Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 238

=FENNEL.= _Syn._ FNICULUM (Ph. L.), L. The fruit (seed) of _Fniculum dulce_, or sweet fennel; the oil distilled from the fruit (OIL OF FENNEL; OLEUM FNICULI, L.) as well as a distilled water (FENNEL WATER; AQUA FNICULI, L.), are officinal in the Pharmacopias. They are stimulant and carminative; but are now seldom employed.

=FEN'UGREEK.= The seeds of _Trigonella Fnum Graec.u.m_. Resolvent and stomachic. The seeds dye yellow; formerly roasted for coffee; now chiefly employed in veterinary medicine.

=FER'MENT.= _Syn._ FERMENTUM, L. A substance which induces fermentation.

According to one view ferments are compounds whose decomposition proceeds simultaneously with that of the body undergoing metamorphosis. They all contain alb.u.minous or azotised principles, which in a moist state putrefy and suffer decomposition. According to Pasteur, however, fermentation is excited by living organisms--fungi and infusoria. See FERMENTATION and YEAST.

=FERMENTA'TION.= _Syn._ FERMENTATIO, L. In _chemistry_, a peculiar metamorphosis of a complex organic substance, by a transposition of its elements under the agency of an external disturbing force. Fermentation, according to the theory proposed by Liebig, is a metamorphosis, by which the elements of a complex molecule group themselves so as to form more intimate and stable compounds. It is excited by the contact of all bodies the elements of which are in a state of active decomposition or fermentation. "In nitrogenised substances of a very complex const.i.tution, putrefaction or fermentation is spontaneously established when water is present, and the temperature sufficiently high, and it continues till the original compounds are wholly destroyed. Substances dest.i.tute of nitrogen, on the contrary, require, in order to their undergoing this metamorphosis, the presence of a nitrogenised substance, already in a state of putrefaction (fermentation)." (Liebig.) The substances which promote this change are termed FERMENTS, and among these the princ.i.p.al are gliadin, gluten, vegetable alb.u.men, and all nitrogenous substances in a state of spontaneous decomposition or fermentation. "It is imagined that when these substances, in the act of undergoing change, are brought into contact with neutral ternary compounds of small stability, as sugar, the molecular disturbance of the body, already in a state of decomposition, may be, as it were, propagated to the other, and bring about the destruction of the equilibrium of forces to which it owes its being. The complex body, under these circ.u.mstances, breaks up into simpler products, which possess greater permanence." (Fownes.) YEAST, the ferment most commonly employed for inducing the vinous fermentation, is such a substance in an active state of putrefaction, and whose atoms are in continual motion. Putrefying animal substances are equally capable of exciting the same action. "If we add to a solution of pure sugar an alb.u.minous substance, a caseous or fleshy matter, the development of yeast becomes manifest, and an additional quant.i.ty of it is found at the end of the operation. Thus, with nourishment, ferment engenders ferment. It is for this reason that a little fermenting must, added to a body of fresh grape juice, excite fermentation in the whole ma.s.s. These effects are not confined to alcoholic (vinous) fermentation. The smallest portion of sour milk, of sour dough, or sour juice of beet-root, of putrefied flesh and blood, occasions like alterations in fresh milk, dough, juice of beet-root, flesh, and blood. But further, and which is a very curious circ.u.mstance, if we put into a liquid containing any fermenting substance another in a sound state, the latter would suffer decomposition under the influence of the former. If we place urea in the presence of beer-yeast, it experiences no change; while if we add it to sugar-water in a fermenting state, the urea is converted into carbonate of ammonia. "We thus possess two modes of decomposition; the one direct, the other indirect." (Ure.)

A very remarkable circ.u.mstance connected with fermentation is that it is always accompanied by the development of microscopic living organism--fungi and infusoria. "So constantly, indeed, is this the case, that many chemists and physiologists regard these organisms as the existing cause of fermentation and putrefaction; and this view appears to be corroborated by the fact that each particular kind of fermentation takes place most readily in contact with certain living organisms."

(Fownes.) Thus the vinous or alcohol-producing fermentation is accompanied, or caused, by two fungi, called _Torula cerevisiae_ and _Penicillium glauc.u.m_; the acetous or vinegar-producing fermentation by _Torula aceti_; the lactous fermentation (souring of milk) by _Penicillium glauc.u.m_.

The butyric fermentation by an animal--an _infusorium_, which cannot exist in free oxygen, but flourishes in an atmosphere of hydrogen, &c.

