F E R 
S' 26 F E R 
Vieta demonftrated in planes; a reftoration of Apollo¬ 
nius’s two books on plane loci; a general method for the 
dimenfion of curve lines ; and a number of fmaller pieces, 
together with many of his letters to lome of the mod ce¬ 
lebrated geometricians of his time. 
FERME,/". [peopim, Sax. hofpitiuvi.~\ Lodging : 
His finfull foule with defperate difdaine 
Out of her flelhly ferme fled to the place of paine. Spertf. 
Spenfer’s commentators (Upton and Church) were 
ftrangely puzzled with this pallage for want of that in¬ 
formation which has been fince afforded by Mr. Man¬ 
ning’s edition of Lye. Majon. 
To FERME'NT, v. a. [ fermento, Tat. fermenter, Fr.] 
To exalt or rarefy by inteftine motion of parts : 
Ye vig’rous fwains ! while youth ferments your blood. 
And purer fpirits fwell the fprightly flood, 
Now range the hills, the thickeft woods befet. 
Wind the thrill horn, or fpread the waving net. Pope. 
To FERME'NT, v. n. To have the parts put into in¬ 
teftine motion. 
FpR'MENT,/. [ferment, Fr. fermentum, Lat.] That 
which caufes inteftine motion.—The fetnen puts females 
into a fever upon impregnation ; and all animal humours 
which poifon, are putrefying ferments. Floyer. —Inteftine 
motion j tumult.—Subdue and cool the ferment of defire. 
Rogers. 
FERMEN'TAL, adj. Having the power to caufe fer¬ 
mentation. Not ufed. —Cucumbers, being vvaterifh, fill 
the veins with crude and windy ferocities, that contain 
little fait or fpirit, and debilitate the vital acidity and 
fermcntal faculty of the ftomach. Browne. 
FERMENTA'RIANS,/; in church hiftory, the Chrif- 
tians of the Greek church, fo called by the Latins on ac¬ 
count of their ufing fermented bread in the eucharift. 
FERMENTA'RIOUS, adj. Belonging to fermenta- 
Sion. Nut fed. Cole. 
FERMENTATION,/ [ fermentatio, Lat.] An intef¬ 
tine motion arifing fpontaneoutly among the fmall and 
infenfible particles of a mixed body, thereby producing a 
new difpofition, and a different combination of thofe parts. 
Fermentation differs from diffolution, as the caufe from 
its effedft, the latter being only a refult or effedlofthe 
former.—A man by tumbling his thoughts, and forming 
them into expreffions, gives them a new kind of fermenta¬ 
tion ; which works them into a finer body, and makes 
them much clearer than they were before. Collier. 
The fap, in fluent dance, 
And lively fermentation, mounting, fpreads 
All this innumerous colour’d fcene of things. Thomfon. 
For the kinds and caufes of fermentation, fee the article 
Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 172;— vinous, p. 346; acetous , 
p. 351 ; putrid, p. 355. 
FERMENTATIVE, Caufingfermentation; hav¬ 
ing the power to caufe fermentation.—Aromatical fpirits 
deftroy by their fermentative heat. Arbuthnot. 
FER'MIER,/. [French.] One who farms any public 
revenue of France : 
No cups nedlareous (hall their toils repay, 
The prieft’s, the foldier’s, and the fermier' s, prey. 
Jo. War ton. 
FER'MO, a town of Italy, in the ftate of the Church, 
and marquifate of Ancona, fituated near the coaft of the 
Adriatic ; the fee of an archbilhop, eredled in 1589, by 
pope Sixtus V'. It contains ten churches, and fixteen 
convents: twenty-fix miles fouth-fouth-eaft of Ancona, 
and ninety-three north.north-eaft of Rome. Lat. 43. 6. N. 
Ion. 31.27. E. Ferro. 
FER'MOR (William, count Von), a celebrated Ruf¬ 
fian general, born at Plefkow, in 1704. His father was a 
native of Scotland, who, having gone to Ruftra, rofe 
through various gradations to the rank of major-general. 
