Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 249

=Fomentation, Com'mon.= _Syn._ FOTUS COMMUNIS. (L. 1744.) _Prep._ Dried southernwood, sea wormwood, chamomile, of each 1 oz.; dried bay leaves, 1/2 oz.; water, 5 pints; boil slightly, and strain.

=Fomentation, Compound of Hemlock.= (Guy's Hosp.) _Syn._ FOMENTUM CONII COMPOSITUM. _Prep._ Dried hemlock, 2 oz.; dried chamomiles, 1/2 oz.; boiling water, 1-1/2 pint; macerate for 2 hours, strain, and press.

=Fomentation, Diuret'ic.= _Syn._ FOMENTATIO DIURETICA, L. _Prep._ (Trousseau.) Tinctures of squills and foxglove, of each 2 oz.; hot water, 6 fluid oz.; mix. Applied by lint or linen compresses to the insides of the thighs, in dropsies, when the stomach will not bear diuretics.

=Fomentation of El'der Flowers.= _Syn._ FOTUS SAMBUCI, L. _Prep._ From elder flowers, 1 oz.; boiling water, 2 quarts; digest in a hot place for 1 hour, and express the liquor. Emollient.

=Fomentation, Emol'lient.= _Syn._ FOMENTATIO EMOLLIENS. L. _Prep._ 1.

Marshmallow root and poppy heads, of each 1 oz.; water, 3 pints; boil to a quart, and strain.

2. (P. Cod.) Emollient herbs, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1 quart; infuse 1 hour, and strain with expression. (See _above_.)

=Fomentation, Foxglove.= _Syn._ FOMENTUM DIGITALIS. Dried foxglove, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1-1/2 pint; infuse, and strain.

=Fomentation of Galls.= _Syn_ FOMENTUM GALLae. _Prep._ Bruised galls, 1/2 oz.; boiling water, 2 lbs.; macerate for an hour and strain.

=Fomentation, Narcot'ic.= _Syn._ FOMENTATIO NARCOTICA, L. _Prep._ (P.

Cod.) Narcotic herbs, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1-1/2 pint; infuse as last.

=Fomentation, Poppy.= _Syn._ FOMENTUM PAPAVERIS. As DECOCTION OF POPPIES.

=Fomentation, Resol'vent.= _Syn._ FOTUS RESOLVENS, L. _Prep._ (Richard.) Fomentation of elder flowers, 8 fl. oz.; liquor of diacetate of lead, 1/2 fl. dr.; mix. Used to discuss tumours, &c.

=Fomentation, Stim'ulant.= _Syn._ FOMENTATIO STIMULANS, L. _Prep._ 1.

Sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 1 oz.; tincture of cantharides, 2 fl. oz.; warm water, 1 pint.

2. Household mustard, 4 oz.; hot water, 1-1/2 pint; mix. Both the above are rubefacient and counter-irritant, and excellent in rheumatism, neuralgia, &c.

=Fomentation, Tannin.= _Syn._ FOMENTUM TANNINI. (Ricord.) _Prep._ Tannin, 2 dr.; aromatic wine, 8 oz.

=Fomentation, Ver'mifuge.= _Syn._ FOMENTATIO VERMIFUGA, FOTUS ANTHELMINTICUS, L. _Prep._ Leaves and flowers of tansy, wormwood, and chamomile, of each 3 oz.; water, 1 quart; boil to 1-1/2 pint, and strain.

Applied to the abdomen, &c., in worms.

=Fomentation, Wine.= _Syn._ FOTUS VINOSUS (Par. Cod.) _Prep._ Red wine, 2 pints; honey 4 oz.

