528 
F O A 
any of them have been attended with fuch fuccefs as to 
induce the authors of thofe attempts to make them nub- 
tic. The philofophers of king Charles the fecond’s reign 
were much bufied about this art; and the celebrated bi- 
fhop Wilkins was fo confident of fuccefs in it, that he fays, 
he does not queflion but in future ages it will be as ufual 
to hear a man call for his wings, when lie is going a jour¬ 
ney, as it is now to call for his boots. The Itory of the 
flight of Daedalus is well known. 
FLY'ING-BRIDGE,/. See Bridge. 
FLY'ING-FISH, f. a name given by Englifh writers 
to feveral fpecies of fifli, which by means of their long 
tins, have a method of keeping themfelves out of water 
a confiderable time. See Exoccetus, and the corre- 
fponding engraving, p. 122, of this volume. 
FLYING-PIN'ION, f. part of a clock having a fly or 
fan yvith which to gather the air, and fo bridle the rapidity 
of the clock’s motion, when the weight defcends in the 
ftriking part. 
FLYNT, or F lint, in mythology, an idol worfhipped 
by the old Saxons, fo called becaufe it flood on a large 
flint ftone. Scott. 
FO, or Foe, the name of the prevailing fed! among the 
Chinefe. See the article China, vol. iv. p. 458. 
FO-HI, the fuppofed founder of the Chinefe empire. 
See China, vol. iv. p. 436. 
FO-KIEN, a province of China, bounded on the north 
by the province of Tche-kiang, on the eafl by the Chinefe 
fea, on the fouth by Quang-tong, and on the weft by Ki- 
ang-fi. This is one of the lead, and yet one of the richefl, 
provinces of the empire ; its fituation is commodious for 
navigation and commerce, the climate is hot, but the air 
is very pure and healthy. As part of it borders upon the 
fea, they catch great quantities of fifli, which are dried 
and falted in order to be carried into the midland provinces 
of the empire. Its fhores are very uneven, by reafon of 
the number and variety of its bays; there are many for- 
treffes built to guard thecoafts. It contains nine fou, or 
cities of the firft rank, and fixty hien, or cities of the third 
rank; among the nine fou is reckoned Tai-ouan, capital 
of the ifland of Formofa. Its mountains, by the induftry 
of the Chinefe, are almofl every where difpofed into a 
kind of amphitheatres, with terraces placed one above 
another, and all covered with rice ; the fields are all wa¬ 
tered by great rivers, and fprings that iflue from the moun¬ 
tains, which the hufbandmen conduft in fuch a manner 
as to overflow the rice whenever they pleafe, as it grows 
beft in watery ground ; they have the fecret of railing the 
water to the top of the higheft mountains, which they con¬ 
vey from one mountain to another by pipes of bamboo, 
found in great quantities in this province. The province 
of Fo-kien abounds with every thing that grows in mod 
other provinces of ihe empire ; the commerce which the 
inhabitants have with Japan, the Philippine Iflands, For- 
mofa, Java, Cambova, Siam, See. renders it extremely 
rich. They havemufk, precious bones, quickfilver, fillc, 
hempen cloth, calico, fteel, and all forts of utenfils, 
wrought to the greateft perfection ; and they import from 
other countries, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, fandal-wood, 
amber, coral, and many other commodities of this nature. 
Its mountains are covered with trees fit for building of* 
ihips; they have mines of lead and iron; and it is fup¬ 
pofed they have alfo gold and filver, but it is forbidden 
to dig for thefe under pain of death. Every city has its 
particular dialed], which is very incommodious to travel¬ 
lers. Fou-tcheou is the capital. 
FOAL, f. fpola, Sax.] The offspring of a mare, or 
other bead of burthen. Thecuftom is to ufe colt fora 
young horfe, and foal or filly fora young mare ; but there 
was not originally any fuch diflinction.—Twenty fhe-aifes 
and ten foals. Gen. xxxii. 15. 
Alfo flew his deed. 
And with his winged heels did tread the wind, 
As he had been 'Afoul of Pegafus’s kind Spenfer. 
