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LEFT FORK 175 FORMOSA dantly in ditches and the sides of rivers, flowering from June to August. The name is also applied to Myosotis arven- sis, Veronica chamaedrys, and Ajuga chamsepitys. FORK, an instrument divided at the end into two or more points or prongs, and used for lifting or pitching any- thing. The instrument used at table is only about three centuries old. The Greeks, Romans, and other ancient na- tions knew nothing of table forks, though they had large forks for hay, and also iron forks for taking meat out of pots. The use of any species of forks at the table was quite unknown till the 15th century, and they were then known only in Italy, which has the merit of this invention. None of the sovereigns of England had forks till after the reign of Henry VIII.; all, high and low, used their fingers. The first royal personage in England who is known to have had a fork was Queen Elizabeth; but it re- mains doubtful whether she used them on ordinary occasions. As late as the middle of the 17th century forks were used in England only by the highest classes. The general use of silver forks in Great Britain cannot be dated farther back than beginning of 19th century. In machinery, a fork is a short piece of steel which fits into one of the sockets or chucks of a lathe, used by wood-turn- ers for carrying round the piece to be turned; it is flattened at the end like a chisel, but has a projecting center point, to prevent the wood from moving later- ally. FORLI (ancient Forum Livii), a walled city of central Italy, capital of province of same name, in a fertile plain between the Montone and Ronco, on the Emilian Way, 38 miles S. E. of Bologna, and 15 S. W. of Ravenna. Manufac- tures, silk ribbons and twist, oil-cloth, woolens, wax, niter, and sulphur. In 1797 Forli was taken by the French, who made it the capital of the depart- ment of Rubicon. In 1860 it was annexed to the kingdom of Italy. The collection of paintings in the municipal Pinacoteca is important. Pop. of commune, about 46,000. FORMALDEHYDE. HCOrH, formic aldehyde, methyl aldehyde; obtained when a current of air, charged with the vapor of methyl alcohol, is directed on an incandescent spiral of platinum wire. The liquid collected reduces nitrate of silver, forming a mirror; a small quan- tity is formed by the action of the silent electric discharge on a mixture of hydro- gen and carbon dioxide, C02 + 2H2=:H- CO-H-|-H,0. FORMAMIDE. H-CO-NH., the amide of formic acid, obtained by the dry dis- tillation of formate of ammonium, or by heating two parts of dry ammonium for- mate with one part of urea to 140"^, till no more ammonium carbonate is given off. It is a liquid which distills in a vacuum at 150" at ordinary pressure, at 195° with partial decomposition: when quickly heated, it is decomposed into CO and NH3. FORMICA, ant, the typical genus of the family FoKMiciDiE (q. v.). It has the footstalk of the abdomen composed of a single joint; the mandibles are tri- angular, and denticulated at the edge. The females are destitute of a sting. Of these F. sanguinea makes its nest in wood, and is a slave holder, carrying off the young of other species, such as those of F. cunicularia and F. fusca. Of the foreig^n species, F. saccharivora makes its nest at the foot of sugar canes, so loosening the soil that they are blown down by gales. F. indefessa, an Indian species, is a great devourer of sweets. See Ant. FORMIC ACID, HCHO2, or H:COr OH, a monobasic fatty acid, which de- rives its name from the circumstance that it was first obtained by distilling ants. It occurs in the animal and vege- table kingdoms, especially in the red ant, Formica rufa. When an ant walks over moistened blue litmus it turns it red. It exists also in certain caterpillars, in sev- eral secretions of the human body, as in blood, in urine, in the fish-juice, and in perspiration. It is also found in the juice of the stinging nettle, and in com- mercial oil of turpentine that has been exposed to the air, and in certain min- eral springs. FORMICID.ffi. in entomology, a genus of aculeate Hymenoptera, tribe or sub- tribe Heterogyiia. The abortive females are wingless, the basal joint of the an- tennae in the females and neuters is long and elbowed; the upper lip of the neu- ters, large, horny, and perpendicular, the first or second joint of the abdomen knotted. In many species the females and neuters have stings. They are gen- erally social insects living in communi- ties, consisting of males, females, and neuters. The chief genera are Foi-mic^, Polyergus, Ponera, Myrmica, and Atta. Formica and Myrmica have representa- tives widely distributed. FORMOSA (Chinese Tai-Wan. or "Terrace Bay"), an island in the Chinese Sea, belonging to Japan; about 80 miles from the Chinese coast, from which it is separated by the Channel of Foh-kien (sometimes called Strait of Formosa),