be

to each other, and in the same direction with the first layer of short laths. Over this second layer of short laths there must be spread another coat of rough plaster, which should be trowelled level with the tops of the joists without rising above them. The rough plaster may be made of coarse lime and hair; or, instead of hair, hay chopped to about three inches in length may be substituted with advantage. One measure of common rough sand, two measures of slaked lime, and three measures of chopped hay, will form in general a very good proportion, when sufficiently beaten up together in the manner of common mortar. The hay should be put in after the two other ingredients are well beaten up together with water. This plaster should be made stiff; and when the flooring-boards are required to be laid down very soon, a fourth or fifth part of quicklime in powder, formed by dropping a small quantity of water on the limestone a little while before it is used, and well mixed with this rough plaster, will cause it to dry very fast. If any cracks appear in the rough plaster-work near the joist when it is thoroughly dry, they ought to be closed by washing them over with a brush wet with mortar-wash; this wash may prepared by putting two measures of quicklime and one of common sand in a pail, and stirring the mixture with water, till the water becomes of the consistence of a thin jelly. Before the flooring-boards are laid, a small quantity of very dry common sand should be strewed over the plasterwork, and struck smooth with a hollow rule, moved in the direction of the joists, so that it may lie rounding between each pair of joists. The plaster-work and sand should be perfectly dry before the boards are laid, for fear of the dry-rot. The method of under-flooring may be successfully applied to a wooden staircase; but no sand is to be laid upon the rough plasterwork. The method of extra-lathing may be applied to ceiling joists, to sloping roofs, and to wooden partitions. The third method, which is that of inter-securing, is very similar to that of under-flooring; but no sand is afterwards to be laid upon it. Inter-securing is applicable to the same parts of a building as the method of extralathing, but it is seldom necessary. The author of this invention made several experiments, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of these methods. In most houses it is only necessary to secure the floors;

the expense of his numerous experiments. The same preservative may also be applied to ships, furniture, &c. Mr. Hartley's patent has long since expired. Earl Stanhope also discovered and published a very simple and effectual method of securing every kind of building against fire. This method he has divided into three parts, viz. underflooring, extra-lathing, and inter-securing. The method of under-flooring is either single or double. In single under-flooring, a common strong lath of oak or fir, about one fourth of an inch thick, should be nailed against each side of every joist, and of every main timber, supporting the floor which is to be secured. Other similar laths are then to be nailed along the whole length of the joists, with their ends butting against each other. The top of each of these laths or fillets ought to be at 14 inch below the top of the joists or timbers against which they are nailed; and they will thus form a sort of small ledge on each side of all the joists. These fillets are to be well bedded in a rough plaster hereafter mentioned, when they are nailed on, so that there may be no interval between them and the joists; and the same plaster ought to be spread with a trowel upon the tops of all the fillets, and along the sides of that part of the joists which is between the top of the fillets and the upper edge of the joists. In order to fill up the intervals between the joists that support the floor, short pieces of common laths, whose length is equal to the width of these intervals, should be laid in the contrary direction to the joists, and close together in a row, so as to touch one another; their ends must rest upon the fillets, and they ought to be well bedded in the rough plaster, but are not to be fastened with nails. They must then be covered with one thick coat of the rough plaster, which is to be spread over them to the level of the tops of the joists; and in a day or two this plaster should be trowelled over close to the sides of the joists, without covering the tops of the joists with it. In the method of doubleflooring, the fillets and short pieces of laths are applied in the manner already described; but the coat of rough plaster ought to be little more than half as thick as that in the former method. Whilst this rough plaster is laid on, some more of the short pieces of laths above-mentioned must be laid in the intervals, between the joists upon the first coat, and be dipped deep in it. They should be laid as close as possible

and the extra expense of under-flooring, including all materials, was at that time only about nine-pence per square yard, and with the use of quicklime a little more. The extra expense of extra-lathing is no more than six. pence per square yard for the timber side walls and partitions; but for the ceiling about nine-pence per square yard. But in most houses no extra-lathing is necessary.

FIRE, in the art of war, a word of com. mand to the soldiers, to discharge their musquets; to the cavalry, to discharge their carabines or pistols; to the grenadiers, to fire their grenadoes; and to the gunners, to fire the guns.

FIRE, running, is when a rank of men, drawn up, fire one after another: or, when the lines of an army are drawn out to fire on account of a victory, each squadron or battalion takes it from another, from the right of the first line to the left, and from the left to the right of the second line.

FIRE arms are all sorts of arms charged with powder and ball, as cannon, musquets, carabines, pistols, blunderbusses, &c. See CANNON, GUN, &c.

FIRE ball, in the art of war, a composition of meal powder, sulphur, salt-petre, pitch, &c. about the bigness of a handgrenade, coated over with flax, and primed with a slow composition of a fusee, This is to be thrown into the enemy's works in the night-time to discover where they are : or to fire houses, galleries, or blinds of the besiegers; but they are then armed with spikes, or hooks of iron, that they may not roll off, but stick or hang where they are designed to have any effect.

