F R E 
To congeal with cold.—O’er many a froztn, many a fiery 
alp. Milton. —To kill by cold.—My maker and miftrefs 
are almoft frozen to death. SHakfpeare. —To cliill by the 
lofs-of power or motion : 
Death came on amain 
And exercis’d below his iron reign ; 
Then upward to tlie feat of life he goes ; 
Senfe fled before him, what he touch’d he froze.' Dryden. 
FREEZE, /. See. Frieze. 
FREEZ'ING, or C'ongel.'ition,/; the fixing of a fluid 
body into a firm or folid mafs by the action of cold ; as 
water when it freezes into ice. But it differs from cryf- 
tallization, which is rather a feparation of the particles of 
a folid from a fluid in which it had been diffolved mo.re 
by the moifture tlian the action of heat. The procefs of 
congelation is always attended with the emiflion of lieat, 
as is found by experiments on the freezing of water, wax, 
fpermaceti, &c. for in fucli cafes it is always found that a 
thermometer dipt into the fluid mafs, keeps continually 
defeending as this cools, till it arrive at a certain point, 
being the point of freezing, which is peculiar to each 
flujd, where it is rather fiationary, and then rifes for a 
little, vvhile the congelation goes on. But by what means 
it is that fluid bodies fnould lints be rendered fplid by 
cold, or fluid by, heat, or what is introduced into the 
bodies by eitli^rof thofe principles, are matters the learn¬ 
ed have never yet been able to difeover, or to fatisfy 
themfelves upon. The following phenomena however 
are ufually obferved. 
Water, and fome other fluids, fuddenly dilate and ex¬ 
pand in the a6l of freezing, fo as to occupy a greater 
fpace in the form of ice than before, in confequence of 
wltich it is that ice is fpecifically lighter than the fame 
fluid, and floats in it. And the degree of expanfion of wa¬ 
ter, in the fiaieofice, isby fomeauthors computed at about 
Jg of its yolume. Oil however is an exception to thjs 
property, and quickfilver too, which flirinks and contrafts 
flill more after freezing. Mr. Boyle relates feveral expe¬ 
riments of veffels made of metal, very thick and ftrong ; 
in which, when filled with water, clofe flopped, and ex- 
pofed to the cold, the water being expanded in freezing, 
and not finding either room or vent, burfi the vefi'els. A 
ftrong barrel of a gun, with water in it clofe flopped and 
frozen,' was rent the whole length. Huygens, to try the 
force with which it expands, filled a cannon with it, w hofe 
fldes were an inch thick, and then clofed up the mouth 
and vent, fo that none could efcape.; thewholebeingex- 
pofed to a ftrong freezing air, the water froze in about 
twelve hours, and burft the piece in two places. Ma¬ 
thematicians have computed the force of the ice upon 
this occafion ; and they fay, that fuch a force would raife 
a weight of 27720 pounds. Major-Edward Williams, of 
the royal artillery, made many experiments on.the force 
of it, at Quebec, in the years 1784 and 1785. He' filled 
all fizesof iron bomb-fliells with water, then plugged the 
fuze hole clofe up, andexpqfed them to 'the ftrong freez¬ 
ing air of tile winter in that climate ; fometimes driving 
in the iron plugs as hard as poflTible with a fledge ham- 
sner ; and yet they were always thrown out by the fudden ' 
expanfion of the water in the adl of freezing, like a ball 
fhot by gunpowder, fometimes to the diftance of between . 
400 and 500 feet, though they weighed near three pounds ; 
and when the plugs were fereweJ in, or furniftied with 
hooks or barbs, to lay hold of the infide of the fliell by, 
fo that they could not poftibly be forced out, in this cafe 
the fliell was always fplit in two, though the thicknefs 
of the metal of the fliell was about an incli and three 
quarters. It is farther remarkable, that through the cir¬ 
cular crack, round about the ftiells, where they burft, 
there flood out a thin film or flieet of ice, like a fin ; and 
in the cafes when the plugs were projedted by freezing 
water, there fuddenly ilfued out from the fuze-hole, a 
bolt of ice, of the fame diameter, and flood over it to the 
height fometimes of eight inches and a lialf. And 
hence we need not be furprifed at the effefts of ice in 
VoL. VIII. No. 481. 
F R E 21) 
deftroying the fubftance of vegetables and trees, and even 
fplitting rocks, when the froft is carried to excels. 
