FOČA (pronounced Fáwtcha), a town of Bosnia, situated at the confluence of the Drina and Čehotina rivers, and encircled by wooded mountains. Pop. (1895) 4217. The town is the headquarters of a thriving industry in silver filigree-work and inlaid weapons, for which it was famous. With its territories enclosed by the frontiers of Montenegro and Novi Bazar, Foča, then known as Chocha, was the scene of almost incessant border warfare during the middle ages. No monuments of this period are left except the Bogomil cemeteries, and the beautiful mosques, which are the most ancient in Bosnia. The three adjoining towns of Foča, Goražda and Ustikolina were trading-stations of the Ragusans in the 14th century, if not earlier. In the 16th century, Benedetto Ramberti, ambassador from Venice to the Porte, described the town, in his Libri Tre delle Cose dei Turchi, as Cozza, “a large settlement, with good houses in Turkish style, and many shops and merchants. Here dwells the governor of Herzegovina, whose authority extends over the whole of Servia. Through this place all goods must pass, both going and returning, between Ragusa and Constantinople.”
FOCHABERS, a burgh of barony and village of Elginshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 981. It is delightfully situated on the Spey, about 9 m. E. by S. of Elgin, the terminus of a branch of the Highland railway connecting at Orbliston Junction with the main line from Elgin to Keith. The town was rebuilt in its present situation at the end of the 18th century, when its earlier site was required for alterations in the grounds of Gordon Castle, in which the old town cross still stands. The streets all lead at right angles to the central square, where fairs and markets are held. The public buildings include a library and reading-room, the court-house and the Milne school, named after Alexander Milne, who endowed it with a legacy of £20,000. Adjoining the town, surrounded by a park containing many magnificent old trees, stands Gordon Castle, the chief seat of the duke of Richmond and Gordon, erected in the 18th century. The antiquary George Chalmers (1742-1825) and the composer William Marshall (1748-1833) were natives of the burgh.
FOCSHANI (Rumanian Focşani, sometimes incorrectly written Fokshani or Fokshan), the capital of the department of Putna, Rumania; on the river Milcov, which formed the ancient frontier of the former principalities of Moldavia and Walachia. Pop. (1900) 23,783; of whom 6000 were Jews. The chief buildings are the prefecture, schools, synagogues, and many churches, including those of the Armenians and Protestants. Focshani is a commercial centre of some importance, the chief industries being oil and soap manufacture and tannery. A large wine trade is also carried on, and corn is shipped in lighters to Galatz. The annual fair is held on the 29th of April. Government explorations in the vicinity of this town show it to be rich in minerals, such as iron, copper, coal and petroleum. The line Focshani-Galatz is covered by a very strong line of fortifications, known as the Sereth Line. A congress between Russian and Turkish diplomatists was held near the town in 1772. In the neighbourhood the Turks suffered a severe defeat from the Austrians and Russians in 1789.
FOCUS (Latin for “hearth” or “fireplace”), a point at which converging rays meet, toward which they are directed, or from which diverging rays are directed; in the latter case called the virtual focus (see [Microscope]; [Telescope]; [Lens]). In geometry the word is used to denote certain points (see [Geometry]; [Conic Section]; and [Perspective]).
FOG, the name given to any distribution of solid or liquid particles in the surface layers of the atmosphere which renders surrounding objects notably indistinct or altogether invisible according to their distance. In its more intense forms it hinders and delays travellers of all kinds, by sea or land, by railway, road or river, or by the mountain path. It is sometimes so thick as to paralyse traffic altogether. According to the New English Dictionary the word “appears to be” a back formation from the adjective “foggy,” a derivative of “fog” used with its old meaning of aftermath or coarse grass, or, in the north of Britain, of “moss.” Such a formation would be reasonable, because wreaths of fog in the atmospheric sense are specially characteristic of meadows and marshes where fog, in the more ancient sense, grows.
Two other words, mist and haze, are also in common use with reference to the deterioration of transparency of the surface layers of the atmosphere caused by solid or liquid particles, and in ordinary literature the three words are used almost according to the fancy of the writer. It seems possible to draw a distinction between mist and haze that would be fairly well supported by usage. Mist may be defined as a cloud of water particles at the surface of land or sea, and would only occur when the air is nearly or actually saturated, that is, when there is little or no difference between the readings of the dry and wet bulbs; the word haze, on the other hand, may be reserved for the obscuration of the surface layers of the atmosphere when the air is dry.