had married Philip's sister Margaret. The countships of Flanders and
Hainaut were thus united under the same ruler. Baldwin did not obtain
possession of Flanders without strong opposition on the part of the
French king, and he was obliged to cede Artois, St Omer, Lens, Hesdin
and a great part of southern Flanders to France, and to allow Matilda of
Portugal, the widow of Philip of Alsace, to retain certain towns in
right of her dowry. Margaret died in 1194 and Baldwin the following
year, and their eldest son Baldwin IX. succeeded to both countships.
Baldwin IX. is famous in history as the founder of the Latin empire at
Constantinople. He perished in Bulgaria in 1206. The emperor's two
daughters were both under age, and the government was carried on by
their uncle Philip, marquess of Namur, whom Baldwin had appointed regent
on his departure to Constantinople. Philip proved faithless to his
charge, and he allowed his nieces to fall into the hands of Philip
Augustus, who married the elder sister Johanna of Constantinople to his
nephew Ferdinand of Portugal. The Flemings were averse to the French
king's supremacy, and Ferdinand, who acted as governor in the name of
his wife, joined himself to the confederacy formed by Germany, England,
and the leading states of the Netherlands against Philip Augustus.
Ferdinand was, however, taken prisoner at the disastrous battle of
Bouvines (1214) and was kept for twelve years a prisoner in the Louvre.
The countess Johanna ruled the united countships with prudence and
courage. On Ferdinand's death she married Thomas of Savoy, but died in
1244, leaving no heirs. She was succeeded in her dignities by her
younger sister Margaret of Constantinople, commonly known amongst her
contemporaries as "Black Meg" (_Zwarte Griet_). Margaret had been twice
married. Her first husband was (1212) Buchard of Avesnes, one of the
first of Hainaut's nobles and a man of knightly prowess, but originally
destined for the church. On this ground he was excommunicated by
Innocent III. and imprisoned by the countess Johanna, with the result
that Margaret at last was driven to repudiate him. She married in second
wedlock (1225) William of Dampierre. Two sons were the issue of the
first marriage, three sons and three daughters of the second.
When Margaret in 1244 became countess of Flanders and Hainaut, she
wished her son William of Dampierre to be acknowledged as her successor.
John of Avesnes, her eldest son, strongly protested against this and was
supported by the French king. A civil war ensued, which ended in a
compromise (1246), the succession to Flanders being granted to William
of Dampierre, that of Hainaut to John of Avesnes. Margaret, however,
ruled with a strong hand for many years and survived both her sons,
dying at the age of eighty in 1280. On her death her grandson, John II.
of Avesnes, became count of Hainaut: Guy of Dampierre, her second son by
her second marriage, count of Flanders.
The two counties were once more under separate dynasties. The government
of Guy of Dampierre was unfortunate. It was the interest of the Flemish
weavers to be on good terms with England, the wool-producing country,
and Guy entered into an alliance with Edward I. against France. This led
to an invasion and conquest of Flanders by Philip the Fair. Guy with his
sons and the leading Flemish nobles were taken prisoners to Paris, and
Flanders was ruled as a French dependency. But though in the principal
towns, Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, there was a powerful French
faction--known as _Leliaerts_ (adherents of the lily)--the arbitrary
rule of the French governor and officials stirred up the mass of the
Flemish people to rebellion. The anti-French partisans (known as
_Clauwaerts_) were strongest at Bruges under the leadership of Peter de
Conync, master of the cloth-weavers, and John Breydel, master of the
butchers. The French garrison at Bruges were massacred (May 19th, 1302),
and on the following 11th of July a splendid French army of invasion was
utterly defeated near Courtray. Peace was concluded in 1305, but owing
to Guy of Dampierre, and the leading Flemish nobles being in the hands
of the French king, on terms very disadvantageous to Flanders. Very
shortly afterwards the aged count Guy died, as did also Philip the Fair.
Robert of Bethune, his son and successor, had continual difficulties
with France during the whole of his reign, the Flemings offering a
stubborn resistance to all attempts to destroy their independence.
Robert was succeeded in 1322 by his grandson Louis of Nevers. Louis had
been brought up at the French court, and had married Margaret of France.
His sympathies were entirely French, and he made use of French help in
his contests with the communes.
Under Louis of Nevers Flanders was practically reduced to the status of
a French province. In his time the long contest between Flanders and
Holland for the possession of the island of Zeeland was brought to an
end by a treaty signed on the 6th of March 1323, by which West Zeeland
was assigned to the count of Holland, the rest to the count of Flanders.
The latter part of the reign of Louis of Nevers was remarkable for the
successful revolt of the Flemish communes, now rapidly advancing to
great material prosperity under Jacob van Artevelde (see ARTEVELDE,
JACOB VAN). Artevelde allied himself with Edward III. of England in his
contest with Philip of Valois for the French crown, while Louis of
Nevers espoused the cause of Philip. He fell at the battle of Crecy
(1346). He was followed in the countship by his son Louis II. of Male.
