FarthingaleFarthingale
Farthingale, orFardingale, an article of ladies' attire worn in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and closely resembling the more recent crinoline. It was formed of circles of whalebone hoops, and protruded more at the waist than the Victorian crinoline.
Farukhabad, orFarrakhabad(far-ak-ä-bäd´), a city in Agra division, United Provinces of British India, 2 or 3 miles from the Ganges, a handsome, well-built town, with avenues of trees in many of its streets. Pop. 59,647.
Fasces(fas´sēz), in Roman antiquities, a bundle of polished rods, in the middle of which was an axe, carried by lictors before the superior magistrates. The number of fasces and lictors varied with the dignity of the magistrate. In the city the axe was laid aside.
Fas´cia(Lat., a bandage), in anatomy, signifies any thin sheet of fibrous tissue, such, for example, as the covering which surrounds the muscles of the limbs and binds them in their places.
Fascination(Lat.fascinare, to charm), the exercise of an overpowering and paralysing influence upon some animals attributed to certain snakes. Squirrels, mice, and the smaller birds are said to be the most subject to this power;but the fact is far from clearly explained, and is not perhaps even sufficiently demonstrated. Most of the accounts agree in describing the animal fascinated as having a painful consciousness of its danger, and the power exercised over it, but to be unable to resist the desire to approach the fascinator. It is probable, however, that the real explanation of the phenomenon is to be found in the influence of the intense emotion of fear upon the muscles.
Fascines(fa-sēnz´), in field engineering, bundles of boughs or rods from 6 to 18 feet in length and usually 1 foot in diameter, used in raising batteries, strengthening parapets, or revetting slopes. The twigs are drawn tightly together by a cord, and bands are passed round them at the distance of 2 feet from each other. Very long thin ones are calledsaucissonsorbattery-sausages.
Fasho´da, a station in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, on the Bahr-el-Abiad or White Nile, 400 miles south of Khartoum, and about 70 miles north-east of the confluence of the Sobat with the Nile. In July, 1898, it was occupied by a French force under Colonel Marchand, but some months later was claimed by the British for Egypt. The affair threatened to involve the two countries in war, but ultimately the French evacuated the place, which was then formally occupied by Sudanese troops. It has been renamed Kodok.
Fast-and-loose, a cheating game sometimes played at fairs by gipsies, and also called 'prick the garter'. A belt or strap is doubled and rolled up with the double in the middle of the coils; it is then laid on a board, and the dupe is asked to catch the double with a skewer, when the gambler takes the two ends and looses it or draws it away, so as always to keep the skewer outside the doubled end. The game is mentioned four times in Shakespeare, e.g.Antony and Cleopatra, iv, 12, 28.
Fasti(Lat.), among the Romans, registers of various kinds; as,fasti sacri, calendars of the year, giving the days for festivals or courts, being a sort of almanac.
Fasting, the partial or total abstinence of mankind and animals from the ordinary requisite supply of aliment, by which it is to be understood that quantity which is adapted to preserve them in a healthy and vigorous condition. It would appear that various warm-blooded animals are capable of sustaining total abstinence much longer than human beings. Cats and dogs have survived for several weeks without nourishment of any kind, but it is probable that few human beings could survive such deprivation for more than a week. The use of water without solid food enables life to be sustained much longer than it could otherwise be.
Fasts, temporary abstentions from food, especially on religious grounds. Abstinence from food, accompanied by signs of humiliation and repentance or grief, is to be found more or less in almost all religions. Among the Jews fasts were numerous, and we find many instances of occasional fasting in the Old Testament. Herodotus says that the Egyptians prepared themselves by fasting for the celebration of the great festival of Isis. So in the Thesmophoria at Athens, and in the rites of Ceres at Rome, it was practised. The Church of Rome distinguishes between days of fasting and of abstinence. The former are: (1) the forty days of Lent; (2) the Ember days, being the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the first week in Lent, of Whitsun week, of the third week in September, and of the third week in Advent; (3) the Wednesdays and Thursdays of the four weeks in Advent; (4) the vigils or eves of Whitsuntide, of the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, of the Assumption of the Virgin, of All Saints, and of Christmas Day. When any fasting day falls upon Sunday, it is observed on the Saturday before. The Greek Church observes four principal fasts: that of Lent, one beginning in the week after Whitsuntide, one for a fortnight before the Assumption, one forty days before Christmas. In the East, however, the strict idea of a fast is more preserved than in the West. The Church of England appoints the following fixed days for fasting and abstinence, between which no difference is made: (1) the forty days of Lent; (2) the Ember days at the four seasons; (3) the three Rogation days before Holy Thursday; (4) every Friday except Christmas Day. The Church, however, gives no directions concerning fasting.—Bibliography: L. Duchesne,Christian Worship; J. Dowden,The Church Year and Kalendar; articleFastingin Hastings'Encyclopædia of Ethics and Religion.
