[1] Walpole's _George III._, iv. 348.
[2] W.E.H. Lecky, _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_ (enlarged
edition, 2 vols., 1903), i. 48.
[3] See Hardy's _Life of Charlemont_, i. 356.
FLOOD (in O. Eng. _flod_, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger.
_Flut_, Dutch _vloed_, from the same root as is seen in "flow,"
"float"), an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a
deluge, hence "the flood," specifically, the Noachian deluge of Genesis,
but also any other catastrophic submersion recorded in the mythology of
other nations than the Hebrew (see DELUGE, THE). In the sense of
"flowing water," the word is applied to the inflow of the tide, as
opposed to "ebb."
FLOOD PLAIN, the term in physical geography for a plain formed of
sediment dropped by a river. When the slope down which a river runs has
become very slight, it is unable to carry the sediment brought from
higher regions nearer its source, and consequently the lower portion of
the river valley becomes filled with alluvial deposits; and since in
times of flood the rush of water in the high regions tears off and
carries down a greater quantity of sediment than usual, the river
spreads this also over the lower valley where the plain is flooded,
because the rush of water is checked, and the stream in consequence
drops its extra load. These flood plains are sometimes of great extent.
That of the Mississippi below Ohio has a width of from 20 to 80 m., and
its whole extent has been estimated at 50,000 sq. m. Flood plains may be
the result of planation, with aggradation, that is, they may be due to a
graded river working in meanders from side to side, widening its valley
by this process and covering the widened valley with sediment. Or the
stream by cutting into another stream (piracy), by cutting through a
barrier near its head waters, by entering a region of looser or softer
rock, and by glacial drainage, may form a flood plain simply by filling
up its valley (alluviation only). Any obstruction across a river's
course, such as a band of hard rock, may form a flood plain behind it,
and indeed anything which checks a river's course and causes it to drop
its load will tend to form a flood plain; but it is most commonly found
near the mouth of a large river, such as the Rhine, the Nile, or the
Mississippi, where there are occasional floods and the river usually
carries a large amount of sediment. "Levees" are formed, inside which
the river usually flows, gradually raising its bed above the surrounding
plain. Occasional breaches during floods cause the overloaded stream to
spread in a great lake over the surrounding country, where the silt
covers the ground in consequence. Sections of the Missouri flood plain
made by the United States geological survey show a great variety of
material of varying coarseness, the stream bed being scoured at one
place, and filled at another by currents and floods of varying
swiftness, so that sometimes the deposits are of coarse gravel,
sometimes of fine sand, or of fine silt, and it is probable that any
section of such an alluvial plain would show deposits of a similar
character. The flood plain during its formation is marked by meandering,
or anastomosing streams, ox-bow lakes and bayous, marshes or stagnant
pools, and is occasionally completely covered with water. When the
drainage system has ceased to act or is entirely diverted owing to any
cause, the flood plain may become a level area of great fertility,
similar in appearance to the floor of an old lake. The flood plain
differs, however, inasmuch as it is not altogether flat. It has a gentle
slope down-stream, and often for a distance from the sides towards the
centre.
FLOOR (from O. Eng. _flor_, a word common to many Teutonic languages,
cf. Dutch _vloer_, and Ger. _Flur_, a field, in the feminine, and a
floor, masculine), generally the lower horizontal surface of a room, but
specially employed for one covered with boarding or parquetry. The
various levels of rooms in a house are designated as "ground-floor,"
"first-floor," "mezzanine-floor," &c. The principal floor is the storey
which contains the chief apartments whether on the ground- or
first-floor; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the
"piano nobile." The storey below the ground-floor is called the
"basement-floor," even if only a little below the level of the pavement
outside; the storey in a roof is known as the "attic-floor." The
expressions one pair, two pair, &c., apply to the storeys above the
first flight of stairs from the ground (see also CARPENTRY).
FLOORCLOTH, a rough flannel cloth used for domestic cleaning; also a
generic term applied to a variety of materials used in place of carpets
for covering floors, and known by such trade names as kamptulicon,
oil-cloth, linoleum, corticine, cork-carpet, &c. Kamptulicon ([Greek:
kamptos], flexible, [Greek: oulos], thick) was patented in 1844 by E.
Galloway, but did not attract much attention till about 1862. It was
essentially a preparation of india-rubber masticated up with ground
cork, and rolled out into sheets between heavy steam-heated rollers,
sometimes over a backing of canvas. Owing to its expensiveness, it has
given place to cheaper materials serving the same purpose. Oil-cloth is
a coarse canvas which has received a number of coats of thick oil paint,
each coat being rubbed smooth with pumice stone before the application
of the next. Its surface is ornamented with patterns printed in oil
colours by means of wooden blocks. Linoleum (_linum_, flax, _oleum_,
oil), patented by F. Walton in 1860 and 1863, consists of oxidized
linseed oil and ground cork. These ingredients, thoroughly incorporated
with the addition of certain gummy and resinous matters, and of pigments
such as ochre and oxide of iron as required, are pressed on to a rough
canvas backing between steam-heated rollers. Patterns may be printed on
its surface with oil paint, or by an improved method may be inlaid with
coloured composition so that the colours are continuous through the
thickness of the linoleum, instead of being on the surface only, and
thus do not disappear with wear. Lincrusta-Walton is a similar material
to linoleum, also having oxidized linseed oil as its base, which is
stamped out in embossed patterns and used as a covering for walls.