The reign of this count was one long struggle with the communes, headed
by the town of Ghent, for political supremacy. Louis was as strong in
his French sympathies as his father, and relied upon French help in
enforcing his will upon his refractory subjects, who resented his
arbitrary methods of government, and the heavy taxation imposed upon
them by his extravagance and love of display. Had the great towns with
their organized gilds and great wealth held together in their opposition
to the count's despotism, they would have proved successful, but Ghent
and Bruges, always keen rivals, broke out into open feud. The power of
Ghent reached its height under Philip van Artevelde (see ARTEVELDE,
PHILIP VAN) in 1382. He defeated Louis, took Bruges and was made
_ruward_ of Flanders. But the triumph of the White Hoods, as the popular
party was called, was of short duration. On the 27th of November 1382
Artevelde suffered a crushing defeat from a large French army at
Roosebeke and was himself slain. Louis of Male died two years later,
leaving an only daughter Margaret, who had married in 1369 Philip the
Bold, duke of Burgundy.
Flanders now became a portion of the great Burgundian domain, which in
the reign of Philip the Good, Margaret's grandson, had absorbed almost
the whole of the Netherlands (see BURGUNDY; NETHERLANDS). The history of
Flanders as a separate state ceases from the time of the acquisition of
the countship by the Burgundian dynasty. There were revolts from time to
time of great towns against the exactions even of these powerful
princes, but they were in vain. The conquest and humiliation of Bruges
by Philip the Good in 1440, and the even more relentless punishment
inflicted on rebellious Ghent by the emperor Charles V. exactly a
century later are the most remarkable incidents in the long-continued
but vain struggle of the Flemish communes to maintain and assert their
privileges. The Burgundian dukes and their successors of the house of
Habsburg were fully alive to the value to them of Flanders and its rich
commercial cities. It was Flanders that furnished to them no small part
of their resources, but for this very reason, while fostering the
development of Flemish industry and trade, they were the more determined
to brook no opposition which sought to place restrictions upon their
authority.
The effect of the revolt of the Netherlands and the War of Dutch
Independence which followed was ruinous to Flanders. Albert and Isabel
on their accession to the sovereignty of the southern Netherlands in
1599 found "the great cities of Flanders and Brabant had been abandoned
by a large part of their inhabitants; agriculture hardly in a less
degree than commerce and industry had been ruined." In 1633 with the
death of Isabel, Flanders reverted to Spanish rule (1633). By the treaty
of Munster the north-western portion of Flanders, since known as States
(or Dutch) Flanders, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces
(1648). By a succession of later treaties--of the Pyrenees (1659),
Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), Nijmwegen (1679) and others--a large slice of
the southern portion of the old county of Flanders became French
territory and was known as French Flanders.
From 1795 to 1814 Flanders, with the rest of the Belgic provinces, was
incorporated in France, and was divided into two departments--_departement
de l'Escaut_ and _departement de la Lys_. This division has since been
retained, and is represented by the two provinces of East Flanders and
West Flanders in the modern kingdom of Belgium. The title of count of
Flanders was revived by Leopold I. in 1840 in favour of his second son,
Philip Eugene Ferdinand (d. 1905). (G. E.)
FLANDRIN, JEAN HIPPOLYTE (1809-1864), French painter, was born at Lyons
in 1809. His father, though brought up to business, had great fondness
for art, and sought himself to follow an artist's career. Lack of early
training, however, disabled him for success, and he was obliged to take
up the precarious occupation of a miniature painter. Hippolyte was the
second of three sons, all painters, and two of them eminent, the third
son Paul (b. 1811) ranking as one of the leaders of the modern landscape
school of France. Auguste (1804-1842), the eldest, passed the greater
part of his life as professor at Lyons, where he died. After studying
for some time at Lyons, Hippolyte and Paul, who had long determined on
the step and economized for it, set out to walk to Paris in 1829, to
place themselves under the tuition of Hersent. They chose finally to
enter the atelier of Ingres, who became not only their instructor but
their friend for life. At first considerably hampered by poverty,
Hippolyte's difficulties were for ever removed by his taking, in 1832,
the Grand Prix de Rome, awarded for his picture of the "Recognition of
Theseus by his Father." This allowed him to study five years at Rome,
whence he sent home several pictures which considerably raised his fame.
"St Clair healing the Blind" was done for the cathedral of Nantes, and
years after, at the exhibition of 1855, brought him a medal of the first
class. "Jesus and the Little Children" was given by the government to
the town of Lisieux. "Dante and Virgil visiting the Envious Men struck
with Blindness," and "Euripides writing his Tragedies," belong to the
museum at Lyons. Returning to Paris through Lyons in 1838 he soon
received a commission to ornament the chapel of St John in the church of
St Severin at Paris, and reputation increased and employment continued
abundant for the rest of his life. Besides the pictures mentioned above,
and others of a similar kind, he painted a great number of portraits.