Fat, an oily concrete substance, a compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, deposited in the cells of the adipose or cellular membrane of animal bodies. In most parts of the body the fat lies immediately under the skin. Fat is of various degrees of consistence, as in tallow, lard, and oil. It is generally white or yellowish, with little smell or taste. It consists of esters of glycerine with fatty and other acids, and these are generally termed glycerides. The commonest of these are stearin, a waxy solid, palmitin, a softer solid, and olein, an oil. Fats are insoluble in water. When boiled with caustic alkalies, e.g. caustic soda, they are decomposed (saponified), yielding an alkali salt of the fatty acid (soap) and glycerine. The consistency of any natural fat depends on the proportions in which these three substances are present, e.g. mutton suet consists mainly of stearin, and oliveoil of olein. In the body fat serves as a packing, and helps to give roundness of contour. Being a bad conductor of heat, it is useful in retaining warmth, but its chief function is that of nutrition.
Fa´talism, the belief in fate, or an unchangeable destiny, to which everything is subject, uninfluenced by reason, and pre-established either by chance or the Creator. Fatalism existed among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and is still prevalent among Mohammedans. The fact that many events in man's life seemed to be inevitable gave rise to the belief in fatalism. Amongst notable historical examples of the belief in fate may be mentioned the old Greek conception of a fate which stood behind the gods themselves as a controlling power; the Mohammedan fatalism, which regards all things great and small as inexorably predetermined, so that no accident is possible. Fatalism is to be distinguished both fromdeterminismandpredestination.
Fategarh(fat-e-gar´), a town, United Provinces of India, on the Ganges, now municipally united with Farukhabad; the scene of a massacre of upwards of 200 Europeans during the Mutiny of 1857. Pop. 12,500.
Fatehpur(fat-e-pör´), a town of India, in district of the same name, Allahabad division, United Provinces, 50 milesS.E.of Cawnpore. Pop. 16,939.—The district has an area of 1639 sq. miles, and a pop. of 686,400.
Fatehpur Sikri, a town of India, district of Agra, United Provinces. It was the favourite residence of the Emperor Akbar, who enclosed and fortified it. It now chiefly consists of a vast expanse of magnificent ruins enclosed by a high stone wall some 5 miles in circuit. Pop. 6132.
Fates(in Lat.Parcæ, in Gr.Moirai), in Greek and Latin mythology, the inexorable sisters who spin the thread of human life. The appellationClotho(the spinner) was probably at first common to them all among the Greeks. As they were three in number, and poetry endeavoured to designate them more precisely,Clothobecame a proper name, as did alsoAtrŏposandLachĕsis. Clotho means she who spins (the thread of life); Atropos signifies unalterable fate; Lachesis, lot or chance; so that all three refer to the same subject from different points of view. They know and predict what is yet to happen. Lachesis is represented with a spindle, Clotho with the thread, and Atropos with shears, with which she cuts it off. We find also in the northern mythology three beautiful virgins, theNornen, who determine the fate of men. Their names areUrd(the past),Varande(the present), andSkuld(the future).
Fatherlasher, orBull-head, a fish of the genus Cottus (Cottus bubălis), from 8 to 10 inches in length. The head is large, and is furnished with several formidable spines. The fish is found on the rocky coasts of Britain, and near Newfoundland and Greenland. In the latter regions it attains a much larger size, and is a considerable article of food.
Fathers of the Church, The.
1.The term 'Fathers'.—This term, as used in the sense of spiritual parents of the Christian faith and life, appears to have become current in the fourth century. It was so used by Christian teachers, who cited as authoritative the great teachers and guides who were their predecessors. By the 'Fathers' they meant, specifically, the earlier writers who carried on the work of instruction which was begun by Peter and John and the rest of the Apostles. As employed nowadays, the term has a great fluidity of meaning. In the widest sense it signifies all ecclesiastical writers (i.e. all writers within the Christian Church who treat of matters of Christian belief and practice) belonging to the older post-Apostolic period. In the narrower and more frequent sense it signifies only those ecclesiastical writers of the older post-Apostolic period who conform, more or less, to the Catholic tradition. As St. Vincent of Lérins lays it down, "Those alone should be named 'Fathers' who have been staunch in the communion and faith of the One Catholic Church, and have received ecclesiastical approbation as teachers".
2.Fathers and Doctors.—To such among the Fathers as were regarded as the most eminent the distinguishing title of 'Teachers' (doctores) was given. Thus in the Western Church Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory I were the four great Teachers or Doctors; while in the Eastern Church a similar position was assigned to Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Chrysostom. But others also have been acknowledged as Doctors, as Hilary of Poitiers, Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascus, and our one English Father (born out of due season) the Venerable Bede—not to speak of the application of the term to some of the mediæval Schoolmen.
3.The Patristic Period.—While it is universally agreed that the Apostolic Age is succeeded by the Age of the Fathers, there is a difference of view as to when the Age of the Fathers terminates. Gregory I (the Great) is usually regarded as the last of the Latin or Western Fathers and the first of the Schoolmen, and John of Damascus as the last of the Greek or Eastern Fathers. But where the term 'Fathers' is broadly used to designate the older Church writers in general, the tendency is—and it is logically defensible—to extend the Patristic period far beyond the Age of the Great Fathers (325-451), and to include among the later Fathersmany mediæval writers. Thus the Abbé Migne, who in the middle of last century issued a monumental edition of the original Greek and Latin texts of the Fathers, carried the Latin Fathers as far as Innocent III in the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the Greek Fathers down to the Council of Florence and the fall of Constantinople in the middle of the fifteenth century.