He deftined his ion for the military profeflion ; and with 
that view inftrucled him in fortification and gunnery. In 
1720, he entered the army as a common bombardier; 
and was fo rapidly promoted, that in 3729 he became 
adjutant-general to count Von Munnich. At Dantzic he 
bad an opportunity of forming an acquaintance with Fre¬ 
deric William, king, of Pruflia, who conferred on him the 
order of la generofite. In the Turkifh war of 1736, lie 
diftinguiftfed. himfelf by his courage and talents, having 
feveral times defended himfelf with, an inferior force 
againft confiderable bodies of the enemy. Fie was there¬ 
fore promoted to be a general; and, after the peace, was 
appointed commandant of Zolberg. When Wilmenftrand 
was taken in the Swedifh War, he was entrufted with the 
command of that fortrefs. In 1746, he was appointed 
“ infpector of the works;” and the imperial palace, a 
mafter-piece of art, was built under bis direction. On 
the new organization of the army, he obtained the chief 
command of Peterlbnrgh, Finland, and Novogorod ; and, 
in 1755, he was made commander in chief. In the war 
againft Pruflia, he made himfelf mailer of Memel, after 
a furious bombardment ; and when count Aphraxin loft 
the command, he fucceeded him as commander of the 
army ; took pofteflion again of the kingdom of Pruftia, 
and was made governor of it ; on which occafion he was 
railed to the dignity of a count of the empire by Francis I. 
In the following year he fought the celebrated battle of 
Zorndorf with Frederic II. king of Pruftia. Being now 
fatisfied with the reputation he had acquired, he re- 
quefted leave to refign the chief command ; and though 
this was granted, he again took the field under Soltikow, 
and commanded the firft divilion. In confequence of the 
vidtory of Kunnerfdorf, where the right wing which he 
commanded had difplayed tiie nioft determined bravery, 
the emprefs conferred upon him the eftate of Nieutau, in 
Livonia. In 1760, he difpatched general Tottleben to 
Berlin, which was taken by capitulation on the 9th of 
Odlober. In December, the fame year, he accompanied 
to Siberia general Butterlin, who had obtained the chief 
command. He was recalled from the army by Peter III, 
and, after the death of that prince, Catharine II. made 
him governor-general of Smolenfko, and a member of the 
fupreme fenate. After this he rebuilt the towns of 
Tweerand Zorfchok ; but not long after requefted leave 
to refign his employments, and died in 1771, on his eftate 
of Nieutau, where he had eredted an elegant church. 
FERMO'SA, or Benin, a river of Africa, which runs 
into the Atlantic, near Loubo, on the coaft of Benin. 
FERMOSEL'LA, a town of Spain, in the province of 
Leon : thirty miles weft-fouth-weft of Zamora. 
FERN, a town of Scotland, in the county of Angus; 
fix miles weft of Brechine. 
FERN,/! in botany. See Filix, 
FERN, (Female.) See Pteris. 
FERN, (Flowering.) See Osmunda. 
FERN, (Male.) See Polypodium Filix mas, 
FERN, (Mule.) See Hemionitis. 
FERN, (Stone.) See Osmunda crispa. 
FERN, (Sweet). See Scandix. 
FERN-SEED,/ The feed of fern.—We have the re- 
ceipt of fern-feed: we walk invifible. Shakefpeare . 
I had 
No medicine, fir, to go invifible; 
No fern-feed in my pocket. Ben Jo fon. 
FERNAMBU'C, or Olinda, a province or jurifdic- 
tion of South America, in the eaftern part of Bralil, lying 
along the coaft of the Atlantic : the principal articles of 
trade are cotton, fugar, cattle, hides, and Bralil wood. 
FERNAMBU'C, or Olinda, a town of South Ame¬ 
rica, in Bralil, and province of the fame name, with a 
fmall inconvenient harbour on the coaft of the Atlantic ; 
the fee of a bilhop, fulfragan of St. Salvador. It was 
taken by the Dutch in 1630, who called it Olinda, but 
the Portuguefe called it Pernambuco, Lat. 8. 13. S. Ion. 
18. 30, W. Ferro, 
FERNAN'DES, 
