model or modification (Addison). 4. Beauty; elegance of appearance (Isaiah). 5. Regularity; method; order (Shakspeare). 6. External appearance without the essential qualities; empty show (Swift). 7. Ceremony; external rites (Clarendon). 8. Stated method; established practice; ritual and prescribed mode (Hooker). 9. A long seat (Watts). 10. A class; a rank of students (Dryden). 11. The seat or bed of a hare (Prior). 12. The essential, specifical, or distinguishing modification of matter, so as to give it a peculiar manner of existence (Harris). See also on the word FORM our article DICTIONARY.

FORM, in the sportsman's dialect, is the spot in which the hare takes her seat at the dawn of day, to secrete herself, after having followed her various exercise all night (or rather in the early part of the morning) to avoid discovery. When found sitting, she is said to be in her form. If shot as she sits, without being previously disturbed, she is then said to have been shot in her form. Hares vary their places of sitting according to the season, the sun, and the wind. Soon after harvest they are found in wheat, barley, and oat stubbles, as well as in rushy grass moors: when these become bare, they retire to coverts, banks, hedges, and hedge-rows. After Christmas, and in the spring months, dry fallows, particularly those lying towards the sun with an ascent, are seldom without hares, if there be any in the dis

trict.

FORM (Printer's), an assemblage of letters, words and lines, ranged in order, and so disposed into pages by the compositor; from which, by means of ink and a press, the printed sheets are drawn. Every form is inclosed in an iron chase, wherein it is firmly locked by a number of pieces of wood; some long and narrow, and others of the shape of wedges. There are two forms required for every sheet, one for each side; and each form consists of more or fewer pages, according to the size of the book. See PRINTING.

FORM OF A SERIES, in algebra, that affection of an undeterminate series, which arises from the different values of the indices of the unknown quantity.

To FORM. v. a. (formo, Latin.) 1. To make out of materials (Pope). 2. To model to a particular shape (Milton). 3. To modify; to scheme; to plan (Dryden). 4. To arrange; to combine in a particular manner: as, he formed his troops. 5. To adjust; to settle (Decay of Piety). 6. To contrive; to coin (Rowe). 7. To model by education or institution (Dryden).

FORMA PAUPERIS, in law, is when a person has just cause of suit, but is so poor that he cannot defray the usual charges of suing at law or in equity; in which case, on making oath that he is not worth 57. in the world, on all his debts being paid, and producing a certificate from some lawyer that he has good cause of suit, the judge will admit him to sue in forma pauperis; that is, without paying any fee to counsellors, attorneys, or clerks; the statute

11 Hen. VII. c. 12. having enacted, ther counsel and attorneys, &c. shall be assigned to such poor persons gratis. Where it appears that any pauper has sold or contracted for the benefit of his suit whilst it is depending in court, such cause shall be thenceforth totally dismissed; and a person suing in forma pauperis shall not have a new trial granted him, but is to acquiesce in the judgment of the court.

FORMAL. a. (formel, Fr. formalis, Lat.) 1. Ceremonious; solemn; precise; exact to affectation (Bacon). 2. Done according to established rules and methods; not sudden (Hooker). 3. Regular; methodical (Waller). 4. External; having the appearance but not the essence (Dryden). 5. Depending upon establishment or custom (Pope). 6. Having the power of making any thing what it is; constituent; essential (Holder). 7. Retaining its proper and essential characteristic; regular; proper (Shakspeare).

FORMALIST. s. (formaliste, French.) One who practises external ceremony; one who prefers appearance to reality (South).

FORMALITY. s. (formalité, French.) 1. Ceremony; established mode of behaviour. 2. Solemn order, mode, habit, or dress (Swift). 3. External appearance (Glanville). 4. Essence; the quality by which any thing is what it is (Stilling fleet).

To FORMALIZE. v. a. (formalizer, Fr.) 1. To model; to modify (Hooker). 2. To affect formality.