4.Division and Classification.—The broadest division of the Fathers is according to locality, and is into Eastern and Western. To this the division according to language, into Greek and Latin, largely corresponds. But it is to be remembered that in the early Patristic Age, or before Tertullian, Latin was not used by ecclesiastical writers. It is also to be remembered that among the Eastern Fathers there were writers in Syriac, Armenian, and Coptic, as well as Greek. Another broad and general division is into ante-Nicene, Nicene, and post-Nicene; which is according to the principle that the Council of Nicæa (A.D.325) marks the transition from a simple and unsystematized to a unified doctrinal testimony. But it is usual in Church history, while observing the aforesaid general divisions, to arrange the Fathers in certain historical groups, representing for the most part distinct schools of thought. There are, however, great names that cannot be conveniently treated under any historical group, such names as Irenæus, Athanasius, Jerome, Leo the Great, and Gregory the Great. Keeping this in view, we might classify the Fathers in accordance with the following scheme: (1) theApostolic Fathers(the best known of whom are Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp), who received their title not only as being younger contemporaries and perhaps personal disciples of Apostles, but also for their nearness and faithfulness to the Apostolic tradition; (2) theGreek Apologists(the most notable of whom is Justin Martyr), who sought to defend Christian truth on rational and philosophical grounds against both Jew and pagan; (3) theAlexandrians(outstanding among whom are Clement and Origen), who greatly furthered the development of Christian theology in general, but whose names are specially associated with the allegorical and mystical type of Scriptural interpretation; (4) theNorth African School(to which Tertullian and Cyprian belong), who shaped Christian Latinity, as well as the theology and ecclesiastical polity of the West; (5) theCappadocians(in which group the most prominent members are Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa), who caught up the theology of Athanasius, providing it with well-defined terms, and so laying broad the foundations of the Greek orthodoxy; (6) theAntiochians(among whom Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Theodoret are the greatest), who were opposed to the Alexandrian mysticism and held by the literal and historical mode of Scriptural interpretation; (7) theWestern Nicene Group(counting in their number eminent teachers like Hilary of Poitiers and Ambrose), who followed the Alexandrians in their exegetical method, and in their dogmatic theology Athanasius and the Cappadocians; (8) theSchool of Augustine, in which the Western theological tradition set by Tertullian and Cyprian culminated; (9) theSchool of Lérins(leading members of which are Hilary of Arles and Vincentius), which attempted to mitigate the extreme Augustinian doctrines of sin and grace.
5.Value of Patristic Study.—Among the Fathers are many great thinkers and writers (not to say orators, organizers, and statesmen) who should be studied for their own sake, and for the influence they have wielded. We would only indicate here some of the various uses of patristic study. (1) Thestudent of the Bibleturns to the Fathers, and especially the earlier of them, for light upon the problem of the true or original text of the Bible—although very few of the Fathers knew the Hebrew tongue, and only Origen and Jerome can throw direct light upon the Old Testament text. To the Fathers also, especially great exegetes like Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine, the Biblical student turns for light upon the meaning of the sacred text, and for knowledge of the history of its interpretation. (2) Thestudent of Church historyfinds first-hand material in the Fathers for the older post-Apostolic period. This material is supplied in the tractates and letters of the Fathers generally. But patristic writers from Eusebius downwards furnish us also with formal histories of the Church of both a general and special character. Patristic histories, as indeed all histories, are to be used with critical caution. And not only do the Fathers inform us as to the course of events; we are dependent upon them for our knowledge of the development of creed and liturgy, ritual and order, and other Christian institutions. (3) Thestudent of ecclesiastical dogma and Christian theology in generalcannot dispense with the study of the Fathers. The patristic was the formative and, in a sense, conclusive period of Christian theology. In the ancient Greek theology the idea of God was developed, and in the so-called Nicene Creed and the Chalcedonian Definition the doctrines of the Trinity and the Person of Christ respectively received their final Greek dogmatic expression. Landmarks in the history of this dogmatic development are the names of Origen, Athanasius, Basil and the Gregories, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Leo the Great. In the ancient Latin theology, in accordance with the more practical genius of the Westerns, the doctrineof man was developed, and of sin and grace. With this anthropological or soteriological, as distinguished from the other more strictly theological movement, the names of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine are principally associated. It was left to the mediaeval theologians to work out the doctrine of the Work of Christ.—Bibliography: F. W. Farrar,Lives of the Fathers; E. Leigh-Bennett,Handbook of the Early Christian Fathers; S.P.C.K.,The Fathers for English Readers(a series of biographies); alsoEarly Church Classics(a series of translations); H. B. Swete,Patristic Study(1902: an excellent introduction to the field of patristic learning, with useful bibliographies); W. Bright,The Age of the Fathers.
Fat´imite Dynasty, a line of caliphs claiming descent from Fatima, the favourite daughter of Mohammed, and of Ali her cousin, to whom she was married. In the year 909 Abu-Mohammed Obeidalla, giving himself out as the grandson of Fatima, endeavoured to pass himself off as the Mahdi or Messiah predicted by theKoran. Denounced as an impostor by the reigning Caliph of Bagdad, he fled into Egypt, became Caliph of Tunis, and soon conquered all Northern Africa from the Straits of Gibraltar to the borders of Egypt. His son wrested Egypt from the Abbasides in 970 and founded Cairo. The Fatimite dynasty was extinguished in 1171, on the death of Al Adid, the fourteenth caliph, and a new line began with Saladin.
