devised, we will briefly mention a few for which premiums or medals have been awarded by the Society of Arts.

In 1809 Mr. Davis received a premium of fifty guineas for inventing an apparatus, which consisted of three ladders applied to each other by four clasp irons on the top of each of the two lowermost, which are so contrived that each ladder may slide into the one beneath it. On the top of the lowermost ladder two pulleys are fixed on the inside, over which two ropes pass, and are situated between the lower ladder and the middle one. The ropes are made fast to the bottom of the middle ladder on each side, in a proper direction with the pulleys at the top. The upper ladder is attached to the middle one in the same manner, and on the top it carries two horn-pieces, made of iron, and turned off at each end similar to two horns, which are four feet apart, and are sharp at the end to cling to the sides of the window, and thus keep the ladders steady. The compound ladder, which reaches to a height of about 45 feet, is fixed on a frame about 9 feet by 5, and drawn on wheels; and a windlass is so placed that the three ladders can be wound out from each other, and thus elevated to the position required.

In 1813 Mr. Young received a premium for a fire-ladder, consisting of a number of rounds, which form the steps of the ladder by being fastened to two ropes, which are suspended from an iron frame, terminating in hooks, which can be lodged on the sill of a window, and thus form a convenient ascent, which much resembles that of a common rope ladder. The rounds of the ladder are so made that they can be fitted to each other longitudinally, and elevated from the street in the form of a long straight rod, but without being detached from the ropes which are to form the two sides of the ladder. When the hooks at the top are fixed, a jerk at the bottom will unfix all the rounds from their vertical position, and allow them to fall into their proper places.

In 1816 a medal was presented to Mr. Braby for a contrivance, which consisted of a pole of any desired length, on the front of which is fastened a board or plank, fitted to a groove or rabbet in the back of a car, which, by means of this groove, slides upon the plank along the pole. A rope, attached to the car, passes over a pulley at the top of the pole, down a channel at the back of it (which is covered with plate-iron to guard the rope from injury by fire), and is then brought under another pulley at the bottom of the pole. With the assistance of this rope the car may be raised or lowered by persons below, and thus a communication established with an upper window.

Mr. Witty, in 1820, prepared a sort of settee, or chair, for a window recess, which may be hung on the sill of a window like a painter's machine. A bag is suspended from the chair, and is kept open by being made fast to a strong frame, and well secured by girth-web, which passes under it, and by which it hangs. These webs go over rollers, on one of which is coiled a sufficient quantity to reach from the top of the house to the bottom. When a person gets into the bag from a window the bag begins to descend, and as the web uncoils itself from the rollers it causes a flexible rope to wind round the middle part of the roller, by which means the descent is graduated.

The magistrates of Leith have within a few years caused several fire-ladders to be constructed for that town by Mr. Lamb, an inhabitant of Leith, on a principle somewhat resembling that of Mr. Davis, before described, but more simple in its action.

Recently, two fire escapes, one by Mr. Ford and the other by Mr. Merryweather, have been approved by several of the parochial authorities of London, and partially brought into use. That by Mr. Ford consists of a well-seasoned spar 35 or 40 feet long, capped with iron at the top, and having two projecting arms, furnished with prongs, by which a firm bearing against the wall of a house is obtained. The lower end is shod with iron, terminated by a spike to enter the ground. Just below the cap at the top, a grooved pulley is mortised into the spar, and a corresponding pulley is placed near the bottom. An endless rope runs round these two pulleys, at one point of which is attached a main rope; and another point of the endless rope is fastened to the semicircular brace of a large grooved roller, which traverses up and down the spar between the two pulleys. This brace carries a hook on the inner side of the spar, to which a car or cradle is fixed, by which persons may be lowered to the ground. The cradle, which consists of a seat and foot-board

suspended from a cross head, and has a belt buckled round it, is drawn up by a rope passing over the pulleys.

The other contrivance, and the last which we have space to notice, is by Mr. Merryweather. It consists of ladders about six feet long, all of which are made exactly alike, the upper end being smaller than the lower: each end is furnished with a pair of iron loops or sheaths, so contrived that the top of each ladder can be inserted into the loops at the bottom of another, and thus several can be joined end to end. The top of the upper ladder, when employed at fires, is made to wheel along the front wall in ascending by an ingenious appendage contrived by Mr. Baddely; which consists of two short side-pieces corresponding in form to the bottom part of a ladder. On the upper part is an iron axle carrying a pair of small light wheels. A semicircular connecting rod of iron preserves the proper position of the sidepieces when not mounted on the ladder. Each end of the axle is provided with rising springs similar to those in an umbrella-stick, which allows the wheels to be slipped on the axle, but effectually prevents their sliding off again until the springs are depressed. This apparatus is fitted on to the top of the ladder, in the same manner as one ladder is fitted to another.