The works, however, upon which his fame most surely rests are his
monumental decorative paintings. Of these the principal are those
executed in the following churches:--in the sanctuary of St Germain des
Pres at Paris (1842-1844), in the choir of the same church (1846-1848),
in the church of St Paul at Nismes (1848-1849), of St Vincent de Paul at
Paris (1850-1854), in the church of Ainay at Lyons (1855), in the nave
of St Germain des Pres (1855-1861). In 1856 Hippolyte Flandrin was
elected to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1863 his failing health,
rendered worse by incessant toil and exposure to the damp and draughts
of churches, induced him again to visit Italy. He died of smallpox at
Rome on the 21st of March 1864. As might naturally be expected in one
who looked upon painting as but the vehicle for the expression of
spiritual sentiment, he had perhaps too little pride in the technical
qualities of his art. There is shown in his works much of that austerity
and coldness, expressed in form and colour, which springs from a faith
which feels itself in opposition to the tendencies of surrounding life.
He has been compared to Fra Angelico; but the faces of his long
processions of saints and martyrs seem to express rather the austerity
of souls convicted of sin than the joy and purity of never-corrupted
life which shines from the work of the early master.
See Delaborde, _Lettres et pensees de H. Flandrin_ (Paris, 1865);
Beule, _Notice historique sur H. F._ (1869).
FLANNEL, a woollen stuff of various degrees of weight and fineness, made
usually from loosely spun yarn. The origin of the word is uncertain, but
in the 16th century flannel was a well-known production of Wales, and a
Welsh origin has been suggested. The French form _flanelle_ was used
late in the 17th century, and the Ger. _Flanell_ early in the 18th
century. Baize, a kind of coarse flannel with a long nap, is said to
have been first introduced to England about the middle of the 16th
century by refugees from France and the Netherlands. The manufacture of
flannel has naturally undergone changes, and, in some cases,
deteriorations. Flannels are frequently made with an admixture of silk
or cotton, and in low varieties cotton has tended to become the
predominant factor. Formerly a short staple wool of fine quality from a
Southdown variety of the Sussex breed was principally in favour with the
flannel manufacturers of Rochdale, who also used largely the wool from
the Norfolk breed, a cross between the Southdown and Norfolk sheep. In
Wales the short staple wool of the mountain sheep was used, and in
Ireland that of the Wicklow variety of the Cottagh breed, but now the
New Zealand, Cape and South American wools are extensively employed, and
English wools are not commonly used alone. Over 2000 persons are
employed in flannel manufacture in Rochdale alone, which is the historic
seat of the industry, and a good deal of flannel is now made in the Spen
Valley district, Yorkshire. Blankets, which constitute a special branch
of the flannel trade, are largely made at Bury in Lancashire and
Dewsbury in Yorkshire. Welsh flannels have a high reputation, and make
an important industry in Montgomeryshire. There are also flannel
manufactories in Ireland.
A moderate export trade in flannel is done by Great Britain. The
following table gives the quantities exported during three years:--
1904. 1905. 1906.
Yards 9,758,300 9,220,500 8,762,200
In 1877 the export was 9,273,429 yds., so it appears that this trade has
varied comparatively little. The imports of flannel are not very large.
Many so-called flannels have been made with a large admixture of cotton,
but the Merchandise Marks Act has done something to limit the
indiscriminate use of names. Unquestionably the development of the
flannel trade has been checked by the great increase in the production
of flannelettes, the better qualities of which have become formidable
competitors with flannel. There must, however, be a regular and large
demand for flannel while theory and experience confirm its value as a
clothing particularly suitable for immediate contact with the body.
FLANNELETTE, a cotton cloth made to imitate flannel. The word seems to
have been first used in the early 'eighties, and there is a reference in
the _Daily News_ of 1887 to "a poverty-stricken article called
flannelette." Now it is used very extensively for underclothing, night
gear, dresses, dressing-gowns, shirts, &c. It is usually made with a
much coarser weft than warp, and its flannel-like appearance is obtained
by the raising or scratching up of this weft, and by various finishing
processes. Some kinds are raised equally on both sides, and the nap may
be long or short according to the purpose for which the cloth is
required. A considerable trade is done in plain cloths dyed, and also in
woven coloured stripes and checks, but almost any heavy or coarse cotton
cloth can be made into flannelette. It is now largely used by the poorer
classes of the community, and the flimsier kinds have been a frequent
source of accident by fire. It is, however, when used discreetly and in
a fair quality, a cheap and useful article. A flannelette, patented
under the title of "Non-flam," has been made with fire-resisting
properties, but its sale has been more in the better qualities than in
the lower and more dangerous ones. Flannelette is made largely on the
continent of Europe, and in the United States as well as in Great
Britain.
