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still directed and governed by the feodal rules; insomuch that theprincipal rule relating to the extent and effect of the feodal grant,tenor est qui legem dat feudo, is the maxim of the law w ith rela-tion to feoffments, modus legem dat donationi. And therefore, asin pure feodal donations, the lord, from whom the feud moved,must expressly limit and declare the continuance or quantity ofestate which lie meant to confer, ne quis plus donasse praesumatur,quam in donatione expresserit; so, if one grants by feoffmentlands or tenements to another, and limits or expresses no estate,the grantee (due ceremonies of law being performed) hath barelyan estate for life. For, as the personal abilities of the feoffee wereoriginally presumed to be the-immediate or principal inducementsto tiie feoffment, the feoffee’s estate ought to be confined to hisperson and subsist onlv for his life; unless the feolfer, by expressprovision in the creation and constitution of the estate, hath givenit a longer continuance. These express provisions are indeed ge-■neraily made; for this was forages the only conveyance, wherebyan estate was created in fee simple, by giving the land to thefeoffee, to hold to him and his heirs for ever; though it servesequally well to convey any other estate of freehold. But by themere words of the deed tlie feoffment is by no means perfected:a very material ceremony remains to be performed, called liveryof seizing; without which the feoffee has but a mere estate at will.See Seisin,

FEOFFOR, and FEOFFEE. Feoffor is he who infeoffs ormakes a feoffment to another of lands or tenements in fee simple;and feoffee is the person infeoffed, or to whom the feoffment ismade. See Feoffment.

FER DE 1‘OURCIIETTE, in heraldry, a cross having ateach end a forked iron, like that formerly used by soldiers to resttheir muskets on.

Fer de Moulin, Milrind, or Inke de Moulin, in heraldry,k a bearing supposed to represent the iron ink, or ink of a mill,which sustains tne moving wheel.

FERABAD, or FERABAT, a town of Persia, in the provinceof Mezanderan, 12 miles from the Caspian sea , seated among themountains which bound its S. coast.

FERABAD, or FERABAT, a town of Persia, one mile and ahalf from Ispahan , extending nearly three miles along the banks ofifenderoad.

F ER/E, in natural history, an order of quadrupeds, of whichthe distinguishing characters arc, fore-teeth conic, usually six ineach jaw; tusks longer; grinders with conic projections; feet withclaws; claws subulate; food carcasses and preying on other ani-mals : this order comprehends the following genera :

Canis, Phoca,

Didelphis, Sorex,

Erinaceus, Talpa,

Felis, Viverra,

Mustela, Ursus,

which see.

Eerie Natur.e. Animals of a wild nature are those in whicha man has not an absolute but only a qualitied and limited proper-ty which sometimes subsists, and at other times does not subsist.And this qualified property is obtained either by the art and indus-try of man, or the impotence of the animals themselves, or by specialprivilege. A qualified property may subsist in animals l'era: na-turae, by the art and industry of man, either by his reclaiming andmaking them tame, or bv so confining them that they cannotescape and use their natural liberty; such as deer in a park, haresor conies in an enclosed warren, doves in a dovehouse, pheasantsor partridges in a mew, hawks that are fed and commanded by theowner, and fish in a private pond or in trunks. These are nolonger the property of a man than while they continue in his keep-ing or actual possession; but if at any time they regain their natu-ral liberty, his property instantly ceases, unless they have aninuimrevertendi, which is only to be known by their usual custom of re-turning. A man may have a qualified property in animals fera:natural, by special privilege; that is, he may have the privilegeof hunting, taking, and killing them, in exclusion of other persons:under which head maybe considered all tlio-e animals which comeunder the denomination of game. Here a man may have a tran-sient property in these animals, so long as they continue withinhis liberty, and may restrain jiny strangers from taking them there-in; but the instant they depart into another liberty, this qualifiedproperty ceases. 2 Black. 391. Larceny cannot be committed

of things fera: nature, while at tlieir natural liberty; but if they aremade lit for food, and reduced to tameness, and known by thetaker to be so, it may be larceny to take them. 1 Ilaw. 94. beeGame.

