FOSS, or FOSSE (Lat. fossa, from fodio, I dig), in fortification, is a ditch or moat, either with or without water, the excavation of which has contributed material for the walls of the fort it is designed to protect. The F. is immediately without the wall, and offers a serious obstacle to escalading the defenses.

FOSSA ET FURCA, or PIT AND GALLOWS, was an ancient privilege granted by the crown to barons and others, which implied the right of drowning female felons in a ditch, and hanging male felons on a gallows.

FOSSA MARIANA, the canal made 102 B.C., by Marius from the Rhone parallel to the river nearly to the gulf of Stomalimne. It was constructed to avoid the difficult navigation at the mouths of the river caused by the accumulations of sand by the several

streams.

FOSSA NO, a t. of Piedmont, n. Italy, in the province of Coni or Cuneo, is situated on the left bank of the Stura, on a hill surmounted by an old castle, 14 m. n.e. of Coni. It is surrounded with old walls, and is well built; but the houses are erected over arcades, under which run the footways, and thus the streets have a somewhat gloomy appearance. It has a handsome cathedral, ten churches, a royal college, and numerous minor educational institutions, silk-factories, paper-mills, and tanneries. Pop. '80, 8,000.

FOSSA NO, AMBROGIO STEFANI DA, better known as AMBROGIO BORGOGNONE, or simply as IL BORGOGNONE, one of the foremost painters of the Milanese school, nearly contemporary with Leonardo da Vinci. His fame is associated with the church and convent of the Carthusians at Pavia, on which he did much work. There are specimens of his work in the national gallery, London. The dates of his birth and death are not known, but he died in the early part of the 16th century.

FOSSIL (Lat. fossilis, dug out of the earth), a term formerly applied, in accordance with its derivation, to whatever was dug out of the earth, whether mineral or organic, but now restricted to the remains of plants and animals imbedded in the earth's crust. They were formerly, and are sometimes still, called petrifactions. They occur in nearly all the stratified rocks, which have, on this account, been called fossiliferous strata. It is difficult or impossible to detect them in the metamorphic rocks, for the changes that altered the matrix have also affected the organisms, so as either almost or altogether to obliterate them. In the fundamental mica-schist and gneiss they have escaped notice, if ever they existed; and it is only within the last few years that their presence has been detected in the gneiss and other rocks, which are the greatly metamorphosed representatives of the lower Silurian measures in the n. of Scotland. See GNEISS.

In this

The conditions in which fossils occur are very various. In some pleistocene beds the organic remains are but slightly altered, and are spoken of as sub-fossil. state are the shells in some raised sea-beaches, and the remains of the huge struthious birds of New Zealand, which still retain a large portion of the animal basis. In the progress of fossilization, every trace of animal substance disappears; and if we find the body at this stage, without being affected by any other change, it is fragile and friable, like some of the shells in the London clay. Most frequently, however, a petrifying infiltration occupies the cavities left in the fossil by the disappearance of the animal matter, and it then becomes hardened and solidified. Sometimes the whole organism is dissolved and carried off by water percolating the rock, and its former presence is indicated by the mold of its outer surface, and the cast of its inner in the rocky matrix, leaving a cavity between the cast and the mold agreeing with the size of the fossil. This cavity is occasionally filled up with calcareous spar, flint, or some other mineral; and we thus obtain the form of the organism, with the markings of the outer and inner surfaces, but not exhibiting the internal structure. The most advanced and perfect condi tion of fossilization is that in which not only the external form, but also the most minute and complicated internal organization is retained; in which the organism loses the whole of its constituents, particle by particle, and as each little molecule is removed, its place is taken by a little molecule of another substance, as silica or iron pyrites. In this way we find calcareous corals perfectly preserved in flint, and trees exhibiting in their silicified or calcified stems all the details of their microscopic structure-the cells, spiral vessels, or disk-bearing tissue, as well as the medullary rays and rings of growth.

FOSSIL BOTANY. See BOTANY, FOSSIL.