Seven lengths of this ladder have been fitted to each other, and raised in half a minute by three persons; and by means of a pulley, passing over the top of the ladder, we have seen three persons descend from a height of 30 feet, by a belt fastened round the body, in about two minutes and a half.

Whatever kind of fire-escape be preferred, it is necessary that the localities where they are deposited and the mode of using them should be well and generally understood. FIRE-FLY. [ELATERIDE; LAMPYRIS.] FIRE, ST. ANTHONY'S. [ERYSIPELAS.] FIRE, GREEK, an invention of the middle ages which was often employed in the wars of the Christians and SaraThis subject has given rise to much inquiry and excited much discussion; the obscurity by which it is enveloped has been greatly increased by many causes, and especially by the love of the marvellous.

cens.

According to Gibbon, the deliverance of Constantinople in the sieges of the seventh and eighth centuries may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was imported by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the emperor.'

It is justly observed by Gibbon that the historian who presumes to analyse this extraordinary composition should suspect his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and in this instance so jealous of the truth. From their obscure and perhaps fallacious hints, it should seem that the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was naphtha, or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by what method or in what proportion, with sulphur and with the pitch that is extracted from evergreen firs.' One of the properties here stated to belong to naphtha is well known to be and indeed is obviously incorrectly ascribed to it; if it were spontaneousl inflammable it could not even be collected, and of course could not be mixed with the other ingredients which are named. Whatever may have been the precise nature of the mixture, the account of its effects, from which somewhat of the marvellous must be deducted, is thus strikingly portrayed by Gibbon :- From this mixture, which produced a thick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, which not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with equal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being extinguished, it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and sand, urine, or vinegar were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks the liquid or the maritime fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed with equal effect by sea and by land, in battles or in sieges. It was either poured from the ramparts in large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil: sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of a more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through

long tubes of copper, which planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of liquid and consuming fire.' According to Gibbon, the secret of the Greek fire was confined above 400 years to the Romans of the East; it was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mohammedans; and in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt they retorted an invention contrived against themselves on the heads of the Christians. The feu Gregeois, as it is styled by the more early of the French writers, is thus described by Joinville: It came flying through the air, like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with a report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination.' The use of Greek fire was continued to the middle of the 14th century, when the more efficient employment of gunpowder was substituted. When Ypres was besieged by the Bishop of Norwich in 1383, the garrison defended itself with Greek fire. In a curious paper on the subject of Greek fire by the late Dr. MacCulloch (Royal Inst. Journal, vol. 14), he remarks that very different things were known by one name, and he supposes the various projectile means and combustibles employed to have been essentially different. FIRENZE. FLORENCE.]

FIRKIN, a measure of ale, beer, and some dry commodities, now disused. Eight gallons of ale, soap, or herrings, made a firkin, and nine gallons of beer. But by a statute passed in 1689, the distinction between the firkin of ale and beer was abolished, except only in London, and eight and a half gallons were declared to make a firkin.

FIRM. [PARTNERSHIP.]

FIRMA'N or FIRMAU'N, is the name of the decrees issued by the Turkish Sultan, which are signed with his own cipher or signet. Such are the firmauns by which he appoints the various pachas and other great officers of the state. Firmaun is also the name of a kind of passport which the pachas are in the habit of granting to travellers, especially Europeans, by which they enjoin the subordinate authorities to give the bearer protection and assistance. The firmaun of death' was a sentence of summary execution issued by the sultan against a pacha, the written order for which was entrusted to a chiaous, or state messenger, whose duty it was to see it executed.

FIROLA. [NUCLEOBRANCHIA TA; CARINARIA, Vol. vi. p. 294.]

FIRST FRUITS (Primitia), the profits of every spiritual living for one year, according to the valuation thereof in the king's books. [ANNATES.] They were claimed by the pope throughout Christendom; in England his claim was first asserted in the reign of King John, and then only so far as related to clerks whom he appointed to benefices. Afterwards, by Pope Clement V. and John XXII., about the beginning of the fourteenth century, they were demanded and taken by the pope from all clerks, by whomsoever presented. By the statutes 25 Henry VIII. c. 20, and 26 Henry VIII. c. 3, first fruits and tenths [TENTHS] were taken from the pope and given to the king. In the thirtysecond year of the same king's reign a court was erected for the management of them, but it was soon after abolished. Ultimately Queen Anne gave up this branch of the royal revenue to be applied towards the augmentation of small livings. [BENEFICE.]