FLASK, in its earliest meaning in Old English a vessel for carrying
liquor, made of wood or leather. The principal applications in current
usage are (1) to a vessel of metal or wood, formerly of horn, used for
carrying gunpowder; (2) to a long-necked, round-bodied glass vessel,
usually covered with plaited straw or maize leaves, containing olive or
other oil or Italian wines--it is often known as a "Florence flask":
similarly shaped vessels are used for experiments, &c., in a
laboratory; (3) to a small metal or glass receptacle for spirits, wine
or other liquor, of a size and shape to fit into a pocket or holster,
usually covered with leather, basket-work or other protecting substance,
and with a detachable portion of the case shaped to form a cup. "Flask"
is also used in metal-founding of a wooden frame or case to contain part
of the mould. The word "flagon," which is by derivation a doublet of
"flask," is usually applied to a larger type of vessel for holding
liquor, more particularly to a type of wine-bottle with a short neck and
circular body with flattened sides. The word is also used of a
jug-shaped vessel with a handle, spout and lid, into which wine may be
decanted from the bottle for use at table, and of a similarly shaped
vessel to contain the Eucharistic wine till it is poured into the
chalice. "Flask" (in O. Eng. _flasce_ or _flaxe_) is represented both in
Teutonic and Romanic languages. The earliest examples are found in Med.
Lat. _flasco_, _flasconis_, whence come Ital. _fiascone_, O. Fr.
_flascon_ (mod. _flacon_), adapted in the Eng. "flagon." Another Lat.
form is _flasca_, this gave a Fr. _flasque_, which in the sense of
"powder flask" remained in use till later than the 16th century. In
Teutonic languages the word, in its various forms, is the common one for
"bottle," so in Ger. _Flasche_, Dutch _flesch_, &c. If the word is of
Romanic origin it is probably a metathesized form of the Lat.
_vasculum_, diminutive of _vas_, vessel. There is no very satisfactory
etymology if the word is of Teutonic origin; the New English Dictionary
considers a connexion with "flat" probable phonetically, but finds no
evidence that the word was used originally for a flat-shaped vessel.
FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. _flet_, an obsolete word of Teutonic
origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet), a term commonly used as an
adjective, signifying level in surface, level with the ground, and so,
figuratively, fallen, dead, inanimate, tasteless, dull; or, by another
transference, downright; or, in music, below the true pitch. In a
substantival form, the term is used in physical geography for a level
tract.
The word is also generally applied by modern usage to a self-contained
residence or separate dwelling (in Scots law, the term _flatted house_
is still used), consisting of a suite of rooms which form a portion,
usually on a single floor, of a larger building, called the tenement
house, the remainder being similarly divided. The approach to it is over
a hall, passage and stairway, which are common to all residents in the
building, but from which each private flat is divided off by its own
outer door (Clode, _Tenement Houses and Flats_, pp. 1, 2).
There is in England a considerable body of special law applicable to
flats. The following points deserve notice:--(i.) The occupants of
distinct suites of rooms in a building divided into flats are generally,
and subject, of course, to any special terms in their agreements, not
lodgers but tenants with exclusive possession of separate
dwelling-houses placed one above the other. They are, therefore, liable
to distress by the immediate landlord, and each flat is separately
rateable, though as a general rule by the contract of tenancy the rates
are payable by the landlord. Flats used solely for business purposes are
exempt from house tax, by the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1878 (see
_Grant_, v. _Langston_, 1900, A.C. 383); and, by the Revenue Act 1903
(s. 11), provision is made for excluding from assessment or for
assessing at a low rate buildings used for providing separate dwellings
at rents not exceeding L60 a year. It appears that tenants of a flat
would not come within the meaning of "lodger" for the purposes of the
Lodgers' Goods Protection Act 1871. (ii.) The owner of an upper storey,
without any express grant or enjoyment for any given time, has a right
to the support of the lower storey (_Dalton_ v. _Angus_, 1881, 6 A.C.
740, 793). The owner of the lower storey, however, so long as he does
nothing actively in the way of withdrawing its support, is not bound to
repair, in the absence of a special covenant imposing that obligation
upon him. The right of support being an easement in favour of the owner
of the upper storey, it is for him to repair. He is in law entitled to
enter on the lower storey for the purpose of doing the necessary
repairs. It appears, however, that there is an implied obligation by the
landlord to the tenants to keep the common stair and the lift or
elevator in repair, and, for breach of this duty, he will be liable to
a third party who, while visiting a tenant in the course of business, is
injured by its defective condition (_Miller_ v. _Hancock_, 1893, 2 Q.B.
177). No such liability would be involved in a mere licence to the
tenants to use a part of the building not essential to the enjoyment of
their flats. (iii.) In case of the destruction of the flat by fire, the
rent abates _pro tanto_ and an apportionment is made; _pari ratione_,
where a flat is totally destroyed, the rent abates altogether (Clode, p.
14); unless the tenant has entered into an express and unqualified
agreement to pay rent, when he will remain liable till the expiration of
his tenancy. (iv.) Where the agreements for letting the flats in a
single building are in common form, an agreement by the lessor not to
depart from the kind of building there indicated may be held to be
implied. Thus an injunction has been granted to restrain the conversion
into a club of a large part of a building, adapted to occupation in
residential flats, at the instance of a tenant who held under an
agreement in a common form binding the tenants to rules suitable only
for residential purposes (_Hudson_ v. _Cripps_, 1896, 1 Ch. 265). (v.)
The porter is usually appointed and paid by the landlord, who is liable
for his acts while engaged on his general duties; while engaged on any
special duty for any tenant the porter is the servant of the latter, who
is liable for his conduct within the scope of his employment.
