Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, A dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan … > Volume 2, C-L

FIS ( 598
ture think that trade of fo great importance, as to
grant a very confi ierable bounty for the encouragement
of it; for every Britiih veflel of 200 tuns or upwards,
bound to the Greenland feas on the whale-fifhery, if
- found to be duly qualified according to the afl, obtains
a licence from the commiffioners of the culbms: to pro¬
ceed on fuch vo-yage : and on the Ihip’s return, the
mailer and mate making oath that they proceeded on
fuch voyage and no other, and ufed all their endea¬
vours to take whales, &c. and that all, the whale fins,
hlubber, oil, fee. imported in their (hip, were taken
by their crew in thofe feas, there lhall be allowed 40 s.
for every ton according to the admeafurement of the
fliip.
Befides thefe filheries, there are feveral others both
on the coafts of Great Britain and in the North Seas,
which, although not much the fubjedl of merchandize,
neverthelefs employ great numbers both of Ihips and
men ^ as, 1. The oyIter-filhing at Colcheller, Fever-
fham, the Ille of Wight, in the Swales of the Med¬
way, and in all the creeks between Southampton and
Chichefter, from whence they are carried to be fed in
pits about Wevenhoe and other places. See Oyster.
2. The lobfter-filhing all along the Britiih Channel,
the Frith of E$iinjj>urgh, on the coall of Northumber¬
land, and on the coal! of Norway, from whence great
qantities are brought to London. And laltly, the
filhing of the pot-filh, fin-filh, fea-unicorn, fea horfe,
and the feal, or dog-filh; all which are found in the
fame feas with the whales, and yield blubber in a cer¬
tain degree ; befides, the horn of the unicorn is as e-
Itimable as ivory, and the Ikins of the feals are parti¬
cularly ufeful to trunkmakers.
Trow/Fishing. The baits for this purpofe are either
natural or artificial, as earth, worms, minnows, and
filling flies, both natural and artificial. Whatever
worms are ufed, they anfwer belt if kept fome time in
an earthen pot, with mofs often changed in fummer.
If you filh for trout with hand on the ground, the
hook is to be introduced into the worm a little above
the middle, coming out again a little below ; then
draw the worm above the arming of the hook, making
your firll entrance at the tail-end, that the point of the
hook may come out at the head-end. When you filh
with minnows, take the whitelt and middle fized; and
after putting the hook in at the mouth, and out at the
gills, and drawing it through about three inches, flip
it again into his mouth, fo as the point and beard may
come out at the tail. This done, tie the hook, and
tail together with a fine white thread, and. let
the body of the minnow be almolt Itreight upon the
hook.
FISSURE of the hones, in furgery, is when they are
divided either tranfverfely or longitudinally, not quite
through, but cracked after the manner of glafs, by
any external force. See Surgery.
TISTULA, m the ancient mufic, an inftrument of the
wind-kind, refembling our flute, or flageolet.
The principal wind-inllruments of the ancients, were
the tibia and fiftula. But how. they were conllituted,
) E L A
wherein they differed, or how they were played cm,
does not appear.
Fistula, in. medicine and furgery. See Medicine
and Surgery.
Fistuua, in farriery. See Farriery.
FISTULAR, or Fistulous, appellations given by
furgeons to wounds and ulcers, which.degenerate into
fi Hulas.
FIT, in medicine. See Paroxysm.
FITCHEE/, in heraldry, a term applied to a crofs,
when the lower end of it is lharpened into a point, as
in Plate LXXX. fig. 6.
Fitches, in hulbandry, a fort of pulfe, more general¬
ly known by the name of chick-pea, or cicer. See
Cicer.
FITZ, makes part of the furname of fome of the natu¬
ral fons of the kings of England, as Fitz roy; which
is purely French, and fignifies the king’s fon.
FIVE churches, a bifliop’s fee of lower Hungary, 76-
miles fouth of Buda.
FIVES, orVivEs, in farriery. See Farriery, p.
5J5- , ,
FIXATION, in cbemiflry, the rendering, any volatile
fubftance fixed, fo as not to fly off upon being expo-
fed to a great heat; hence,
FIXED bodies are thofe which bear a confiderable de¬
gree of heat without evaporating, or lofing any of
their weight.
FLACCIDITY, among phyficians, a diforder of the
folids, cured by aftringent and cardiac medicines, join¬
ed with exercife and good air.
FLAG, a general name for. colours, ftandards, ancients,
banners, enfigns, fee.
The falhion of pointed or triangular flags, as now
ufed, Rod. Toletan affures, came from the Mahome¬
tan Arabs, or Saracens, upon their feiznre of Spain,
before which time all the enfigns of war were ftretch-
ed or extended on crofs pieces of wood, like the ban¬
ners of a church. The pirates of Algiers, and through¬
out the coafls of Barbary, bear an hexonal flag.
Flag is more particularly ufed at fea; for the colours,,
ancients, ftandards, fee. borne on the top of the mails
of veffels, to notify the perfon who commands the
fliip, of what nation it is, and whether it be.equipped
for war or trade, fee Plate LXXXI.
The admiral in chief carries his flag on the main.
top, the vice-admiral on the fore-top, and the rear-
admiral on the mizzen-top.
When a council of war is to be held at fea, if it be
on board the admiral, they hang a flag in the "main
flirduds; if in the vice-admiral, in the fore-fhrouds ;
and if in the rear-admiral, in the mizzen flrrouds.
Befides the national flag, merchant-fliips frequently
bear leffer flags on the mizzen-maft,. with the arms of
the city where the mafter ordinarily refldes; and on
the fore-maft, with the arms of the place where the
perfon who freights them lives.
Flag-officers, thofe who command the feveral fqua-
drons of a fleet, fuch are the admirals, vice-admirals,
and rear-admirals.
The