2.

FORMALLY. ad. (from formal.) 1. According to established rules (Shakspeare). Ceremoniously; stiffly; precisely (Collier). 3. In open appearance (Hooker). 4. Essentially; characteristically (Smulridge).

FORMATION. s. (formation, French.) 1. The act of forming or generating (Watts). 2. The manner in which a thing is formed.

FORMATIVE. a. (from formo, Latin.) Having the power of giving form; plastic (Bentley).

FORME, in the manage, a French term for a swelling in the very substance of a horse's pastern, and not in the skin. Solleysel says, this complaint occurs as well in the hind legs as in the fore; "and though it be an imperfection not very common, yet it is dangerous, in that it will admit of no other remedy but firing, and taking out the sole; neither can the fire be given to that part without great difficulty and hazard. In the beginning the forme does not exceed half the bigness of a pigeon's egg, but labour and exercise will make it, in time, to grow to about half the bigness of a hen's egg; and the ncarer it is situated to the coronet upon the quarters, so much the more dangerous it is." This seems to be nothing more than the disease called a quittor.

FORMEDON, in law, (breve de forma donationis) a writ that lies for a person who has a right to lands or tenements, by virtue of an entail, arising from the statute of Westminster. 2 Ch. II.

FO'RMER. s. (from form.) He that forms; maker; contriver; planner (Ray).

FL. CXI.

FORMER. G. (from Forma, Saxon, first.) 1 Before another in time (Shakspeare). 2. Mentioned before another (Pope). 3. Past:

There

as, this was the custom in former times. FORMERLY. ad. In times past (Add.). FORMIAT. See FORMIC ACID. FORMIC ACID. Acid of ants. can be no doubt that the strong acid smell which is observed to arise from the atmosphere of an ant-bed, after being disturbed, must have been known to the ancients, but from their want of chemical knowledge, it is not very extraordinary that they should have been ignorant that this smell proceeded from an acid of a peculiar kind. In more modern times, the existence of this acid was first made known by Mr. Ray, in a correspondence with Dr. Hulse. The doctor informed him that these insects, when irritated, give out a clear liquid, which unges blue flowers red; a fact which had been observed by others. Hence it was found to be an acid, which was obtained by bruising the insects, by distilling them, and by infusing them in water. The French chemists obtain ed the acid by bruising ants, and macerating then in alcohol. When the alcohol was disulled over, an acid liquor remained, which saturated with lime, mixed with sulphuric acid, and distilled, yielded a liquid that possessed all the properties of acetic acid. This acid has been thought by some chemists, and especially by Margraaf, to be acetic acid, or at least to have a great analogy to vinegar; and by others to be a mixture of acetic and malic acid. A minute examination of it, however, sufficiently proves, that it differs very essentially from both, whether separate or in conjunction, quite as much, indeed, as these differ from each other; it differs in its specific gravity, in its effects with alkalies, in its metallic salts, and

in its affinities.

Thouvenel, on the contrary, contended, that it is very closely related to the phosphoric, or, z: be calls it, the microcosmic; but he has not rated in what the relation or analogy consists. Lister affirmed that he had extracted a similar acid from wasps and bees; but Arvidson and Oehrn failed in making the attempt after him, or has any one been able to succeed since. The formic acid, therefore, is an acid sui generis: it is extracted from ants, either by stillation or expression with water; in the living insect it reddens blue flowers; flies off in the form of a vapour smelling like musk; destroys animals under this gasseous form; is capable of serving economical purposes like inegar; is decomposed by a great heat; takes Oxygen from oxygenated muriatic acid; and forms salts with alkalies and earths, which are crystallizable and not deliquescent.

These salts are called formiats.