Of late years these latter views as to the cause of fermentation have been accepted by most of the scientific world, notwithstanding the opposition they experienced from so powerful an antagonist as Liebig.

From the researches of Pasteur, the distinguished author of the modern theory of fermentation, as opposed to the chemico-physical theory of Liebig, it appears that when yeast is placed in a solution of sugar and water, or in a solution of sugar and water containing alb.u.minous substances, under proper conditions as to temperature, the fermentation that ensues is due to the process of growth taking place in the yeast plant; the new cells of which, in a.s.similating part of the sugar and converting it into cellulose and fat, cause, at the same time, the breaking up of the sugar molecule, and resolve it into the more stable combinations of alcohol and carbonic acid.

In order that the ferment or fungus should grow it is essential that, in addition to the cellulose and fat, it should be supplied with ammoniacal salts and soluble phosphates. These are generally present in the liquid about to be fermented; but when yeast is added to pure sugar and water "it lives at the expense of the sugar, and of the nitrogenous and mineral substances contained within itself."[297]

[Footnote 297: Pasteur.]

Speaking of the influence of oxygen on the development of yeast on alcoholic fermentation, Pasteur states that ready-formed yeast can germinate and grow in a liquid containing sugar and alb.u.minous matters, even when oxygen is completely excluded. The quant.i.ty of yeast formed, however, in this case, is but small, and the fermentation goes on slowly; nevertheless, a large quant.i.ty of sugar disappears (sixty to eighty parts to one part of yeast). If the air has access to a large surface the fermentation goes on quickly, and a much larger quant.i.ty of yeast is formed in proportion to the quant.i.ty of sugar which disappears.

In this case, also, oxygen is absorbed by the yeast, which grows quickly, but does not act so decidedly as a ferment, inasmuch as only four to ten parts of sugar disappear for one part of yeast produced.

When the air is excluded the same yeast again acts as a powerful ferment.

Pasteur, therefore, infers that yeast which acts as a ferment in the absence of air abstracts oxygen from the sugar, and that upon this deoxidising power its action as a ferment depends. The violent activity of the yeast at the commencement of the fermentation is due to oxygen dissolved in the liquid. In liquids containing alb.u.men (yeast and water, &c.) yeast likewise grows, though sparingly, even if the solution does not contain a trace of sugar, provided there is a sufficient access of air.

But if the air is excluded this does not take place, even though the liquid may contain, besides alb.u.men, a non-fermentable sugar, such as milk sugar. The yeast formed in a liquid not containing sugar possesses all the properties of a ferment, and excites fermentation in a solution of sugar excluded from the air.[298]

[Footnote 298: 'Bull. Soc. Chem.,' 1861, pp. 61, 79.]

Similarly, Pasteur regards putrefaction as a kind of fermentation, set up and maintained by an animal organism, or ferment belonging to the genus _Vibrio_. Putrefaction, when taking place in contact with the air, is always accompanied by decay or EREMACAUSIS. The abandonment of the old theory as to the nature of eremacausis, viz. that it consisted in the gradual combustion of decaying organic matters by atmospheric oxygen, has been necessitated by the experiments of Pasteur, Schroder, and others, which have conclusively established the facts that organic substances are not oxidised by perfectly pure air, and that their decomposition and subsequent destruction are due to the presence in the air of the sporules or seeds of certain low organisms. Pasteur cites numerous instances corroborative of the statement that perfectly pure oxygen fails to affect, save to a very limited extent, organic substances.

In one case an aqueous infusion of yeast mixed with sugar was enclosed in a sealed flask with double its volume of air, which had been previously depurated by being made to pa.s.s through a red-hot tube. At the end of three years the liquid (which had during part of the time been kept at a temperature of from 25 to 30 Cent.) was found to be perfectly fresh and transparent, and the air when examined gave 181 vols. of oxygen, 805 vols. of nitrogen, and 14 of carbonic acid. Under the same conditions urine and milk, whether fresh or previously boiled, showed minute traces only of oxidation; crystals of uric acid and phosphates formed in the urine, but the milk was unaltered, having preserved its alkaline reaction, and showed no disposition to curdle.