FERALIA, in antiquity, a festival observed among the Romanson Feb. 21, or, according to Ovid , on the )7th Feb. in honour ofthe manes of their deceased friends and relations. Varro derivesthe word from inferi, the shades, or from fern, to carry; on ac-count of a repast carried to the sepulchres of such as the last officeswere that day rendered to. Festus derives it from ferio, on ac-count of the victims sacrificed. Vossius observes, that the Ro-mans called death J'crv, cruel, and that the word feralia might arisethence.

FERCALA, or FORCULA, a town of Africa , in Biledulgerid,30 miles W\ of Segilmcssa. Lon. 4. 30. W. Lat. 31. 40. N.

FERDINAND V. king of Spain, who married Isabella ofCastile, w hereby that kingdom was united to the Spanish crown.This illustrious pair laid the foundation of the glory and pow er ofSpain, 'l'lie conquest of Granada, and the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus , make their reign a celebrated era inhistory. He died in 1516, aged 63.

Ferdinand Naronka, an island of South America , on thecoast of Brasil . Lon. 32. 43. \V. Lat. 3. 56. S.

FERE, a town of France, in the department of Aisne , and lateprovince of Picardy, famous for its powder-mill and school of ar-tillery. It is seated at the conflux of the Serre and Oise , 75 milesN.E. of Paris .

FERENTARII, in Roman antiquity, were auxiliary troops,lightly armed ; their weapons being a sw ord, bow, arrows, and asling.

FERENTINO , oi FIORENTINO (the ancient Ferentimini).a city of Italy, in the Campania of Rome , 44 miles S. E. ofRome .

FERENTINUM , in ancient geography, a town of the Iler-nici in Latiuni, which the Romans, atter subduing that nation, al-lowed to be governed by its own laws : now called Ferenlino.

EERETR1US, a surname of Jupiter, ivomferendo, because hehad assisted the Romans, or j'vricndo, because he had conqueredtheir enemies under Romulus. He had a temple at Rome , builtby Romulus , to which the spolia opima were always carried.

' F FRET RUM, among the Romans, the bier used in carryingout the bodies of the dead, which duty was performed by thenearest male relations of the deceased : thus sons carried out theirparents, brothel's their sisters, &c.

FERGUSON, James, an eminent experimental philosopherand mechanic, born in Scotland , of poor parents. At the eat bestage his extraordinary genius began to exert itself. lie first learn-ed to read by overhearing bis father teach his elder brother: andhe had made this acquisition before any one suspected it. Hesoon discovered a peculiar genius for mechanics, on seeing his fa-ther use a lever, lie pursued this study a considerable length,even whilst very young; and made a watch in wood-work, fromhaving once seen one. As he had no instructor, nor any helpfrom books, every thing lie learned had all the merit of an originaldiscovery ; and such he believed it to be. As soon as bis agewould permit, lie went to service; in which he met with hardships,which rendered his constitution feeble through life. Whilst hewas servant to a farmer (whose goodness lie acknowledges in themodest and humble account of himself, which he prefixed to hislast publication), lie frequently contemplated the stars ; and beganthe study of astronomy, by lay ing down, from his own observa-tions only, a celestial globe. Ilis kind master, observing thesemarks ot his ingenuity, procured him the countenance and assist-ance of his superiors. By their help and instructions, he went ongaining farther know ledge, and was sent to Edinburgh . There hebegan to take portraits; an employment by which he supportedhimself and family for several years, both in Scotland and Eng-land, whilst he was pursuing more serious studies. In 1743 hecame to London , where he published some astronomical tables andcalculations, and gave lectures in experimental philosophy, whichlie repeated with success throughout tin; kingdom. 1 11 1754 bepublished a brief description of the solar systnn, with an astronomi-cal account of the year of our Saviour’s Crucifixion, 8vo. ; also anIdea of the Material Universe, deduced from a Survey of the So-lar System. But his greatest work is his “ Astronomy explainedupon Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles , and made easy to those "ho

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