In Scots law the rights and obligations of the lessors and lessees of
flats, or--as they are called--"flatted houses," spring partly from the
exclusive possession by each lessee of his own flat, partly from the
common interest of all in the tenement as a whole. The "law of the
tenement" may be thus summed up. The _solum_ on which the flatted house
stands, the area in front and the back ground are presumed to belong to
the owner of the lowest floor or the owners of each floor severally,
subject to the common right of the other proprietors to prevent injury
to their flats, especially by depriving them of light. The external
walls belong to each owner in so far as they enclose his flat; but the
other owners can prevent operations on them which would endanger the
security of the building. The roof and uppermost storey belong to the
highest owner or owners, but he or they may be compelled to keep them in
repair and to refrain from injuring them. The gables are common to the
owner of each flat, so far as they bound his property, and to the owner
of the adjoining house; but he and the other owners in the building have
cross rights of common interest to prevent injury to the stability of
the building. The floor and ceiling of each flat are divided in
ownership by an ideal line drawn through the middle of the joists; they
may be used for ordinary purposes, but may not be weakened or exposed to
unusual risk from fire. The common passages and stairs are the common
property of all to whose premises they form an access, and the walls
which bound them are the common property of those persons and of the
owners on their farther side.
In the United States the term "apartment-house" is applied to what in
England are called flats. The general law is the same as in England. The
French Code Civil provides (Art. 664) that where the different storeys
of a house belong to different owners the main walls and roof are at the
charge of all the owners, each one in proportion to the value of the
storey belonging to him. The proprietor of each storey is responsible
for his own flooring. The proprietor of the first storey makes the
staircase which leads to it, the proprietor of the second, beginning
from where the former ended, makes the staircase leading to his and so
on. There are similar provisions in the Civil Codes of Belgium (Art.
664), Quebec (Art. 521), St Lucia (Art. 471).
AUTHORITIES.--ENGLISH LAW: Clode, _Law of Tenement-Houses and Flats_
(London, 1889); Daniels, _Manual of the Law of Flats_ (London, 1905).
SCOTS LAW: Erskine, _Principles of the Law of Scotland_ (20th ed.,
Edinburgh, 1903); Bell, _Principles of the Law of Scotland_ (10th ed.,
Edinburgh, 1899). AMERICAN LAW: Bouvier, _Law Dicty._ (Boston and
London, 1897). FOREIGN LAWS: Burge, _Foreign and Colonial Laws_ (2nd
ed., London, 1906). (A. W. R.)
FLATBUSH, formerly a township of Kings county, Long Island, New York,
U.S.A., annexed to Brooklyn in 1894, and after the 1st of January 1898 a
part of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. The first settlement
was made here by the Dutch about 1651, and was variously called
"Midwout," "Midwoud" and "Medwoud" (from the Dutch words, _med_,
"middle" and _woud_, "wood") for about twenty years, when it became more
commonly known as Vlachte Bos (_vlachte_, "wooded"; _bos_, "plain") or
Flackebos, whence, by further corruption, the present name. Farming was
the chief occupation of the early settlers. On the 23rd of August 1776
the village was occupied by General Cornwallis's division of the
invading force under Lord Howe, and on the 27th, at the disastrous
battle of Long Island (or "battle of Flatbush," as it is sometimes
called), "Flatbush Pass," an important strategic point, was vigorously
defended by General Sullivan's troops.
FLAT-FISH (_Pleuronectidae_), the name common to all those fishes which
swim on their side, as the halibut, turbot, brill, plaice, flounder,
sole, &c. The side which is turned towards the bottom, and in some kinds
is the right, in others the left, is generally colourless, and called
"blind," from the absence of an eye on this side. The opposite side,
which is turned upwards and towards the light, is variously, and in some
tropical species even vividly, coloured, both eyes being placed on this
side of the head. All the bones and muscles of the upper side are more
strongly developed than on the lower; but it is noteworthy that these
fishes when hatched, and for a short time afterwards, are symmetrical
like other fishes.
Assuming that they are the descendants of symmetrical fishes, the
question has been to determine which group of Teleosteans may be
regarded as the ancestors of the flat-fishes. The old notion that they
are only modified Gadids (Anacanthini) was the result of the artificial
classification of the past and is now generally abandoned. The condition
of the caudal fin, which in the cod tribe departs so markedly from that
of ordinary Teleosteans, is in itself a sufficient reason for dismissing
the idea of the homocercal flat-fishes being derived from the
Anacanthini, and the whole structure of the two types of fishes speaks
against such an assumption. On the other hand it has been shown, as
noticed in the article DORY, that considerable, deep-seated resemblances
exist between the Zeidae or John Dories and the more generalized of the
Pleuronectidae; and that a fossil fish from the Upper Eocene,
_Amphistium paradoxum_, evidently allied to the Zeidae, appears to
realize in every respect the prototype of the Pleuronectidae before they
had assumed the asymmetry which characterizes them as a group. In
accordance with these views the flat-fishes are placed by G.A. Boulenger
in the suborder Acanthopterygii, in a division called _Zeorhombi_. The
three families included in that division can be traced back to the Upper
Eocene, and their common ancestors will probably be found in the Upper
Cretaceous associated with the _Berycidae_, to which they will no doubt
prove to be related. The very young are transparent and symmetrical,
with an eye on each side, and swim in a vertical position. As they grow,
the eye of one side moves by degrees to the other side, where it becomes
the upper eye. If at that age the dorsal fin does not extend to the
frontal region, the migrating eye simply moves over the line of the
profile, temporarily assuming the position which it preserves in some of
the less modified genera, such as _Psettodes_; in other genera, the
dorsal fin has already extended to the snout before the migration takes
place, and the eye, passing between the frontal bone and the tissues
supporting the fin, appears to make its way from side to side through
the head, as was believed by some of the earlier observers.