FIRE pots, in the military art, small earthern pots, into which is put a charged grenade, and over that powder enough till the grenade is covered; then the pot is covered with a piece of parchment, and two pieces of match across lighted: this pot being thrown by a handle of match, where it is designed, it breaks and fires the powder, and burns all that is near it, and likewise fires the powder in the grenade, which ought to have no fuse, to the end its operations may be the quicker.

FIRE ship, in the navy, a vessel charged with artificial fire-works, which, having the wind of an enemy's ship, grapples her, and sets her on fire.

FIRE engine. See ENGINE.

FIRKIN, an English measure of capacity, for things liquid, being the fourth part of the barrel: it contains nine gallons of beer. FIRLOT, a dry measure used in Scot

land. The oat-firlot contains 21 pints of that country; the wheat-firlot contains about 2,211 cubical inches; and the barleyfirlot, 31 standard pints. Hence it appears that the Scotch wheat-firlot exceeds the English bushel by 33 cubical inches.

FIRMAMENT, in the Ptolemaic astronomy, the eighth heaven or sphere, with respect to the seven spheres of the planets which it surrounds. It is supposed to have two motions, a diurnal motion, given to it by the primum mobile, from east to west about the poles of the ecliptic; and another opposite motion from west to east, which last it finishes, according to Tycho, in 25,412 years; according to Ptolemy, in 36,000; and, according to Copernicus, in 25,800; in which time the fixed stars return to the same points in which they were at the beginning. This period is commonly called the Platonic year, or the great year.

By

FIRST fruits and tenths, in law. First fruits are the profits of every spiritual living for one year; and tenths are the tenth of the yearly value of such living, given anciently to the Pope throughout all Christendom; but by stat. 26 Hen. VIII. c. 3. transferred to the King of England. stat. 27 Hen. VIII. c. 3. no tenths are to be paid for the first year, as then the first fruits are due; and by several statutes in the reign of Queen Ann, benefices under 50%. per ann, shall be discharged of the payment of first fruits and tenths. She also restored the profits of this revenue to the church, by establishing a perpetual fund therefrom, vested in trustees for the augmentation of poor livings under 501. a year. This is called Queen Anne's bounty, and is further regulated by subsequent statutes; but as the number of livings under 501. was at the commencement of it 5,597, averaged at 231. per ann, its operation will be very slow.

FISC, in the civil law, the treasury of a prince. It differs from the ærarium, which was the treasury of the public or people: thus, when the money arising from the sale of condemned persons' goods was appropriated for the use of the public, their goods were said publicari; but when it was destined for the support of the prince they were called confiscuri.

FISCAL, in the civil law, something relating to the pecuniary interest of the prince or people. The officers appointed for the management of the fisc were called procuratores fisci, and advocati fisci; and among the cases enumerated in the consti

tutions of the empire, where it was their business to plead, one is against those who have been condemned to pay a fine to the fisc on account of their litigiousness, or frivolous appeals.

FISH, in natural history, constitutes a class of animals which have no feet, but always fins; add to this, that their body is either altogether naked, or only covered with scales; and that they are aquatic animals, which live mostly, if not always, in water. See PISCES.

FISH, in law, the property in fish in a river is in the lord of the manor, where he has the soil on both sides; but where the river ebbs and flows, and is an arm of the sea, it is common to all, and he who claims a privilege must prove it. To secure the property of fish in ponds, or drains, there are several statutes, creating offences and enacting punishments with respect to them, which are too numerous to be here mentioned.

FISHES, in heraldry, are the emblems of silence and watchfulness, and are borne either upright, imbowed, extended, endorsed respecting each other, surmounting one another, fretted, &c.

In blazoning fishes, those borne feeding should be termed devouring; all fishes borne upright and having fins should be blazoned hauriant; and those borne transverse the escutcheon must be termed naiant.

FISHERY, a place where great numbers of fish are caught.

The principal fisheries for salmon, herring, mackarel, pilchards, &c. are along the coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland; for cod on the banks of Newfoundland; for whales, about Greenland; and for pearls, in the East and West Indies.

FISHERY denotes also the commerce of fish, more particularly the catching them for

sale.

Were we to enter into a very minute and particular consideration of fisheries, as at present established in this kingdom, this article would swell beyond its proper bounds; because to do justice to a subject of that concernment to the British nation, requires a very ample and distinct discussion. We shall, however, observe, that since the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland abound with the most valuable fish; and since fisheries, If successful, become permanent nurseries for breeding expert seamen ; it is a duty we owe to our country, for its natural security, to extend

this trade to the utmost. No nation can have a navy, where there is not a fund of business to breed and employ seamen, without any expense to the public, and no trade is so well calculated for training up these useful members of this society, as fisheries.

The situation of the British coasts is the most advantageous for catching fish in the world; the Scottish islands, particularly those to the north and west, lie most commodious for carrying on the fishing trade to perfection; for no country in Europe can pretend to come up to Scotland in the abundance of the finest fish, with which its various creeks, bays, rivers, lakes, and coasts are replenished. King Charles I. was so sensible of the great advantage to be derived from fisheries, that he began the experiment, together with a company of merchants; but the civil war soon occasioned that project to be set aside. King Charles II. made a like attempt, but his pressing wants made him withdraw what money he had employed that way, whereupon the merchants that joined with him, did so too. Since the union, several attempts have been made to retrieve the fisheries, and a corporation settled to that effect, entitled the Royal British Fishery.

