Part 176
February and March.--Meat, fowls, and game, as in January, with the addition of ducklings and chickens.--Fish: As the last two months (cod is not thought so good from February to July, although it is still sold at the fishmonger's).--Vegetables: The same as the previous months, with the addition of kidney-beans.--Fruit: Apples, pears, and forced strawberries.
SECOND QUARTER. April, May, and June.--Meat: Beef, mutton, veal, lamb, and venison (in June).--Poultry: Pullets, fowls, chickens, ducklings, pigeons, rabbits, and leverets.--Fish: Carp, tench, soles, smelts, eels, trout, turbot, lobsters, chub, salmon, herrings, cray-fish, mackerel, crabs, prawns, and shrimps.--Vegetables: As before; and in May, early potatoes and cabbages, peas, radishes, kidney-beans, carrots, turnips, cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, and numerous salads (forced).--Fruit: (in June) strawberries, cherries, melons, green apricots, and currants and gooseberries for tarts; pears, grapes, nectarines, peaches, and some other fruit.
THIRD QUARTER. July, August, and September.--Meat, as before.--Poultry, &c.: Pullets, fowls, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, green geese, leverets, and turkey poults. Two former months, plovers and wheat-ears (in September), partridges, geese, &c.--Fish: Cod, haddocks, flounders, plaice, skate, thornback, mullets, pike, carp, eels, shellfish (except oysters), and mackerel (during the first two months of the quarter, but they are not good in August).--Vegetables: Of all sorts, beans, peas, French beans, &c.--Fruit: (In July)--Strawberries, gooseberries, pine-apples, plums (various), cherries, apricots, raspberries, melons, currants, and damsons. (In August and September)--Peaches, plums, figs, filberts, mulberries, cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, and grapes. (During the latter months)--Pines, melons, strawberries, medlars, and quinces. (In September)--Morella cherries, damsons, and various plums.
FOURTH QUARTER. October, November, and December.--Meat, as before, and doe venison.--Poultry and Game: Domestic fowls, as in first quarter; pheasants (from the 1st of October); partridges, larks, hares, dotterels (at the end of the month), wild-ducks, teal, snipes, widgeon, and grouse.--Fish: Dories, smelts, pike, perch, halibuts, brills, carp, salmon-trout, barbel, gudgeons, tench, and shellfish.--Vegetables: (As in January), French-beans, last crops of beans, &c.--Fruit: Peaches, pears, figs, bullace, grapes, apples, medlars, damsons, filberts, walnuts, nuts, quinces, services, and medlars. (In November)--Meat, &c.: Beef, mutton, veal, pork, house-lamb, doe venison, and poultry and game as in the last month.--Fish: As the last month.--Vegetables: Carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, skirrets, scorzonera, onions, leeks, shalots, cabbage, savoys, colewort, spinach, chardbeats, chardoons, cresses, endive, celery, lettuces, salad-herbs, and various pot-herbs.--Fruit: Pears, apples, nuts, walnuts, bullace, chestnuts, medlars, and grapes. (In December)--Meat, &c.: Beef, mutton, veal, house-lamb, pork, and venison.--Poultry and Game: Geese, turkeys, pullets, pigeons, capons, fowls, chickens, rabbits, hares, snipes, woodcocks, larks, pheasants, partridges, sea-fowls, guinea-fowls, wild ducks, teal, widgeon, dotterels, dun-birds, and grouse.--Fish: Cod, turbot, halibuts, soles, gurnets, sturgeon, carp, gudgeons, codlings, eels, dories, and shell-fish.--Vegetables: As in last month. Asparagus, &c., forced.--Fruit: As before, except bullace.
=Food, Inspection of.= The Public Health Act enacts that--
"Any medical officer of health or inspector of nuisances may at all _reasonable times_, inspect and examine any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk exposed for sale, or deposited in any place for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale, and intended for the food of man, the proof that the same was not exposed or deposited for any such purpose, or was not intended for the food of man, resting with the party charged; and if any such animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk, appears to such medical officer or inspector to be diseased, or unsound, or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man, he may seize and carry away the same himself or by an assistant, in order to have the same dealt with by a justice." (P. H., s. 116.)
