FIKE INSURANCE. 616 FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. diversity of the regulations adopted by the differ- ent States points conclusively to the desirability of national control of the insurance business through Congressional legislation. FIRE ISLAND, or Great South Beach. A low spit of sand, about 50 miles long but broken by inlets, almost 40 miles southeast of New York City (Map: New York, G 5). It separates the Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. On its western end is a lighthouse of the first order; also a station from which transatlantic steamers bound for New York are first sighted. The beach is a popular summer resort. Margaret Fuller Ossoli, with her husband and child, perished by shipwreck on Fire Island in 1850. FIRELESS ENGINE. A form of steam or vapor engine which is detached from the heating apparatus. Dr. Emile Lamm, of New Orleans, invented July 19, 1870, an engine in which the motive power was derived from the vapor of am- monia. The ammonia, as it escaped from the en- gine, was passed into a reservoir of water, in which it was absorbed ; the water when heated to a temperature of about 135° F. gave up the ammonia as gas, which was returned to the engine to be used over again, and then again absorbed and re- turned as before. This engine was found efficient and economical for the movement of street cars. The use of ammonia was soon abandoned, steam taking its place. Water heated to 212° F. be- comes vapor if the pressure upon it be no more than the usual atmospheric 15 pounds per square inch. If the pressure be greater, the water re- mains liquid until a higher temperature is reached, the temperature varying with the pres- sure according to well-known laws. If steam at a high pressure be admitted to water of low tem- perature and pressure in a closed vessel, the steam will be condensed in the water, but the pressure in the vessel will be increased, while the volume of the water will be enlarged by the' volume of that derived from the condensed steam. The water thus becomes charged with steam con- densed under high pressure, and when the pres- sure is relieved, a portion of the steam reverts to its condition of vapor, and may be conducted in the usual way to a cylinder and piston, where it will do its customary work. The opening of the valves gives vent to the vapor, gradually reduces the pressure, and relieves the condensed steam; so that a tank, filled with water and stored with many times its volume of uneon- densed steam, will furnish motive power suffi- cient to move the engine and a considerable train of cars for a trip of several miles. On its return, the tank is connected with ;t stationary boiler from which it receives a fresh supply of steam. It will not l>c forgotten thai the rial force of the steam i- due to I lie heat which it contain-, and that if t li.- In -lit lie hi- 1 . Ii radiation or otherwise, from the tank containing the condensed steam, its potential energy is so much reduced. In the en- used at New Orleans the mechanism was thai of an ordinary loc tive minus it-; fire-box, having ■< water-tank instead of ;i boiler: the ap- plia ii ppii .hi mil', and backing were I'i' i.i ill, was al I 6 feel long, mid 'S feet in diameter, covered thickly with felt and wood t., retain its heat, Steam was taken until t he gauge indicated 135 to 150 | I-. I he tem- perature for 135 I". o- nl being 353°. With this accumulation of power the machine ran 5 to 7 miles before the pressure 'was reduced to 60 pounds. The labor and care of firing is avoided on one of these engines. FIRELOCK. A firearm introduced about 1090, the charge of which was ignited by the concussion of flint and steel. The matchlock pre- viously in use required a lighted match at the powder-pan. See Small Arms. FIRENZUOLA, feren zooo'la. Agnolo or ANGIOLO GflOVANNINI f 1493-C.1548). An Italian writer, remembered chiefly for the idiomatic ele- gance of his language and for his spirited translation of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. From the scanty details contained in his own writings it is known that he was born at Florence, studied law at Siena and Perugia, and afterwards went to Rome, where he enjoyed the favor of Clement VII. It seems well authenti- cated that he finally joined the Brotherhood of Yallombrosa, and rose to considerable influence; but after the death of Clement VII. he returned to Tuscany and lived the remainder of his life at Prato. Firenzuola's works, nearly all of which were first published several years after his death, include two comedies, a dialogue, Delle bellezze (Idle donne, a eulogy upon the charms of women; Discorsi dcgli animali, the basis of which was probably a Latin version of the Sanskrit book of fables known as the Pancatantra (q.v.) ; and the Ragionamenti, a collection of novelle written in imitation of the Decameron. For biographical notices, consult: Bianchi's edition* of Firenzuola's works (Florence, 1848) ; and that of Guerrini, Novelle <!i Fvrenzuola (Florence, 1886). FIRE OPAL. See Opal. FIREPLACE. See Heating and Ventila- tion. FIREPROOF BUILDING. See Fireproof Construction. FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. The sys- tematic study of fireproof or fire-resisting build- ing construction is a development of comparatively recent years. In 1900 fireproof construction was confined practically to buildings of pub- lic or semi-public nature and to factories, stores, warehouses, and office buildings, and only the larger and more expensive of these structures were built with careful attention to the fire resisting qualities of their construction. The ex- tension of fireproof construction to include all buildings is a development of the future. The earliest buildings having anything approaching a fireproof construction were those used for pub- lic purposes, in the building of which the archi- tects were less hampered by considerations of economy in money and space than was neces- sarily the case in purely commercial structures In these buildings the walls were made of suffi- eient thickness mid stability to allow the use of vaulted floor construction, for which brick arches were generally used, giving rise to much ex in e in space nii'l dead weight. Partitions were generally brick walls ami the stairways were oi -I oi r iron. The entire construction was thus massive and heavy, and was, therefore, limited to buildings of -mall height and considerable area, Modern fireproof construction began virtually with flic use of iron in building construction. t tir-t attention »a- confined chiefly to the