FLOQUET, CHARLES THOMAS (1828-1896), French statesman, was born at St
Jean-Pied-de-Port (Basses-Pyrenees) on the 2nd of October 1828. He
studied law in Paris, and was called to the bar in 1851. The _coup
d'etat_ of that year aroused the strenuous opposition of Floquet, who
had, while yet a student, given proof of his republican sympathies by
taking part in the fighting of 1848. He made his name by his brilliant
and fearless attacks on the government in a series of political trials,
and at the same time contributed to the _Temps_ and other influential
journals. When the tsar Alexander II. visited the Palais de Justice in
1867, Floquet was said to have confronted him with the cry "Vive la
Pologne, monsieur!" He delivered a scathing indictment of the Empire at
the trial of Pierre Bonaparte for killing Victor Noir in 1870, and took
a part in the revolution of the 4th of September, as well as in the
subsequent defence of Paris. In 1871 he was elected to the National
Assembly by the department of the Seine. During the Commune he formed
the _Ligue d'union republicaine des droits de Paris_ to attempt a
reconciliation with the government of Versailles. When his efforts
failed, he left Paris, and was imprisoned by order of Thiers, but soon
released. He became editor of the _Republique Francaise_, was chosen
president of the municipal council, and in 1876 was elected deputy for
the eleventh arrondissement. He took a prominent place among the
extreme radicals, and became president of the group of the "Union
republicaine." In 1882 he held for a short time the post of prefect of
the Seine. In 1885 he succeeded M. Brisson as president of the chamber.
This difficult position he filled with such tact and impartiality that
he was re-elected the two following years. Having approached the Russian
ambassador in such a way as to remove the prejudice existing against him
in Russia since the incident of 1867, he rendered himself eligible for
office; and on the fall of the Tirard cabinet in 1888 he became
president of the council and minister of the interior in a radical
ministry, which pledged itself to the revision of the constitution, but
was forced to combat the proposals of General Boulanger. Heated debates
in the chamber culminated on the 13th of July in a duel between Floquet
and Boulanger in which the latter was wounded. In the following February
the government fell on the question of revision, and in the new chamber
of November Floquet was re-elected to the presidential chair. The Panama
scandals, in which he was compelled to admit his implication, dealt a
fatal blow to his career: he lost the presidency of the chamber in 1892,
and his seat in the house in 1893, but in 1894 was elected to the
senate. He died in Paris on the 18th of January 1896.
See _Discours et opinions de M. Charles Floquet_, edited by Albert
Faivre (1885).
FLOR, ROGER DI, a military adventurer of the 13th-14th century, was the
second son of a falconer in the service of the emperor Frederick II.,
who fell at Tagliacozzo (1268), and when eight years old was sent to sea
in a galley belonging to the Knights Templars. He entered the order and
became commander of a galley. At the siege of Acre by the Saracens in
1291 he was accused and denounced to the pope as a thief and an
apostate, was degraded from his rank, and fled to Genoa, where he began
to play the pirate. The struggle between the kings of Aragon and the
French kings of Naples for the possession of Sicily was at this time
going on; and Roger entered the service of Frederick, king of Sicily,
who gave him the rank of vice-admiral. At the close of the war, in 1302,
as Frederick was anxious to free the island from his mercenary troops
(called _Almugavares_), whom he had no longer the means of paying, Roger
induced them under his leadership to seek new adventures in the East, in
fighting against the Turks, who were ravaging the empire. The emperor
Andronicus II. accepted his offer of service; and in September 1303
Roger with his fleet and army arrived at Constantinople. He was adopted
into the imperial family, was married to a grand-daughter of the
emperor, and was made grand duke and commander-in-chief of the army and
the fleet. After some weeks lost in dissipation, intrigues and bloody
quarrels, Roger and his men were sent into Asia, and after some
successful encounters with the Turks they went into winter quarters at
Cyzicus. In May 1304 they again took the field, and rendered the
important service of relieving Philadelphia, then invested and reduced
to extremities by the Turks. But Roger, bent on advancing his own
interests rather than those of the emperor, determined to found in the
East a principality for himself. He sent his treasures to Magnesia, but
the people slew his Catalans and seized the treasures. He then formed
the siege of the town, but his attacks were repulsed, and he was
compelled to retire. Being recalled to Europe, he settled his troops in
Gallipoli and other towns, and visited Constantinople to demand pay for
the _Almugavares_. Dissatisfied with the small sum granted by the
emperor, he plundered the country and carried on intrigues both with and
against the emperor, receiving reinforcements all the while from all
parts of southern Europe. Roger was now created Caesar, but shortly
afterwards the young emperor Michael Palaeologus, not daring to attack
the fierce and now augmented bands of adventurers, invited Roger to
Adrianople, and there contrived his assassination and the massacre of
his Catalan cavalry (April 4, 1306). His death was avenged by his men in
a fierce and prolonged war against the Greeks.