Fatty Acids, the homologues of formic and acetic acid; so called because the members first studied were obtained from fats and oils, e.g. butyric acid from butter, stearic acid from stearin, palmitic acid from palm-oil. These acids are present united with glycerol in the fats as glycerides, and are obtained from them by saponification with superheated steam or mineral acids, when the fatty acid is liberated, floats to the surface, and glycerol remains in solution. They are all monobasic acids; the lower members are colourless liquids, and the higher members from C7H15COOH upwards are colourless solids. The general formula for the series is CnH2n+ 1COOH (wheren= the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group).
Fatty Degeneration, an abnormal condition found in the tissues of the animal body, in which the healthy protoplasm is replaced by fatty granules. It is a sign of defective nutrition, and is common in old age, affecting the muscles, the heart, arteries, kidneys, &c. It is accompanied by great muscular flabbiness and want of energy, the sufferer looking at the same time fat and comparatively well.
Fatty Tissue, in anatomy, the adipose tissue, a tissue composed of minute cells or vesicles, having no communication with each other, but lying side by side in the meshes of the cellular tissue, which serves to hold them together, and through which also the blood-vessels find their way to them. In the cells of this tissue the animal matter called fat is deposited.
Faubourg(fō-bör; Lat.foris, outside, beyond, andburgus, borough), a suburb of French cities; the name is also given to districts now within the city, but which were formerly suburbs without it. Thus theFaubourg St. Germainis a fashionable quarter of Paris in which the ancient nobility still resides.
Fau´ces(Lat., 'jaws'), in anatomy, the throat, the slightly constricted communication between the posterior part of the mouth cavity and the pharynx. The tonsils are lodged in the fauces at the sides of the root of the tongue.
Faucigny(fō-sē-nyē), a district of France, department of Haute Savoie, one of the loftiest districts of Europe, being partly traversed by the Pennine Alps.
Fau´cit, Helena, Lady Martin, was born in 1816, died in 1898. She was the daughter of Mrs. Faucit the actress, and made her debut at the Theatre Royal, Richmond, in 1833, as Juliet inRomeo and Juliet. She first appeared in London at Covent Garden as Julia inThe Hunchback, in which she gained a decided success. One of the most important members of Macready's company during the Shakespearean revivals of 1837, she created the heroine's part in Lord Lytton'sLady of Lyons,Money, andRichelieu, and in Browning'sStrafford,Blot on the Scutcheon, andColombe's Birthday. She was married to Sir Theodore (then Mr.) Martin in 1851, after which she but rarely appeared on the stage except for charitable purposes. In 1879 she appeared as Beatrice at the opening of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon. Lady Martin wrote a volumeOn Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters.
FaultFault in Geology
Fault, in geology, a fracture of strata, accompanied by a sliding down or an upheaval of the deposits on the one side of the fracture to a greater distance than the other. Faults are frequently recognizable in coal-beds, the miner coming unexpectedly upon an abrupt wall cutting off the seam. The angle this makes with the plane of the bed he is working usually indicateswhether he must look up or down for its continuation on the other side of the fracture; butreversed faultsoccur, in which the strata on one side have been pushed up the slope of the plane of fracture. In mines these faults often serve for natural drains. The cut shows ata athe change of position in strata caused by a fault. This is called thethrow, and is measured vertically.
Faun, one of a kind of rural deities or demi-gods believed in among the Romans, inhabiting the forests and groves, and differing little from satyrs. Their form was principally human, but with a short goat's tail, pointed ears, and projecting horns; sometimes also with cloven feet. There are some famous antique statues of fauns,The Dancing Faunat the Uffizi in Florence (restored by Michel Angelo);The Dancing Faunat Naples;The Faun(of Praxiteles?) at the Capitoline Museum, Rome; andThe Sleeping Faun.
Fauna(fromfaun, q.v.), a collective word signifying all the animals of a certain region, and also the description of them, corresponding to the wordflorain respect to plants.
Faust, orFaustus, Doctor John, a celebrated dealer in the black art, who lived in Germany, early in the sixteenth century. There is really a substratum of fact beneath the Faust legend; there actually was a charlatan of this name who lived in the sixteenth century. He seems to have been a pretentious and vicious egomaniac. A vast amount of legend, however, has gathered round his name in Germany. According to some accounts he was born in Suabia, others make him a native of Anhalt, others of Brandenburg. In his sixteenth year he went to Ingolstadt and studied theology, became in three years amagister, but abandoned theology, and began the study of medicine, astrology, and magic, in which he likewise instructed his familiar Johann Wagner, the son of a clergyman at Wasserburg. After Dr. Faust had spent a rich inheritance, he, according to tradition, made use of his power to conjure up spirits, and entered into a contract with the devil for twenty-four years. A spirit calledMephistopheleswas given him as a servant, with whom he travelled about, enjoying life in all its forms, but the evil spirit finally carried him off. Even yet Dr. Faustus and his familiar Wagner play a conspicuous part in the puppet-shows of Germany, and the legend forms the basis of Goethe's well-known dramaFaust, and furnishes the libretto for Gounod's famous opera of the same name. As early as 1590 Christopher Marlowe made the legend the subject of his masterpieceDoctor Faustus, the last scene of which is one of the most dramatic in all literature.—Cf. H. B. Cotterill,The Faust-legend and Goethe's Faust.