FORMICA. Ant or emmet. In zoology, a genus of the class insecta, order hymenop. tera. Feelers four, unequal with cylindrical articulations placed at the tip of the lip which is cylindrical, and nearly membranaceous; antenuas filiform; a small erect scale between the thorax and abdomen; females and neuters

(or rather those commonly called neuters) armed with a concealed sting; males and females with wings; neuters wingless. This is a gregarious and proverbially industrious family, consisting, like bees, of males, females, and a third kind which are yet called neuters. These last are the well-known little insects who construct the nests or ant-hills, who labour with such unremitting assiduity for the support of themselves and the idle males and females, and who guard with such ferocity the larves, or what are commonly called ants eggs. They wander about all day in search of food or materials for the nest; and assist each other in bringing home what is too cumbersome for such as have attempted it. They every day bring out of the nest and expose to the warmth of the sun the newly hatched larvæ, and feed them till they are able to provide for themselves. In the evening they consume together whatever has been collected during the day, and do not, as is commonly supposed, lay up any store for the winter, but probably against that season become torpid or die. They are peculiarly fond of plant-lice, and are themselves eagerly sought after by the ant-eater, and various birds. A very grateful acid is procured from them by maceration and distillation. See FORMIC ACID as also Nat. Hist. Plate CXVI.

1. F. cœspitum. This is the common ant or emmet: black in colour, petiole of the abdomen with two tubercles: scutel two-toothed. Inhabits Europe in dry meadows under moss. The males and females fly abroad in large swarms in a serene day, like the day fly.

2. F. herculanea. Herculanean ant. So called from being the largest species of the genus: in colour black; abdomen ovate; legs ferruginous. Found chiefly in dry woods of pine or fir, where it inhabits a large conical nest or hillock, composed of dry vegetable fragments, chiefly of fir-leaves; the nest is internally divided into distinct roads or avenues converging towards the centre, and opening externally in the centre are placed the young larvæ under the care of the neutrals. Found in our own country, and in Europe in general.

3. F. omnivora. Thorax rough, with raised dots; petiole with two tubercles; body testaceous; abdomen very minute. Inhabits Surinam; and in such swarms that a sheep killed and left abroad in the evening will be found entirely devoured by the morning.

FORMICATION, in building, arched

vaulting.

FORMIDABLE. a. (formidabilis, Lat.) Terrible; dreadful; tremendous; terrific.

FORMIDABLENESS. s. (from formidable.) 1. The quality of exciting terror or dread. 2. The thing causing dread (D. of P.). FORMIDABLY. ad. (from formidable.) In a terrible manner (Dryden).

FO'RMLESS. u. (from form.) Shapeless; wanting regularity of form (Shakspeare).

FORMOSA, a large island in the Eastern ocean, between 119° and 122° E. lon. and 22° and 259 N. lat. about 100 miles E. of Canton

in China. It is subject to the Chinese, who, notwithstanding its proximity, did not know of its existence till the year 1430. It is about 255 miles long and 75 broad. A long chain of mountains, running from N. to S. divides it into two parts, the E. and W. The Dutch built the fort of Zealand in the W. part in 1634. This secured to them the principal port of the island. They were driven thence in 1661 by a Chinese pirate, who had made himself master of all the W. part. But in 1682 the whole island submitted to the emperor of China. It contains extensive and fertile plains, watered by a great number of rivulets that fall from the mountains. Its air is pure and wholesome; and the earth produces abundance of corn, rice, &c.

FORMULA, or FORMULARY, a rule or model, or certain terms prescribed or decreed by authority, for the form and manner of an act, instrument, proceeding, or the like. FORMULA, in church history and theology, signifies a profession of faith.

FORMULA, in medicine, a little form of prescription, such as physicians direct in extemporaneous practice, in distinction from the greater forms in pharmacopoeias, &c.

FORMULA, in mathematics, a theorem or general rule or expression for resolving certain particular cases of some problem, &c. So

S d

2 2

+ is a general formula for the greater of two quantities whose sum is s and difference d d; and

S

2

is the formula, or general value

for the less quantity. Again da- is the formula or general value of the ordinate of a circle whose diameter is d and abscissa.