FOSSIL FERNS. As far as has been yet determined from the rocky tablets of the earth's crust, ferns first appeared in the Devonian period, but then only sparingly, not more than nine or ten species having been observed. In the immediately succeeding coal-measures, they suddenly reached their maximum development. The dense forests and the moist atmosphere of this period were so suited to their growth that they formed a large bulk of the vegetation. Upwards of 350 species have been described, some of them tree ferns of a size fitting them to be the companions of the immense sigillarias and lepidodendrons whose remains are found associated with theirs in the carboniferous rocks. Twenty-three species have been found in Permian strata. Many new forms appear in the Trias, and their number is increased in the Oolite. The fresh-water beds of this period contain numerous beautiful ferns, upwards of fifty species having been described. The marine beds of the cretaceous period contain very few forms, and in the tertiary rocks they are equally rare.

Foster.

FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS. See ICHNOLOGY,

FOSSILIFEROUS ROCKS are those which contain organic remains. If we except the lowest metamorphic rocks, in which, as yet, no fossils have been found, the term is equivalent to the "stratified rocks," when used comprehensively; but it may also be applied to a particular bed, as when we speak of an unfossiliferous sandstone compared with the neighboring fossiliferous shale or limestone.

FOSSOMBRONÉ, a small episcopal t. of Italy, in the province of Urbino and Pesaro, is pleasantly situated on a hill on the left bank of the Metauro-which is here spanned by a fine modern bridge-11 m. e. of the town of Urbino. It rose in the 14th c., from the ruins of Forum Sempronii, destroyed by the Goths and Lombards. Some interesting Roman inscriptions and remains of the ancient city are contained in the cathedral of St. Aldobrando. F. is celebrated for its fine manufactures of carpets and woolen cloths, and particularly for the excellent silk of its neighborhood. Three m. from F. 1s Il Monte d'Asdrubale, famous as the scene of the engagement in which the Carthaginian gen. was defeated and killed by the Romans in 207 B.C. Pop. about 4,500.-See Lauro Jacomo, Historia e Pianta di Fossombrone.

FOSTER, Penn. See page 884.

FOSTER, a co. in e. N. Dakota, formed in 1873. The Northern Pacific railroad intersects; the Dakota river touches the s.w. part; 648 sq.m. Pop. '80, 37. Co. seat, Carrington. FOSTER, ABIEL, 1735-1806; b. Mass., a graduate of Harvard, and pastor of a Congregational church, Canterbury, N. H. He was several times in the legislature of New Hampshire, and was a member of congress in 1783–84, 1789–91, and 1795–1803. Later in life, he was chief-justice of the state court of common pleas.

66

FOSTER, BIRKET, b. England, 1812. At the age of sixteen, he was placed with Mr. Landells, the wood-engraver, by whose advice, after he had practiced engraving for a short time, he became a draughtsman. At the age of twenty-one, he illustrated several children's books, and did much drawing for the Illustrated London News. He illustrated Longfellow's Evangeline," Beattie's "Minstrel," Goldsmith's poetical works, and other similar works of the same kind; and has since drawn for many of the better class of illustrated works that have issued from the press, especially a handsome work devoted to English landscape, with descriptions by Mr. Tom Taylor, published in 1863. Having resolved to follow a different branch of art, and having in 1860 been elected a member of the water-color society, he has met with very great success in that line. He has made a number of carvings on wood, especially of landscape and forest pictures, which are of eminent beauty.

FOSTER, CHARLES. See page 884.