Fausti´na, the name of two Roman ladies: (1) Annia Galeria Faustina (diedA.D.141), the wife of the Emperor Antoninus Pius; and (2) her daughter, who was married to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (diedA.D.175). Both were accused of dissolute conduct.
Favart(fa˙-vär), Charles Simon, creator of the serio-comic opera in France, born 1710, died in 1792, the son of a pastry-cook. His poetical reputation rests principally on his numerous productions for theopéra aux Italiens, and the comic opera. He also wroteMémoires et correspondance littéraires(1808). He was the director of a company of itinerant actors which followed Marshal Saxe into Flanders. His wife, Madame Favart, was a famous singer, comic actress, and dancer, and helped in the composition of her husband's plays.
Fa´versham, a seaport of England, county Kent, on a branch of the Swale, giving name to a parliamentary division of the county. It is a very ancient place, and has manufactures of brick, cement, and gunpowder. Faversham Creek is navigable up to the town for vessels of 200 tons. Pop. 10,870.
Favre(fävr), Jules, a French politician, born 21st March, 1809, at Lyons, died in 1880. He studied law, and after distinguishing himself at the Lyons Bar came to Paris in 1835, where he became famous as a defender of political prisoners. On the outbreak of the revolution of 1848 he became secretary to Ledru-Rollin. He was a leader of the party of opposition to the President Louis Napoleon; and after thecoup d'état(1851) he retired from political life for six years, till in 1858 his defence of Orsini for the attempt on the life of the emperor again brought him forward. From this time he again became an active leader of the Republican opposition to the emperor. On the fall of the empire he became Vice-President of the Government of National Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs. As such he conducted the negotiations for peace with Prince Bismarck, and signed the Treaty of Paris at Frankfurt on 10th May, 1871. But though he showed great energy, and was very eloquent, his operations both in the matter of the armistice and the peace showed a lack of skill and judgment. He resigned his office in July, 1871.
Favusis a disease due to a fungus, and affects the hair, hair-follicles, and skin, usually of the scalp. It produces rounded cup-shaped crusts, and may lead to very extensive destruction of the hair. Cats and mice are affected by the disease, and are frequently responsible for spreading it. The X-rays are the most effective treatment.
Faw´cett, Henry, an English politician and economist, born at Salisbury in 1833, died 6thNov., 1884. He was educated at Cambridge, studied law for a while at the Middle Temple, but soon renounced it. In 1858, when out partridge shooting, he met with an accident which inflicted on him total blindness. Undiscouraged, however, by his deprivation, he gave his attention to economic studies. In 1863 he was elected to the chair of political economy at Cambridge. In 1865 he was elected member of Parliament for Brighton, which he represented till the general election of 1874, when he was elected for Hackney. He became Postmaster-General in the second Gladstone administration, and effected many reforms in his department. In 1883 he was made Lord Rector of Glasgow University. Amongst his principal writings are:A Manual of Political Economy,Lectures on the Economic Position of the British Labourer, and articles on Indian finances.
Fawcett, Millicent Garrett, wife of the preceding, born 1847, shared her husband's studies, and published:Political Economy for Beginners,Some Eminent Women of Our Time,Life of Queen Victoria, andFive Famous French Women. She is also known as a prominent advocate of all measures for the educational and political advancement of women, and wroteWomen's Suffrage(1912).
Fayal(fī-a˙l´), an island belonging to Portugal, one of the Azores. It is of a circular form, about 10 miles in diameter. The climate is good, and the air always mild and pure. The soil is very fertile, producing in abundance wheat, maize, flax, and almost all the fruits of Europe. It exports a great quantity of oranges and lemons. The chief place is Villa Horta or Orta. Pop. 22,385.
Fayoum(fa˙-yöm´), a province of Middle Egypt, a little to the west of the Nile, surrounded by the Libyan Desert; area about 670 sq. miles. The soil is alluvial, and, in the north, particularly fertile. Fayoum is irrigated by canals coming from the Canal of Joseph, and that from the Nile, and is one of the most fertile provinces of Egypt. Here lay the ancient Labyrinth and the artificial Lake Moeris. On the west lies Lake Birket-el-Kurun. The chief town, Medinet-el-Fayoum, is connected with Cairo by a railway. Pop. of province, 441,583.
Feast of the Dedication of the Temple, a Jewish feast instituted by Judas Maccabæus in 164B.C.It lasted eight days, and was a time of general rejoicing, when the people—old and young—carrying palm branches, met together in their synagogues to hold services of thanksgiving and commemoration. Every house was illuminated, and even the temple at Jerusalem was lighted up. In certain of its observances it resembles the Feast of the Tabernacles. Some authorities think that Christmas was celebrated in December by the ancient Church because that was the date of the Feast of Dedication. It is mentioned inJohn, x, 22.
Feather-grass, the popular name ofStipa pennata, a native of dry places in the south of Europe. The rigid leaves roll up in dry air like those of marram-grass; the awns are exceedingly long, feathered to the point, and hygroscopic, curling up spirally when dry, and uncurling when moistened; these movements of the awn serve to bury the fruit.S. tenacissimais the esparto-grass used in paper-making.