"If it appears to the justice that any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk so seized is diseased, or unsound, or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man, he shall condemn the same and order it to be destroyed, or so disposed of, as to prevent it from being exposed for sale, or used for such food; and the person to whom the same belongs or did belong at the time of sale, or of exposure for sale, or in whose possession, or on whose premises the same was found, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £20 for every animal, carcase, or fish, or piece of meat, flesh, or fish, or any poultry or game, or for the parcel of fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, or flour, or for the milk so condemned, or at the discretion of the justice, without the infliction of a fine, to imprisonment for a term of not more than _three months_.
"The justice who, under this section, is empowered to convict the offender, may be either the justice who may have ordered the article to be disposed of or destroyed, or any other justice having jurisdiction in the place." (P. H., s. 117.)
"Any person who in any manner prevents any medical officer of health or inspector of nuisances from entering any premises and inspecting any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk exposed or deposited for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale, and intended for the food of man, or who obstructs or impedes any such officer or inspector, or his assistant, when carrying into execution the provisions of this Act, shall be liable to a penalty, not exceeding £5." (P. H., s. 118.)
"Any complaint made on oath, by a medical officer of health, or by an inspector, or other officer of a local authority, any justice may grant a warrant to any such officer, to enter any building, or part of a building in which any such officer has reason for believing that there is kept or concealed any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk which is intended for sale for the food of man, and is diseased, unsound or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man and to search for, seize, and carry away any such animal, or other article, in order to have the same dealt with by a justice under the provisions of this Act.
Any person who obstructs any such officer in the performance of his duty, under such warrant shall, in addition to any other punishment to which he may be subject, be liable to a penalty not exceeding £20." (P. H., s. 119.)
=FOOL.= Cooks give this name to a species of jam made of boiled and crushed fruit, mixed with milk or cream, and sweetened.
=Fool, Ap'ple.= From the peeled and cored fruit, placed in a jar, with moist sugar, q. s. to render it palatable, and a very little cider or perry; the jar is set in a saucepan of water over the fire, and the heat continued until the apples become quite soft, when they are pulped through a colander, and a sufficient quantity of milk, a little cream, and some sugar, added to bring them to the proper 'palate.'
=Fool, Goose'berry.= From gooseberries, as the last. Those which are unripe are generally preferred. These preparations, when nicely made, are very pleasant and wholesome.
=FOOT (Human).= See FEET.
=FOOTS.= Coarse moist sugar. The scrapings of the sugar hogsheads, refuse sugar, waste, and dirt, is also sold to the publicans under this name, who use it in the adulteration of their beer; chiefly to make it stand more water, and to impart 'briskness.'
=FORCE'MEAT.= _Syn._ FARCE, STUFFING. A species of sausage meat, either served up alone, or employed as an ingredient in other dishes.
Mrs Rundell truly remarks that "at many tables, where everything else is done well, it is common to find very bad forcemeat or stuffing." To avoid this error, care should be taken to so proportion the ingredients that "no one flavour should predominate; yet if several dishes be served the same day, there should be a marked variety in the tastes of the forcemeats as well as of the gravies. A general fault is, that the tastes of lemon peel and thyme overcome all others; therefore they should only be used in small quantities." Forcemeats should be just consistent enough to cut with a knife, but not dry and heavy. Herbs are very essential ingredients; and it is the copious and judicious use of them that chiefly gives the cookery of the French its superior flavour. "To force fowls, meat, &c., is to stuff them." (Mrs Rundell.)
=FOR'CING.= Horticulturists apply this term to the art of accelerating the growth of plants, so as to obtain fruits or flowers at unusual seasons. Dung-beds, bark-beds, and frames, pits, and houses, with glass roofs, are commonly employed by the gardeners for this purpose.
=FORGERIES, PROTECTION FROM.= See PAPER, PROTECTIVE.
=FORMATE.= _Syn._ FORMIATE. Salts, in which one atom of hydrogen in formic acid is replaced by a metal or other basic radical. They are best obtained either by direct saturation of the acid, or by double decomposition; most of them are very soluble, and are decomposed by hot oil of vitriol. Formate of ammonium crystallises in square prisms; formate of sodium, in rhombic prisms; formate of potassium is deliquescent, and crystallises with difficulty; the formates of barium, calcium, magnesium, and strontium, form small prismatic crystals; formate of lead assumes the shape of small colourless needles, soluble in 40 parts of water; the formates of cobalt, iron, manganese, nickel, and zinc, are easily crystallisable, whilst that of copper forms very beautiful, large, bright-blue rhombic prisms; formate of silver is less soluble than the salt of lead, and is decomposed at a gentle heat.
=FORMIC ACID.= HCHO_{2}. _Syn._ HYDROGEN FORMIATE. An organic acid, obtained by oxidizing many organic substances, and found in the red ant.