About 500 species of flat-fish are known, mostly marine, a few species
allied to the sole being confined to the fresh waters of South America,
West Africa, and the Malay Archipelago, whilst a few others, such as the
English flounder, ascend streams, though still breeding in the sea. They
range from the Arctic Circle to the southern coasts of the southern
hemisphere and may occur at great depths. (G. A. B.)
FLATHEADS, a tribe of North American Indians of Salishan stock. They
formerly occupied the mountains of north-western Montana and the country
around. They have always been friendly to the whites. Curiously enough
they have not the custom, so general among American tribes, of
flattening the heads of their infants. Father P.J. de Smet in 1841
founded among them a mission which proved the most successful in the
north-west. With the Pend d'Oreille tribe and some Kutenais they are on
a reservation in Montana, and number a few hundreds.
FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE (1821-1880), French novelist, was born at Rouen on the
12th of December 1821. His father, of whom many traits are reproduced in
Flaubert's character of Charles Bovary, was a surgeon in practice at
Rouen; his mother was connected with some of the oldest Norman families.
He was educated in his native city, and did not leave it until 1840,
when he came up to Paris to study law. He is said to have been idle at
school, but to have been occupied with literature from the age of
eleven. Flaubert in his youth "was like a young Greek," full of vigour
of body and a certain shy grace, enthusiastic, intensely individual, and
apparently without any species of ambition. He loved the country, and
Paris was extremely distasteful to him. He made the acquaintance of
Victor Hugo, and towards the close of 1840 he travelled in the Pyrenees
and Corsica. Returning to Paris, he wasted his time in sombre dreams,
living on his patrimony. In 1846, his mother being left quite alone
through the deaths of his father and his sister Caroline, Flaubert
gladly abandoned Paris and the study of the law together, to make a home
for her at Croisset, close to Rouen. This estate, a house in a pleasant
piece of ground which ran down to the Seine, became Flaubert's home for
the remainder of his life. From 1846 to 1854 he carried on relations
with the poetess, Mlle Louise Colet; their letters have been preserved,
and according to M. Emile Faguet, this was the only sentimental episode
of any importance in the life of Flaubert, who never married. His
principal friend at this time was Maxime du Camp, with whom he travelled
in Brittany in 1846, and through the East in 1849. Greece and Egypt made
a profound impression upon the imagination of Flaubert. From this time
forth, save for occasional visits to Paris, he did not stir from
Croisset.
On returning from the East, in 1850, he set about the composition of
_Madame Bovary_. He had hitherto scarcely written anything, and had
published nothing. The famous novel took him six years to prepare, but
was at length submitted to the _Revue de Paris_, where it appeared in
serial form in 1857. The government brought an action against the
publisher and against the author, on the charge of immorality, but both
were acquitted; and when _Madame Bovary_ appeared in book-form it met
with a very warm reception. Flaubert paid a visit to Carthage in 1858,
and now settled down to the archaeological studies which were required to
equip him for _Salammbo_, which, however, in spite of the author's
ceaseless labours, was not finished until 1862. He then took up again the
study of contemporary manners, and, making use of many recollections of
his youth and childhood, wrote _L'Education sentimentale_, the
composition of which occupied him seven years; it was published in 1869.
Up to this time the sequestered and laborious life of Flaubert had been
comparatively happy, but misfortunes began to gather around him. He felt
the anguish of the war of 1870 so keenly that the break-up of his health
has been attributed to it; he began to suffer greatly from a distressing
nervous malady. His best friends were taken from him by death or by fatal
misunderstanding; in 1872 he lost his mother, and his circumstances
became greatly reduced. He was very tenderly guarded by his niece, Mme
Commonville; he enjoyed a rare intimacy of friendship with George Sand,
with whom he carried on a correspondence of immense artistic interest,
and occasionally he saw his Parisian acquaintances, Zola, A. Daudet,
Tourgenieff, the Goncourts; but nothing prevented the close of Flaubert's
life from being desolate and melancholy. He did not cease, however, to
work with the same intensity and thoroughness. _La Tentation de
Saint-Antoine_, of which fragments had been published as early as 1857,
was at length completed and sent to press in 1874. In that year he was
subjected to a disappointment by the failure of his drama _Le Candidat_.
In 1877 Flaubert published, in one volume, entitled _Trois contes, Un
Coeur simple, La Legende de Saint-Julien-l'Hospitalier and Herodias_.
