FIG
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FIG
fuls Brutus and Collatiniis rcftor'd it to the publick Ufe of jVffemblies and Elections.
Originally it was no more than a Meadow, on the Banks of the 'Tiber, where Horfes grazed, and the Reman Youth were cxercifed to War. But it was afterwards erected in- to a magnificent Square, adorn'd with Statues, ($c. The
Field of Flora was the Place, where the Laws, Edicts end Conftitutions were publifh'd.— •—
For Field of May, fee Campus Maji.
Field, in Heraldry, is the Surface, or Face of the Shield, or Efcutcheon ; thus called, as containing the Atchievements antiently acquired in the Field of Battle.
The Field is the Ground whereon the Colours, Bear- ings, Metals, Furs, Charges, ($c. are reprefented. In bla- zoning a Coat, we always begin with the Field : He bears Sable, &c.
Among the more Modern Heralds, Field is lefs frequently ufed than Shield, or Efcutcheon. See Shield, and Es- cutcheon.
Field of a fainting, &c. is more ufually call'd the Ground thereof. See Ground.
Field, in War, the Place where a Battle was fought. — ■ The General remain'd Mailer of the Field of Battle—^ Clofe Field was antiently a Place inclofed, or rail'd in with a Barrier, for Jufts and Turnaments to be perform'd. See Barrier, Just, and Tournament.
FiELD-Co/oftrj, are fmall Flags about a Foot and an half fquare, which are carried along with the Quarter-mafter General for marking out the Ground for the feveral Squa- drons and Battallions of an Army.
Field Pieces, are fmall Cannon, ufually carried along with an Army in the Field ; fuch as three Pounders, Mi- nions, Sakers, fix Pounders, Demi-Culverins, and twelve Pounders ; which being light, and final], are eafily carried.
Field Works, in Fortification, are thofe thrown up by an Army, in the Befiegingof aFortrefs; or elfeby theBefieged, in defence of the Place. Such are the Fortifications of Camps ; thofe of the Highways, &c.
Field Staff,h a Staff carried by the Gunners: It is about the Length of an Halbert, with a Spare at the End, which on each Side has Ears fcrewed on, like the Cock of a Match lock ; and in thefe the Gunners fcrew in lighted Matches, when they are on Command. And this is called, arming the Field Staffs.
F,lyfian Fields, feeELYsiAN Fields.
FIERI Facias, is a Writ Judicial, that lieth at all times within the Year and Day, for him that hath recovered in an Action of Debt and Damages, to the Sheriff, to command him to levy the Debt, or the Damages of his Goods on him againft whom the Recovery was had.
FIFTEENTH, Decima quinta, an antient Tribute, or Impofition of Money, laid upon any City, Borough, or other Town through the Realm ; not by the Poll, or upon this or that Man, but in general upon the whole City, or Town. See Tribute, Tax, 2?c.
It is fo called, becaufe amounting to a Fifteenth Part of that which the City hath been valued at of old; or to a Fifteenth Part of every Man's perfonal Eftate, according to a reafonable Valuation.
This is impofed by Parliament, and every Town thro' the Realm knows what a Fifteenth for themfelves amounts to, becaufe it is always the fame : Whereas the S'lbfidy, which is raifed of every particular Man's Lands, or Goods, muft needs be uncertain. See Subsidy.
In this View, the Fifteenth feems to have been a Rate, antiently laid upon every Town, according to the Land or Circuit belonging to it.
Cambdcn mentions many of thefe Fifteenths in his Sritan. viz. pag. 171. Stub geldebat pro viginti hidis, quando Schi- ra gcldabat, &c. And/. 181. Old Sarum fro quinquaginta hidis geldabat, &c. Which Rates were according to Domef- day.
The Fifteenth therefore feems in old Time to have been a yearly Tribute in Certainty; whereas now, though the Rates be certain, yet it is not levied but by Parliament. Sec Quinsieme.
FIFTH, in Mufick, one of the harmonical Intervals, or Concords. See Interval.
The Fifth is the Third in o; -' jr , of the Concords. The Ratio of the Chords that afford it, is 3 : z. See Concord.
It is called Fifth, becaufe containingjfoi; Terms, or Sounds between its Extremes ; and four Degrees: So that in the natural Scale of Mufick it comes in the fifth Place, or Order, from the Fundamental. See Degree, and Scale.
The Antients called this Interval, Diapente. See Dia-
TENTE.
The impcrfcB, or defeBhe Fifth, by the Antients called Scmi-'Diapcnte, is lefs than the Fifth by a mean Semi-tone. See Tone, and Semi-tone.
FIG, Ficus, a foft, fweet, delicious Fruit ; the Produce W a Tree of the fame Name.
There are Figs of divers Kinds ; chiefly denominated
from their Colours ; White, Violet, Black, Purple, Green, and Ruddy : The White are efteem'd the bell:: The Black and Violet are the worft.
They are gather'd in Autumn, and laid on a Rack, or Hurdle, to dry in the Sun.