See Moncada, _Expedicion de los Catalanes y Aragoneses contre Turcos y
Griegos_ (Paris, 1840).
FLORA, in Roman mythology, goddess of spring-time and flowers, later
identified with the Greek Chloris. Her festival at Rome, the Floralia,
instituted 238 B.C. by order of the Sibylline books and at first held
irregularly, became annual after 173. It lasted six days (April 28-May
3), the first day being the anniversary of the foundation of her temple.
It included theatrical performances and animal hunts in the circus, and
vegetables were distributed to the people. The proceedings were
characterized by excessive merriment and licentiousness. According to
the legend, her worship was instituted by Titus Tatius, and her priest,
the flamen Floralis, by Numa. In art Flora was represented as a
beautiful maiden, bedecked with flowers (Ovid, _Fasti_, v. 183 ff.;
Tacitus, _Annals_, ii. 49).
The term "flora" is used in botany collectively for the plant-growth of
a district; similarly "fauna" is used collectively for the animals.
FLORE AND BLANCHEFLEUR, a 13th-century romance. This tale, generally
supposed to be of oriental origin, relates the passionate devotion of
two children, and their success in overcoming all the obstacles put in
the way of their love. The romance appears in differing versions in
French, English, German, Swedish, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, Greek and
Hungarian. The various forms of the tale receive a detailed notice in E.
Hausknecht's version of the 13th-century Middle English poem of "Floris
and Blauncheflur" (_Samml. eng. Denkmaler_, vol. v. Berlin, 1885).
Nothing definite can be stated of the origin of the story, but France
was in the 12th and 13th centuries the chief market of romance, and the
French version of the tale, _Floire et Blanchefleur_, is the most
widespread. Floire, the son of a Saracen king of Spain, is brought up in
constant companionship with Blanchefleur, the daughter of a Christian
slave of noble birth. Floire's parents, hoping to destroy this
attachment, send the boy away at fifteen and sell Blanchefleur to
foreign slave-merchants. When Floire returns a few days later he is told
that his companion is dead, but when he threatens to kill himself, his
parents tell him the truth. He traces her to the tower of the maidens
destined for the harem of the emir of Babylon, into which he penetrates
concealed in a basket of flowers. The lovers are discovered, but their
constancy touches the hearts of their judges. They are married, and
Floire returns to his kingdom, when he and all his people adopt
Christianity. Of the two 12th-century French poems (ed. Edelestand du
Meril, Paris, 1856), the one contains the love story with few additions,
the other is a romance of chivalry, containing the usual battles, single
combats, &c. Two lyrics based on episodes of the story are printed by
Paulin Paris in his _Romancero francais_ (Paris, 1883). The English poem
renders the French version without amplifications, such as are found in
other adaptations. Its author has less sentiment than his original, and
less taste for detailed description. Among the other forms of the story
must be noted the prose romance (c. 1340) of Boccaccio, _Il Filocolo_,
and the 14th-century _Leggenda della reina Rosana e di Rosana sua
figliuola_ (pr. Leghorn, 1871). The similarity between the story of
Floire and Blanchefleur and _Chante-fable of Aucassin et Nicolete_[1]
has been repeatedly pointed out, and they have even been credited with a
common source.
See also editions by I. Bekker (Berlin, 1844) and E. Hausknecht
(Berlin, 1885); also H. Sundmacher, _Die altfr. und mittelhochdeutsche
Bearbeitung der Sage von Flore et Blanscheflur_ (Gottingen, 1872); H.
Herzog, _Die beiden Sagenkreise von Flore und Blanscheflur_ (Vienna,
1884); _Zeitschrift fur deut. Altertum_ (vol. xxi.) contains a Rhenish
version; the Scandinavian _Flores Saga ok Blankiflur_, ed. E. Kolbing
(Halle, 1896); the 13th-century version of Konrad Fleck, _Flore und
Blanscheflur_, ed. E. Sommer (Leipzig, 1846); the Swedish by G.E.
Klemming (Stockholm, 1844). The English poem was also edited by
Hartschorne (_English Metrical Tales_, 1829), by Laing (Abbotsford
Club, 1829), and by Lumly (Early Eng. Text Soc., 1866, re-edited G.H.
McKnight, 1901). J. Reinhold (_Floire et Blanchefleur_, Paris, 1906)
suggests a parallelism with the story of Cupid and Psyche as told by
Apuleius; also that the oriental setting does not necessarily imply a
connexion with Arab tales, as the circumstances might with small
alteration have been taken from the Vulgate version of the book of
Esther.