Formless

Without determinate form; shapele ; wanting regularity of shape. Form'le ne , n. The condition of being without determinate form. Formo'sa, (Chin. Tae - wan , or "Terrace Bay,") an island in the Chinese Sea, belonging partly to China, bet. Lat. 22° and 25° 30′ N., and Lon. 120° 30 and 122° E., abt. 80 m. from the Chinese coast, from which it is separated by the Channel of Foh-kien (sometimes called Strait of Formosa), and 170 m. N. of Luzon, the chief of the Philippine Islands; length, N. to S., abt. 250 m.; breadth, in its centre, abt. 80 m.; the area is estimated at 14,000 sq. m. Desc. A chain of mountains runs through the island in its entire length, forming, in general, the barrier between the Chinese on the W., and the independent natives of the unexplored country on the E. side. On many of its peaks snow remains during the most part of the summer; and Humboldt has supposed that a portion of it reaches an absolute elevation of 12,000 feet. It exhibits distinct evidence of former volcanic action, and sulphur, naphtha, and other volcanic products are abundant. Some parts of the coast present bold headlands; but all the W. shore is flat, and surrounded with rocks and shoals. Its harbors, which were formerly good, have now become nearly usele , owing to the encroachments of the land upon the sea. Ke-lung, at its N. extremity, is the only good port. Soil , highly fertile and productive, so much so indeed that this island has long been familiarly known as the granary of the Chinese maritime provinces. All the large plain of the 8. resembles a vast cultivated garden. Prod . Rice, sugar, camphor, tobacco, wheat, maize, millet, truffles, vegetables, and the choicest of Asiatic and European fruits; pepper, aloes, green tea, cotton, hemp, and silk are also important articles of cultivation. Zool . The Leopard, tiger, wolf, ., are found in the more impene Formo'sa, one of the Bi agos islands, W. Africa; Lat. 11° 30′ N., Lon. 16° 10 W. Formo'sa, in Mi ouri , a village of Cole co., on the Mi ouri River, abt. 10. m. below Jefferson city. Formosa, (Rio,) in Africa. See BENIN, (RIVER OF.) Formo's us, bishop of Porto, in Italy, succeeded Pope Stephen V. in 891. He condemned Photius, excom- municated the Emperor Lambert, duke of Spoleto, and nominated in his place Arnoul, king of German i a. D. 896.-The fiery Stephen VI., his succe or, had his body disinterred, in order to put him on his trial. He was restored to his grave in 898, under John IX. Vs(s-a) (s-b) (s-c) is the formula for the area of a triangle whose sides are a, b, and c, and semi-perimeter s. Every formula may be regarded as an abbreviated rule for the solution of a problem, or as an abbreviated enunciation of a theorem. (Chem.) An expre ion of the composition of a substance by means of symbols. The formula of bodies may be either empirical or rational . An empirical formula is one giving the elements contained in a body, without reference to their arrangement. For instance, the empirical formula of crystallized sulphate of copper would be CuO,SH; but the rational formula, showing its composition, would be CuO.SO35aq. Formulæ are the most convenient way of expre ing the decompositions taking place when certain substances are mixed, a few lines of symbols serving for pages of explanation. (Med.) The manner or style in which any article is prepared. A prescription is a formula. The term, however, is chiefly confined to the preparations in the Pharmacopeia. Formular is'tic, a. Pertaining to the act of putting into prescribed form.