=FOOD.= _Syn._ CIBUS, MATERIA ALIMENTARIA, L. Anything which feeds or promotes the natural growth of organic bodies, by supplying them with materials which, by a.s.similation, may be converted into the substances of which they are composed; or which, by its decomposition or slow combustion, maintains the temperature, or some other essential condition of life, at the proper standard. The numerous articles employed as food are all compounds; and in many cases they consist of mechanical mixtures or chemical combinations of two or more compounds. Organized matter, or that which has possessed either animal or vegetable life, or which has been produced by living organs, seems to be alone capable of a.s.similation, to any extent, by the animal system; and hence it is from the organic kingdom that our aliments are necessarily derived. Water, iron, earthy phosphates, chloride of sodium, and other salts, which form the inorganic const.i.tuents of the body, though not of themselves nouris.h.i.+ng, are also a.s.similated when taken in conjunction with organic aliments, and then contribute essentially to nutrition. In the animal and vegetable substances employed as food, these inorganic compounds are provided in small but sufficient quant.i.ties to meet the requirements of the healthy body, and in this state of combination alone can they be regarded in the light of aliments. A complete consideration of this subject embraces, not only all the substances used as food, but also those things which when taken with them improve their flavour, promote their digestion, and render them more wholesome and nutritive; and also their preparation for the table in its various relations with health and disease.

The following 'BILLS OF FARE,' for which we are indebted chiefly to Soyer, Rundell, and others, exhibit the various articles in season at different periods of the year.

FIRST QUARTER. January.--Poultry and game: Pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits, woodc.o.c.ks, snipes, turkeys, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, and tame pigeons.--Fish: Carp, tench, perch, lampreys, eels, cray-fish, cod, soles, flounders, plaice, turbot, thornback, skate, sturgeon, smelts, whitings, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and oysters.--Vegetables: Cabbage, savoys, colewort, sprouts, leeks, onions, beet, sorrel, chervil, endive, spinach, celery, garlic, scorzonera, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, brocoli (white and purple), shalots, lettuces, cresses, mustard, rape, salsafy, and herbs of all sorts (some dry and some green); cuc.u.mbers, asparagus, and mushrooms are also to be had, though not in season.--Fruit: Apples, pears, nuts, walnuts, medlars, and grapes.

February and March.--Meat, fowls, and game, as in January, with the addition of ducklings and chickens.--Fish: As the last two months (cod is not thought so good from February to July, although it is still sold at the fishmonger's).--Vegetables: The same as the previous months, with the addition of kidney-beans.--Fruit: Apples, pears, and forced strawberries.

SECOND QUARTER. April, May, and June.--Meat: Beef, mutton, veal, lamb, and venison (in June).--Poultry: Pullets, fowls, chickens, ducklings, pigeons, rabbits, and leverets.--Fish: Carp, tench, soles, smelts, eels, trout, turbot, lobsters, chub, salmon, herrings, cray-fish, mackerel, crabs, prawns, and shrimps.--Vegetables: As before; and in May, early potatoes and cabbages, peas, radishes, kidney-beans, carrots, turnips, cauliflowers, asparagus, artichokes, and numerous salads (forced).--Fruit: (in June) strawberries, cherries, melons, green apricots, and currants and gooseberries for tarts; pears, grapes, nectarines, peaches, and some other fruit.

THIRD QUARTER. July, August, and September.--Meat, as before.--Poultry, &c.: Pullets, fowls, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, green geese, leverets, and turkey poults. Two former months, plovers and wheat-ears (in September), partridges, geese, &c.--Fish: Cod, haddocks, flounders, plaice, skate, thornback, mullets, pike, carp, eels, sh.e.l.lfish (except oysters), and mackerel (during the first two months of the quarter, but they are not good in August).--Vegetables: Of all sorts, beans, peas, French beans, &c.--Fruit: (In July)--Strawberries, gooseberries, pine-apples, plums (various), cherries, apricots, raspberries, melons, currants, and damsons. (In August and September)--Peaches, plums, figs, filberts, mulberries, cherries, apples, pears, nectarines, and grapes.

(During the latter months)--Pines, melons, strawberries, medlars, and quinces. (In September)--Morella cherries, damsons, and various plums.