Very different, however, was the result when either of the above substances was enclosed with ordinary air. It was then found that in a few days the whole of the oxygen was absorbed, carbonic acid being at the same time simultaneously formed. A certain quant.i.ty of moistened oak sawdust kept in contact with ordinary air for a fortnight was found at the end of that time to have absorbed 140 cubic centimetres of oxygen; whilst the same amount of sawdust enclosed with an equal volume of purified air had removed only a few cubic centimetres of the gas in a month. In the former experiment a microscopic film of mycelia and spores of Mucidineae formed on the sawdust.

From numerous experiments of a like nature with the above, and attended with a.n.a.logous results, chemists and physiologists now generally regard eremacausis as effected by agencies similar in character to those which produce fermentation and putrefaction.

"The observations of Schroder upon the processes of fermentation and putrefaction are remarkable. He has shown that any organic liquid may be prevented from fermenting or putrefying if it be heated under pressure to about 266 F. (130 C.), then transferred to a flask and boiled, the mouth of the flask being plugged whilst boiling with a pellet of cotton wool, which is left in the neck of the flask. In this way he preserved, during a hot summer, various liquids, including freshly-boiled wort, blood, white of egg, whey, urine, broth, and milk; but when afterwards the plug of cotton wool was withdrawn these liquids in a few days began to undergo decomposition. He explains these results by supposing that the spores of some organism must find access to the substance in order to set up the process of decomposition. By a temperature of 260 F. (1267 C.) any such spores which the substance itself might contain are destroyed, and as the air is filtered through the cotton wool before it reaches the interior of the flask, none of these organic germs can afterwards gain access to the body under experiment. I have repeated some of these experiments with complete success.[299]

[Footnote 299: The Editor of this work has also repeated Schroder's experiments on milk, and obtained the same results.]

"If air be transmitted with suitable precautions slowly through narrow ignited platinum tubes, so as to destroy all suspended organic particles, no fermentation or putrefaction will take place on admitting such air into contact with putrescible substances previously heated to 260 for an hour."[300]

[Footnote 300: Miller.]

Pasteur has shown the existence of these floating germs in the air by drawing a large volume of atmospheric air, by means of an aspirator, through a narrow tube obstructed by collodion wool. On subsequently dissolving this wool in a mixture of alcohol and ether various microscopic sporules were left undissolved.

The entire absence of the exciting causes--warmth, air, and moisture--leaves even those substances which under ordinary circ.u.mstances are most liable to change, in a state in which they may remain for an almost indefinite period without perceptible alteration. Thus, animal substances in a frozen or dry state do not undergo decomposition, nor does a solution of sugar or the juice of grapes (must) when perfectly excluded from the air; but on the mere exposure of these substances to warmth, moisture, or atmospheric air, putrefaction or fermentation immediately commences. Remove the cork from the bottle of 'capillaire' on the parlour sideboard, or pierce the skin of one of the grapes on the dessert table with a needle, and these bodies, which would have otherwise suffered no change for weeks, or even months, will soon exhibit symptoms of spontaneous decomposition. The knowledge of this fact has been practically applied to the preservation of animal and vegetable substances for food.

Even the most putrescible of these may be preserved for an unlimited period by enclosure in metallic cases, or gla.s.s bottles, from which the air has been completely removed and excluded.

The important duties which fermentation or putrefaction performs in the economy of our globe, and in several of the arts of life and civilisation, have long rendered the development of its principles an object of the highest interest and importance, both in a scientific and practical point of view. In its most extended sense, this subtile process of nature, though occasionally productive of injurious effects, may be regarded as one of the most necessary and beneficial with which we are acquainted.

Like the labours of a scavenger, it speedily removes from the surface of our globe those matters which would otherwise remain for some time without undergoing decomposition. It either dissipates in air, or reduces to more fixed and useful forms of matter, those organic substances which, by their presence, would prove noxious, or, at all events, useless to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. It is the giant power that cleans the Augean stable of nature, at the same time that it provides some of the most esteemed articles of utility and luxury for the well-being and enjoyment of man.

Chemists have distinguished fermentation into different varieties, which, in general, are named after the more important products of its action. Of late years, the number of these varieties has been greatly increased by the extension of the term to several operations besides those formerly included under it. See ACETIFICATION, BREAD, PUTREFACTION, BREWING, &c.

=FERN (Male).= _Syn._ MALE SHIELD FERN, FILIX MAS, RADIX FILICIS, L. The root (rhizome) of the _Lastraea Filix-mas_, or male fern. It is bitter, astringent, or vermifuge.--_Dose_, 1 to 3 dr. in powder, or made into a decoction, repeated for 3 or 4 days, and followed by a purge. It is chiefly given in tapeworm. In Switzerland it is deemed almost infallible, but has proved less successful in these countries. See OILS.

