Many interesting anecdotes of Fuseli, and his relations to contemporary artists, are given in his Life by John Knowles, who also edited his works in 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1831.
(W. M. R.)
FUSEL OIL (from the Ger. Fusel, bad spirits), the name applied to the volatile oily liquids, of a nauseous fiery taste and smell, which are obtained in the rectification of spirituous liquors made by the fermentation of grain, potatoes, the marc of grapes, and other material, and which, as they are of higher boiling point than ethyl alcohol, occur in largest quantity in the last portions of the distillate. Besides ethyl or ordinary alcohol, and amyl alcohol, which are present in them all, there have been found in fusel oil several other bodies of the CnH2n+1·OH series, also certain ethers, and members of the CnH2n+1·CO2H series of fatty acids. Normal propyl alcohol is contained in the fusel oil of the marc brandy of the south of France, and isoprimary butyl alcohol in that of beet-root molasses. The chief constituent of the fusel oil procured in the manufacture of alcohol from potatoes and grain, usually known as fusel oil and potato-spirit, is isoprimary amyl alcohol, or isobutylcarbinol. Ordinary fusel oil yields also an isomeric amyl alcohol (active amyl alcohol) boiling at about 128°. Variable quantities of fusel oil, less or greater according to the stage of ripening, exist in commercial spirits (see [Spirits]).
Fusel oil and its chief constituent, amyl alcohol, are direct nerve poisons. In small doses it causes only thirst and headache, with furred tongue and some excitement. In large doses it is a convulsent poison. Impure beverages induce all the graver neurotic and visceral disorders in alcoholism; and, like fusel oil, furfurol and the essence of absinthe, are convulsent poisons. Pure ethyl alcohol intoxication, indeed, is rarely seen, being modified in the case of spirits by the higher alcohols contained in fusel oil. According to Rabuteau the toxic properties of the higher alcohols increase with their molecular weight and boiling point. Richet considers that the fusel oil contained in spirits constitutes the chief danger in the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The expert can immediately detect the peculiarly virulent characters of the mixed intoxication due to the consumption of spirits containing a large percentage of fusel oil.
FUSIBLE METAL, a term applied to certain alloys, generally composed of bismuth, lead and tin, which possess the property of melting at comparatively low temperatures. Newton’s fusible metal (named after Sir Isaac Newton) contains 50 parts of bismuth, 31.25 of lead and 18.75 of tin; that of Jean Darcet (1725-1801), 50 parts of bismuth with 25 each of lead and tin; and that of Valentin Rose the elder, 50 of bismuth with 28.1 of lead and 24.1 of tin. These melt between 91° and 95° C. The addition of cadmium gives still greater fusibility; in Wood’s metal, for instance, which is Darcet’s metal with half the tin replaced by cadmium, the melting point is lowered to 66°-71° C.; while another described by Lipowitz and containing 15 parts of bismuth, 8 of lead, 4 of tin and 3 of cadmium, softens at about 55° and is completely liquid a little above 60°. By the addition of mercury to Darcet’s metal the melting point may be reduced so low as 45°. These fusible metals have the peculiarity of expanding as they cool; Rose’s metal, for instance, remains pasty for a considerable range of temperature below its fusing point, contracts somewhat rapidly from 80° to 55°, expands from 55° to 35°, and contracts again from 35° to 0°. For this reason they may be used for taking casts of anatomical specimens or making clichés from wood-blocks, the expansion on cooling securing sharp impressions. By suitable modification in the proportions of the components, a series of alloys can be made which melt at various temperatures above the boiling point of water; for example, with 8 parts of bismuth, 8 of lead and 3 of tin the melting point is 123°, and with 8 of bismuth, 30 of lead and 24 of tin it is 172°. With tin and lead only in equal proportions it is 241°. Such alloys are used for making the fusible plugs inserted in the furnace-crowns of steam boilers, as a safeguard in the event of the water-level being allowed to fall too low. When this happens the plug being no longer covered with water is heated to such a temperature that it melts and allows the contents of the boiler to escape into the furnace. In automatic fire-sprinklers the orifices of the pipes are closed with fusible metal, which melts and liberates the water when, owing to an outbreak of fire in the room, the temperature rises above a predetermined limit.
FUSILIER, originally (in French about 1670, in English about 1680) the name of a soldier armed with a light flintlock musket called the fusil; now a regimental designation. Various forms of flintlock small arms had been used in warfare since the middle of the 16th century. At the time of the English civil war (1642-1652) the term “firelock” was usually employed to distinguish these weapons from the more common matchlock musket. The special value of the firelock in armies of the 17th century lay in the fact that the artillery of the time used open powder barrels for the service of the guns, making it unsafe to allow lighted matches in the muskets of the escort. Further, a military escort was required, not only for the protection, but also for the surveillance of the artillerymen of those days. Companies of “firelocks” were therefore organized for these duties, and out of these companies grew the “fusiliers” who were employed in the same way in the wars of Louis XIV. In the latter part of the Thirty Years’ War (1643) fusiliers were simply mounted troops armed with the fusil, as carabiniers were with the carbine. But the escort companies of artillery came to be known by the name shortly afterwards, and the regiment of French Royal Fusiliers, organized in 1671 by Vauban, was considered the model for Europe. The general adoption of the flintlock musket and the suppression of the pike in the armies of Europe put an end to the original special duties of fusiliers, and they were subsequently employed to a large extent in light infantry work, perhaps on account of the greater individual aptitude for detached duties naturally shown by soldiers who had never been restricted to a fixed and unchangeable place in the line of battle. The senior fusilier regiment in the British service, the (7th) Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), was formed on the French model in 1685; the 5th foot (now Northumberland Fusiliers), senior to the 7th in the army, was not at that time a fusilier regiment. The distinctive head-dress of fusiliers in the British service is a fur cap, generally resembling, but smaller than and different in details from, that of the Foot Guards.
In Germany the name “fusilier” is borne by certain infantry regiments and by one battalion in each grenadier regiment.