FOURTH QUARTER. October, November, and December.--Meat, as before, and doe venison.--Poultry and Game: Domestic fowls, as in first quarter; pheasants (from the 1st of October); partridges, larks, hares, dotterels (at the end of the month), wild-ducks, teal, snipes, widgeon, and grouse.--Fish: Dories, smelts, pike, perch, halibuts, brills, carp, salmon-trout, barbel, gudgeons, tench, and sh.e.l.lfish.--Vegetables: (As in January), French-beans, last crops of beans, &c.--Fruit: Peaches, pears, figs, bullace, grapes, apples, medlars, damsons, filberts, walnuts, nuts, quinces, services, and medlars. (In November)--Meat, &c.: Beef, mutton, veal, pork, house-lamb, doe venison, and poultry and game as in the last month.--Fish: As the last month.--Vegetables: Carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, skirrets, scorzonera, onions, leeks, shalots, cabbage, savoys, colewort, spinach, chardbeats, chardoons, cresses, endive, celery, lettuces, salad-herbs, and various pot-herbs.--Fruit: Pears, apples, nuts, walnuts, bullace, chestnuts, medlars, and grapes. (In December)--Meat, &c.: Beef, mutton, veal, house-lamb, pork, and venison.--Poultry and Game: Geese, turkeys, pullets, pigeons, capons, fowls, chickens, rabbits, hares, snipes, woodc.o.c.ks, larks, pheasants, partridges, sea-fowls, guinea-fowls, wild ducks, teal, widgeon, dotterels, dun-birds, and grouse.--Fish: Cod, turbot, halibuts, soles, gurnets, sturgeon, carp, gudgeons, codlings, eels, dories, and sh.e.l.l-fish.--Vegetables: As in last month. Asparagus, &c., forced.--Fruit: As before, except bullace.

=Food, Inspection of.= The Public Health Act enacts that--

"Any medical officer of health or inspector of nuisances may at all _reasonable times_, inspect and examine any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk exposed for sale, or deposited in any place for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale, and intended for the food of man, the proof that the same was not exposed or deposited for any such purpose, or was not intended for the food of man, resting with the party charged; and if any such animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk, appears to such medical officer or inspector to be diseased, or unsound, or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man, he may seize and carry away the same himself or by an a.s.sistant, in order to have the same dealt with by a justice." (P. H., s. 116.)

"If it appears to the justice that any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk so seized is diseased, or unsound, or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man, he shall condemn the same and order it to be destroyed, or so disposed of, as to prevent it from being exposed for sale, or used for such food; and the person to whom the same belongs or did belong at the time of sale, or of exposure for sale, or in whose possession, or on whose premises the same was found, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 20 for every animal, carcase, or fish, or piece of meat, flesh, or fish, or any poultry or game, or for the parcel of fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, or flour, or for the milk so condemned, or at the discretion of the justice, without the infliction of a fine, to imprisonment for a term of not more than _three months_.

"The justice who, under this section, is empowered to convict the offender, may be either the justice who may have ordered the article to be disposed of or destroyed, or any other justice having jurisdiction in the place." (P. H., s. 117.)

"Any person who in any manner prevents any medical officer of health or inspector of nuisances from entering any premises and inspecting any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk exposed or deposited for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale, and intended for the food of man, or who obstructs or impedes any such officer or inspector, or his a.s.sistant, when carrying into execution the provisions of this Act, shall be liable to a penalty, not exceeding 5." (P. H., s. 118.)

"Any complaint made on oath, by a medical officer of health, or by an inspector, or other officer of a local authority, any justice may grant a warrant to any such officer, to enter any building, or part of a building in which any such officer has reason for believing that there is kept or concealed any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, flour, or milk which is intended for sale for the food of man, and is diseased, unsound or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man and to search for, seize, and carry away any such animal, or other article, in order to have the same dealt with by a justice under the provisions of this Act.

Any person who obstructs any such officer in the performance of his duty, under such warrant shall, in addition to any other punishment to which he may be subject, be liable to a penalty not exceeding 20." (P. H., s.

119.)

=FOOL.= Cooks give this name to a species of jam made of boiled and crushed fruit, mixed with milk or cream, and sweetened.

=Fool, Ap'ple.= From the peeled and cored fruit, placed in a jar, with moist sugar, q. s. to render it palatable, and a very little cider or perry; the jar is set in a saucepan of water over the fire, and the heat continued until the apples become quite soft, when they are pulped through a colander, and a sufficient quant.i.ty of milk, a little cream, and some sugar, added to bring them to the proper 'palate.'

=Fool, Goose'berry.= From gooseberries, as the last. Those which are unripe are generally preferred. These preparations, when nicely made, are very pleasant and wholesome.

=FOOT (Human).= See FEET.

=FOOTS.= Coa.r.s.e moist sugar. The sc.r.a.pings of the sugar hogsheads, refuse sugar, waste, and dirt, is also sold to the publicans under this name, who use it in the adulteration of their beer; chiefly to make it stand more water, and to impart 'briskness.'