FeathersTypes of Feathers from a Gull
Feather from the Back of an Argus PheasantFeather from the Back of an Argus Pheasant
Feathers, the form which the dermal appendages assume in birds, agreeing in mode of development, but differing in form from hairs and scales. The feather consists of a stem, horny, round, strong, and hollow in the lower part, called thequill, and in the upper part, called theshaft, filled with pith. On each side of the shaft is a web composed of a series of regularly arranged fibres calledbarbs. The barbs and shaft constitute thevane. On the edges of the barbs are set thebarbules, which interlock with those of adjacent barbs, and thus give strength to the vane. Feathers are of four chief kinds. (1)Quill feathersof the wing (remiges) and tail (rectrices); the former are attached to the hand and forearm. (2)Contour feathers, which determine the external form and are attached to certain areas of the skin; those overlapping the quills are known aswing-covertsandtail-coverts. (3) Small softdown feathers. (4)Hair-like feathers(filoplumes). The plumage of birds is of characteristic colours, due either to pigments or physical structure (metallic feathers), and commonly having a protective function by harmonizing with the surroundings (especially in females), or, when of bright kind, playing a part in courtship (especially in males). Thefeathers of birds are periodically changed, generally once, but in some species twice a year. This is calledmoulting. When feathers have reached their full growth they become dry, and only the tube, or the vascular substance which it contains, continues to absorb moisture or fat. When, therefore, part of a feather is cut off, it does not grow out again; and a bird whose wings have been clipped remains in that condition till the next moulting season, when the old stumps are shed and new feathers grow out. If, however, the stumps are pulled out sooner (by which operation the bird suffers nothing), the feathers will be renewed in a few weeks or even days. The feather is a very strong formation, not readily damaged, the arch of the shaft resisting pressure, while the web and fine fibres yield without suffering. Being a bad conductor of heat, it preserves the high temperature of the bird, while it is so light as to be easily carried in flight. It is rendered almost impervious to wet by the oily fluid which most birds secrete at the base of the tail. Feathers form a considerable article of commerce, particularly those of the ostrich, heron, swan, peacock, and goose, for plumes, ornaments, filling of beds, pens, and other purposes.
Feather-starFeather-star holding on by its grasping threads and its larvæ attached by stalks
Feather-star, one of the stalkless echinoderms belonging to the Crinoidea. A well-known type is the rosy feather-star (Antedon rosacea), not uncommon in British seas, and consisting of a central body or disc, from which proceed five radiating arms, each dividing into two secondary branches, so that ultimately there are ten slender rays. Each arm is furnished on both sides with lateral processes so as to assume a feather-like appearance. It is fixed when young by a short stalk, but exists in a free condition in its adult state.
Featherstone, an urban district or town in the W. Riding of Yorks, England, 2 miles west by south of Pontefract; inhabitants work chiefly in the collieries. Pop. 14,839.
Feb´rifugeis an agent used to lessen fever. Antipyrine, quinine, and salicylic acid, are well-known examples of drugs used as febrifuges, while cold baths and cold sponging are the most effective of other methods.
Febro´nianism, in Roman Catholic theology, a system of doctrines antagonistic to the admitted claims of the Pope, and asserting the independence of national Churches, and the rights of bishops to unrestricted action in matters of discipline and Church government within their own dioceses. The term is derived from JustinusFebronius,a nom de plumeassumed by John Nicholas von Hontheim, Archbishop of Trèves, in a work entitledDe Statu Ecclesiæ et legitima Potestate Romani Pontificis(On the State of the Church and the Legitimate Power of the Roman Pontiff), published in 1763.
Feb´ruary(from the RomanFebrua, a festival of expiation or purification), the second month in the year, having twenty-eight days, except in leap-year, when it has twenty-nine. This latter number of days it had originally among the Romans, until the Senate decreed that the seventh month should bear the name of Augustus, when a day was taken from February and added to August to make it equal to July in number of days.
Fécamp(fā-käṅ; Lat.Fiscanum, derived fromFicus Campus, Fig Plain), a seaport of France, department of Seine-Inférieure, 23 miles north-east of Havre. It is one of the best ports in the Channel, and has many vessels employed in the cod, herring, and mackerel fisheries. Pop. 17,383.
Fechter(fesh-tār), Charles Albert, French actor and dramatist, born in 1824, died in America in 1879. His first appearance on the stage was at the Salle Molière, after which he made a short tour of Italy with a travelling French company. Returning to Paris, he appeared between 1844 and 1856 at different Parisian theatres, and in 1857 he was joint-director of the Odéon. In 1860 he came to London, and at once achieved great success as Ruy Blas and Hamlet at the Princess's Theatre, characters in which he departed widely from stage traditions. He subsequently leased the Lyceum, and afterwards the Adelphi, acting youthful and melodramatic parts with striking power. From 1870 to 1878 he lived in the United States, but his experiences as a manager in New York were not successful.
Fed´eral, orFederalist, an appellation in America given to those politicians who wanted to strengthen the central government, in opposition to those who wished to extend the separate authority of each individual state. Hence in the Civil Wars of 1861-5 the termFederalswas applied to the Northern party.
Federal Government, government by the confederation of several united states, self-governing in local matters, but subject in matters of general polity to a central authority, as, for instance, the Swiss Republic, the United States of North America, Mexico, Argentine, Brazil, The Union of South Africa, and Russia since the revolution of 1917. The degree to which such states give up their individual rights as sovereign bodies may be very different.—Bibliography: Viscount Bryce,The American Commonwealth; Burgess,Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law; Freeman,History of Federal Government.
