F E L
F E M
And the buttons of the antenna: of thofe kinds which have fuch, are always flefhy and juicy, fo that when preiTed, different fluids are forced out of them, firft a white, then a yellow one, and finally a black. When the creature is held under water with only the antenna above, it is common to fee bub- bles of air difcharged from the joints and buttons; bow far thefe obfervations may afiift in the determining their ufe, is left to farther enquiries.
FEET. See the article Foot.
FEL, in the materia medica of the antients, the name of a fruit much ufed by them in ftomachic medicines, but very badiy defcribed to us. Ail that we know of the matter is, that there were three fruits brought from the Indies at that time, and called bel, fel and fel ; they were all of the fame virtues, and feemed nearly allied to each other in all refpeefs. Serapio tells us, that the fruit fel was the fize of the piffachia nut, and fomewhat refembled it in fhape; and Avifenna tells us, that it was an Indian medicine, bitter, and hot like ginger ; and that it was ufed as a ftomachic. He alfo fays the fame thing of the other two fruits, whence it appears, they were nearly the fame thing.
It is to be obferved however, that inflead of this fruit, the fame Avifenna fometimes mentions another medicine brought from the fame place under this name. This he fays, had the virtues of mandrake, and was of a cold and fleepy nature. In another part of his works, the fame author confounds thefe two fo different plants, under the fame name of fact. He fays, that the fael is a fruit over which there is a rind, in colour rsfembling the rind of the hazel-nut ; that in fhape it is very like the piftachia-nut, and has within it a kernel like the pine-kernel, which was by fome at that time called the granum regium, or royal grain: the colour of this kernel he fays, was a mixture of red, white and yellow, and that it "Was this kernel alone, that poffefTcd the virtues of the fruit. He adds, that this is a hot medicine, and immediately after- wards fays, that it is a known medicine in the Indies, and polTeft'es the virtues of the mandrake, and its fruit. This is an evident contradiction to its being hot in its nature ; but it is meant of another fruit called by the fame name. This lat- ter fel is mentioned by none of the Arabians but Avifenna ; but the chapter after this is alfb on the feleros. Ke calls it fael, and in this he defcrihes it in the fame manner that the others do, and proves it to be the fame with ours, and very different from the plant, which he fays, poffeffes the virtues of man- drake. SeeSEL.
Fel terra, gall of the earth, a name by which fome authors have called the fmall centaury, becaufe of its great bitternefs. Ger. Emctc. Ind. 2.
FELAGUS, m our law books, was ufed for a companion, or friend who was bound in the decennary for the good beha- viour of another. In the laws of king Ina, it is faid, if a murderer could not be found, the parents of the perfon flain fhould have fix marks, and the king forty ; if he had no pa- rents, then the lord fhould have it; Et ft deminus non habet, Felagus ejus. Leg. Ina? cap. 15, Felagus is faid to be, qtiaft fide turn eo Ugatus.
FELE homagers, was antiemly ufed for the faithful fubjects. But it feems the word fhould be written feal homagers. See Feal.
FELIA, a name by which fome of the chymical writers have called the fulphurated or fulphureous waters.
FELIS, the cat, in the Linnjean fyftem of zoology, is the title of a diftinct genus of quadrupeds ; but the author does not confine it to the cat alone. Many other of the quadrupeds having the fame general characters, and being properly of the fame genus. The characters are thefe. The creatures have eight paps, four on the breaft, and four on the belly ; and their feet are adapted for climbing. Of this genus are the common houfe-cat, which he names the felis Cauda elongata auribus anqualibus; and the two lynxes, which he diftinguifhes by the general title of files auribus penicilli formibus, cats with penciled ears. The firft of thefe, the lynx cervarius, he calls the fills cauda colore ruffefcente maculato; and the other the fills cattda colore alio maculato, the red fpotted, and black fpotted fhort tailed cat.
Felis volant, the flying-cat, in natural hiftory, the name of an animal defcribed by Scaliger, and fuppofed to be what we now call the flying-fquirrel, a fpecies of fquirrel which has a loofe membrane on each fide, which it can diftend at pleafure, and by means of which it takes fuch long leaps, that it feems to fly. See Scuiirrel.
Felis zibethicus, in zoology, a name given by many to the creature which produces the perfume called civet, and which we ufually call the civet-cat, but very improperly, it being rather of the dog kind. See Zibethicum Animal.