Te FOAL, v. a. To bring forth. Uftdof marts; 
F O C 
Such colts as are 
Of generous race, draight when they firft are foal’d , 
Walk proudly. May. 
To FO AL, v. n. To be difburthened of the foetus.— 
About September take your mares into the hotife, where 
keep them ’till they foal. Mortimer. 
FOAM,/! [pam. Sax.] The white fubdanre which 
agitation or fermentation gathers on the top oj liquors ■ 
froth; fpume. —The foam upon the water. Hof. x. 7. 
Whitening down their mody tinftur’d dream 
Defcends the billowy/wz/zz. Thomfon. 
To FOAM, v. n. To froth ; to gather foam. — Caefar 
fell down in the market-place, and foam’d At mouth, and 
was fpeechlefs. Shakefpeare. 
To Pallas high the foaming bowl he crowned, 
And fprinkled large libations on the ground. Pope, 
Upon a foaming horfe 
There follow’d draight a man of royal port. Rowe. 
To be in rage; to be violently agitated.—He foamttk } 
and gnafheth with his teeth. Mark ix. 18. 
FO'AMY, adj. Covered with foam ; frothy: 
Behold how high the foamy billows ride 1 
The winds and waves are on the juder fide. Dryden. 
FOB, f. [ fuppe , fupfacke, Germ.] A fmall pocket 5 
generally applied to that which is ufed for a watch.—. 
Who picked a fob at holding forth. Hudibras. 
When were the dice with more profufion thrown ? 
The well-fill’d fob, not empty’d now alone. Dryden. 
To FOB, v. a. [fuppen , Germ.] To cheat; to trick; 
to defraud.—Shall there be a gallows danding in England 
when thou art king, and refolution thus fobb’d as it is with 
the ruby curb of old father antic the law. Shakefpeare. 
To Fob off. To lliift oh’; to put afide with an artifice ; 
to delude by a trick. — Being a great lover of country 
fports, I abfolutely determined not to be a minider 0 i 
flute, nor to be fobb’d off with a garter. Addifon. 
Thefe will not be fobb’d off fo, 
They mud have wealth and power too. Hudibras. 
FO'CA, an ifland in the Atlantic, near the coad of 
Guinea, and the mouth of tire river Calbari, with a town 
of the fame name, called Wyndorp by the Dutch. 
FO'CAGE,/ [ focariu??i, Lat.] Hearth-money. 
FOCA'I, a town of Egypt: twenty miles north of 
AbtuGirge. 
FO'CAL , adj. Belonging to the focus. See Focus.— 
Schelhammer demandeth whether the convexity or con¬ 
cavity of the drum collects rays into a focal point, or feat- 
ters them. Derham. 
FO'CALE,/. in old records, firewood, fuel. 
FOCHA'BERS, a town of Scotland, in the county of 
Banff, near the river Spey, with a magnificent feat of the 
duke of Gordon : eighteen miles wed of Band', and eight 
ead of Elgin. 
FOCHE'A NO'VA, a feaport town of Afiatic Turkey, 
in the province of Natolia, fituated on the Gulf of Smyr¬ 
na, at the mouth of the Hermus, near which the Turkifh 
fleet was defeated by the Venetians, in the year 1650: 
thirty-two miles fouth-fouth-wed of Pergamo, and twenty- 
eight north-wed of Smyrna. Lat. 38. 44. N. Ion. 44. 25. 
E. Ferro. 
FO'CI,/. [plural of focus.'] The two points of ccn- 
vergency in the axis of a curve or lens. 
FO'CIL, J\ \_focile, Fr. ] The greater or lefs bone be¬ 
tween the knee and ankle, or elbow and wrid.—The frac¬ 
ture was of both the focils of the left leg. Wifeman. 
To FO'CILLATE, v. n. [focillatum , Lat.] To refrefb, 
cheridi, nourifh. 
FO'CILLATION, f [focillo, Lat.] Comfort; fup- 
port. Not ufed. 
FO'CUS,/. [Lat.] The point of union or coincidence 
ef 
