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applied himself earnestly to the mathematics. This continualstudy drew upon him a long fit at sickness, which obliged him toleave Paris. On his recovers', he returned and studied physic,and at tne same time taught philosophy in the college of St. Bar-bara. After taking the degree of M. D. he improved himself inthe mathematics; as far as the business of his profession would al-low him. Ilenry II. dauphin, offered him the place of first phy-sician to him ; but Fernel preferring his studies to the hurry of acourt, declined the employment. When Henry came to thethrone, he renewed his oilers, which Fernel still declined, but wasat last prevailed on to accept of the office. He died in 1558,leaving behind him several works, as, ])e Vena’ Sectione, a trea-tise on Physiology, De abditis Rerum Causis, seven books of Pa-thology, a book on Remedies, Ac. which have been repeatedlyprinted, with his life prefixed, written by William Plantius, bisdisciple.
FERNS, a town of Ireland, in Wexford, 15 miles N..of Wex-ford .
FEROL, a sea-port of Peru , with a good harbour, 70 miles S.S. F.. of Truxillo.
FERON1A, in ancient geography, a town of Italy , with awood, sacred to the goddess Feronia.
Feronia, the goddess of woods and orchards, so namedfrom the town, where was a wood and temple consecrated toher.
Feronia, in botany, a genus of the decaudria monogynia classand order. Calyx five-parted; petals five; berry globular, co-vered with a hard, rough, woody shell, one-celled; seeds numer-ous. One species; viz. F. elephantum, elephant apple-tree,found in the East Indies.
FERRANDINA, or FERRENDINA, a town of Naples,25 miles S. W. of Matera .
FERRARA, an ancient and large city of Italy , capital of theduchy of I'errara, 24 miles N. E. of Bologna , and 38 N. W. ofRavenna. 5
I errara, or the Ferrarese, a duchy and province of Italy , inthe late pope’s territory, bounded on the N. by the state of Venice ,on the \V. by the duchies of Mantua and Mirandola , on the S. bythe Bolognese and Romagna , of which it was formerly a part, andon the E. by the Adriatic. It is 50 miles long, and 43 broadalong the coast; but grows gradually narrower towards the Man-If' s almost surrounded by the branches of the Po.
rhKRARlA, in botany, a genus of the gynandria trigyniaClass and order. Natural order Ensata:. One-slyled ;. spathesone-nowered; petals six, waved and curled; stigmas .cowled;capsule three-celled, inferior. There are two species, natives ofth eCape of Good Hope.
rERREOLA, in botany, a genus of the dioecia hexandria classand order. Calyx one-leafed, three-cleft; corolla one-petaled,uree-cleft: male, filaments six, inserted into a semi-globose re-ceptacle; female, germ oval; berry round, smooth, two-seeded,ibere is but one species; viz. F. buxifolia.
IERREI, in zoology. See Mustela.
Ferret Island, a small island on the E. coast of Labrador.Foil. 55. 40. W. Lat. .53. 40. N. I
I errets, among glass-makers, the iron with which the work-■ ei1 f*'y the melted metal, to see if it be fit to work. The words also used for those irons which make the rings at the mouth ofthe bottles.
Isl ^RO, or HIERRO , the most westerly’ of the Canaryre'b ’ n . ear ^ Afr* cal ' coast. The first meridian was formerly„ c ir one i t ' 111 most ">aps from its western extremity ; but now, thetal°^r a - ers a i mos(: every kingdom make their respective capi-wat‘ K1 ' rSt niei fri |a u> as we do London . It affords very littleI.-, ? xc ept what is supplied in a verv surprising manner by a
f. wlllc1 ' trows in it. Lon. 17. 4f). VV". Lat. 27. 47. N.in * AR0 > f’ARRo, or Feroe Islands , a cluster of islands
bl° i « >l o^ crl1 ocean > between 5° and 8° Lon. W. and betweenL* N. 'Fliey belong to Denmark . There are 17‘ frabitable; each of wliicli is a lofty mountain arisingleilts ‘ 1 lt: Nva ves, divided from the others by deep aod rapid cur-
lich^^ol^^F' a sea-port town of Spain , in the province of Gal-"ules N. E. of Corunna. Lon. 8. 4b. W, Lat. 43.