_Prep._ Sugar, 1 part; water, 2 parts; binoxide of manganese, 3 parts; mix in a retort capable of holding fully 10 times the bulk of the ingredients, and add, cautiously, oil of vitriol, 3 parts, diluted with an equal weight of water; as soon as the first violent effervescence has subsided, heat may be applied, and the product collected and purified, as below.
Formate of lead in fine powder is introduced into a long glass tube, one end of which is connected with an apparatus evolving sulphuretted hydrogen, and the other with a receiver. As soon as the salt is entirely decomposed (blackened) a very gentle heat is applied, and the distilled liquid collected; the product is, lastly, boiled for a minute or less, to expel any adhering sulphuretted gas. This furnishes chemically pure formic acid.
From wood spirit, 1 part; bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid, of each 3 parts; the sulphuric acid, diluted with an equal weight of water, being gradually added last. A portion of wood spirit distils over with the acid, and may be again treated with bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid, when a fresh portion of formic acid will be produced. This process yields a large product.
_Prop., purific., &c._ The products of the above processes are limpid and colourless; the stronger ones fume slightly in the air, and possess an extremely penetrating odour. The acid obtained by the second process boils at 209° Fahr., crystallises in brilliant scales below 32°, and has the sp. gr. 1·2353. Its vapour is inflammable, and burns with a blue flame. It is extremely corrosive, and rapidly destroys the texture of living organic substances. The products of the other processes are very dilute, and possess the above properties in only a minor degree. They may all be purified and concentrated by saturating them with pure carbonate of sodium or of potassium, and after subjecting the liquid to a gentle heat for a short time, and liberating the formic acid from the salt by means of dilute sulphuric acid, finally submitting the mixture to distillation, when the hydrated acid will come over perfectly pure.
Formic acid reduces the salts of mercury and silver, and forms salts with the bases termed formiates.
Formic acid is readily distinguished from acetic acid, which in many points it resembles, by heating it with a little solution of oxide of silver or mercury; the metal is reduced, and precipitated in a pulverulent state, while carbonic acid is extricated. The odours of the two acids also vary.
=FORMICA.= _Syn._ THE ANT. The following are the principal species of the genus _Formica_. _F. flava_, the yellow ant. Many careful observers say this species keeps in its nest the _Aphis radicans_, which when its abdomen is touched by the ant, excretes a saccharine substance on which the ants feed. _F. rufa_, or large red ant, _F. fusca_; or brown ant, _Polyergus rufescens_, and _F. sanguinea_. These two latter are sometimes called amazon ants, from their pugilistic propensities. They have been known to make regular raids against other species of ants, and to carry off their larvæ and pupæ to their own nests, where they rear the insects that come of them, and afterwards employ them as slaves, causing them to excavate passages, to collect food, to carry larvæ and (so dependent do the masters become on the exertions of their bondsman) even to feed them; it being a well-attested fact that the slave holders would starve if left to themselves. See ANT.
=FORMOBENZOIC ACID.= (HC_{7}H_{6}O,CHO_{2}). _Syn._ FORMIATE OF HYDRIDE OF BENZOYLE. MANDELIC ACID. When the distilled water of bitter almonds (containing hydrocyanic acid and the essential oil) is boiled with hydrochloric acid, a curious reaction occurs; the hydrocyanic acid is decomposed--into ammonia which unites with the hydrochloric acid, and formic acid which enters into combination with the oil of almonds--producing a new body possessed of acid properties, and termed _Formobenzoic acid_. On evaporating the solution the acid may be obtained in mixture with ammonia hydrochlorate, from which it may be separated by ether; the ethereal solution deposits it in rhomboidal tables. It has a sour taste and is easily soluble in alcohol. When heated it fuses at a low temperature, emitting an agreeable odour of hawthorn blossoms. (Miller.)
=FORM'ULA.= [L.] In _pharmacy_ and _medicine_, a short form of prescription; a recipe. By chemists the term is applied to a grouping of symbols, expressing the composition of a body; thus, HCl (standing for 1 atom of hydrogen united to 1 atom of chlorine) is the formula for hydrochloric acid. A chemical formula is termed empirical when it merely gives the simplest possible expression of the composition of the substance to which it refers. A rational formula, on the contrary, aims at describing the exact composition of molecule, or combining weight of the substance, but stating the absolute number of atoms of such of the elements essential to that object, as well as the mere relations existing between them. The empirical formula is at once deduced from the analysis of the substance, reckoned to 100 parts; the rational formula requires, in addition, a knowledge of its combining quantity, which can only be obtained by direct experiment, by synthesis, or by the careful examination of one or more of its most definite compounds. Thus, the composition of acetic acid is expressed by the formula CH_{2}O, which exhibits the simplest relations of the three elements; if we want to express the quantities of these, in atoms required to make up one molecule of acetic acid, we have to adopt the formula C_{2}H_{4}O_{2} or HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}.
