FOU ( 275 ) FOU
fennels, as the only necessary operationwould be to light and dart them for-ward. As a defensible weapon, it mustnaturally be allowed, that, where a smallbody of men is attacked, the fougettemight be adopted with considerable ad-vantage.—The writer of this article,who, we find, is likewise the inventor ofa fougette which has been submitted tothe French government, continues to ar-gue much in favour of its adoption. If,,adds he, our enemies should imitate theinvention, we must then have recourse,especially in sea-fights, to those piecesof ordnance that are calculated to domore execution at a distance; and itwill then be our business to contrivefougettes that shall reach their shipping,by means of a greater degree of forceand velocity which might be given tothem, than they would be capable of at-taining. See Rockets.
FOUGON, Fr. the cook-room in aship.
FOUGUE, Fr. heat; impetuosity.
FOUGUEUX, Fr. fiery; unruly.
Fouille de terre, Fr. any excavationthat is made in the earth for the foun-dation of a building, or for a canal.
Fouille couverte , Fr. the openingwhich is made through a solid piece ofearth, in order to effect the passage ofan aqueduct.
FOUILLER, Fr. to search. In mili-tary movements, it signifies to detachsmall bodies of infantry round the flanksof a column that is marching through awood, for the purpose of discovering anambuscade, and of giving timely notice,that it may he avoided. The same pre-caution is necessary when a body of menadvances towards, or enters, a village.
Fouiller uacheva /, Fr. to over-ridea horse.
Fouiller un bois , Fr. to scour awood, &c.
FOULE, Fr. commonalty of man-kind. Se tirer de la foule, to distin-guish one’s-self from the vulgar.
Jambes FOULEES, Fr. in farriery, badfeet, made so from hard usage.
FOULOIR, Fr, an instrument usedby gunners to cleanse the inside of apiece as soon as it has been fired. Thefoutoir has a button at the other extre-mity of its shaft; it is used to ram downthe powder.
FOULURE, Fr. the surbqting of ahorse.
FOUNDATION, that part of a bulid-ing which is under ground, or the massof stone, brick, &c. which supports abuilding, or upon which the walls of asuperstructure are raised: or it is thecoffer, or bed, dug below the level of theground, to raise a building upon ; inwhich sense, the foundation either goesto the whole area or extent of thebuilding, as when there are to he vaults,galleries, casemates, or the like; or isdrawn in cuts or trenches, as when onlywalls are to be raised. Sometimes thefoundation is massive, and continuedunder the whole building, as in theantique arches and aqueducts; but it ismore usually in spaces, or intervals;in which latter case, insulated pillars,bound together by arches, should beused.
There are several things to he wellconsidered in laying the foundation of amilitary building. We must first examinethe bed of the earth upon which we areto build, and then the under-fillings orsubstruction. We are not to rest uponany seeming solidity, unless the wholemould through which we cut has like-wise been solid; and in such cases, allowl-t)th part of the height of the buildingfor the hollowing or under-digging, un-less there be cellars under-ground, inwhich case it may be something Jess.There are many wavs to try the firmnessof the ground ; but the following, in ouropinion, is the best. Take an iron crow,or such a borer as well-diggers use,which at once will point out the good-ness and tenacity of the ground.
Engineers should use the utmost dili-gence in this point; for, of ail the errorsthat may happen in building, those arethe most pernicious which are committedin the foundation, because they bringwith them the ruin of the whole build-ing; nor can they be amended withoutvery great difficulty.
Foundations are either natural, orartificial: natural, as when we build ona rock, or very solid earth ; in whichcase we need not seek for any otherstrengthening; for these, without dig-ging, or other artificial helps,are of them-selves exceUent foundations, and most fitto uphold the greatest buildings. Butif the ground be sandy or marshy, orhave lately been dug, in such case re-course must be had to art. In the for-mer case, the engineer must adjust thedepth of the foundation by the height,
'