Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/407

F R F R 393 fluence of the atmosphere on the sun s rays. By the Koyal Society of Edinburgh the Keith medal was thrice presented to him, and lie lilled the post of secretary to that body from 1840 till the failure of his health obliged him to resign it. In 1845 a pension of 200 a year was granted to him for his services rendered to science. He was fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the Geological Society, corresponding member of the Imperial Institute of France, and associate or honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, of the Academy of Palermo, of the Dutch Society of Sciences (Haarlem), of the Helvetic Society, of the Pontifical Society, of the Pontifical Academy of " Nuovi Lincei" at Home, and of the Natural History Societies of Heidel berg, Geneva, and Vaud, and honorary member of the Koyal Medical Society of Edinburgh, of the Cambridge, Yorkshire, St Andrews, and Isle of Wight Philosophical Societies, and of the Plymouth and Bristol Institutions. A list of his scientific writings is to be found in the Eoyal Society Catalogue, but the following books may be mentioned as bearing more particularly on his glacier researches : Travels through the Alps of Si voy, Black, Edin., 1843, 1845; Norway and its Glaciers, Black, Edin., 1853 ; Occasional Papers on the Theory of Glaciers, Black, Edin., 1859. See also Theoric des Glaciers do la Savoie, }>ar M. le (Jhanoine liendu (translated by Alfred Wills, edited by "rofessor George Forbes), Macmillan, Lond., 1874. Forbes s Life and Letters, by Principal Shnirp of St Andrews, Pi of. P. O Tuit, and A. Aduins-Keilly, was published by JIaciniilan, London, 1873. (A. A. It.) FORBES, SIR JOHN (1787-1861), M.D., was born at Cuttlebrae, Banffshire. He attended the Grammar School at Aberdeen, and afterwards entered Marischal College. Having for nine years been assistant>surgeon and surgeon in the navy, he in 1817 graduated at Edinburgh, and then commenced practice in Penzance, whence he removed to Chichester. He took up his residence in London iu 1840, and was the same year appointed physician to the Prince Consort, and in 1841 physician to the Queen s household. He was a fellow of the lloyal Society, and D.C.L. of Oxford; and in 1853 he received the honour of knighthood. He died November 13, 1861, at Whitchurch in Berkshire. Sir John Forbes was better known as an author and editor than as a practical physician. His works include the following : Original C<iscs . . . illustrating the Use of the Stcthcscope and Percussion in the Diagnosis of Diseases of the Chest, 1824 ; Illustrations of Modern Mesmerism, 1845 ; A Physician s Holiday, 1st ed. 1849 ; Memo randums made in Ireland in the Autumn of 1852, 2 vols., 1853 ; Sight-seeing in Germany and the Tyrol in (he Autumn of 1855, 1856. He was joint editor with Drs Tweedie and Conolly of Tlic Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine, 4 vols., 1833-35 ; and in 1836 he founded the British and Foreign Medical Review, which, after a period of prosperity, involved its editor in pecuniary loss, and ceased to exist, in consequence of the advocacy in its later numbers of doc trines obnoxious to the profession. FORBIN, CLAUDE DE (1656-1733), French naval com mander, was born in Provence, of a family of high stand ing, in 1656. High-spirited and ungovernable in his boyhood, he ran away from his home, and through the influence of an uncle entered the navy, serving his first campaign in 1675. For a short time he quitted the navy and entered the army, but soon returned to his first choice. He made under D Estrees the American campaign, and under Duquesne that of Algiers in 1683, on all occasions distinguishing himself by his impetuous courage. The most remarkable episode of his life was his mission to Siam. During the administration of the Greek adventurer Faulcon in that country, the project was formed of intro ducing the Christian religion and European civilization, and the king sent an embassy to Louis XIV. In response a French embassy was sent out, Forbin accompanying the Chevalier de Chaumont with the rank of major. When Chaumont returned to France, Forbin was induced to remain in the service of the Siamese king, and accepted, though with much reluctance, the posts of grand