After this something of his judgment certainly deserted him; he spent the
remainder of his life in the toil of building up a vast satire on the
futility of human knowledge and the omnipresence of mediocrity, which he
left a fragment. This is the depressing and bewildering _Bouvard et
Pecuchet_ (posthumously printed, 1881), which, by a curious irony, he
believed to be his masterpiece. Flaubert had rapidly and prematurely aged
since 1870, and he was quite an old man when he was carried off by a
stroke of apoplexy at the age of only 58, on the 8th of May 1880. He died
at Croisset, but was buried in the family vault in the cemetery of Rouen.
A beautiful monument to him by Chapu was unveiled at the museum of Rouen
in 1890.
The personal character of Flaubert offered various peculiarities. He was
shy, and yet extremely sensitive and arrogant; he passed from silence to
an indignant and noisy flow of language. The same inconsistencies marked
his physical nature; he had the build of a guardsman, with a magnificent
Viking head, but his health was uncertain from childhood, and he was
neurotic to the last degree. This ruddy giant was secretly gnawn by
misanthropy and disgust of life. His hatred of the "bourgeois" began in
his childhood, and developed into a kind of monomania. He despised his
fellow-men, their habits, their lack of intelligence, their contempt for
beauty, with a passionate scorn which has been compared to that of an
ascetic monk. Flaubert's curious modes of composition favoured and were
emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen solitude,
sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never
satisfied with what he had composed, violently tormenting his brain for
the best turn of a phrase, the most absolutely final adjective. It
cannot be said that his incessant labours were not rewarded. His private
letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct
language is naturally given; he gained his extraordinary perfection with
the unceasing sweat of his brow. One of the most severe of academic
critics admits that "in all his works, and in every page of his works,
Flaubert may be considered a model of style." That he was one of the
greatest writers who ever lived in France is now commonly admitted, and
his greatness principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and
exactitude of his style. Less perhaps than any other writer, not of
France, but of modern Europe, Flaubert yields admission to the inexact,
the abstract, the vaguely inapt expression which is the bane of ordinary
methods of composition. He never allowed a _cliche_ to pass him, never
indulgently or wearily went on, leaving behind him a phrase which
"almost" expressed his meaning. Being, as he is, a mixture in almost
equal parts of the romanticist and the realist, the marvellous propriety
of his style has been helpful to later writers of both schools, of every
school. The absolute exactitude with which he adapts his expression to
his purpose is seen in all parts of his work, but particularly in the
portraits he draws of the figures in his principal romances. The degree
and manner in which, since his death, the fame of Flaubert has extended,
form an interesting chapter of literary history. The publication of
_Madame Bovary_ in 1857 had been followed by more scandal than
admiration; it was not understood at first that this novel was the
beginning of a new thing, the scrupulously truthful portraiture of life.
Gradually this aspect of his genius was accepted, and began to crowd out
all others. At the time of his death he was famous as a realist, pure
and simple. Under this aspect Flaubert exercised an extraordinary
influence over E. de Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet and M. Zola. But even
since the decline of the realistic school Flaubert has not lost
prestige; other facets of his genius have caught the light. It has been
perceived that he was not merely realistic, but real; that his
clairvoyance was almost boundless; that he saw certain phenomena more
clearly than the best of observers had done. Flaubert is a writer who
must always appeal more to other authors than to the world at large,
because the art of writing, the indefatigable pursuit of perfect
expression, were always before him, and because he hated the lax
felicities of improvization as a disloyalty to the most sacred
procedures of the literary artist.
His _Oeuvres completes_ (8 vols., 1885) were printed from the original
manuscripts, and included, besides the works mentioned already, the
two plays, _Le Candidat_ and _Le Chateau des coeurs_. Another edition
(10 vols.) appeared in 1873-1885. Flaubert's correspondence with
George Sand was published in 1884 with an introduction by Guy de
Maupassant. Other posthumous works are _Par les champs et par les
greves_ (1885), the result of a tour in Brittany; and four volumes of
_Correspondance_ (1887-1893). See also Paul Bourget, _Essais de
psychologie contemporaine_ (1883); Emile Faguet, _Flaubert_ (1899);
Henry James, _French Poets and Novelists_ (1878); Emile Zola, _Les
Romanciers naturalistes_ (1881); C.A. Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du
lundi_, vol. xiii., _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. iv.; and the _Souvenirs
litteraires_ (2 vols., 1882-1883) of Maxime du Camp. (E. G.)
FLAVEL, JOHN (c. 1627-1691), English Presbyterian divine, was born at
Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, probably in 1627. He was the elder son of
Richard Flavel, described in contemporary records as "a painful and
eminent minister." After receiving his early education, partly at home
and partly at the grammar-schools of Bromsgrove and Haslar, he entered
University College, Oxford. Soon after taking orders in 1650 he obtained
a curacy at Diptford, Devon, and on the death of the vicar he was
appointed to succeed him. From Diptford he removed in 1656 to Dartmouth.
