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 FRAMINGHAM for intractable persons and on the field of battle. When swelling and inflammation run high, antiphlogistic and refrigerant applica- tions should precede the use of bandages and splints ; and the latter when applied should be loosened when swelling comes on, and after- ward readjusted so as to keep the parts uni- formly in 'place. The variety of bandages, splints, and apparatus for the different kinds of fractures is very great ; and in nothing does American surgery stand more preeminent than in its ingenious and effectual instruments for the treatment of broken bones. The accompanying symptoms of depression, inflammation, delirium, painful twitchings of muscles, and other com- plications, must be treated on principles fa- miliar to every surgeon. When a false joint is produced, attempts at union are made by ex- citing inflammation in the separated pieces by rubbing, the seton, sawing off the ends, and other operations now in vogue; care being taken at the same time to strengthen the pa- tient, and to correct any evident constitutional vice. In compound fractures, especially the severe ones from railroad accidents, the ques- tion of amputation is frequently a most diffi- cult one to resolve; much depends on the strength, habits, and age of the patient, the degree of laceration, the proximity to joints, and the injury to vessels and nerves; if the operation be decided on, it is generally per- formed at once, before the accession of inflam- matory fever. If it be determined to retain the limb, the bone should be reduced to its natu- ral position, loose pieces removed, and the necessary applications be made to induce the wounds to heal ; in proper time bandages and splints should be applied ; cooling lotions, opi- um to quiet pain and restlessness, prevention of lodgment of matter, tonics and stimulants to support the strength under profuse dis- charges, are the additional general indications of treatment. FRAMINGHAM, a town of Middlesex co,, Mas- sachusetts, on the Boston and Albany railroad, at its junction with a branch to Milford, and at the junction of several divisions of the Bos- ton, Clinton, and Fitchburg line, 20 m. W. by S. of Boston; pop. in 1870, 4,968. It is in- tersected by Sudbury river, and borders on Co- chituate lake. There are manufactories of woollens, cars, and carriages, hats and bonnets, &c., and a national bank. The town is the seat of a state normal school, which in 1872 had 10 instructors, 165 pupils, and a library of 1,200 volumes. There are 20 public schools,, inclu- ding 2 high schools, with an average attendance of about 700 pupils; a public library, with about 5,000 volumes ; and 10 churches (2 Bap- tist, 3 Congregational, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 2 Roman Catholic, and 1 Universalist). FRANC, the monetary unit in France, Bel- gium, and Switzerland. The first coins having this name were struck under John the Good of France in 1360; they bore the impression of the king on horseback, and the device 365 Francorum rex, and were called francs d cTie- val; they were of fine gold, and were worth 1 pound (livre), or 20 sols, and weighed 2 pennyweights. Under Charles V. the impres- sion was of the king on foot, and they were styled francs d pied, but retained the same value. Under Charles VII. their weight was reduced to about two pennyweights. The first silver francs were coined by Henry III. in 1575, and presented on one side the head of the king, and on the other a decorated cross, and weighed -535833 pennyweight, and had a current value of 20 sous. Henry III. also coined half-francs and quarter-francs. In 1602 the value of the franc was increased to 21 sous. Having suffered many alterations, chief- ly from clipping, Louis XIII. prohibited its circulation for more than its actual value, and substituted the silver louis of 60, 30, 15, and 5 sous value. The franc then ceased to be real money, remaining a unit of valuation. But on the adoption of the decimal system, in 1795, it was chosen as the monetary unit, being divi- ded into tenths, called decimes, and into hun- dredths, called centimes; it had a legal weight of 3'215 pennyweights, ^ fine ; coins were also struck of 2 and 5 francs value in silver, and of 20, 50, and 100 francs in gold. In Switzer- land the franc was adopted as the unit, along with the whole French monetary system, May 7, 1850. In 1864 the pieces of 50 and 20 centimes value were replaced by pieces of equal nominal but less intrinsic worth. After the monetary convention between France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland, in 1866, the standard franc of the law of 1795 ceased to exist except in the five-franc pieces ; the pieces of 50 and 20 centimes value being reduced to 835 of pure silver instead of -900, and the law requiring their withdrawal from circulation when they have lost '05 in weight. FRAN^AIS, Antoine, count, popularly known as FRANCOIS DE NANTES, a French politician and author, born at Beaurepaire, Isere, Jan. 17, 1756, died in Paris in 1836. He was the son of a notary, received a superior education, and became in 1789 an advocate and customs di- rector at Nantes and an ardent revolutionist. Subsequently, as a member and for some time president of the legislative assembly, and as a member of the council of five hundred, he acquired great popularity by his denunciations of royalists and priests. He readily accepted office, however, under the consulate, and rose to be director general of the octroi department, which gave him opportunities of offering sine- cures to poor literary men, who regarded him as a Maecenas. He retained this influential post during the empire, when he was made a count. From 1819 to 1822 he represented the depart- ment of Isere in the chamber of deputies. His revolutionary pamphlets met with great suc- cess, but his miscellaneous writings brought him little fame. They include Tableau de la vie rurale, ou V agriculture enseignee d'une maniere dramatique (3 vols., Paris, 1829).