First fruits arising in Ireland were by the 2nd Geo. I. e. 15, directed to be applied for the same purpose; but by the 3rd and 4th Will. IV. c. 37, the payment of first fruits in Ireland is abolished. (1 Bl. Com.; 2 Burn. Eccl. Law.) FIRTH. [FRITH.]

FISC, FISCUS, was the name given under the Roman empire, and afterwards in the monarchies which rose on its ruins, to the private treasury of the sovereign, as distinguished from ærarium, or the treasury of the state. The fiscus was chiefly replenished by fines and confiscations, and unclaimed property of deceased persons: the taxes and other revenues of the country were paid into the ærarium. Under absolute monarchies, however, the two treasuries have been often confounded both in name and in reality. Under the feudal system, fiscus regius and fiscales terræ signified the domains of the crown, and the peasants attached to those domains were called fiscalini. Fiscus by degrees came to be used figuratively for the rights of the crown in civil as well as criminal matters, and the king's attorney was called procurator fisci, procureur fiscal in French, avvocato fiscale in Italian. Fiscus, in the sense of P. C., No. 630.

feudum regium,' or fiefs granted by the crown, was contrasted with proprietas, or an allodial estate. The word fiscus meant originally a basket or frail in which the monies of the prince were collected. (Ducange.)

FISH (French, poisson; German, fisch), a name applied to all the species of a class of animals occupying the lowest station of the four great divisions of the section vertebrata. A fish may be defined as a vertebrate animal, breathing through the medium of water by means of branchiæ, or gills, having one auricle and one ventricle to the heart, cold red blood, and extremities formed for swimming. Having given the ordinary definition of a fish, it may now be well to proceed with a short account of fishes in general.

In considering fishes, perhaps the most important thing which offers itself to our attention is the apparatus called the branchiæ, or gills. This apparatus is situated on each side of the neck, and consists of numerous laminæ fixed on arches. These laminae are covered with innumerable blood-vessels, and are so constructed as to present a considerable surface to the water, so that the blood may receive a sufficient portion of the oxygen contained in that element. As the water in contact with the gills becomes deteriorated, it is necessary that a constant current be caused to flow over them. In most fishes this is effected by their taking the water in at the mouth and expelling it from under the gill-covers. The blood, which is constantly sent to the branchiæ from the heart, is distributed by means of the arteries to every part of the body, whence it returns to the heart by means of the veins.

As the breathing apparatus in the fish is suited to aquatic habits, so likewise is every part of its structure. The body is generally of an elongate oval, compressed form, covered with scales directed backwards, and furnished with fins; thus being beautifully adapted for swimming. Many fishes moreover have a bladder filled with air situated immediately beneath the spine, by the dilatation or compression of which their specific gravity is said to be varied. The thoracic part of the body is thrown forwards towards the head (so that fishes may be said to have no neck), and thus the hinder part of the body is more free and fitted for motion. The limbs are formed into fins, the fore-legs constituting what is termed the pectoral fins (fig. 1 a), and the posterior extremities the ventral (fig. 1b): besides these fins ordinary fishes are furnished with one or two dorsal fins (fig. 1 cc), an anal fin (fig. 1 d), and a caudal fin, or tail.

All these fins are not always present, nor when present are they always in the same relative positions; and we shall hereafter find that both the absence of certain fins, and the peculiar position of these organs, afford characters in the classification of fishes. The fins consist of a thin elastic membrane supported by rays. The rays are of two kindsthose which consist of a single bony piece, usually hard and pointed, are termed spinous rays; and when the rays are formed of numerous portions of bone united by articulations, and frequently divided longitudinally into several filaments, they are called flexible rays. The principal organ of motion is the tail; the dorsal and ventral fins apparently serve to balance the fish, and the pectorals to arrest its progress when required.

The bones of fishes are of a less dense and compact nature than in the higher orders of animals, and always remain in an isolated state, similar to that of the embryo of the mammalia. The skeleton may be divided into four chief parts-the vertebral column, the head, the respiratory apparatus, and the limbs. The vertebral column consists of vertebræ which are concave at each end and pierced in the middle; and when joined together the hollow space between each two is occupied by a gelatinous substance, which passes from one space to the next through the hole in each bone. This hole is usually very small, but in some of the Chondropterygians it is so large that the bodies of the vertebræ are mere rings. To the vertebræ are attached the ribs; in fact, the ribs are the main support of all the other bones. The head varies more in form than in any other class of vertebrate animals. The same bones as those found in other oviparous animals are almost always traceable. We shall confine our observations to those which are most frequently referred to in technical descriptions.