It is alfo obferved that water lofes of,its weight by 
freezing, being found lighter after thawing again, than 
before it was frozen. And indeed it evaporates almolf as 
fall when frozen, as when it is fluid. It is faid too that 
water does not freeze in vacuo; requiring for that pur- 
pofe the prefence and contiguity of the air. But thiscir- 
cumftaiice is liable to fome doubt, and it may be fufpcct- 
ed that the degree of cold has not been carri.ed farenough 
in thefe inftances ; as it is found that mercury in thermo¬ 
meters has even been frozen, though it req’uires a vaftly 
greater degree of cold to freeze mercury than water. 
That water which has been boiled, freezes more readily 
than that which has not been boiled ; and that a flight 
diflurbance of the fluid difpofes it to freeze more fpeedi- 
ly ; having fometimes been cooled feveral degrees below 
the freezing point, without congealing when kept quite 
flill, but fuddenly freezing into ice on the leaft mofiou or 
diflurbance. That the water, being covered over with 
a furface of oil of olives, does not freeze fo readily as 
without it; and that nut oil abfolutely preferves it under 
a Ifrong frofl, when olive oil would not. That re6lified 
fpirit of wine, nut oil, and oil of turpentine, feldom 
freeze. That the furface of the water, in freezing, ap¬ 
pears all wrinkled; the wrinkles being fometimes in pa¬ 
rallellines, and fometimes like rays, proceeding from a 
centre to the circumference. 
FREEZING MIX'TURE, a preparation for the arti¬ 
ficial congelation of water, and other fluids. According 
to Mr. Boyle, all kinds of falls, whether alkaline or acid ; 
and even all fpirits, as fpirit of wine, &c. as alfo fugar, 
and faccharum faturni, mixed with fnow, are capable of 
freezing moft fluids; and the fame effedf is produced, in 
a-very high degree, by a mixture of oil of vitriol, or 
fpirit of nitre, with fnow. M. Hoinberg remarks the 
fame of equal quantities of corrofive fublimate, and fal 
ammoniac, with four times the quantity of diftilled vine¬ 
gar. Many artificial freezing mixtures are ufed in pre¬ 
paring ice under different forms for the table; for which 
fee the article Ice. 
Very extraordinary inftances of artificial freezing have 
been made in Rullia, at Hudfon’s-bay, and other parts, 
by which quickfilver was frozen into a folid mafs of me¬ 
tal. And the fame thing had before happened from the 
natural cold of the atmofphere alone, in Siberia. In the 
winter of 1733, profelfor Gmelin, with two other gen¬ 
tlemen of the Rullian academy, were fent toexplore thofe 
inhofpitable regions. In the winter of 1734-5, Mr. 
Gmelin being at Yenefeiflc in 58° 30' north lat. and 92® 
Ion. eaft from Greenwich, firfl obferved fuch a defeent 
of the mercury, as muft have been attended with conge¬ 
lation, being far belo.v its freezing point —40 of Fahren¬ 
heit’s thermometer. “Here, (fays hg), we firfl experi¬ 
enced the truth of what various travellers have related 
with refpe6t to the extreme cold of Siberia; for, about 
the middle of December, fuch fevere weather fet in, as 
we were fure had never been known in our time at Peterf- 
burg. The air feemed as if it were frozen, with the ap¬ 
pearance of a fog, which did not fuft'er the fmoke to af- 
cend as it ilfued from the chimneys. Birds fell down out 
of the air as dead, and froze immediately, unlefs they 
were brought into a warm room. Wiienever the door 
was opened, a fog fuddenly formed round it. During 
the day, fliort as it was, parheli.i and^ haloes round the 
fun were frequently feen ; and'in the night mock moons, 
and haloes about the moon. Finally, our thermometer, 
not I'ubject to the lame deception as the fenfes, left us no 
doubt of the excefflve cold ; for the quickulver in it was 
reduced, on the 3th of January, old ftyle, to—120® of 
Fahrenheit’s (bale, lower than it had ever been obferved 
in nature.” 
A fimilar inftance happened at Yakutfk, in 620° north 
lat. and 150° eaft Ion. The weather here was un- 
ufually mild for the climate, yet the thermometer fell to 
—72° ; and one perfon informed the profelfor by a note, 
I " that 