=FOR'MYL.= _Syn._ FORMYLE. A hypothetical organic radical, having the composition C_{2}H. Its existence was inferred from the constitution of certain organic compounds which are now referred to the methyl-series. Formic acid was supposed to be an oxide of formyl; and chloroform, the terchloride of formyl.
=FOXGLOVE.= _Syn._ DIGITALIS (B. P.), L. A genus of plants belonging to the natural order _Scrophulariacæ_. The leaves of the uncultivated '_Digitalis purpurea_,' or purple foxglove, are officinal in our pharmacop[oe]ias. They must be gathered before the terminal flowers have expanded. "The petiole and midrib of the leaf being cut off, dry the lamina." (Phar. L.) The seeds (DIGITALIS SEMINA), which were ordered, as well as the leaves, in former pharmacop[oe]ias, are said to be in many points preferable to them. When good, the leaves are of a dull-green colour, and possess a feeble narcotic odour, and a bitter, unpleasant taste. Both the dried leaves and the powder should be preserved in corked bottles covered with dark-coloured paper, or in well-closed tin canisters, and kept in a dark cupboard; and the stock should be renewed yearly, as age considerably diminishes the medicinal activity of digitalis.
_Action, uses, &c._ Foxglove is diuretic, sedative, and antispasmodic, and exerts a specific action over the cerebro-spinal system, promoting the functions of the absorbents, and reducing the force of the circulation in a remarkable manner. It is administered in fevers and inflammations, to reduce the frequency of the pulse, and to allay excessive vascular excitement; in dropsy (unless the habit is full and pulse tight and cordy), as a diuretic, either alone, or combined with squills, calomel, salines, or bitters; in internal hæmorrhages, as a sedative, when the pulse is full, hard, and throbbing; in diseases of the heart and great vessels, and in phthisis, to reduce the force and velocity of the circulation; in epilepsy and insanity, to repress vascular excitement; and in spasmodic asthma, scrofula, and several other diseases, with one or other of the above intentions.
The greatest caution is required in the use of foxglove, as its effects accumulate in the system, and the unwary practitioner is occasionally surprised at the sudden demise of his patient, even after he has left off the use of this drug.--_Dose_, 1/2 gr. to 1-1/2 gr., in powder, every 6 hours. See EXTRACT, INFUSION, TINCTURE, &c.
=FOX'ING.= See MALT LIQUORS.
=FRACT'URE.= _Syn._ FRACTURA, L. The breaking or disrupture of a bone. When the bone is nearly divided into two parts, it is called a SIMPLE FRACTURE; when the integuments are also lacerated, a COMPOUND FRACTURE; and when the bone is splintered, a COMMINUTED FRACTURE.
=FRAGRANT PAIN-CURER= (Five-minute). Dr Walter Scott, New York. A remedy to remove all kinds of pain in five minutes. A clear colourless fluid containing ether, 6 grammes; glycerin, 21 grammes; common salt, 3·4 grammes; distilled water, 170 grammes. (Hager.)
=FRANK'INCENSE.= _Syn._ COMMON FRANKINCENSE; THUS (Ph. L.), L. The turpentine which exudes from the bark of _Abies excelsa_ (Norway spruce fir) and _Pinus palustris_ (pitch or swamp pine), hardened by the air. (Ph. L.) The gum-resin olibanum, which is the produce of the _Boswellia thurifera_, is the 'odorous frankincense' of commerce.
=Prepared Frankincense.= _Syn._ THUS PRÆPARATUM (Ph. L.), L. _Prep._ (Ph. L.) Frankincense, 1 lb.; water, q. s. to cover it; boil until the resin is melted, and strain through a hair sieve; when the whole has cooled, pour off the water, and keep the frankincense for use. Resembles common resin in its general properties.
=FRAX'ININ.= _Syn._ FRAXIN; FRAXINA, L. A peculiar bitter, neutral, and crystallisable substance, soluble in boiling water, extracted from the bark of _Fraxinus excelsior_, or common ash. It is febrifuge.