Figs contain a deal of Phlegm ; a little volatile, alcali Salt, and a moderate Quantify of Oil.
They are very nourifhing,and foften the Afperitics of the Breaft, £$c. And accordingly are ufed in Medicine, to make Gargarifms, againft Diforders of the Throat and Mouth. They are alio applied externally, to foften, digeft, and promote Maturation.
Figs are dried, either by a Furnace, or the Sun. The Latins call them Cariea, o'r Ficus faff£, when thus dried. In this Condition they are ufed both as Medicine and Food; being both the wholefomer, and eafier of Digcftion, for be- ■ ing thus clear'd of a deal of their aqueous and vifcid Parts. The Word is form'd of the Latin Ficus ; and that of the Greek qua, I produce ; by reafon the Fig Tree is a great Bearer, and has ufually two Crops a Year.
The beft Figs are the Produce of Italy, Spain, 'Provence, &c. The Iflands of the Archipelago yield Figs in great Abundance; but they are much inferior in Goodnefs to thofe of Europe. The Greeks in thofe Wands cultivate them with wonderful Care, and Attention ; as making the prin- cipal Food, and a confiderable Part of the Riches of the Country.
They have two Kinds of Fig Trees, the firft called Or- nos, or the wild Fig Tree ; the fecond, the domeftick Fig Tree. The wild, called by the Latins Caprificus, yields • fucceffively three forts of Fruits, called Fornites, Cratitires, and Omij none of which are of any ufe as Foods; but ail abfoh'tely neceffary for the ripening thofe of the domeftick Fig Tree.
The Art of cultivating and ripening thefe Figs, makes a peculiar Art, by the Antients called Caprificattcn ; often fpoke of among them in Terms of Admiration. Some of the modern Naturaliils have look'd on it as a Chimera ; but Monf. Tournefort has allured us of the Contrary, and given us that Procefs, as he learn'd it upon the Spot; which fee under the Article Caprification.
The Generation of the Fig is fomewhat anomalous ; the Parts fubfervient to the Office in other Plants ; i. e. the Flower, not being here apparent. But the Anatomy of tho Fruit helps out of the Difficulty.
Monf de la, Hire the younger, in the Memoirs of the Fr. Academy, fhews, that the Fig is a Flower, as well as a Fruit. By Diflection it difcovers all the Effentials of a Flower, visa. Stamina, Apices, and a Farina fecundans.
To fhew this, that ingenious Author divides the Length of the Fig into three Parts or Spaces, A, U, X, Tab. Nat. Hi/l. Fig. 4. The firft of which, A, being the next the Pe- dicle, and much the greater}, contains theGrarns, or Seeds of the Fig. Thefe Seeds are little Stones, reprefented by A, Fig. 5. within which are Kernels. Each Stone is half incompafs'd with a Parenchyma, B, fupporred by a Calyx, laid on the Parenchyma : This Calyx is fix'd to a pretty long Pedicle, which grows to the inner Rind of the Fig, as reprefented in the Figures. — The Divifion X of the Fig is full of little Leaves, like thofe reprefented in Fig- 6. which are faften'd by their Bafes to the Rind or Skin of the Fig. In this Divifion there is a Hole B, Fig. 4. called the Umbilicus, or Navel, whofe outer, or upper Edge is fur- nifli'd with little Leaves, which clofe the Aperture. — ■ — • Laftly, the Space V is full of little whitifh Bodies, re- prefented Fig. 4. which arife from the internal Parietes of the Fig, by a large Pedicle A, at whofe Extremity is a Calyx B C; from the Divifions whereof arife three other Bodies, D, E, F. Thefe Bodies terminate in little Emi- nences in E, F, g?e. which are Capful^, that include an infinite Number of little Grains, eafily perceivable by the Microfcope, and all alike, and of a Size, perfectly fimi- lar to the Farina: in the Apices or Capfulje of other Flowers. Whence it follows, that the Bodies contain'd in the Space V, of theFi%, are real Fig Flowers ; tho' feveral Naturaliils have taken thefe in the Divifions A, and X, for the Flowers ; which have no effential Marks of Flowers at all.
FIGURATE, or Figurative, that which has relation to a Figure ; or that teaches under fome obfeure P>.cfeirt- blance.
A Figurative Stile is that which abounds in Figures. The figurative Stile, Fa. Souhours obferves, is neither the moft juft, nor the beft. For this reafon, Cicero directs us to the Antients, who, not having yet bethought them- felves to ufe figurative Expreffions, but keeping to the moft proper, and natural way, nave almofl all wrote well. Sunt enim Hit vetcrcs, quia nondttm omare poterant ea que di- cebant, omncs props pr£clare loquuti. Long Ufe, fay the Grammarians, renders that proper in all Languages, which at firft was figurative.
The fame Thoughts appear more lively yhen exprefs'd
by a Figure, than when in fimple Terms. The Reafon is,
B * H that
