Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/692

* FIRDAUSI. 632 FIRE-ALARM. tlie name of Firdausi, as of many other great authors, a number of poetic legends have gath- d. As an example may be mentioned the story that Mahmud's gift of favor came at the moment when the body of the poet was being carried to its final resting-place. Bibliography. Editions of the Shah-Namah have been published by Macan (4 vols., Calcutta, lSiii'iiiM; Mohl (6 vols., Paris, 1831-08); Yul- lers and Landauer (3 vols., incomplete, Leyden. Is77-S4i : translations by Jlohl (7 vols., Paris, 1S70-78) ; Riickert (incomplete, Berlin. 1890 Pizzi (8 vols., Turin, 1880-88); Schack selec- tions (3 vols., Stuttgart, 1877). There is an abridgment in English by Atkinson (London, 1832, reprinted New York and London, 1880), and a popular sketch of the Shah-Namah in Reed's Persian Literature (Chicago, 1893). A critical edition of the Yusuf u Zalikhd was pub- lished by Ethe (Oxford, 1902), and the poem has been translated by Schlechta-Wssehrd (Vienna, lss'.i i. For further information consult: Noldeke, Qrwndriss der iranischen Philologie, ii. (Strass- burg, 1890) ; Ethe, id. ( Strassburg, 1891) ; Horn, <:< srliiclitc tier persischen, Litteratur (Leipzig, 1901 ) ; Browne, A Literary History of Persia ( Lon- don, 1902), and the authorities referred to there. FIRE. The discharge of firearms, as the fire of the enemy, broadside fire, etc. Bow fire includes the fire of all pieces of a ship which are so mounted as to be able to fire directly ahead; stern fire, that of all pieces which can fire directly astern: broadside fire, all which can fire abeam. A raking p is one so delivered that the projectiles pass through a vessel in a fore-and- aft direction, or nearly so. A plunging fire is one directed downward from an elevation ; if directed at a vessel such a fire would pierce her decks. Direct fire is used when the gun is aimed so that the projectile will hit by direct impact. Ricochet fire, much used in the days of spherical projec- tiles, consisted in firing at a short range and allowing the shell to ricochet, >r be reflected from the surface of the water, once or twice before reaching the object aimed at. Elongated projec- tiles from rifled guns ricochet in a very irregular manner, usually turning sharply to the right and oftentimes rising at a considerable angle after meeting the water; this behavior of rifle shell has caused the discontinuance of ricochet fire. Ih ight angle, mortar, or howitzer fire, is effected by elevating the piece at angles of 30 degrees or more above the horizontal and effecting a hit by dropping upon the object. The same effecl is obtained by curved fire from ordinary guns, which is brought about by extra elevation and a reduction of the powder-charge. Both kinds of fire are used to reach objects over oilier higher one- which intervene. See GtTJNnebyj Mobtab; Ait i ii leby; Ballistics. FIRE, Pbimittve. The conception of early man as a lifeless animal has been entertained from remote times, and the prevalence of this idea in origin-myths seems to present a real sur- vival in hue from the primitive period. This great body of lore with attendant customs clearly points oirl (he singes in man's progress by which (ire from an unu-ed and almosl unknown force I ni.> interwoven with his life as a prime neces sity. These stages represent: il) man in the ame with his feral neighbors as to tire, but hav- ing a clearer knowledge of its manifestations in the lightning, volcanoes, ami oilier exhibitions in nature (stages of the knowledge of fire) ; (2) from some of these sources lire is acquired and preserved for the most primitive use conceivable, perhaps for protection from the beast., | ot acquisition and preservation of fire) ; and the stage marked by the invention of a process of creating tire at will, either by friction of w 1 in the fire-drill, fire-plow, and fire-saw, or by the percussion of minerals in the flint and pyriti - i-tage of fire-producing). Growing out of these ■■■■■ at strides in man's progress, comes the fourth stage, marked by an increasing utilization of this element down to the present (stage of the c puest of fire) . It will be seen that in respect to the distribu- tion of mankind over the earth, fire has played the leading part. In the first stage, before 'the use of fire, the distribution of man fell under the laws regulating the movements of animals. In the second stage, with the preservation of fire, man became sedentary and aggregated into groups having the germs of the State. In the third stage, with the means of providing fire at will, fire preservation sank into a lower place and man became free to immigrate into different zones. With the cumulative employment of fire in the mechanical era, there enters a time ele- ment, and great masses of humanity move quickly to settle the waste places of the earth where be- fore the movement was slow. From this most fer- tile of beginnings in the camp-fire have grown a gnat majority of the arts that have supplied man's artificial wants — those primary arts repre- sented by lighting, cooking, offense and defense; and those secondary arts connected with the me- chanics of fire or its use in agriculture, timber- ing, boat-building, metallurgy, ceramics, etc.. all with vast ramifications. There is also a social history of fire, a mythology embracing the vari- ous phases of fire-worship with its ceremonies and observances, and a folk-lore of magnitude and surpassing interest. FIRE, Ordeal by. See Ordeal. FIRE, Saint Anthony's. See Erysipelas. FIRE-ALARM. A lire-alarm system consists of a telegraph with a network of wires running from a main office to all parts of a district, ami provided with signal-boxes conveniently placed and accessible, from which signals may be sent to the lire department by any one without special knowledge of the instruments, simply by turning a crank or pulling a hook. Each signal box con- tains a transmitter or device to make and break an electric circuit, in a manner more or less closely resembling the following description, which will serve to illustrate the principle in- volved; A metallic wheel is provided with teeth, tin' spaces between which are filled with some nonconducting substance; a contacl spring rests against the wheel, and as I In' wheel is turned, touches in succession tin' projecting teeth, closing (lie ciieiiil at each loolh. anil causing a signal at the central office, or. in small towns where there is no central office, at all II nuiuc hou-e- w ill i which t he wire is connected. If t lie arrange- nienl on the wheel should be two teeth, a space three teeth, a -pace, and two teeth, followed by a long pace, one rotation of the wheel would give two signals, then three, then two, or the number 232, and this number will be repealed as often as the wheel i- rotated. The wheel may be turned by a crank or by a spring. The signal is re-