ing in solution acetate and sometimes carbonate of ammonia, and a small quantity of empyreumatic oil, leaving charcoal, with various saline and earthy ingredients. From these products it follows, that the mould contained less oxygen, more carbon, and more nitrogen than the vegetable matter from which it had been formed; though part of this nitrogen must probably have been derived from the animal matter unavoidably mixed with it.

The acids do not exert any very striking action on this mould; they dissolve its earthy and metallic ingredients. The fixed alkalies dissolve it almost entirely, and evolve ammonia during the solution. Alcohol merely takes up a little resinous extractive matter. Water likewise dissolves a small quantity of extract.

Saussure has remarked, as has been above stated, that vegetable mould, though the result of the putrefactive process, is not itself susceptible of putrefaction, but even rather retards it; hence it remains unaltered, evidently from the cause already assigned, that no other principles are present in sufficient proportion to act on the carbon accumulated in it. This, however, is to be understood of it, only when the air is excluded; for, when exposed to the atmosphere, it suffers a gradual change, until it is entirely decomposed. The oxygen of the air becomes combined with its carbon, forming carbonic acid, as Saussure found by enclosing it over quicksilver, in atmospheric air or oxygen gas. While this proceeds, the abstraction of carbon appears to allow part of the oxygen and hydrogen of the mould, to combine and form water; for it loses more of its weight than can be accounted for, merely from the quantity of carbon abstracted. These changes continue to proceed in a certain relation to each other, and terminate at length in the entire decomposition, leaving the earthy and metallic substances originally contained in the vegetable matters. We perceive from this view, how necessary the frequent turning up of the soil is to enable the vegetable mould to form a proper manure, by decomposing, and affording carbonic acid to the growing plant. FERN, n. s. } Sax, Feann. A plant deFEAR'NY, adj.scribed in the extracts.

The leaves are formed of a number of small pinnules, dentated on the edges, and set close one by another on slender ribs. On the back of these pinnules are produced the seeds, small and extremely numerous. The country people esteem it as a sovereign remedy decocted for the rickets in children. Hill.

The herd sufficed, did late repair To ferny heaths, and to their forest-lair. Dryden. There are great varieties of fern in different parts of the world; but they are seldom cultivated in gardens Miller. Hence dusky iron sleeps in dark abodes, And ferny foliage nestles in the nodes. Darwin. FERN, in botany, filix. See FILICES. Fern is very common in dry and barren places. It is one of the worst weeds for land, and very hard to destroy where it has a deep soil to root in. In some grounds the roots are found to the depth of eight feet. One of the most effectual ways to

destroy it is often mowing the grass; and, if the field is ploughed up, plentiful dunging is good. However, fern, cut while the sap is in i', and left to rot upon the ground, is a very good manure. In some places of the north the inha bitants mow it green, burn it, and make the ashes up into balls with water: which, when dried in the sun, they use to wash linen with, and find to be nearly as good as soap for that purpose.

FERN, FEMALE. See PTERIS.

FERN, FLOWERING. See OSMUNDA.
FERN, MALE. See POLYPODIUM.
FERN MULE's. See HEMIONITIS.
FERN, SWEET. See SCANDIX.