admiral, general of all the king s armies, and governor of Bankok. His position, however, was soon made untenable by the jealousy and intrigues of the minister Faulcon ; and at the end of two years he left Siam, reaching France in 1688. He was afterwards fully engaged in active service, first with Jean Bart in the war with England, when they were both captured and taken to Plymouth. They succeeded in making their escape, and were soon serving their country again. Forbin was wounded at the battle of La Hogue, and greatly distinguished himself at the battle of Lagos. He served under D Estrees at the taking of Barcelona, was sent ambassador to Algiers, and in 1702 took a brilliant part in the Mediterranean in the war of the Spanish suc cession. In 1706 he took command of a squadron at Dun kirk, and captured many valuable prizes from the Dutch and the English. In 1708 he was entrusted with the com mand of the squadron which was to convey the Pretender to Scotland ; but so effectually were the coasts guarded by Byng that the expedition failed and returned to Dunkirk. Forbin was now beginning to be weighed down with the infirmities of age and the toils of service, and iu 1710 he retired to a country house near Marseilles. There he spent part of his time in writing his memoirs, published in 1730, which are full of interest and are written in a graphic and attractive style. Forbin died March 4, 1733. FORCELLINI, EGIDIO (1688-1768), an Italian philo logist, was born at Fener in the district of Treviso, and belonged to a very poor family. He went to the seminary at Padua in 1704, studied under Facciolati, and iu duo course attained to the priesthood. From 1724 to 1731 he held the office of rector of the seminary at Ceneda, and from 1731 to 1765 that of father confessor in the semi nary of Padua. The remaining years of his life were mainly spent in his native village. He died at Padua in 1768 before the completion of the great work by which his name is preserved. This is a vast Latin Lexicon, usually referred to as Facciolati s, which has formed the basis of all similar works that have since been published. He was engaged with his Herculean task for nearly 35 years, and the transcription of the manuscript by Luigi Violato oc cupied eight years more. It was ultimately published at the expense of Cardinal Priole, under the title of Totiits Latinitatis Lexicon, consiiio et euro. Jacobi Facciolati, opera et studiis jEyidii Forcellini, Seminarii Patavini Alumni, lucubratum, 4 vols., Padua, 1771. FORCHHAMMER, Jon AN GEORG, a Danish mineral. - gist and geologist, was born at Husum on July 26, 1794, and died at Copenhagen on December 14, 1865. Aftor studying at Kiel and Copenhagen from 1815 to 1818, he joined Oersted and Esmarch in their mineralogical explora tion of Bornholm, and took a considerable share in the labours of the expedition. In 1820 he obtained his doctor s degree by a chemical treatise De Mangano, and immediately after set out on a journey through England, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands. In 1823 he was named university lecturer on chemistry and mineralogy; in 1829 he obtained a similar post in the newly established poly technic school ; and in 1831 he was appointed professor of mineralogy in the university, and as such became curator of the geological museum. On the death of Oersted in 1851, he succeeded him as director of the polytechnic school and secretary of the academy of sciences. As a public instructor Forchhammer held a high place and con tributed potently to the progress of his favourite studies in his native country. He delighted in the popularization of science, and frequently brought his knowledge and influence to bear on such practical questions as the intro duction of gas into Copenhagen, the establishment of the fire-brigade at Rosenberg, or the boring of Artesian wells. Among his more important works are Lcercloy i de, cnkelte Radicalcrs Chemi, 1842 ; Danmarks ffcognottiake Forhohl, 1835 ; Om de Bornholmske Ktdformationcr, 1836 ; Dit nyere Kridt i Dan- mark, 1847 ; Bidrag til Skildringcn of Danmarks yeographiskc Forhohl, 1858. A list of his contributions to scientific periodicals, Danish, English, and German, will be found in the Catalogue of Scien tific Pa2)crs published by the Koyal Society of London. One of tho IX. 50