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tographie von Derby/hire ; An Attempt towards an Orycto- 
graphy ot' Derbyfhire; Mietan, 1776, 8vo. with four cop¬ 
per-plates. 6. Neae Beitragc zur Mineralgej'chechle Vcrfchiede- 
ncr Lauder New Contributions towards the Mineralogi- 
cal Hiftory of diiferent Countries, 1778,8^0. with tliree 
plates. 7. Phyficalifdie-mttallurgifche Abhandlungch iiber die 
Gebirge und Bergwevke in.JUnga.rn , Sc. Phyfico-nietallurgic 
E flays on the Mountains and Mines in Hungary, with a 
Defcription of the Procefs for manufacturing Iron and 
Steel in'Styria; Berlin, 1780, 8vo. with four plates. 8. 
Nachvicht von dent Anqinken der Gold-und Ribei/ialtegen Erze, 
Sc. An Account of the Method of extracting Gold and 
Silver from the Ore in Hungary and Bohemia by Amal¬ 
gamation; Berlin, 17S7, Svo. 9. Umtcrfuckung der llypo- 
thefe von der ver Wandlung der Mineral/ fckcn Korper in cinander ; 
Examination of the Hypothecs refpefting the Tranfnnita- 
tion of Mineral Bodies ; tranflated from the Tranfadtions 
of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Pijterfburgh, and 
publilhed with fome notes by the fociety of the Friendly 
Refearches into Nature at Berlin, 1788, Svo. 10, Mine- 
raldgifche und Metallurgifche Bermerkung in Neitfckatd, Sc. 
Miner.ilogical and Metallurgic Obfervations made in 
Neufcliatel, Franche-Comte, and Burgundy, 1789, Svo. 
with-plates. 
FERCA'LA, or Forcula, a town of Africa, and 
principal place of a diftriCt, in the.country of Bibedulge- 
rid : fifty miles weft of Segilmefta. Lat. 31.40. N. Ion.. 
4. 30. W. Greenwich. 
FERCFIEN'STAIN, a town of Germany, in the duchy 
of Stiriu : three miles foutb of Windifch Gratz. 
FER'COST, J\ [from the Ital.] A kind of boot. 
Phillips. 
FER'DF.N. See Verden. 
FER'DINAND, [of Feoyt and panb, Sax, i. e. pure 
peace.] A .proper name of men. Several of this name 
were eminently diftinguidled as emperors of Germany, 
and as kings of Spain, Portugal Naples, &c. for an ac¬ 
count of whom, fee under the title of thole refpeCfive 
empires or kingdoms. 
FER'DINAND DE CORDOVA, one of thofe extra¬ 
ordinary genitifcs called univerfal ; who, however, are 
generally phenomena .of a dark age. He was a native of 
Cordova, whence he takes his name, and flourilhed in 
the fifteenth century. He is faid to have underftood 
Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, canon and civil 
lavv, mathematics, medicine, and theology ; to have had 
by heart the works of the mod famous fchoolmen and ju- 
rifts, and thofe of Ariftotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and 
Avicenna ; and in addition to thefe mental acquirements, 
to have been a perfeft mafter of the fword and all mar¬ 
tial exercifes, to have played upon all mufical inftru- 
ments, to have excelled in tinging and dancing, and in 
the arts of painting and illuminating. He offered himfelf 
to the public admiration at Paris, in 1445, when very 
young; and the wonders recorded of him have been bor¬ 
rowed to decorate the admirable Crichton. Suitably to 
the judgment of that dark age, his extraordinary qualities 
caufed him to be regarded either as a forcerer, or as 
Antichrift ; and the art of predicting future events was 
added to his other talents. He is faid to have been fent 
on an embaffy to Rome by Ferdinand king of Arragon ; 
but it is not knovyn where or when he terminated his life. 
Some works on canon law, divinity, &c. are attributed 
to him. 
FER'DINAND (de Jefus), a learned Spanifh monk of 
the carmelite order, born at jaen in Andalufia, in 1588. 