FERNANDEZ, or JUAN FERNANDEZ, an island in the South Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles from the coast of Chili, formerly a place of resort for the buccaneers, who were led to resort hither from the multitude of goats which it nourished. To deprive their enemies of this advantage, the Spaniards transported hither a considerable number of dogs, which, increasing greatly, almost extirpated the goats. There are instances of two men living at different times alone on this island for many years; the one a Musquito Indian: the other Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who was, after five years, taken on board an English Ship, which touched here in about 1710, and brought him back to Europe. From the history of this recluse Daniel de Foe is said to have written his Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. See DE FOE. This island was a propitious retreat to commodore Anson's squadron in 1741, after having been buffeted with tempests, and debilitated by an inveterate scurvy. They continued here three months; during which time the dying crews, who or their arrival could scarcely with one united effort heave the anchor, were restored to perfect health. Captain Carteret, also, in the Swallow, in 1767, having met with many difficulties and impediments in his passage into the South Sea, attempted to make this island in order to recruit the health of his men; but he found it fortified by the Spaniards. They in fact had settled an establishment at the port called Juan Fernandez, on the southwest coast, since June 1750. But M. de Bougainville that same year is said to have touched here for refreshments, although, in the narrative of the voyage, the fact is cautiously suppressed. The island is not quite fifteen miles long, and six broad; its only safe harbour is on the north side. It is said to have plenty of excellent water, and to abound with a great variety of excellent vegetables, and valuable wood: among which are the sandal, the yellow wood, and a species of palm. Vast shoals of fish of various kinds frequent the coast, particularly cod of a prodigious size. There are but few birds here. The president of Chili usually appoints the governor of this island, who is one of the commanders upon the Araucanian frontier. Besides the port of Juan Fernandez, there is another, lying towards the south, called the English harbour, from the circumstance of lord Anson's squadron having anchored there; but it is insecure, and too much exposed. Long. 78° 30′ W., lat. 33° 40′ S.

FERNE (Sir John), a celebrated antiquary, was born in Lincolnshire, and educated at Oxford, whence he removed to the inner temple, and in the beginning of the reign of James I. was knighted and made keeper of the king's signet for the north. He died about 1610: having published The Blazon of Gentry, 4to.,

1586.

FERNE (Henry), a bishop, the son of the preceding, was born at York in 1602, and became first a commoner of St. Mary-hall Oxford, and afterwards fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. He enjoyed the livings of Masham in Yorkshire, and Medborn in Leicestershire; and, being made archdeacon of Leicester, took, in 1642, his doctor's degree. The same year he published a piece in defence of the king, whose personal favor he obtained, and who, after the Reformation, made him master of Trinity College, dean of Ely, and bishop of Chester. He died in 1661. His works are 1. The Case of Conscience touching Rebellion; 2. Episcopacy and Presbytery considered; 3. Sermons and Tracts.

FERNEL, or FERNELIUS (John), physician to Henry II. of France, was born in Picardy, about the end of the fifteenth century. Being sent to Paris, to study rhetoric and philosophy, he applied himself in a most intense manner. He read Cicero, Plato, and Aristotle; and, by imitating the style of the ancients, made the lectures he afterwards read on philosophical subjects as eloquent as those of the other masters were barbarous. He also applied himself earnestly to the mathematics; but this continual study occasioned a long fit of sickness, which obliged him to leave Paris. On his recovery he returned and studied physic, and at the same time taught philosophy in the college of St. Barbara. In the course of these studies he invented several mathematical instruments; and soon after began reading lectures upon Hippocrates and Galen, which gained him great reputation. He now composed his treatise on Physiology, and another De Venæ Sectione, upon both of which he read lectures for several years. While thus employed he was sent for to court to see a lady whose recovery was despaired of. He, however, accomplished the cure; and on this occasion Henry II., then dauphin, offered h m the place of first physician to him; but Fernel, preferring his studies, declined the employment. When Henry came to the throne he renewed his offers, which Fernel was at last prevailed on to accept. He died in 1558, leaving behind him many other works, as De Abditis Rerum Causis, seven books of Pathology, a book on Remedies, &c.. which have been repeatedly printed, with his life prefixed, written by William Plantius, his disciple.

FERNESS, a cape and bay on the west coast of Eday, one of the Orkney islands. Long. 2° 43' W., lat 59° 2′ N.

vited a number of workmen and artists, particularly watchmakers, to settle here; he even erected a church for their use: but in 1786, eight years after his death, the number of inhabitants did not exceed 600. The chateau of this superficial philosopher is preserved, and shown to strangers.

FERNS, a small town, or rather village, of Ireland, in the county of Wexford, which, united with Leighlin, was once a bishop's see. In the year 1166 the king of Leinster burnt this town, but afterwards founded an abbey in it, now in ruins, as also a castle to which he retired. This occasioned the calling in of the Norman chiefs, and, eventually, the conquest of Ireland. Ferns is fifteen miles north of Wexford. FEROCIOUS, adj. Fr. feroce; Lat. ferox. FEROCIOUSLY, udv. Savage; fierce; raveFEROCITY, n. s.

nous.