FOSTER, JOHN, a well-known English essayist, was b. in the parish of Halifax, Yorkshire, Sept. 17, 1770. He was educated for the ministry at the Baptist college at Bristol, but after preaching for several years to various small congregations with very indifferent success, he resolved to devote himself mainly to literature. His Essays, in a Series of Letters, were published in 1805, while he was officiating as pastor of a Baptist chapel at Frome, in Somersetshire. They were only four in number-On a Man's Writing Memoirs of Himself; On Decision of Character; On the Application of the Epithet Romantic; and On some of the Causes by which Evangelical Religion has been rendered less acceptable to Persons of Cultivated Tastes; yet sir James Mackintosh did not hesitate to affirm that they showed their author to be "one of the most profound and eloquent writers that England has produced." They have been remarkably popular, especially among the more thoughtful of the community, and have gone through upwards of twenty editions. In 1808, F. married the lady to whom his essays were originally addressed, and retired to Bourton-on-the-Water, in Gloucestershire, where he lived a quiet, studious, literary life, preaching, however, in the villages round about on Sundays. In 1819, appeared his celebrated Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance, in which he urges the necessity of a national system of education. He was long the principal writer in the Eclectic Review, and a selection from his contributions to that maga zine was published by Dr. Price in 1844. He died at Stapleton, near Bristol, Oct. 15. 1843. F. was a man of deep but somber piety. The shadows that overhung his soul were, however, those of an inborn melancholy, and had nothing in common with the repulsive gloom of bigotry or fanaticism. His thinking is rugged, massive, and origi nal; and at times, when his great imagination rouses itself from sleep, a splendor of illustration breaks over his pages that startles the reader both by its beauty and its suggestiveness. Besides the works already mentioned, F. published several others, of which, the most important is an Introductory Essay to Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion (1825). Compare the Life and Correspondence of F. (2 vols. 1846), edited by J. E. Ryland, and republished in Bohn's standard library in 1852.

FOSTER, JOHN GRAY, 1823-74; b. N. H.; graduated at West Point as lieut. of engineers. He served with the sappers and miners in the Mexican war, and was wounded at Molino del Rey. He was afterwards engaged in constructing fortifications in the coast survey, as assistant professor of engineering at West Point, and as engineer in the building of fort Sumter. When the war of the rebellion began, he was chief engineer of the fortifications in Charleston harbor, and was in fort Sumter during the bombardment. In 1861, he was brig. gen. of volunteers, and was distinguished in the capture of Roanoke island, at Newbern, and at fort Macon. He served as maj.

gen. in command of the department of North Carolina and Virginia; in 1863, he commanded the department of Virginia and North Carolina; in the end of that year, the department of the Ohio; in 1864, the department of the South; and in 1865, that of Florida. In 1866, he was mustered out of the volunteer service. Returning to the corps of engineers in the regular army, he was given charge of the work for the preservation and improvement of Boston harbor, and the construction of defenses of Portsmouth harbor, N. H. He was made lieut.col. of engineers in 1867. He was the author of Notes on Submarine Blasting.

FOSTER, JOHN WELLS, LL.D., 1815-73; an American geologist; b. Mass.; educated at Wesleyan university, and became a lawyer in Ohio. He assisted in, and wrote an account of, the survey of the state. He was associated with prof. J. D. Whitney in his survey of the lake Superior copper region. He published The Mississippi Valley; Prehistoric Races of the United States; and several scientific papers. He was land-commissioner for Illinois, and president of the association for the advancement of science.

FOSTER, LAFAYETTE SABINE, LL.D., 1806-80; b. Conn.; educated at Brown university, and admitted to the bar in 1831. He was a member of the Connecticut legislature, and speaker of the lower house; mayor of Norwich; in 1855, U. S. senator; re-clected six years later; and in 1865, was chosen president pro tem. of the senate. For two years after the death of president Lincoln, he was acting vice-president of the United States. He was again in the state legislature, and again speaker, and in 1870, by a nearly unanimous vote in the legislature, was chosen judge of the supreme court of Connecticut.

FOSTER, RANDOLPH S., D.D., b. Ohio, 1820; studied in Augusta college (Ky.), and as a profession selected the Methodist ministry. In 1850, he was in the New York con- . ference; in 1856, president of the Northwestern university; in 1868, professor in Drew theological seminary; and in 1872, was chosen bishop. He has published Objections to Calvinism, Christian Purity; Ministry of the Times; and Theism.

FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS, 1826-64; b. Penn.; the author of a great number of popular songs and melodies, among which are: 0 Susannah; Nelly was a Lady; Old Uncle Ned; Camptown Races; Old Folks at Home; Willie, we have Missed You; Old Dog Tray; Come where my Love lies Dreaming, etc. The Old Folks at Home is said to have yielded him $15,000. His Sadly to my Heart Appealing was written when he was but 13 years old. For most of his songs he wrote both words and music.

FOSTERAGE and FOSTER CHILDREN. See page 884.