=FREC'KLES.= These are round or oval-shaped yellowish spots, similar to stains, developed on the skin. There are two varieties--FRECKLES, or SUMMER FRECKLES, resulting from the action of the sun and heat during the summer season, and disappearing with the hot weather or exposure; and--COLD FRECKLES, which occur at all times of the year. The former are chiefly confined to persons of fair complexion, whilst the latter attack persons of all complexions indifferently, and sometimes assume a lively yellow or greenish colour.
_Treatment._ Common freckles may generally be removed by the frequent application of dilute spirits, acids or alkaline solutions; the last two just strong enough to prick the tongue. Cold freckles commonly occur from disordered health, or some general disturbance of the system, to which attention should be chiefly directed. In both varieties the solution of bichloride of mercury (Ph. L.), or Gowland's lotion, will be found a most useful external application. See _below_.
=Freckles, Lotion for.= _Prep._ 1. Bichloride of mercury, 5 gr.; hydrochloric acid, 30 drops; lump sugar, 1 oz.; rectified spirit of wine, 2 oz.; rose water, 7 oz.; agitate together until the whole is dissolved.
2. Petals or leaves of red roses, 1 oz.; hot water, 12 fl. oz.; infuse an hour, and strain, with expression, 1/2 pint; add of citric acid, 30 gr.; dissolve, and in a few hours, decant and clear.
3. Rose leaves (dried), 1/4 oz.; lemon juice (freshly expressed) and rum or brandy, of each 1/4 pint; digest 24 hours, and squeeze out the liquor for use.
4. (Kittoe's.) Sal ammoniac, 1 dr.; spring water, 1 pint; lavender water or eau de Cologne, 1/4 oz; mix. The above are applied with the fingers night and morning, or oftener.
=Freckles, Pomade for.= _Prep._ 1. Citrine ointment, 1 dr.; simple ointment, 7 dr.; otto of roses, 3 drops.
2. Elder flower ointment, 1 oz.; sulphate of zinc (levigated), 20 gr.; mix by porphyrization, or by trituration in a wedgwood-ware mortar. Both the above, applied night and morning, are excellent for either cold or summer freckles.
=FREEZ'ING MIXTURES.= See ICE and REFRIGERATION.
FRENCH BER'RIES. _Syn._ PERSIAN BERRIES, AVIGNON B.; GRAINES D'AVIGNON, Fr. The unripe berries or fruit of the _Rhamnus infectorius_. They are imported from France and Persia; those from the latter country being esteemed the best. Some writers state that the Persian berries are the product of a distinct species, namely, _R. amygdalinus_. They are chiefly used for dyeing morocco leather yellow. Their decoction dyes cloth, previously mordanted with alum, tartar, or protochloride of tin, of a yellow colour; with sulphate of copper, an olive; and with red sulphate of iron, an olive-green colour.
=FRENCH POL'ISH.= Several varnishes are used under this name. That most generally employed is a simple solution of pale shell-lac in either methylated spirit or wood naphtha. Sometimes a little mastic, sandarac, or elemi, or copal varnish, is added to render the polish tougher.
_Prep._ 1. From pale shell-lac, 5-1/2 oz.; finest wood naphtha, 1 pint; dissolve.
2. Pale shell-lac, 3 lbs.; wood naphtha, 1 gall. Methylated spirit (68 o. p.) may be substituted for the naphtha in each of the above formulæ.
3. Pale shell-lac, 5 oz.; gum sandarac, 1 oz.; spirit (68 o. p.), 1 pint.
4. Pale shell-lac, 5-1/2 oz.; gum elemi, 3/4 oz.; spirit, 1 pint.
5. Pale shell-lac, 1-1/4 lbs.; mastic, 1/4 lb.; spirit, 2 quarts.
6. Pale shell-lac, 2-1/4 lbs.; mastic and sandarac, of each 3 oz.; spirit, 1 gall.; dissolve, add copal varnish, 1 pint, and mix by roughly agitating the vessel. All the above are used in the manner described below.
7. Shell-lac, 12 oz.; wood naphtha, 1 quart; dissolve, and add of linseed oil, 1/2 pint.
8. Shell-lac, 1/2 lb.; gum sandarac, 1/4 lb.; spirit, 1 quart; dissolve, add of copal varnish, 1/4 pint; mix well, and further add of linseed oil, 1/2 pint. The last two require no oil on the rubber.