FORNAX, a goddess at Rome, who presided over the baking of bread. Her festivals, called Fornicalia, were first instituted by Numa. (Ovid).

FORNAX CHEMICA, in astronomy, the chemist's furnace, a new southern constellation, consisting of 14 stars of the first six magnitudes, i. c. 0.0.0. 1. 2. 11.

FORNICATE. (fornix, an arch or vault.) In botany, ARCHED OF VAULTED, which

sec.

To FO'RNICATE. v. a. (from fornix, Lat.) To commit lewdness (Brown).

FORNICATION, s. (fornication, Fr.) 1. Concubinage, or commerce with an unmarried woman (Graint). 2. In scripture, sometimes idolatry (Ezekiel).

FORNICATOR. s. (fornicateur, French.) One that has commerce with unmarried women.

FORNICA'TRESS. s. A woman who with out marriage cohabits with a man (Shaks.). FORNIX. (fornix, an arch or vault. A part of the corpus callosum in the brain is so called, because, if viewed in a particular direction, it has some resemblance to the arch of an ancient vault.) The medullary body, composed of two anterior and two posterior crura, situated at the bottom and inside of the lateral ven

tricle, over the third ventricle, and below thẻ septum lucidum.

FORRAGE, among military men, denotes hay, oats, barley, wheat, grass, clover, &c. brought into the camp by the troopers, for the sustenance of their horses.

FORRES, a town of Murrayshire, seated on an eminence, 2 miles E. of the river Findhorn. Here are manufactures of linen and sewing thread; and east from the town is a remarkable of elisk 23 feet high, said to be the most stately monument of the Gothic kind to be seen in Europe.

To FORSAKE. v. a. preter. forsook; part. pass. forsook, or forsaken. (versarken, Dutch.) 1. To leave in resentment or dislike (Cowley). 2. To leave; to go away from (Dryden). 3. To desert; to fail (Rowe).

FORSAKER. s. (from forsake.) Deserter; one that forsakes (Apocrypha).

FORSKOLEA, in botany, a genus of the class octandria, order tetragynia. Calyx four or five-leaved, longer than the corol; petals eight or ten, spatulate pericarpless; seeds four or five, connected by wool. Three species; Egypt, Teneriffe, and the Cape.

FORSOOTH, ad. (p prode, Saxon.) In truth; certainly; very well (Hayward).

FORSTER (John Reinhold, LL.D.) professor of natural history in the university of Halle, member of the academy of science at Berlin, and of other learned societies, was born at Dirschan, in West Prussia, in the month of October, 1729, and was formerly a Protestant clergyman at Danizick. He had a numerous family, and the emoluments of his office were slender, He therefore quitted Dantzick, and went, first to Russia, and thence to England, in quest of a better settlement than his own country afforded. In the Socinian academy at Warrington, he was appointed tutor in the modern languages, with the occasional office of lecturing in various branches of natural history. For the first of these he was by no means well qualified; his extraor dinary knowledge of languages, ancient and modern, being unaccompanied by a particle of taste. As a natural historian, a critic, geographer, and antiquary, he ranked much higher. But these were acquisitions of comparatively litle use to him in that situation.

At length he obtained the appointment of naturalist and philosopher (if the word may be so used) to the second voyage of discovery undertaken by captain Cook; and from 1772 to 1775 he accompanied that immortal navigator round the world. On his return he resided in London, till the improper conduct of himself and his son made it expedient for them both to leave the kingdom. Fortunately he received an invitation to Halle, where, for 18 years, he was a member of the philosophical and medical faculties. Among his works are: An Introduction to Mineralogy, or, An accurate Classification of Fossils and Minerals, &c. London, 1768, 8vo. A Catalogue of the Animals of North America, with short Directions for collecting, preserving, and transporting all