FIEE WORSHIPERS 140 FISH Within the past few years, however, notably since the big fire in San Fran- cisco, in 1906, the emphasis has been placed on prevention, rather than on fighting fires already started. In prac- tically all cities strict ordinances are passed regarding fireproof structures in the commercial districts. But not only must the buildings themselves be built of fireproof material, but wired glass for windows must be used, floors must be insulated, to prevent heat being trans- mitted from the burning contents of one story to material above or below. The most effective device for the prevention of fire is the automatic fire sprinkler, whose use makes a difference of from fifty to seventy-five per cent, in the cost of insurance. The principle of the auto- matic fire sprinkler is quite simple. Pipes, filled with a continuous supply of water, pass back and forth under the ceiling, perforated with holes which are plugged with wax, or a soft solder. With a rise in the temperature above a cer- tain degree, these plugs melt and the water begins pouring forth. It has been estimated that the automatic sprinkler has reduced the loss by fire in commer- cial districts by at least 70 per cent. FIRE WORSHIPERS, the Zoroas- trians called also Guebres. Herodotus, about 450 B. C, said "The Persians think fire to be a god." Strabo, about 50 A. D., says, "They peculiarly sacrifice to fire and water, placing dry wood on the fire stripped of its bark, with fat thrown upon it." The Rev. Dr. Wilson, of Bom- bay, alleges that "they actually address it in supplication, as if it were sentient, intelligent, divine, and omnipresent, and ready to hear, bless, assist, and deliver." No prominent race now in India has be- come more rapidly modified by inter- course with Europeans. The fire wor- shipers have, in the course of their his- tory, suffered the most cruel persecution from the Mohammedans. FIRST FRUIT, the fruit or produce first matured or collected in any season; first profits of anything; first or earliest effects of anything, in a good or bad sense. In ecclesiology, that portion of the fruits of the earth and other natural produce, which, by the usage of the Jews and )ther ancient nations, was offered to God. The mediaeval ecclesiastical impost known under the name of primitiss, or first fruits, and sometimes of annates or an- nalia, was the first year's whole profits, first of a bishopric, and afterward of any benefice, claimed by the Pope. This claim was the subject of many contests in Germany, in France, and in England. Henry VIII. withdrew the right of first fruits from the Pope, in order to transfer it to the king; and he established a spe- cial court for the administration of first fruits. In the reign of Anne, the reve- nues arising from this impost in Eng- land were vested in a board, to be ap- plied for the purpose of supplementing the incomes of small benefices. FISCHART, JOHANN (fish'art), a German satirist; born in Mainz, in 1545. He took the doctor's degree in the Uni- versity of Basel, in 1574, and afterward was an official of the Imperial Chamber of Justice at Spires. The period of his literary production lies between 1575 and 1581, while he assisted his brother-in-law Jobin, who had a printing office in Strass- burg. Among his compositions in verse may be mentioned : "The Jester in Rhyme" (1571); "Description of the Four-Cornered Hat" (1580), against the Jesuits; the "Flohhatz Weibertratz" (1573) ; "Podagramic Book of Consola- tion" (1577), "The Hive of the Holy Roman Swarm" (1579). In imitation of Rabelais's "Gargantua," but giving free play to his own native humor and wit, he wrote of "The Wondrous Deeds, Thoughts and Words of the Famous Heroes and Lords Grandgusier, Gar- gantua, and Pantagruel" (1575). He died in Forbach, in 1591. FISH, the name applied to a class of animals exclusively aquatic, and occupy- ing the fourth and lowest station of the section Vertebrata. The head is large, and set on the body without the inter- vention of any distinct neck; the body is usually of a spindle-shape, tapering gradually toward the extremity; and the surface is usually smooth, without any irregularities which might impede the motion of the creature in its native ele- ment. In its general form the body is usually rounded, or slightly compressed at the sides; sometimes this flattening proceeds to a much greater extent, so that the animal presents the appear- ance of a broad band, or oval disk, of which the edges correspond with the dorsal and ventral surfaces; in other cases, the flattening takes place from above downward, producing a disk-like body, of which the upper and lov/er surfaces are dorsal and ventral. A fish may be shortly defined as an animal breathing through the medium of water by means of gills. This latter apparatus is the most important feature presented. It is situated on each side of the neck, and consists of numerous laminas fixed on arches. These laminae are covered with numerous blood-vessels, and are so con- structed as to present a considerable sur- face to the water, so that the blood may receive a sufficient portion of the oxygen