=FERRICY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANIDE, FERRIDCYANURET. A compound of ferricyanogen with a metal or other basic radical. The FERRICYANIDE OF POTa.s.sIUM, or 'RED PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often improperly called, is a well-known example. The ferricyanides of AMMONIUM and the ALKALIES and ALKALINE EARTHS are soluble; those of most of the METALS, insoluble.

See _below_.

=FERRICYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERRIDCYANOGEN, FERRIC-CYANOGEN. The peculiar salt-radical which exists in the so-called red prussiate of potash. It is isomeric with ferrocyanogen, from which it differs in capacity of saturation (being tribasic), and in the behaviour of its compounds with solutions of the metals. It has not been isolated. See POTa.s.sIUM (Ferricyanide).

=FERROCY'ANIDE.= _Syn._ FERROCYANURET, PRUSSIATE; FERROCYANIDUM, FERROCYANURETUM, L. A compound of ferrocyanogen with a metal or other basic radical. The princ.i.p.al substance of this kind is the FERROCYANIDE OF POTa.s.sIUM or 'YELLOW PRUSSIATE OF POTASH,' as it is often called. See the respective basis--AMMONIUM, POTa.s.sIUM, SODIUM, &c., and _below_.

=FERROCYAN'OGEN.= _Syn._ FERROCYANOGENIUM, L. A bibasic salt radical, composed of the elements of 3 equivalents of CYANOGEN and 1 equivalent of the metal IRON. It has never been isolated. It unites with the various bases to form FERROCYANIDES. See CYANOGEN, HYDROFERROCYANIC ACID, IRON, &c.

=FERRU'GO.= [=L=.] Rust of iron. See IRON (Sesquioxide).

=FE'VER.= _Syn._ FEBRIS, PYREXIA, L. In pathology a condition characterised by loss of appet.i.te, thirst, languor, debility, unwillingness to move, accelerated pulse, increased heat of surface, and general disturbance of all the functions. A large number of diseases in which all or some of these symptoms appear are called FEVERS. They have been divided by nosologists into intermittent (INTERMITTENTES), remittent (REMITTENTES), and continued fevers (CONTINUae). The first of these are generally known as AGUES; the second differ from agues in there being one or more marked exacerbations and remissions of the symptoms every 24 hours, but without any entire intermission. The terms 'hectic,' 'nervous,'

'bilious,' 'inflammatory,' &c., have also been applied to particular varieties of fever; and names indicative of certain cutaneous appearances connected with them have been given to others; as 'scarlet' fever, 'yellow' fever, &c.

The usual symptoms of incipient fever (febrile symptoms) are--chilliness (varying from a simple shiver to a sensation of cold water running down the back), a quick pulse, hot and dry skin or flushing, languor, often evinced by yawning, depression of spirits, alternate fits of shivering and heat, hurried and uneasy respiration, flying pains in various parts of the body, as the head, back, and loins; loss of appet.i.te, nausea or vomiting, dry mouth, furred tongue, costiveness, urine small in quant.i.ty, and usually of a deep colour, &c. When any of these symptoms appear, their progress may often be arrested by the timely exhibition of an emetic, followed by a saline purgative, and diaph.o.r.etics; at the same time promoting the action of these remedies by a low diet and drinking copiously of diluents, and carefully avoiding animal food, spirits, fermented liquors, or anything at all stimulant. Whenever symptoms of fever become established, medical advice should be sought and implicitly followed. In parts where it cannot be obtained the treatment recommended under AGUE, INFLAMMATION, REMITTENT FEVER, and TYPHUS, may be followed with advantage.

In visiting or attending persons labouring under fevers, it is advisable to avoid immediate contact with them or their clothing, or standing near them in such a position as to inhale their breath, or the effluvia evolved (in some cases) by their bodies; and when remaining for some time in the apartment it is preferable to sit or stand near the fireplace, or between the window and door, as such parts of the room are generally better ventilated than the other portions. The greatest purifier of the atmosphere of a sick chamber is a good fire, because it occasions a continual current of the impure air up the chimney, and a corresponding influx of fresh air from without. Chloride of lime, or chloride of zinc, or their solutions, are also good purifiers. The first, however, should not be used in quant.i.ty, as the evolved chlorine might in that case impede the respiration of the patient. It is also advisable to avoid entering the room of a patient labouring under contagious diseases of any cla.s.s when the stomach is empty or the spirits depressed; and it has been recommended to clear the mouth of the saliva immediately after quitting the chamber.