Fee, orFief(A.S.feoh, cattle, property), in law, primarily meant a loan of land, an estate held in trust on condition of the grantee giving personal or other service to the prince or lord who granted it. Feudal estates, however, soon came to be regarded as inalienable heritages held on various tenures; hence the term fee came to be equivalent to an estate of inheritance, that is, an interest in land which passes to heirs if the owner die intestate. The amplest estate or interest in land is that of afee-simple, which is also called an absolute fee, in contradistinction to a fee limited or clogged with certain conditions. A fee-simple means the entire and absolute possession of land, with full power to alienate it by deed, gift, or will. It is the estate out of which other lesser estates are said to be carved; such as afee-tail(seeEntail), which is limited to particular heirs, and subject to certain restrictions of use; and abase fee, which ceases with the existence of certain conditions.
Fee-farm, in law, a kind of tenure of land without homage, fealty, or other service, except that mentioned in the feoffment, which is usually the full rent.
Feelingis properly a synonym for sensation, or that state of consciousness which results from the application of a stimulus to some sensory nerve. It is the most universal of the senses, existing wherever there are nerves; and they are distributed over all parts of the body, though most numerous in such parts as the finger-tips and the lines where skin and mucous membrane pass into each other. This universal distribution of feeling is necessary, otherwise parts of the body might be destroyed without our knowledge. The structures which thus apprehend the impressions of contact are papillæ or conical elevations of the skin in which the nerves end, and which are richly supplied with blood-vessels. The term feeling is also used for a general sense of comfort or discomfort which cannot be localized, and it designates states of consciousness which are either agreeable or disagreeable. In a figurative sense the term is also applied to a mental emotion, or even to a moral conception; thus we may speak of a friendly feeling, a feeling of freedom. SeeEmotion.—Bibliography: A. Bain,The Emotions and the Will; T. Ribot,Psychology of the Emotions.
Fegatella, a genus of Liverworts, family Marchantiales.F. conicais common on moist banks.
Feijoa, a genus of Myrtaceæ, natives of Brazil. The flowers are pollinated by birds, which feed on the juicy petals, a very unusual method.
Feisul, orFeisal, Emir, King of Irak (Mesopotamia), born in 1887, the third surviving son of Hussein, King of Hejaz. Educated at Constantinople, Feisul held several posts under the Turkish Government, but took an active part in the revolutionary movement which resulted in the deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid. He then returned to Arabia, where he commanded the Arabs against Ibn Saud, the head of a new religious sect, who threatened his father's emirate. During the European War Hussein sided with the Allies, and Feisul organized and commanded a regular Arab army, which formed Lord Allenby's right wing, and took part in the latter's operations in Palestine. As a reward for his services an independent, or semi-independent, state was established at Damascus under Feisul, and the prince was proclaimed King of Syria in March, 1920. Serious friction, however, arosebetween the French authorities and the Arabs, and hostilities broke out in July. The French, under General Gouraud, occupied Damascus, compelled the Arabs to recognize the French mandate for Syria, and deposed the new King of Syria. In August, 1921, Feisul became the first Arab king of the new state of Irak (Mesopotamia), set up by the British Government. He was crowned with great splendour at Bagdad on the 23rd of Aug., in the presence of a great gathering of his people and the representatives of the British Government. A personal message from King George V was handed to Feisul, and the British High Commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, formally announced the recognition by Great Britain of the new ruler of Irak.
Felaniche(fel-a˙-nē´chā), a town in the Island of Majorca, a very ancient place with Moorish remains. Pop. (commune), 11,400.
Felegyhaza(fā´led-yä-za˙), a town of Hungary, 66 milesS.E.of Budapest, with large cattle-markets and an extensive trade in corn, wine, and fruit. Pop. 34,924.
Felicu´di, one of the Lipari Isles, off the north coast of Sicily, 10 miles west of Salina. It is about 9 miles in circuit. The soil is both fertile and well cultivated. Pop. 800.
Teeth of FelidæTeeth of FelidæSkull and Teeth of the Tiger.a, Canines or tearing teeth.b, Incisors or cutting teeth.c, True molars or grinding teeth.d, Carnassial or sectorial teeth.
Skull and Teeth of the Tiger.a, Canines or tearing teeth.b, Incisors or cutting teeth.c, True molars or grinding teeth.d, Carnassial or sectorial teeth.
Fe´lidæ, animals of the cat kind, a family of Carnivora in which the predaceous instincts reach their highest development. They are among the quadrupeds what the Falconidæ are among the birds. The teeth and claws are the principal instruments of the destructive energy in these animals. The incisor teeth are equal; the third tooth behind the large canine in either jaw is narrow and sharp, and these, the carnassial or sectorial teeth, work against each other like scissors in cutting flesh; the claws are sheathed and retractile. They all approach their prey stealthily, seize it with a spring, and devour it fresh. The species are numerous in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, but none are found in Australia. The family comprehends the lion, tiger, leopard, lynx, jaguar, panther, cheetah, ounce, serval, ocelot, and cat.
Felix, Antonius or Claudius, procurator of Judæa and freedman of the Emperor Claudius, is described by Tacitus as unscrupulous and profligate both in his public and private conduct. It was before this Felix that Paul's discourse (Acts, xxiv, 25) was spoken. He was recalledA.D.62, and narrowly escaped condemnation at Rome, on charges which the Jews had lodged against him.
