F O R- 
medical epithet of a fmall unequal pulfe, like the creep, 
ing of ants. 
FORMICATION, f. With builders; a kind of 
vaulting; a kind of arch. 
FORMI'COLA, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of 
Naples, in the province of Terra di Lavora : fix miles 
eaft of Capua. 
FOR'MIDABLE, adj. [formidabilis, Lat. formidable , 
Fr.] Terrible; dreadful; tremendous; terrific; to be 
feared : 
They feem’d to fear the formidable fight, 
And roll’d their billows on, to fpeed his flight. Dryden. 
FOR'MIDABLENESS, f. The quality of exciting 
terror or dread. The thing canting dread.—They rather 
choofe to be Ihewed the formidablenefs of their danger, 
than by a blind embracing it, to periih. Decay of Piety. 
FOR'MIDABLY, adv. In a terrible manner; 
Behold ! e’en to remoter fliores, 
A conquering navy proudly fpread ; 
The Britifh cannon formidably roars. Dryden. 
FORMID’OLOSF,, adj. [from formido, Lat. to fear.] 
Fearful ; dreading greatly. Scott. 
FORMIDOLOS'ITY, f. Fearfulnefs; great dread. 
Scott. 
FORMIGA'LES, a town of Spain, in the province of 
Aragon : ten miles foutb-ealf of Ainfa. 
FORMIGNA'NO, a town of Italy, in the duchy of 
Urbino : feven miles from Foflbmbrone. 
FORMI'GNI, or Fourmigni, a village of France, in 
the department of the Calvados; near which the Englifh 
were defeated, in the year 1450: feven miles weft of Bay eux. 
FORMI'GUE, a fmall rocky ifland near the French 
coaft, in the Mediterranean. Lat. 43. S. N. Ion. 24. 4. 
E. Ferro. 
FORM'ING,/. The aft of reducing to form. 
FOR'MIO, now Risano, a river of Iftria, the ancient 
boundary of Italy eaftward, afterwards extended to the 
Arfia. Pliny. 
FORM'LESS, adj. Shapelefs; without regularity of 
form : 
AH form is formlcfs, order orderlefs, 
Save what is oppofite to England’s love. Shakefpeare. 
FOR'MOCHE, a fmall ifland in tire Grecian Archi¬ 
pelago : three leagues north of Patinos. 
FORMO SA, an ifland in the Chinefe Sea, feparated 
from the province of Fo-kien, in China, by a ftrait about 
ftxty miles where narrowed. The ifland is about 240 
miles in length from north to fouth, and ftxty from eaft 
to weft, in its broadeft part ; but greatly contracted at 
each extremity. It does not feem to have been known 
to the Chinefe before the year 1436, nor was it then fet¬ 
tled by them, being conlidered as a barren uncultivated 
country. The Dutch fiift formed an efiablithment in 
the weftern part, in 1634, and built the fort of Zealand, 
which fecured to them fhe principal port of the ifland ; 
but they were driven from thence in 1659, or 1661, by 
the famous Coxinga, who made himfelf mafter of all the 
weftern part, which afterwards fubmitted, in 1682, to the 
authority of Kang-hi, emperor of China. A long chain 
of mountains from north to fouth divides it into two 
parts. That part only which is fituated to the weft of 
the mountains belongs to China. The eaftern part is but 
little know n. The coafts are rocky and high, without 
any harbours or creeks ; there being but one bay at the 
mouth of the river, and this is fo narrow, and fo'well 
defended by forts and lofty rocks on each fide, that there 
is no entering it by furprife, though when the fhips are 
once got in, they are fafe, and (heltered from all winds. 
That part of Formofa which the Chinefe poflefs, pre- 
fents exteafive and fertile plains, watered by a great num¬ 
ber of rivulets that fall from the eaftern mountains. Its 
air is pure and wholefome, and the earth produces in 
abundance corn, rice, and other grain. Molt of the In- 
VOL.VII. No.451. 
