FOSTEP
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FOURIER
Evansville, Ind., where the also was postmaster for a time. He distinguished himself during the Civil War as major and colonel of Indiana regiments. Subsequently he held diplomatic appointments, being minister to Mexico (1873-80), to Russia (1881) and to Spain (1883-85). In 1892 he succeeded Blaine as secretary of state, and in the following year represented the United States at Paris in the Bering Sea arbitration. He has also acted as plenipotentiary in the negotiation of reciprocity treaties, and has acted as peace-commissioner and envoy of the United States in international arbitration. His history of American diplomacy is a final authority.
Fos'ter, Stephen Collins, an American song-writer, was born at Pittsburg, Pa., in 1826. His compositions number 125, nearly a fourth being negro melodies. The best-known productions are Old Folks at Home, Come where my Love Lies Dreaming, Uncle Ned, Old Dog Tray and Old Kentucky Home. He died at New York on Jan. 13, 1864.
Fouche (foo'sha'), Joseph (Duke of Ot-ranto), minister of police under Napoleon, was born at Nantes, France, on May 29, 1760. He was elected to the national convention in 1792 and expelled in 1794. In 1799 he was appointed minister of police, and held the office until 1815. He was a man of one ambition — his own political success. He was indispensable to Napoleon, yet was dismissed by him twice, but reinstated each time. He was given office by Louis XVIII, but dismissed by him in September, 1815. He was then appointed ambassador to Dresden, and, being included among those who were banished, as having been concerned in the execution of Louis XVI, he henceforth led an exile's life and died at Trieste on Dec. 25, 1820.
Foundation, the base upon which a structure is built or placed, as the foundation of a building, a bridge-pier or an engine. The object is to furnish a base which shall not settle or, if it does settle in the least, that this settling shall be perfectly uniform. The best foundation-base is solid rock, as this is firm and not affected by water, but some gravels and clays are equally good, if they are not saturated with water. The most difficult soils for foundations are soft, compressible earths saturated with water. Where it is possible, it is best to go down until rock, gravel or "hard-pan" is reached. It is often necessary to go down 75 or 100 feet to find such firm material. Where the soil is of a yielding nature, the area of the base must be so enlarged as to decrease the pressure per square foot to safe limits. A common method in soft soils is to drive piles, saw them off at the surface and erect the foundation on a platform on these piles. The whole of the Back-Bay district in Boston is on pile-foundations. Sometimes
masonry, concreted timber or iron platform foundations are used. Thus in Chicago, where the soil is boggy and it is impracticable to reach good rock, the foundations of many of the heaviest buildings have been erected on an iron and concrete platform. A cubical pile of crossed iron-rails is made and filled in with concrete, and the building is placed on these. For foundation-bases under water, or under soils saturated with water, coffer-dams and caissons must be used to get the masonry-work down to a firm base. (See COFFERDAM and CAISSON.) The Romans seem to have been the first to make a serious study of foundations. It is said that the sites of the cathedrals of the middle ages were selected primarily with reference to getting a suitable foundation, and that, even so, many mediaeval structures have disappeared on account of improper foundations. The subject of foundations is one of the most important problems of modern engineering, and it is often found necessary to spend large sums in preliminary borings to determine the character of the soils.
Foundry, an establishment for casting. Casting consists in pouring a molten metal into a suitably shaped mold in which it cools and solidifies, thus forming a metallic figure of the shape of the mold. Metal-casting is as old as civilization, but it has been greatly developed in very recent times. Most metals can be cast, but iron, brass, bronze, zinc, aluminium and type-metal are the metals most used for casting in the industries. The molds are formed of loam, molding-sand, plaster of Paris or metal. In type-founding, steel molds are used. To form a mold in loam or sand requires a pattern. This pattern is usually of wood, but may be of metal. Pattern-making for casting parts of machinery forms a special trade. Iron is melted for casting in a furnace called a cupola. The principle of foundry-work is simple, but the practice of it requires much skill and special knowledge, and special treatises must be consulted for details of the work of a foundry.
Fourier (foo'rt-er), Jean Baptiste J., a distinguished French physicist and mathematician, was born on March 21, 1768, and died at Paris, on May 16, 1830. He taught mathematics at Saint-Maur, at the Normal School and at the Polytechnic School in Paris, successively. In 1798 he went to Egypt with Bonaparte. Later he was appointed prefect of Grenoble in Franc«, a position which he held for 14 years. It was while here that he wrote his immortal work on the Analytical Theory of Heat, which was published in 1822, and which has ever since remained a model in clearness and method for all writers on mathematical physics. It was this work which, six years after its publication, suggested