FOTHERGILL PROCESS. This is one of the numerous dry processes in photography (q.v.) which have for their object the preservation of sensitive plates ready for exposure. It is named after the inventor, and consists in the partial removal of the free nitrate of silver which adheres to the collodion film on withdrawing it from the sensitizing bath by washing with water, and the subsequent conversion of the remaining free nitrate of silver into albuminate and chloride of silver by pouring over the plate dilute albumen, containing chloride of ammonium, the excess of albumen being finally washed off by violent agitation with a copious supply of water. The plates being set aside to drain on folds of blotting paper, are. when dry, ready for use. For details of manipulation, see Hardwich's Photographic Chemistry.

FOUCAULT, JEAN BERNARD LÉON, 1819-68; a French physicist. He studied medicine, but devoted himself to science, acting as Donné's experimental assistant in the latter's lectures on microscopic anatomy; and investigating, with Figeau, the intensity of sunlight as compared with that of carbon heated in the voltaic arc, and that of lime in the oxyhydrogen blowpipe, and also the duomatic polarization of light. He published in the Comptes Rendus of the academy of sciences, 1849, an account of an electromagnetic regulator for the electric lamp. The following year he proved the greater velocity of light in air than in water, measuring it by the use of a revolving mirror with a.concave mirror centered in its axis, and established the law that the velocity of light in different media is inversely as the refractive indices of the media. In 1851, he demonstrated the rotation of the earth on its axis by the diurnal rotation in an e.s. w. direction of the plane of oscillation of a long heavy pendulum freely suspended. The following year, he invented the gyroscope. He became physical assistant in the Paris imperial observatory in 1855. In 1857, he invented the polarizer called by his name, and in 1858, succeeded in giving to the speculum of reflecting telescopes the form of a spheroid or a paraboloid of revolution. He set the great reflector in the telescope of the Paris observatory in 1859. In 1865, he published a series of papers on a modification of Watt's governor, showing how its period of revolution could be made constant, and on an apparatus for regulating the electric light. He also showed how the sun can be observed without injury to the eye from the excess of light. He was editor of the scientific portion of the Journal des Débats from 1845. In conjunction with Regnault, he published an important paper on binocular vision. He received the decoration of the legion of honor in 1850, and was made an officer in 1864. He also received many honors from scientific associations in France and England.

FOUCHÉ, JOSEPH, Duke of Otranto, the son of a sea-captain, was b. at Nantes, 29th May, 1763, and educated at the oratoire. He hailed the revolution with enthusiasm,

Foula.

and in 1792 became a member of the national convention. He voted for the death of Louis XVI., and was one of the commissioners of the committee of public safety sent to Lyons in 1794 to reduce that city to obedience. In 1795, he was expelled from the convention as a dangerous terrorist, and kept in confinement for a short time. After the revolution of the 18th Brumaire (5th Nov., 1799), in which he took a part, F., as min ister of police (an office to which he had been appointed on the 31st July of the same year), organized an extraordinary police. He restrained the new government from deeds of violence, and by his advice the list of émigrés was closed, a general amnesty proclaimed, and the principle of moderation and conciliation steadily adhered to. His remark upon the execution of the duke d'Enghien was very happy: "C'est bien pis qu'un crime, c'est une faute" (It is much worse than a crime; it is a blunder). In July, 1804, he was again placed at the head of the police. His chief endeavors were directed, as before, to attaching the royalists to the imperial throne by prudent moderation. In 1809, the emperor conferred on him the title of duke of Otranto, along with large grants from the revenues of the Neapolitan territory. When the English expedition landed on Walcheren (1809), the emperor was absent, and F., who then held the portfolio of the interior, as well as of the police, organized the measures that led to the retirement of the English. In a proclamation issued on this occasion, he made use of a boastful expression which lost him the favor of Napoleon, and in the following year he was forced to resign. In the campaign of 1813, the emperor summoned F. to headquarters at Dresden, and sent him thence as governor of the Illyrian provinces, and, after the battle of Leipsic, to Rome and Naples, in order to keep a watch upon Murat's proceedings. Being recalled to Paris in the spring of 1814, he predicted the downfall of Napoleon even before his arrival in France. After the emperor's abdication, F. advised him to abandon Europe altogether. On his return from Elba, Napoleon again nominated him minister of police; but after the battle of Waterloo, F. placed himself at the head of the provisional government, brought about the capitulation of Paris, and drew back the army behind the Loire, thereby preventing unnecessary bloodshed. At the restoration, Louis XVIII. reappointed him minister of police; but he resigned his office in a few months, and went as ambassador to Dresden. The law of the 12th Jan., 1816, banishing all those who had voted for the death of Louis XVI., was extended to F. also, who from that time resided in different parts of Austria. He died at Trieste, 26th Dec., 1820, leaving an immense fortune. Napoleon, at St. Helena, called F. *** miscreant of all colors; and Bourrienne declares that he "never regarded a benefit in any other light than as a means of injuring his benefactor" statements which are far too exaggerated to be worth much. The simple truth appears to be, that F. was a man whose highest principle was self-interest, but whose sagacity was not less conspicuous, and who never failed to give the governments which he served the soundest political advice. It is true, however, that he was unscrupulous in passing from one party to another, and that he was as destitute of political morality as Napoleon himself. In his private relations, the character of F. stands higher than in his public. As father of a family and as a friend he is worthy of all praise. He saved many a life; and harsh measures were often softened by his considerate administration. In 1824' appeared a work entitled Mémoires de Fouché, Duc d'Otrante, edited by A. Beauchamp, which, though declared to be spurious by the sons of F., is generally held to have been based