And

In the year 1750, the parliament of Great Britain taking the state of the fisheries into consideration, an act was passed for the encouragement of the white herring fishery, granting a charter, whereby a corporation is created, to continue twenty-one years, by the name of the Society of the Free British Fishery, to be under the direction of a governor, president, vice-president, council, &c. who are to continue in office the space of three years, with power to make by-laws, &c. and to raise a capital of 500,000l. by way of subscription. any number of persons, who, in any part of Great Britain, shall subscribe 10,000l. into the stock of this society, under the name of the Fishing Chamber, and carry on the said fishery on their own account of profit and loss, shall be entitled to the same bounty allowed to the society. The bounty is 30s. the tun, to be paid yearly, for fourteen years, besides three per cent. for the money advanced by each chamber. The act contains other proper regulations relative to the nets, marks on the herring-barrels, number of hands, and the quantity of salt that is entitled to the bounty, &c. It is then by the encouragement given by this act, that we now see a laudable emulation

prevailing all over the two kingdoms, and fishing busses fitted out from almost every port, in order to repair to the Shetland islands, where the herring fishery is carried on with an ardour becoming so important a branch of trade. Scotland, which suffered incredibly from the neglect of this valuable and natural produce of the seas, has not been backward to join in a scheme that tends so evidently to its own advantage; for the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the towns of Montrose, Dundee, Perth, Inverness, and some other boroughs, have raised the proper sum, and chambers have been erected in each of them; the gentlemen of estates adjoining to the respective places above-mentioned, liberally contributing with merchants towards the prosecution of an undertaking so visibly tending to the good of their country in general.

FISHERY, anchovy. Anchovies are fished on the coast of Provence, in the months of May, June, and July, at which season shoals of this fish regularly come into the Mediterranean through the Streights of Gibraltar. They are likewise found in plenty in the river of Genoa, on the coast of Sicily, and on that of the island of Gorgone opposite to Leghorn; these last are reckoned the best. It is remarkable that anchovies are seldom fished but in the night time. If a fire be kindled on the poops of the vessels used for this fishing, the anchovies will come in greater numbers into the nets; but then it is asserted, that the anchovies taken thus by fire, are neither so good nor so firm, and will not keep so well, as those which are taken without fire. When the fishery is over, they pull off the heads of all the anchovies, gut them, and afterwards range them in barrels of different weights, the largest of which do not weigh above twenty-five or twenty-six pounds, and they put a good deal of salt in them. Some also pickle them in small earthen pots made on purpose, of two or three pounds weight, more or less, which they cover with plaster, to keep them the better.

FISHERY, cod. There are two kinds of cod fish, the one green or white cod, and the other dried or cured cod, though it is all the same fish differently prepared; the former being sometimes salted and barrelled, then taken out for use; and the latter having lain some considerable time in salt, dried in the sun or smoke. We shall therefore speak of each of these apart, and first of

FISHERY, green cod. The chief fisheries for green cod are, in the bay of Canada, on the great bank of Newfoundland, and on the isle of St. Peter, and the isle of Sable, to which places vessels resort from divers parts both of Europe and America. They are from 100 to 150 tons burthen, and will catch between 30 and 40 thousand cod each. The most essential part of the fishery, is to have a master who knows how to cut up the cod, one who is skilled to take the head off properly, and above all, a good salter, on which the preserving them, and consequently the success of the voyage de pends. The best season is from the beginning of February to the end of April; the fish, which in the winter retire to the deepest water, coming then on the banks, and fattening extremely. What is caught from March to June keeps well, but those taken in July, August, and September, when it is warm on the banks, are apt to spoil soon. Every fisher takes but one at a time; the most expert will take from 350 to 400 in a day, but that is the most, the weight of the fish, and the great coldness on the bank, fatiguing very much. As soon as the cod are taken, the head is taken off; they are opened, gutted, and salted, and the salter stows them in the bottom of the hold, head to tail, in beds a fathom or two square; laying layers of salt and fish alternately, but never mixing fish caught on different days. When they have lain thus three or four days to drain off the water, they are replaced in another part of the ship, and salted again; where they remain till the vessel is loaded. Sometimes they are cut in thick pieces, and put up in barrels for the conveniency of carriage.

FISHERY, dry cod. The principal fishery for dry cod, is from Cape Rose to the Bay des Exports, along the coast of Placentia, in which compass there are divers commodious ports for the fish to be dried in. These, though of the same kind with the fresh cod, are much smaller, and therefore fitter to keep, as the salt penetrates more easily into them. The fishery of both is much alike, only this latter is more expensive, as it takes up more time, and employs more hands, and yet scarce half so much salt is spent in this as in the other. The bait is herrings, of which great quantities are taken on the coast of Placentia. When several vessels meet, and intend to fish in the same port, he whose shallop first touches ground, becomes entitled to the quality and privi leges of admiral: he has the choice of his