The upper jaw consists of maxillary and intermaxillary bones; in the greater number of fishes the intermaxillary bones (fig. 1, e) constitute the chief portion of the upper jaw, the maxillary bones (fig. 1, f) being placed behind and VOL. X.-2 O

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Upper Jaw of a Trout.

e, the intermaxillary bone; f, the maxillary bone. Fig. 3. Front view of the mouth of a Trout.

Fig. 3.

, the vomer furnished with teeth; mm, palatine bones also furnished with teeth; n, the tongue with recurved teeth.

The lower jaw is generally composed of at least two bones on each side, the dental portion in front, and the articular portion behind.

The palatines (fig. 3, m m) are extended longitudinally on each side, and form part of the roof of the mouth; they are often furnished with teeth.

The opercular bones. The chief portion of the sides of the head behind the eye consists of the opercular bones: these are generally four in number, and are termed the operculum (fig. 1, g), the sub-operculum (fig. 1, h), the pre-operculum (fig. 1, i), and the inter-operculum (fig. 1, k). The first of these covers the gills.

The Branchiostegous rays (fig. 1, 0), which are often mentioned in descriptions, are situated under the opercular bones. The teeth in fishes are almost entirely osseous; they are usually of a simple spine-like form, and recurved at the tip. Teeth are found in almost every bone in the interior of the mouth; in the superior and inferior maxillary, and intermaxillary bones; likewise on the branchial arches, pharangeal bones (which are situated in the throat), and on the tongue. There is considerable variety in their structure, as will be found in the various descriptions of fishes found in other parts of this work.

The scales are composed of two substances, one resembling horn in its texture, and the other of a harder and bone-like nature; they are generally attached to the skin by their anterior edge, and consist of numerous concentric laminæ (secreted by the skin), the smallest of which is first formed. Certain scales, forming a continuous series, in a slightly waved line from the head to the tail of the fish, are pierced in or near their centre, and furnished with a tube through which a slimy matter is poured, which serves to lubricate the body of the animal. This series of tubes forms a line visible on the sides of the body, and which is termed the lateral line.

The structure, form, and position of the scales of fishes are very variable, and have furnished M. Agassiz* with characters for a new classification of these animals.

As regards the senses, those of taste and touch appear to See the Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles' of Louis Agassiz,

be but slightly developed in fishes. When we find the tongue thickly covered with teeth (as is often the case), and used as an organ of prehension, and when we consider the quick manner in which the food is swallowed, it would certainly appear that their sense of taste is very slight. The sense of touch is probably most developed in the cirrhi attached to the mouth of those fishes that have them. The long filaments with which the fins of some fishes are furnished also perhaps serve, through the sense of touch, to indicate the vicinity of weeds, or other objects in the water.

The eyes are differently placed in the various species of fishes, in accordance with their habits: for the most part they are placed laterally, and in some (those that live at the bottom of the water) we find them directed upwards. In some of the species of sharks (those of the genus Zygena) they are situated at the end of an elongated lateral process on each side of the head.

The sight in fishes is acute, the range of vision however is probably somewhat limited. The eyes (which are furnished with a spherical lens) are generally large but in some species they are very small, whilst others appear to be destitute of them.

Although fishes appear not to possess certain portions of the auditory apparatus, observed in animals of a higher grade, they nevertheless possess the sense of hearing.

There are reasons for the belief that the sense of smell in

fishes is tolerably acute: their olfactory nerves are of large size, and disposed over a considerable extent of surface.

By far the greater number of fishes are of carnivorous habits; there are some however which feed upon vegetable substances, and we find the stomach modified accordingly as in other animals.

The sexes of fishes, if we except the sharks and rays, offer no very decided external characters by which they may be distinguished: as in the higher animals, however, observes Mr. Yarrell, the respiratory organs occupy more space in the males than in the females; and, on the other hand, the abdomen is larger in the females than in the males: the males may therefore be known from the females by their somewhat sharper or more pointed head, the greater length of the gill cover, and the body from the dorsal fin downwards being not so deep compared with the whole length of the fish.'

The sexual organs of fishes are in the generality of the species of a more simple nature than is observed in the higher orders of the vertebrata, consisting, as will be found, towards the season of producing their young, of two elongated oval lobes of roe, one on each side of the body, placed between the ribs and the intestinal canal; the lobes in the female, called hard roe, contain a very large number of roundish grains, called ova or eggs, which are enclosed in a delicate membranous tunic or bag, reaching to the side of the anal aperture, where an elongated fissure permits egress at the proper time. In the males, the lobes of roe are smaller than in the females, and have the appearance of two elongated masses of fat, which are called soft