The hare, that becometh a prey unto men, unto beasts and fowls of the air, is fruitful even unto superfetation; but the lion and ferocious animal hath young ones but seldom, and but one at a time.

Browne's Vulgar Errours.

Untaught, uncultivated, as they were Inhospitable, full of ferocity. Philip's Briton. An uncommon ferocity in my countenance, with the remarkable flatness of my nose, and extent of my mouth, have procured me the name of lion.

Addison's Guardian.
Smedley rose in majesty of mud;
Shaking the horrors of his ample brows,
And each ferocious feature grim with ooze.
Pope.

It is to the merciful maxims of Christianity, much more than to any other cause, that we must ascribe the little ferocity and bloodshed which accompany our modern victories. Robertson's Sermon.

And now to see them thus divided, stand In fixed ferocity, when joyous tears And sweet sensations should have welcomed, both Show what the passions are in their full growth. Byron.

The FEROE, FERRÆ, or FAROE Islands, are a cluster of islands in the Northern Ocean, amounting to twenty-two in number, and lying between 61° 15′ N. lat., and 62° 25′. Their name is conjectured to have been derived either from fær, a sheep, and æ, an island, from the number of these animals found on them by the first settlers, and which were introduced by the Norwegian pirates, who first discovered the islands and made them their rendezvous; or from fier, feathers, the feathers of sea-birds forming a staple article of their riches; or finally, from fiær, far distant, as relative to their position with respect to Norway. The seventeen of them which are inhabited, may be thus described :—

it into four peninsulas; it has a good winter port named Klaksund, on the north-west, and seven villages. 5. Kuna, eight miles long, and two broad, is one steep conical hill; three villages. 6. Kelsa, nine miles long, and one broad; four villages. Ostera, twenty miles long, and ten broad, has the highest hills among the group, is indented by five sounds, and has the good winter harbour of Kongshaven on the south-west; it has two small fresh-water lakes and many hasaltic columns. It contains seven churches, and twenty villages or farms. Two singular rocking stones are seen in the sea near the island. Their length is twenty-four feet, and breadth eighteen, even when the sea is perfectly calm, they have a sensible vibratory motion, and in storms move backwards and forwards several inches with a creaking noise: this effect is probably produced by their remaining suspended on the summits of other rocks after the clay on which they formerly rested had been washed away. 8. Stroma, the largest of the islands, is twenty-seven miles long, and seven broad. It has one town and twenty villages and farms. The former, named Thorshavn, is the only one on the islands, and is on the south-east side of the island. It is the seat of government and the centre of trade. It consists of 100 wooden houses, with the same number of families, of whom one half are fishermen, servants, or paupers. There is a Latin school, and a wooden church, covered with slate. The defences are a small fort, and garrison of thirty-six men. At Kirkeboe, a village on the south end of the island, is the only stone church; and here was the ancient seat of the popish bishops. Westmanhamen, on the west side of the island, is the best harbour of the group. 9. Nolsa, Needle Island, has its name from a perforated hill resembling the eye of a needle. It is five miles and a half long, and mile broad, and contains copper ore, mixed with gold; one village. 10, 11. Hesta, and Kolter, are little islands with a single farm each. 12. Vaage, has two lakes of fresh-water, one of which is three miles long, and half a mile broad; they abound in large trout; three villages. 13. Mugenas, the western island, is small and of difficult access, so that it is only visited twice a year by the clergyman; one village. West of this island is a great rock of basaltic columns, the only resort amongst the islands of the Soland goose. It pastures sheep and oxen, whose flesh is the most esteemed of the islands. 14. Sanda is thirteen miles long, and one mile and a half broad; it has three lakes, and five villages. It is one of the most fertile, producing excellent potatoes. 15. Skua, a small island, is celebrated in the annals of the islands for containing the tomb of their hero Sigismund Bristesen. 16. The Great Dimon is almost entirely inaccessible; and its inhabitants, of one family, having no place to haul up a boat, have no communication with the other islands, unless when the people of the latter visit them; and the clergyman who visits the island only every summer, is obliged to be hoisted up by a rope. This island, as well as its neighbour the Little Dimon, is the grand resort of sea-fowls. 17. Sudero, the southernmost of the group, is seventeen miles