V °R. n.— no. 83.
FERRUGINOUS, anything partaking of iron, or that con-tains particles of that metal. See Iron . It is particularly’ ap-plied to certain mineral springs, whose waters, are impregnatedwith the particles of iron, generally termed chalybeates.
FERRUGO, Rust. See Iron and Rust.
FERRY is a liberty by prescription, or by the king’s grant, tohave a boat for passage, on a frith or river, for carrying passengers,horses, Ac. over it for a reasonable toil.
FERTILITY, that quality which denominates a thing fruitfulor prolific. Nothing can produce fertility in either sex, but whatpromotes perfect health ; and therefore, all means and medicines,ail nostrums and specifics to procure fertility, different from thosewhich procure good blood and spirits, are errant quackery. Toincrease the fertility of vegetables, says Lord Bacon , we must notonly increase the vigour of the earth and of the plant, but alsopreserve what would otherwise be lost: whence he infers, thatthere is much saved by setting, in comparison of sowing. Evelyn’sSylva, the Philosophical Transactions , the French Memoirs, andthe works of the latest and best writers on Agriculture, may beconsulted on this subject.
FERULA, [from Jcrfre, Lat. to strike,] a little wooden palletor slice, reputed the schoolmaster’s sceptre, wherewith he chastiseshis pupils by striking them on the palm of the hand.
Ferula has also been used to denote the prelate’s crosier andstaff.
Ferula, in the eastern empire, was the emperor’s sceptre, asis seen on divers medals; it consists of a long stem, or shank, anda fiat square head. The use of the ferula is very ancient amongthe Greeks, who used to call their princes vajSipMfogoi, q. d. “ ie-rula-bearers.”
Ferula, in the ancient eastern church, signified a place sepa-rated from the church ; wherein the penitents, or the catechumensof the second order, called auscultantes, were kept as
not being allowed to enter the church ; whence the name of theplace, the persons therein being under penance or discipline : subJ'cruta erant ecclesiai.
Ferula, Ff.nnel-Giant, in botany, a genus of the digyniaorder, and pentandria class of plants ; natural order, Uinbeilatae.Fruit oval, compressed, plane, with three stria; on eacli side.There are nine species; all herbaceous perennials, rising fromthree to ten or twelve feet high, with yellow dowel's. T he drugassaietida is obtained from a species of ferula, though not peculiar-ly ; being also produced by some other plants. See Plate
LXV.
FESCAN, or FESCUAMP, a town of France , in the de-partment of Lower Seine, 28 miles N. W. of Rouen .
FESCENNIA, or FESCENNIUM, in ancient geography,a town of Etruria, above Falerii, near the Tiber , where the l'es-cennine verses were first invented: now called Gaiese.
FESCENNINE Verses, in antiquity, were a kind of satiri-cal verses, full of wanton and obscene expressions, sung or rehears-ed by tlie company, with many indecent gestures and dances, atthe solemnization of a marriage among the Romans. (Hor. ep. i.lib. v. 145.) r Flie word is borrowed, according to Macrobius ,from fuscinum, a charm ; Hie people supposing songs proper todrive away witches, or prevent their effect; but its more probableorigin is from Fescenma.
FF.SCHAMP. See I’escan.
FESCUE, [reese, Dutch ; Jest a, Fr.] a small wire by whichthose who teach to read point out the letters.
FESSE, in heraldry. The fes-e, so called of the Latin wordfascia, a band or girdle, possessing the third part of the escutcheonover the middle : it is one of the nine h .nourable ordinaries, con-sisting of a line drawn directly across the shield, h orn side to side,and containing the third part of it, between the honour-point andthe nombril. See Heraldry.
Fksse, Pari y per, implies a parting across the middle of theshield, from side to side, through the fesse point.
Fessk Point, is the exact centre of the escutcheon. SeePoint and Heraldry.
Fesse Ways, or in Ff.sse, denotes any tiling borne afterthe manner of a .fesse; that is, in a rank across the middle of theshield.
FESTENBERG, a town of Silesia, in the principality of Oels,14 miles N. W. of Wurtemberg.
5 0 : FEST.I