FELLING of timber. Many circumftances are well known and conftantly obferved in the felling of timber for building, which though to a hafty obferver, they might appear trifling, yet prove on experience, to be of the utmoft confequence. One thing obferved by Mr. De Buffon, which very greatly en- creafes the folidity and ftrength of timber, is that the trees intended to be felly for fervice, fhould firft be ftripped round
of their bark, and fuffered to (land and die upon the fpot be. fore the cutting. The fappy part, or blea of the oak, becomes by this management as hard and firm as the heart, and the real ftrength and denlity of the wood has been proved by ma- ny experiments, to be greatly increafed by it ; nor is this a practice of any detriment to the proprietor, fince the remain- ing ltumps of thefe trees fend up their young ihoots as vigo- roufly, as if they had been cut down in their natural condition, Memoires de 1'AcaU. Scienc. Par. 1739. When any tiee is to be cut down tor timber, the firft thing to be taken care of is a skilful disbranching fuch limbs as may endanger it in its fall. Many trees are. utterly fpoiled for want of a previous care of this kind. In arms of timber that are very great, it is always neceffary to chop a fink in them clofe to the bole, and then meeting it with downright ftrokes, it will be fevered from the tree without fphtting. la filling the tree, take care always to cut it as clofe to the ground as poffible, unlefs it is intended to be grubbed up; and the doing this is of advantage both to the timber, and to the wood ; for timber is never fo much valued, if it be known to grow out of old flocks. When an oak is down, the bark is to be ftripped off, and fet fo that it may dry well. Trees that are nine inches girt about a yard from the ground, are com- monly reckoned timber trees, but none under this fize, be- caufe fuch will be about fix inches girt in the girting place, when the bark is oft : the knowledge of this will fave the trou - ble of climbing up to meafure them. The common method of felling timber is- as it Hands, but the feller is liable to great cheat and impofition in this refpect. It is fold either by the load or ton, forty foot is reckoned a ton in fome places, and fifty a load ; and in others fifty is the ton, and the load is but forty ; fo that whoever fells timber (landing, fhould men- tion how many foot he means in the ton or load. The trees v/henfell'd are mealured either by girth or fquare meafure; it is ufually reckoned, that forty foot of round timber, or fifty foot of hewn or fquare timber weighs the fame, that is, twen- ty hundred. And this is ufually accounted a cart load ; and as they feldom ftrip the bark off from elm, the buyer com- monly allows an inch for the bark, which is a great deal more than it comes to; and therefore if the owner can ftrip off the bark in the meafuring place, which fhould be about the middle of the tree, it will be much the better. Some allow four foot out of every load for am, and five foot for oak and elm ; and as for the computation of the feet, if it is fquare meafure, the fquare is taken by a pair of callipers, or by two rules clap'd to the fide of the tree, meafuring the diftance between them, and if the fides are unequal, they add them together, and take half the fum, which they account the true fide of the fquare.
If girth meafure be ufed, they do it by girting the middle of the body of the tree with aline, and taking a quarter part of this girt for the fquare, meafuring the length from the butt end fo far forwards, till the tree comes to be but fix inches in the girth, that is, twenty-four inches in circumference ; and if the trees have any great boughs which are timber, that is, which hold lix inches girth, they meafure them by themfelves, and then add them to the whole. For the calling up the con- tents of this, they make ufe of Gunter's line, upon which, if a pair of compafles be extended from twelve, to the number of inches contained in the fquare, they place one foot of the compafles at the length, and keep the fame extent with them ; if the fquare is under twelve inches, the com- pafles are to be returned twice toward twelve ; if above that they are to be turned twice from twelve, and it will fhew the contents. This is the common practice of meafuring, and therefore the feller mud generally acquicfee in it, but°it is a very falfe way, being one fifth part lefs than the whole. Mor- timer's Husbandry, v. 2. p. 94. See Timber.
FEMBLE, the name given by the common people of Lincoln- fhire to the female hemp. There is no country where hemp fucceeds better than in this, and great quantities are anually raifed there.
FEME covert (Cycl.) — By the law of England, a feme covert committing a bare theft in company with, or by coercion of her husband, is not deemed guilty of felony ; neither does fhe become acceflary to a felony, by receiving her husband who has been guilty of it, as he does by receiving her. But if fhe commit a theft by the bare command of her husband • or treafon, murder, or robbery in his company, or by his coer- cion, or keep a bawdy-houfe with him, fhe is punifhable in the fame manner, as if fhe were fole. And generally if fhe be guilty of any offence not capital, fhe may be indiSed, &c. without making the husband a party. But if fhe incur the forfeiture of a penal ftatute, the husband mufl be made de- fendant in the action or information. Hawk. PI. of the Crown. B. I. ch. I.
FEMOREUS, in anatomy, a name given by fome of the au- thors on thefe fubjeds to a mufcle, more generally called the crureus or cruralis. See Crureus.
FEMORIS quartus, in anatomy, a name given by Vefalius and others to one of the mufcles of the thigh, called by the later writers from its fhape fyriformis.
Femoris