Felix, Marcus Minucius, a distinguished Roman lawyer, who embraced Christianity, and wrote a defence of it in a dialogue entitledOctavius. The period when he flourished is uncertain; but Jerome is probably right in placing him aboutA.D.230.
Felixstowe, a watering-place in England, on the Suffolk coast, 11 miles south-east of Ipswich, between the mouths of the Orwell and Deben. The steamers which ply between Ipswich and Harwich on the Orwell call at Felixstowe Pier, which is opposite Harwich. Pop. (urban district), 11,655.
Fellah(pl.fellahin), an Arabian word meaning 'peasant', and used for the labouring class in Egypt. The fellahs orfellahinconstitute about three-fourths of the population of Egypt, and are mostly the direct descendants of the old Egyptians, although both their language and religion are now that of their Arabian conquerors. They live in rude huts by the banks of the Nile, and in past times have suffered much from over-taxation and oppressive rule at the hands of a succession of tyrants, and especially of the Turks before the British occupation of Egypt.
Fella´tah,Fulbe, orFulahs, a remarkable African race of the negro type, the original locality of which is unknown, but which is now widely diffused throughout the Sudan, where they are the predominant people in the states of Futa-Toro, Futa-Jalon, Bondu, and Sokoto. Though of the negro family, they have neither the deep jet colour, the crisped hair, flat nose, nor thick lips of the negro. In person they are decidedly handsome, and mostly of a light copper colour. They are shrewd, intelligent, and brave, and are mostly Mohammedans. Their influence is continually spreading.
Fel´lenberg, Philip Emanuel von, Swiss educationalist, born in 1771, died in 1844. Having devoted himself to the social and intellectual improvement of the peasantry, he purchased the estate of Hofwyl, and established successively an institution for instructing the children of the poorer classes, a seminary for children in the higher grades of life, and a normal school. The pupils were all trained to work in the fields or at the bench, and the product of their labour was sufficient to cover the expenses of their education. Fellenberg's scheme was ultimately so successful as to attract the attention even of foreign Governments. The institutions established by him still exist in a modified form.
Felling, a populous locality in Durham, a little to the south-east of Newcastle, andadjoining Gateshead, consisting of the combined villages of High and Low Felling, and forming an urban district. It contains chemical and other industrial works. Pop. 26,152.
Fel´lows, Sir Charles, traveller and antiquarian, was born in 1799 at Nottingham, died in 1860. He first explored the valley of the Xanthus in Lycia, in 1838, and discovered the remains of the cities Xanthus and Teos. Under the auspices of the trustees of the British Museum he made further explorations in 1839 and 1841, and succeeded in obtaining the marbles now in the Lycian saloon of the museum. He was knighted by the queen in 1845. His principal works are:The Xanthian Marbles: their Acquisition and Transmission to England;Travels and Researches in Asia Minor; andCoins of Ancient Lycia before the Reign of Alexander.
Fellowship, a distinction conferred by some universities, especially those of Oxford and Cambridge, which entitles the holder, called a fellow, to an annual stipend for a certain period. Fellowships in the English colleges commonly range in value from about £150 to £250 or £300 a year, and they all confer upon their holders the right to apartments in the college, and certain privileges as to commons or meals. Formerly they were usually tenable for life or till the attainment of a certain position in the Church or at the Bar, or till marriage; but six or seven years is now a common period during which they may be held, though this may be prolonged in certain circumstances. At Dublin University senior fellows hold their office for life.
Felo de se(Lat., 'a felon in regard to himself'), in law, a person who, being of sound mind and of the age of discretion, deliberately causes his own death. Formerly, in England, the goods of such a person were forfeited to the Crown, and his body interred in an ignominious manner; that is, unless the coroner's jury gave a verdict of unsound mind; but these penalties have been abolished.
Fel´ony, in law, includes generally all crimes below treason and of greater gravity than misdemeanours. Formerly it was applied to those crimes which entailed forfeiture of lands or goods as part of the punishment.
Felsite, orFelstone, a hard, compact igneous rock of somewhat flinty appearance, composed usually of quartz and orthoclase felspar intimately mixed, but sometimes of less highly siliceous minerals.
Fel´spar, orFeldspar, a very important group of mineral silicates of aluminium, with potassium, sodium, or calcium, ranging from orthoclase, the potassium species, with 64.7 per cent of silica, to anorthite, the calcium species, with only 43.3. Albite, the sodium felspar, has 68.8 per cent of silica, and the species between this and anorthite are regarded as mixtures of albite and anorthite molecules. These molecules probably do not exist as such within the crystals; but the various characters of the species graduate into one another in agreement with the chemical constitution, so that the felspars form an admirable example of the relation of chemical composition, specific gravity, and crystalline and optical features. At the same time orthoclase and microcline are both potassium felspars; yet the former crystallizes in the monoclinic, and the latter in the triclinic system. All the sodium, sodium-calcium, and calcium species are triclinic, except the rare monoclinic sodium felspar barbierite. The forms throughout the felspar series are closely similar, and the hardness is uniform, being just below that of quartz, and about that of a steel file. Felspar is one of the principal constituents of almost all igneous rocks, such as granite, diorite, and basalt. The alkali species yield kaolin by alteration, and are thus the source of china-clay.
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