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FERDINAND ¥11

656

PERN

Naples, under a regency. His minority ended on January 12, 1767, and the following year he married Maria Caroline, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. During the wars of Napoleon Ferdinand was forced several times to leave his country, but was finally recalled to his capital on Dec. 12, 1816. He died on Jan. 4, 1825.

Ferdinand VII, king of Spain, was born on Oct. 14, 1784, and became prince of the Asturias in 1788. For political reasons his father, Charles IV, was forced to abdicate the throne, and Ferdinand was proclaimed king on March 19, 1808. When Napoleon invaded Spain, he forced Ferdinand to resign, and Joseph Bonaparte was proclaimed king in his stead. Wellington's victory at Vittoria on June 21, 1813, induced Napoleon to treat again with Ferdinand, and as a consequence he recognize^ his title to the throne of Spain, one of the conditions being that the English were to be expelled from the peninsula. Ferdinand was continually in open conflict with the Cortes, and his death at Madrid in 1833 was signalized by the outbreak of a long and bloody civil war. Ferdinand VII was one of the most incompetent monarchs that ever reigned. During his sovereignty Spain lost New Granada, Mexico, Rio de la Plata, Chile, Venezuela, Guatemala and Peru.

Fer'guson, James, a self-taught astronomer, was born near Keith, Scotland, in 1710. When he was eight, his father, in repairing the roof of their cottage, which had fallen in, used a lever and fulcrum. This at once interested the boy, and he began to experiment with levers, to which he added a wheel and axle. Apprenticed to a farmer, he studied the stars while watching the sheep by night. He made a wooden clock, and helped to support himself by repairing clocks and taking portraits in India ink. He received a small pension from George III, and died, probably in London, on Nov. 16, 1776. He invented astronomical machines, and wrote works on astronomy, among them Astronomy Made Easy. See Autobiography and Life by E. Henderson.

Fer'menta'tion, the decomposition of certain substances by the action of living plants either directly or though the enzymes (which see) secreted by them. All fermentable substances are complex carbon-compounds, especially carbohydrates (such as sugars) and proteids (abundant in white of egg, meat, curds, etc.) The fermentation of proteids and other nitrogenous substances, ustially accompanied by evil-smelling gases, is often called putrefaction, but it does not differ in nature from ? other fermentatk>ns. Gases are a common product of fermentation, but not a necessary one. All protoplasm appears to have the power of producing fermentation under certain conditions. Many plants

can in this way, instead of by normal respiration, secure energy sufficient to maintain life for some time without free oxygen. Ripening fruits, as pears and apples, and chopped-up plants, as fresh ensilage, show energetic fermentations of this direct kind. During such periods the usual functions of the plant are retarded or suspended, in which they differ from the lower organisms. The decomposition of foods in digestion is not ordinarily thought of as fermentation, but it is impossible to distinguish the two clearly.

A number of plants of the simpler sorts, notably yeasts, certain moulds and most bacteria, produce conspicuous fermentations, each after its kind. They therefore are called ferment-organisms or, formerly, ferments. As enzymes were also called ferments, the two were distinguished as organized and unorganized ferments. Since many of the ferment organisms act as such by secreting enzymes (e. g. yeast), the distinction is invalid.

Fermentations usually take their names from the most striking products. Thus, yeasts and some moulds work alcoholic fermentation in sugary liquids, forming alcohol, carbon dioxid and several less important products; certain bacteria cause the souring of milk on account of the formation of lactic acid, etc. (lactic F.); others form acetic acid, etc. (acetic F.) from alcohol, as when wine or beer sours. Many other forms of fermentation occur, the products of one being the material for subsequent decomposition. Some fermentations, especially the alcoholic ones, are of much economic importance. Thus the making of bread, wine, beer, vinegar, butter and cheese is dependent upon the proper action of the ferment-organisms that grow in these substances. Many household and commercial processes, as canning, cold storage, etc., are to prevent the growth of ferment-organisms. C. R. BARNES.

Ferments. See ENZYMES and FERMENTATION.

Fern, a flowerless plant growing from a rootstock, producing spores instead of seeds, the leaves or fronds usually raised on a stalk. The notable fern-families include the tall swamp-ferns; coarse ferns; large and coarse ferns of swamps and woods; small and medium-sized ferns; delicate rock or wood-ferns; shield-ferns. The brake is the most widely distributed of the ferns; in Oregon it sometimes reaches a height of seven feet. The delicate maidenhair is one of the most highly regarded ferns, its haunt dim, moist woods. The tiny leaves on the slender black stem suggest fragility, but this fern will bear transplanting if a shady, damp corner is provided for the replanting. The evergreen wood-fern, a feature of our northern woods, flourishes throughout the year; it