As lie poffeffed excellent natural abilities, and was an 
indefatigable Undent, he made great'proficiency in the 
different brandies of facred and profane literature, and 
was at the fame time fo diftingtiifhed for his eloquence, 
that he obtained the name of Chrysostom, or Golden- 
viouUi. For a long time he taught fcholaftic and moral 
theology in different towns of Spain; and left behind 
him numerous writings which are much efteemed in that 
country, where his memory is highly cherilhed for his 
a 
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fanCtity, as well as for his learning. His works comprife 
commentaries on logi,c, phyfics, the books.of Ariftotle, 
the Summa of St. Thomas, and the prophets Obadiah, 
Nahum, and Aggai ; treatifes on the Trinity, the facra- 
ments, jurifprudence and law, miracles, &c.'introduc¬ 
tions to the ftudy of the facred fcriptures, and treatifes 
to facilitate an acquaintance with them ; Greek and He¬ 
brew grammars; hiftorical works; Sermons, &c. 
FER'DINAND (John), a Spanifti Jefuit at Toledo, 
in the fifteenth century, who diftinguiflied lvimfelf by 
his application to the ftudy of the learned languages and 
biblical knowledge. He undertook the publication of a 
large wprk, intitled Divinarum Scripturarum juxta S. S. 
Patrum Scntcntias Locupletiflimus Thcfaurus, in folio, confid¬ 
ing of an explanation of difficult paliages of fcripture, 
placed in alphabetical order. The whole was intended 
to confift of three volumes; but he was prevented from 
completing it by his death, which took place at Pulencia, 
in 1595, when the firft volume only had made its appear¬ 
ance, and when the author was fifty-nine years of age. 
There was another Spanifh ecclefiaftic, of the fame name, 
who was a native of Vililla, in Arragon, and flour- 
ifhed in the feventeenth century. He was a monk of tlie 
dominican order, and acquired reputation by the progrefs 
which he made in the fame ftu.dies with t lie preceding. 
In 1621, he publifhed a Commentary on the Book of Ec- 
cleliaftes, folio, in which he has endeavoured to fecure 
to the vulgate verfion the honour of being the moft faith¬ 
ful of ail the tranflations of the Hebrew text. He died 
in 1625.. 
FER'DINAND N ARON'SA.^an ifland on the coaft 
of Brazil, South America; lies in lat. 3. 56. W. Ion. 32. 
43. S. 
FERDO'SI, orFr.RDUsi (Abtil CaftimMunfuril), <1 ce¬ 
lebrated Perfian poet, fiourifhed about A. D. 1020. His 
principal work was entitled Shah Nameh, the Chronicle of 
the Kings, containing, in verfe, the war of the ancient fove- 
reigns of Perfia. He was defcended-from Afhmed’ ul Fer- 
dofi, one of the principal inhabitants of the town of Sar, in 
the province of Tits, in the kingdom of Khorafan. Various 
prefages.of greatnefs have, according to ancient ftory, 
accompanied the births of remarkable perfons, whereby 
they have been'diftinguiflied as beings peculiarly bleffed, 
and held up as objeds whom fame is to place on her 
higheft pinnacle. 11 was in this way, as the Perfians re¬ 
late, that Ferdofi was ufliered into the .world; His great 
celebrity as a poet'was, at the time of his birth, revealed 
to his father in a dream, in which he faw the infant fte.nd- 
ing.with his face to the weft, and elevating his voice; 
the echo of which reverberated from every quarter. This 
was explained by the f.tge Affadi, whom Ahmed con- 
fulted, as meaning, “ that the fame of his fon, and his 
poetic talents, would be the theme of the univerfe.” So 
the fact turned out: Ferdofi foon difeovered a mind re¬ 
markably vigorous ;' the ftrength of his memory was equal 
to the intenfenefs of his application ; and the dawn of his 
poetic career evinced to Affadi theglcry-of his meridian fun. 
Animated by him, Ferdofi applied himfelf to hiftory, and 
conceived the noble defign of exhibiting the exploits of 
the kings and heroes of Perfia in verfe. At the court of 
Mahmoud, fnltan of Ghezny, poetry and hiftory were the 
purfuits which the fovereign moft efpoufed, and which 
were, of courfe, the diredt road to wealth and fame. Re¬ 
port foon carried the lingular reputation of Ferdofi to the 
fovereign’s ear; he ordered his attendance, received him 
as the glory of his court, and honoured him with every 
mark of royal confidence. Ferdofi’s defign coinciding 
with the wifli of the fultan, he was appointed, as the only 
man equal to the talk, to write the annals of Perfia, which 
had been lately difeovered, and the achievements of the 
heroes, in a feries of heroic poems. For every th'oufand 
lines, the monarch ordered him a thoufand dinars; what¬ 
ever the poet compofed in each day, v is. read to him in 
the evening; and as the poems were finifhed, they were 
copied, and difperfed throughout the empire. In the 
feventieth 
