemistry, differs 
from detonation only in degree, they are 
both the effects of rapid decomposition 
accompanied by a loud noise, cither with or 
without flame. See Gold, Mercury, 
Powder, Silver. 
FUMAR1A, in botany, English fumitory, 
a genus of the Diadelphia Hexandria class 
and order. Natural order of Corydales. 
Papaveracea?, Jussieu. Essential character: 
calyx two-leaved; corolla ringent ; fila- 
ments two, membranaceous, with three an- 
thers 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 Crowded places, 
was first brought into practice by Dr. 
Carmichael Smyth, who having given some 
striking proofs of its efficacy received a 
reward from parliament. When this fumi- 
gation 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 small tea cup, 
containing half an ounce of sulphuric acid. 
As soon as the acid is properly heated an 
equal quantity of pulverised nitre is added, 
and the mixture stirred with a glass rod. 
The vapour resulting from the decomposition 
of nitre ascends, and is by the nurses con- 
ducted 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 Chemie,” 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 corn- 
FUN 
pietely succeeded in stopping the progress 
of the rot among sheep : it has destroyed 
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 preventing the 
effects of contagion. 
I 1 UN ARIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Cryptogamia Mnsci 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 
component quantities is variable it is said 
to be a variable function. 
Functions are formed either by addition, 
subtraction, multiplication, division, involu- 
tion, or evolution ; as also by the resolution 
of equations. But besides these, which 
are called algebraical functions, there are 
others called transcendental, arising from 
the management of exponents, logarithms, 
&c. 
F.UNDS, 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 produce 
of some branch of the revenue supposed to 
be adequate to the payment of the interest 
or principal, or both, according 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 purpose 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 , mid 
as making good the deficiencies of some, 
from the surpluses of others, or from the’ 
current supplies, created much trouble and 
useless intricacy in the management of the 
public finances, it was found more conve- 
nient to combine several of the funds, 
and to charge the payments for which they 
had been set apart on the aggregate pro- 
duce of the several duties. It then became 
necessary to give a more general denomina- 
tion to the fund ; and thus have been esta- 
blished, at different periods, the Aggregate 