FOR 581 
dian fruits abound here, Rich as oranges, bannaas, pine¬ 
apples, guavas, papaws, cocoa-nuts, and part of thofe of 
Europe, particularly peaches, apricots, figs, raid ns, chef- 
nuts, pomegranates, water-melons, &c. Tobacco, fugar, 
pepper, camphor, and cinnamon, are aifo common, 
Horfes, ftieep, and goats, are very rare in this ifiand ; 
there are alfo a few hogs, although thefe animals abound 
in China. Domeftic poultry. Rich as fowls, geefe, and 
ducks, are very plentiful; pheafants alfo are often feen, 
and monkeys and (tags have multiplied fo much, that 
they wander through the country in large flocks. 
The inhabitants of Formofa rear a great number of 
oxen, which they ufe for riding, from a want of horfes 
and mules : they accuftom them early to this kind of 
fervice, and, by daily exercife, train them to go almort as 
weli as horfes: thefe oxen are furniflied with a bridle, 
faddle, and crupper. Wholefome water fit for drinking 
feems to be the only thing wanted in the ifiand of For¬ 
mofa : it is very extraordinary, that every kind of water 
in it is deadly poifon to ftrangers, for which no remedy 
has hitherto been found. There are few mulberry-trees 
in Formofa, confequently little filk is made in the country; 
numerous manufactures, however, would foon be intro¬ 
duced into it, were the Chinefe permitted indifcriminately 
to tranfport themfelves thither, and to form eftabliftu 
meats in the ifland, Thofe who go to it mud be pro¬ 
tected by pafl'ports from the Chinefe mandarins, and thefe 
paflports are fold at a dear rate ; fecurities are befides re- 
quiied. They fear, and with great reafon, efpecially 
fince the Tartar emnerors have been on the throne, that 
if any revolt fhould happen in Formofa, its influence 
might fpread, and occafion great difturbance in the whole 
empire : on this account a garrifon is conftantly kept 
there of ten thoufandi men, which they change every 
three years, or oftener, if they judge neceflary. 
Befides the capital, Tai-ouan, the Chinefe have alfo 
two other cities and fome villages, which they inhabit 
alone; for they do not allow the Indians, who are their 
RibjeCts, to live among them : they fuffer none to re¬ 
main but thofe who are either their flaves or domeftics. 
Thefe Indians are united into forty-five villages, thirty-fix. 
of which lie to the north, and nine towards the fouth. 
The northern villages are very populous, and the houfes 
are built moftly af:er the Chinefe manner. The habita¬ 
tions cf the fouthern ifiauders are only huts or cottages 
of earth. Their ordinary food is rice, other fmall grain, 
and the game which they catch by courfing, or kill in 
the chace. Their favourite arms are lances, which they 
dart to the diftance of ftxty or eighty feet, with the 
greateft dexterity and precifion. They ufe bow's and ar¬ 
rows, and can kill a bird on wing with as much certainty 
as an Englifti fportfman with a fufee. The eaftern part 
of the ifiand is mountainous, and inhabited by a people 
courteous aijd hon.eft, ready to aflift each other, carelefs 
of gold and (liver, which they confider as of no value ; 
never giving offence, and rarely forgiving an injury. 
The Formofa is in this part fubfift chiefly on the cattle 
which they breed, and fifh which they catch in the rivers 
and on the coafts. Their mountains are faid to contain, 
mines of gold and filver. In 1782, a terrible earthquake 
almoft deftroyed the ifland ; the account from Ttfi-ouan. 
fays, that of twenty-feven fhips that were in the harbour, 
twelve difappeared, two were dallied to pieces, and ten 
fo damaged as to be unfit for fervice ; befides upwards of 
one hundred fmaller velfels fwallowed up or dallied to 
pieces w ith their cargoes, among which were one hundred 
thoufand buftiels ot rice. The inundation of the fea 
was lo great, as almoft to cover the whole ifland; the 
provifions were either fwept away or fpoiled, and the 
crops entirely loft. The capital of Formofa is Tai-ouan, 
a name which the Chinefe give to the whole ifland. 
The Formofans are a fine-formed people, and of re¬ 
markable fwiftnefs, w Inch they attain by early and con¬ 
tinued pradtice. ”1 heir (hape is eafy and (lender; their 
complexion olive ; and their hair black and fleek, hang- 
7 I ing 