on genuine documents.

FOUGERES, a handsome t. of France, in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, stands on a hill on the right bank of the Couesnon, 28 m. n.e. of Rennes. It is a well-built town, with wide streets, and in the old quarter retains traces of the middle ages in the ancient arcades which still obtrude in some places upon the streets. The castle of F. is pieturesque, but being commanded by other parts of the town, forms but a feeble defense. In

ment took place here between the Vendean royalists and the republicans, Nov. 15, 1793. F. has manufactures of sail-cloth, canvas, tape, flannel, lace, hats, etc.; and dyeworks, principally for the dyeing of scarlet. In the vicinity are important glass and paperworks. Pop. '81, 13,895.

FOU'LA,

scale.

or FOULAH, an island of Shetland, parish of Walls, from which it is distant 20 m. in a westerly direction. It extends 3 m. in length by 14 in breadth, and rises to a height of 1369 ft. above the sea. It is solitary, and with it there is no regular communication. F. has about 250 inhabitants, who subsist by fishing and farming on a small On the island, there is a school maintained by the society for propagating Christian knowledge; there is also a chapel connected with the church of Scotland, and a chapel with a missionary maintained by the Congregational union of Scotland. F. is chiefly remarkable for its sublime cliffs of red sandstone on its north-western side, where the precipice rises from the sea-margin to a height of nearly 1200 ft., being the grandest thing of the kind in the British islands. Among the sea-birds which occupy the cliffs is the skua gull, or bonxie (lestris cataractes). Of this powerful bird there are about 13 pairs, which are prized by the natives for their services in keeping down the numbers of the eagles on the cliffs. The landing-place on F. is at a scattered hamlet of wretched thatched huts on the s.e. Here there is a store, at which imported commodities are bartered for fish and other articles, and at which an apartment is let to strangers,

there being no inn. F., however, is rarely visited by strangers, and little is known of it even in Scotland.