one

long, and five miles broad; has six churches, and ten villages. It has many spaces, covered with basaltic columns. This island has two good winter harbours. The Monk is a great lump of rock south of Suderce, surrounded by sunken rocks among which the currents are strong and dangerous.

These islands are all vast mountains of rock, generally rising in conical or angular summits or 1000 to 2000 feet elevation, and the coasts presenting perpendicular rocky cliffs of 200 to 300 feet height. The grand formation is trap, with feltspar, glimmer, and grains of zeolite; the only volcanic appearances are in basaltic columns, which cover considerable spaces. Many confused heaps of loose stones, and vast masses of rock, scattered on the sides of the hills, seem to denote some great convulsion, by which also it would appear that many of the islands have been torn to pieces. The shores offer numerous deep caverns, the resort of seals. The mountains are only separated by very narrow glens, through which run rivulets and brooks, many oi which form cascades, and are useful in turning corn mills. There are also some fresh-water lakes, in which are trout and eels; and some warm springs.

The quantity of arable land is very small, the soil over the bed of rock being in general not more than a foot or two deep. Barley and rye are the only cultivated grains; and turnips, carrots, and potatoes the only vegetables. The turnips are a yellow sort, but small and hard; and the potatoes diminutive and watery. Such, however, is the industry of the people in some places, that soil is often seen laid on the flat surfaces of large stones, in which potatoes of a good quality are produced. The islands have no trees, though from the veins of soil they possess, and from the trunks of juniper trees found in the soil, it would appear that they were not formerly without wood. Copper ore has been found, with particles of gold, but too poor to pay the expense of working. The climate, though very foggy, is not unhealthy. The summers generally wet; the winters stormy but not cold, the lakes or brooks seldom freezing to any thickness, but snow falls in vast quantity. The aurora borealis is common in winter, and is even seen sometimes in August. The shores are tremendously beaten by the Atlantic waves, and the currents rush through the sounds and straits with great violence, forming whirlpools almost equal to those of the Maelstrom, on the coast of Norway. The islands are deeply indented by inlets forming eight good harbours in winter, and they have besides many roads named summer harbours.

are

The wild animals are only rats and mice; the domestic ones horned cattle, sheep, horses, and a few hogs, dogs, and cats. The amphibious animals are the walrus, and several species of the seal. Among the aquatic birds are many kinds of ducks, particularly the eider, the auk, the puffin, penguin, diver, fulmer, sheer-water, gannet, gulls, petrel, &c. The only land birds of any consideration are the quail and wild pigeon. Domestic fowls are common, but there are no turkeys.

The population in 1782 was 4409 souls: in 1812, 5209. Their principal pursuits are cutting turf for fuel, agriculture, rearing cattle and sheep, manufacturing the wool of the latter into coarse cloths or knit jackets and stockings, to dye which they make use of lichens, with which the islands abound. The cattle are small; and, no pains being taken to select the best for breeding, few are to be met with that are well shaped. They yield but a small quantity of milk, but it is sweet and rich. The sheep vary a little in appearance and in the quality of their wool, which is torn from them when the fleece begins to loosen; but frequently that event is not waited for, and the skin of the animals is cruelly lacerated. The horses are small, and in general not well shaped. The best are to be seen in the island of Suderoe. They are very seldom used, except for carrying home fuel from the mosses; there being no roads and no wheel carriages. The inhabitants are also employed in catching sea birds both for their flesh and feathers, the former forming a good portion of their food, fresh or dried; and in hunting the seal for its skin and oil. The fishery, which was formerly considerable, is now reduced to barely sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants, the fish having forsaken these coasts; the principal kinds are hollibut, cod, haddock, and sey (gadus virens.) Shoals of small whales, of 100 to 1000, arrive periodically, and a great number are killed for their oil as well as for food. Seals were formerly taken in great numbers in the caverns but they are not so numerous now.