=FORCE'MEAT.= _Syn._ FARCE, STUFFING. A species of sausage meat, either served up alone, or employed as an ingredient in other dishes.

Mrs Rundell truly remarks that "at many tables, where everything else is done well, it is common to find very bad forcemeat or stuffing." To avoid this error, care should be taken to so proportion the ingredients that "no one flavour should predominate; yet if several dishes be served the same day, there should be a marked variety in the tastes of the forcemeats as well as of the gravies. A general fault is, that the tastes of lemon peel and thyme overcome all others; therefore they should only be used in small quant.i.ties." Forcemeats should be just consistent enough to cut with a knife, but not dry and heavy. Herbs are very essential ingredients; and it is the copious and judicious use of them that chiefly gives the cookery of the French its superior flavour. "To force fowls, meat, &c., is to stuff them." (Mrs Rundell.)

=FOR'CING.= Horticulturists apply this term to the art of accelerating the growth of plants, so as to obtain fruits or flowers at unusual seasons.

Dung-beds, bark-beds, and frames, pits, and houses, with gla.s.s roofs, are commonly employed by the gardeners for this purpose.

=FORGERIES, PROTECTION FROM.= See PAPER, PROTECTIVE.

=FORMATE.= _Syn._ FORMIATE. Salts, in which one atom of hydrogen in formic acid is replaced by a metal or other basic radical. They are best obtained either by direct saturation of the acid, or by double decomposition; most of them are very soluble, and are decomposed by hot oil of vitriol.

Formate of ammonium crystallises in square prisms; formate of sodium, in rhombic prisms; formate of pota.s.sium is deliquescent, and crystallises with difficulty; the formates of barium, calcium, magnesium, and strontium, form small prismatic crystals; formate of lead a.s.sumes the shape of small colourless needles, soluble in 40 parts of water; the formates of cobalt, iron, manganese, nickel, and zinc, are easily crystallisable, whilst that of copper forms very beautiful, large, bright-blue rhombic prisms; formate of silver is less soluble than the salt of lead, and is decomposed at a gentle heat.

=FORMIC ACID.= HCHO_{2}. _Syn._ HYDROGEN FORMIATE. An organic acid, obtained by oxidizing many organic substances, and found in the red ant.

_Prep._ Sugar, 1 part; water, 2 parts; binoxide of manganese, 3 parts; mix in a retort capable of holding fully 10 times the bulk of the ingredients, and add, cautiously, oil of vitriol, 3 parts, diluted with an equal weight of water; as soon as the first violent effervescence has subsided, heat may be applied, and the product collected and purified, as below.

Formate of lead in fine powder is introduced into a long gla.s.s tube, one end of which is connected with an apparatus evolving sulphuretted hydrogen, and the other with a receiver. As soon as the salt is entirely decomposed (blackened) a very gentle heat is applied, and the distilled liquid collected; the product is, lastly, boiled for a minute or less, to expel any adhering sulphuretted gas. This furnishes chemically pure formic acid.

From wood spirit, 1 part; b.i.+.c.hromate of pota.s.sium and sulphuric acid, of each 3 parts; the sulphuric acid, diluted with an equal weight of water, being gradually added last. A portion of wood spirit distils over with the acid, and may be again treated with b.i.+.c.hromate of pota.s.sium and sulphuric acid, when a fresh portion of formic acid will be produced. This process yields a large product.

_Prop., purific., &c._ The products of the above processes are limpid and colourless; the stronger ones fume slightly in the air, and possess an extremely penetrating odour. The acid obtained by the second process boils at 209 Fahr., crystallises in brilliant scales below 32, and has the sp.

gr. 12353. Its vapour is inflammable, and burns with a blue flame. It is extremely corrosive, and rapidly destroys the texture of living organic substances. The products of the other processes are very dilute, and possess the above properties in only a minor degree. They may all be purified and concentrated by saturating them with pure carbonate of sodium or of pota.s.sium, and after subjecting the liquid to a gentle heat for a short time, and liberating the formic acid from the salt by means of dilute sulphuric acid, finally submitting the mixture to distillation, when the hydrated acid will come over perfectly pure.

Formic acid reduces the salts of mercury and silver, and forms salts with the bases termed formiates.