FOULD, ACHILLE, was b. in Paris on the 31st of Oct., 1800, and was educated at the Lycée Charlemagne, one of the most celebrated establishments of Paris. He originally belonged to the Jewish creed, his family being wealthy Jew bankers, but he adopted the Protestant faith. Early in life, he was initiated into financial transactions by his father, and his natural talents were developed by travel in Europe and the east. In 1842, he began his political career, being then chosen as a member of the council-general of the Hautes Pyrénées, and immediately after elected a deputy for Tarbes, the chief town of that department. He soon acquired a high position in the chamber of deputies for the peculiar talent with which he handled questions of finance and political economy., In 1844, he was appointed reporter to the commission on stamps on newspapers, and his views were adopted, in spite of the opposition party, he being at that period a stanch supporter of M. Guizot's home and foreign policy. After the revolution of 1848, F. accepted the new régime of the republic, and offered his services to the provisional government. In July, 1848, he was elected representative for the department of the Seine, and continued to rise in public estimation by the elevated views he expressed in the chamber, while opposing among other things a proposed issue of assignats. During the presidency of Louis Napoleon, F. was four times minister of finance, and his repeated resignations for state reasons did not prevent him from being again appointed on the occasion of the coup d'état, 2d Dec., 1851. He once more resigned his position on the 25th Jan. following, in consequence of the decree ordering the confisca tion of the property of the Orleans family. The same day, however, he was created a senator, and shortly afterwards returned to power as minister of state. In this capacity, he superintended the universal Paris exhibition in 1855, the completion of the palace of the Louvre, and other great measures. He remained one of the most confidential ministers of Napoleon III. till Dec., 1860, when he was succeeded as minister of state by 'comte Walewsky. He was out of office up to the 14th Nov., 1861, at which date he was reappointed finance minister, his long experience and well-known ability as a financier pointing him out as the man to manage the crisis of the French finances at that time. He died in 1867.

FOUL IN THE FOOT, ulcers and granulation in the feet of sheep, a contagious disease, generally controlled and cured by applications of tarry substances.

FOULIS, ROBERT and ANDREW, two eminent printers of Glasgow, brothers, whose names are usually classed together.-Robert, the elder, born in that city, April 20, 1707, was bred, and, like Allan Ramsay, for some time practiced as a barber-in those days of flowing periwigs, a profitable and respectable profession. Having attended for several years the lectures of the celebrated Dr. Francis Hutcheson, then professor of moral philosophy in Glasgow university, he was advised by that gentleman to become a bookseller. In winter, he and his brother Andrew (born Nov. 23, 1712) employed themselves in teaching languages; and in summer, they made short excursions to the continent, and thereby acquired a considerable amount of learning and knowledge of the world. Andrew seems to have been designed for the church. In 1727, he entered as a student at the university of Glasgow, where he is supposed to have undergone a regular course of study. About the end of 1739, Robert began business in Glasgow as a printer, his first publications being chiefly of a religious nature. In 1742, he published an elegant edition in 4to of Demetrius Phalereus on Elocution, supposed to be the first Greek work printed in Glasgow. In 1743, he was appointed printer to the university. In 1744, he brought out his celebrated immaculate edition of Horace, 12mo, each printed sheet of which was hung up in the college of Glasgow, and a reward offered for the discovery of any inaccuracy. Soon after he took his brother Andrew into partnership; and for thirty years they continued to bring out some of the finest specimens of correct and elegant printing, particularly in the Latin and Greek classics, which the 18th c. produced, either in this country or on the continent. Among them were Cicero's works, in 20 volumes; Cæsar's Commentaries, folio; Homer's works, 4 vols.; Herodotus, 9 vols., etc.; also an edition of the Greek Testament; Gray's poems; Pope's works; a folio edition of Milton, and other publications in English. With the view of promoting the cultivation of the fine arts in Scotland, Robert Foulis, after a two years' visit to the continent in preparation, commenced, in 1753, an academy at Glasgow, for the instruction of youth in painting and sculpture. The great expense attending this institution led to the decline of the printing business, which, however, continued to be carried on till the death of Andrew, Sept. 18, 1775. In 1776, Robert exhibited and sold at Christie's, Pall Mall, London, the remainder of his paintings, when, after all expenses were defrayed, the balance in his favor amounted only to 15 shillings. He died the same year at Edinburgh, on his return to Scotland. He was twice married, and left several children. One of them was a printer in Glasgow as late as 1806. His Virgil, printed in 1778, and his Eschylus, 1795, for beauty and exactness, were not unworthy of the name of Foulis.

・FOUNDATION. This term may be applied either to the surface or bed on which a building rests, or to the lower part of the building which rests on the natural bed. 1. F. as the bed.-The best that can be had is solid rock, or any kind of resisting incompressible stratum, free from water. Where there is no chance of water, sand