Many of the inhabitants speak English, a considerable intercourse having been kept up between these islands and Scotland during both the American and French wars. Some differences having taken place in the year 1809 between some British merchants and the Icelanders, an order in council was issued, commanding British subjects to consider the Icelanders, Faroese, and the people of the Danish settlements in Greenland, as stranger friends, and permitting a trade between these places and the ports of London, Leith, and Liverpool, on certain conditions. The money and the value of all the goods of which Feroe and Iceland had been robbed by some privateers were also restored. In 1811, the maritime war interrupting the supplies of the Faroese, a small but adequate export from Britain was permitted. Many romantic scenes are presented in the formation and appearance of these islands; and there is scarcely a promontory or detached rock that does not present something combining singularity with magnificence. Of these, the rock called the Witch's Finger and the little island called Tindholm, the one on the east and the other on the west side of Vaagoe, are perhaps the most remarkable. The former is detached from the adjoining precipice almost to the bottom. From some points of view it has the appearance of a grand square tower, surmounted by a lofty spire; and, when the light falls in a particular direction, the resemblances of a door and windows are quite distinct at a distance of five miles. When viewed in that position in which it appears detached from the rock, it is not unlike a huge finger

The

pointing upwards. Landt states the height of this peak to be 1200 feet, and we believe that this does not much exceed the truth. The elevation of Tindholm is probably about 500 feet, and its singular appearance is much more striking. On one side, though very steep, it is covered with verdure almost to the summit, which consists of a number of long and slender peaks, ranged along the ridge, which terminates on the opposite side a perpendicular face of rock. In crossing the island of Vaagoe towards this rock, its summit is seen in a form bearing a close similitude to the towers and pinnacles of Westminster Abbey. In some places there are ranges of columnar rocks; but, in general, they are not in such situations as to render them of much importance in the scenery. The promontory of Niepen, in Stromoe, presents a beautiful range of columns. There are some in Osteroe which are lofty, but, from their situation, not very striking. Several very curious columnar rocks are to be seen in Suderoe and Mygenæs. highest mountain is the Skellingfell, or Skielinge Field, which rises very abruptly, terminating in a small platform. It exceeds 3000 feet in height; but it has not yet been very accurately measured. The frequency of fog, which often suddenly envelopes the adventurous traveller, even in fine weather, renders the ascent of the Feroe mountains a very hazardous undertaking. The height of Slatturtind, in Osteroe, is 2825 feet; and there are several mountains in the same island, which appear equally high. There is nothing in Feroe which can be called a valley. Of the few lakes, the largest is in the island of Vaagoe, being about three miles long, and one in breadth. Beyond the upper end of the lakes there is generally a small extent of flat ground. Barley is the principal article imported from Denmark: pease, rye, meal, and oats being less commonly used. In the year 1812, 5650 barrels of grain and meal were imported. It appears that a single mercantile house in Copenhagen has of late years had a monopoly of the supply of these islands.

The

The bird-catchers here are very adventurous. Sir G. Mackenzie supplies the following account of their modes of procedure :-The fowlers are provided with long poles, to the ends of which are fastened small poke nets. They display great dexterity in casting this instrument over the birds, which invariably make towards the water when they are disturbed. It is this anxiety of the birds to seek the element in which their security is to be found, which gives certainty to the exertions of the fowler. birds push their heads through the meshes of the net, which, being dexterously inverted, keeps them suspended by the neck. When a fowling expedition is undertaken, two men fasten themselves to a rope, so that there may be eight or ten fathoms of it between them. One assists the other to ascend the rock by means of a pole, at the end of which is a hook, which is fastened to the band of the climber's breeches, or to a rope tied round his waist, and thus he is pushed up: but the most common method is for the climber to seat himself on a board fastened to the end of the pole. They often ascend frightfui