See ABLUTION, &c.

=FEVER DROPS (C. Warburg's Vegetable).= Camphor and aloes, 2-1/2; orange peel, 10; elecampane root, 12; digest with 90 per cent. spirit 240, mixed with ac. sulphuric dil. 24. To the tincture add quinine sulphate 9; tinct.

opii crocatae, 2-1/2. (Ragsky.)

=FEVER POWDERS (James's, also called James's Powder and Pulvis Jacobi).= It consists essentially of phosphate and antimoniate of lime with free antimonic acid.

=FEVERSTONE--Lapis Anti-febrilis--Fieber Stein.= Lead oxide, 54 parts; a.r.s.enic acid, 46 parts; melted together. (Winckler.)

=FI'BRIN.= _Syn._ FIBRINE. An azotised substance, forming the coagulable portion of fresh-drawn blood, and the princ.i.p.al const.i.tuent of the muscular or fleshy parts of animals. It is eminently nutritious, and capable of yielding in the animal body alb.u.men, caseine, and the tissues derived from them. (Liebig.)

_Prep._ Fibrin is easily obtained in a nearly pure state, by agitating or beating newly drawn blood with a small bundle of twigs, when it attaches itself to the latter under the form of long reddish filaments, which become white when worked with the hands in a stream of cold water. It may also be procured by washing the coagulum of blood, tied up in a cloth, in cold water, until all the soluble portions are removed. A small quant.i.ty of fat, which it still contains, may be removed by digesting it in ether.

_Prop., &c._ Pure fibrin occurs as long, white, elastic filaments, which are tasteless, inodorous, and insoluble in both hot and cold water. Wetted with acetic acid, it forms, after a time, a transparent jelly, which is slowly soluble in pure water. Very dilute solutions of the caustic alkalies dissolve it completely, and the new solution greatly resembles liquid alb.u.men. Dried by a gentle heat it loses about 80% of water.

=FICHTENNADEL-BRUSTZUCKER (Pine-needle Pectoral Sugar).= (L. Morgenthau, Mannheim.) For irritable cough, hoa.r.s.eness, tightness of the chest, asthma, stubborn lung affections, chronic catarrh, &c. Little sticks of bonbon, containing a very little opium, and wrapped in tinfoil. (Hager.)

=FICHTENNADEL-TABAK (Pine-Needle Tobacco.= (L. Morgenthau.) Is said to be patented in England. Ordinary tobacco moistened or sprinkled with a weak spirituous solution of wood wool extract and wood wool oil and dried; made up in cigars for smoking. (Hager.)

=FIG.= _Syn._ FICUS (B. P., Ph. L. E. & D.), CARICA, CARICae FRUCTUS, L.

The figs of commerce are the dried fruit of _Ficus Carica_, the common fig-tree. They are demulcent, emollient, laxative, and pectoral. Roasted and boiled figs are occasionally employed as poultices to gumboils and other affections of the mouth.

=FILARIA DRACUNCULUS.= The Guinea worm. The female of this parasite is to be met with in tropical climates only, infesting the subcutaneous cellular tissue of man and some animals. In appearance it resembles a piece of white whip-cord of uniform thickness. According to Mr Ewart it varies in length from twelve and three quarters to forty inches, and is on an average twenty-five and a half inches long. It usually contains only one young worm, although rare instances have occurred in which as many as fifty of its progeny have been discovered in the same parent. In almost every case when this creature leaves the body, it does so by the lower extremities; occasionally, however, it does so by the mouth, the cheeks, or below the tongue. When the young of the guinea worm are placed in pure water they survive only four or five days; in foul water they will exist for three weeks. It appears that immersion in water, of the body of the person afflicted with the parasite, sometimes has the effect of inducing the creature to leave his human quarters, since Dr Lorimer states "that many people belonging to the bazaars in the vicinity of the lines, affected with the parasite, come, for the express purpose of extracting the worm, to the same tank where the men of the regiment bathe. The people so infested swim about in the water, with the worm hanging loose, drawing the limb quickly backwards and forwards, and from side to side, until the expulsion is affected." Outside the body the guinea worm is generally found beneath organic debris in wells, tanks, and other reservoirs for water, from whence it appears to be now pretty universally admitted it effects an entrance through the skin during bathing or wading.