He was ejected from his living by the passing of the Act of Uniformity
in 1662, but continued to preach and administer the sacraments privately
till the Five Mile Act of 1665, when he retired to Slapton, 5 m. away.
He then lived for a time in London, but returned to Dartmouth, where he
laboured till his death in 1691. He was married four times. He was a
vigorous and voluminous writer, and not without a play of fine fancy.
His principal works are his _Navigation Spiritualized_ (1671); _The
Fountain of Life, in forty-two Sermons_ (1672); _The Method of Grace_
(1680); _Pneumatologia, a Treatise on the Soul of Man_ (1698); _A
Token for Mourners_; _Husbandry Spiritualized_ (1699). Collected
editions appeared throughout the 18th century, and in 1823 Charles
Bradley edited a 2 vol. selection.
FLAVIAN I. (d. 404), bishop or patriarch of Antioch, was born about 320,
most probably in Antioch. He inherited great wealth, but resolved to
devote his riches and his talents to the service of the church. In
association with Diodorus, afterwards bishop of Tarsus, he supported the
Catholic faith against the Arian Leontius, who had succeeded Eustathius
as bishop of Antioch. The two friends assembled their adherents outside
the city walls for the observance of the exercises of religion; and,
according to Theodoret, it was in these meetings that the practice of
antiphonal singing was first introduced in the services of the church.
When Meletius was appointed bishop of Antioch in 361 he raised Flavian
to the priesthood, and on the death of Meletius in 381 Flavian was
chosen to succeed him. The schism between the two parties was, however,
far from being healed; the bishop of Rome and the bishops of Egypt
refused to acknowledge Flavian, and Paulinus, who by the extreme
Eustathians had been elected bishop in opposition to Meletius, still
exercised authority over a portion of the church. On the death of
Paulinus in 383, Evagrius was chosen as his successor, but after the
death of Evagrius (c. 393) Flavian succeeded in preventing his receiving
a successor, though the Eustathians still continued to hold separate
meetings. Through the intervention of Chrysostom, soon after his
elevation to the patriarchate of Constantinople (398), and the influence
of the emperor Theodosius, Flavian was acknowledged in 399 as legitimate
bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome; but the Eustathian schism was
not finally healed till 415. Flavian, who died in February 404, is
venerated in both the Western and Eastern churches as a saint.
See also the article Meletius of Antioch, and the article "Flavianus
von Antiochien" by Loofs in Herzog-Hauck's _Real-encyklop._ (ed. 3).
For the Meletian schism see also A. Harnack's, _Hist. of Dogma_, iv.
95.
FLAVIAN II. (d. 518), bishop or patriarch of Antioch, was chosen by the
emperor Anastasius I. to succeed Palladius, most probably in 498. He
endeavoured to please both parties by steering a middle course in
reference to the Chalcedon (q.v.) decrees, but was induced after great
hesitation to agree to the request of Anastasius that he should accept
the Henoticon, or decree of union, issued by the emperor Zeno. His doing
so, while it brought upon him the anathema of the patriarch of
Constantinople, failed to secure the favour of Anastasius, who in 511
found in the riots which were occurring between the rival parties in the
streets of Antioch a pretext for deposing Flavian, and banishing him to
Petra, where he died in 518. Flavian was soon after his death enrolled
among the saints of the Greek Church, and after some opposition he was
also canonized by the Latin Church.
FLAVIAN (d. 449), bishop of Constantinople, and an adherent of the
Antiochene school, succeeded Proclus in 447. He presided at the council
which deposed Eutyches (q.v.) in 448, but in the following year he was
deposed by the council of Ephesus (the "robber synod"), which reinstated
Eutyches in his office. Flavian's death shortly afterwards was
attributed, by a pious fiction, to ill treatment at the hands of his
theological opponents. The council of Chalcedon canonized him as a
martyr, and in the Latin Church he is commemorated on the 18th of
February.
FLAVIGNY, a town of eastern France, in the department of Cote-d'Or,
situated on a promontory overlooking the river Ozerain, 33 m. W.N.W. of
Dijon by road. Pop. (1906) 725. Among its antiquities are the remains of
an abbey of the 8th century, which has been rebuilt as a factory for the
manufacture of anise, an industry connected with the town as early as
the 17th century. There is also a church of the 13th and 15th centuries,
containing carved stalls (15th century) and a fine rood-screen (early
16th century). A Dominican convent, some old houses and ancient gateways
are also of interest. About 3 m. north-west of Flavigny rises Mont
Auxois, the probable site of the ancient Alesia, where Caesar in A.D. 52
defeated the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix, to whom a statue has been
erected on the summit of the height. Numerous remains of the Gallo-Roman
period have been discovered on the hill.
FLAVIN (Lat. _flavus_, yellow), the commercial name for an extract or
preparation of quercitron bark (_Quercus tinctoria_), which is used as a
yellow dye in place of the ground and powdered bark (see QUERCITRON).
FLAX. The terms flax or lint (Ger. _Flachs_, Fr. _lin_, Lat. _linum_)
are employed at once to denote the fibre so called, and the plant from
which it is prepared. The flax plant (_Linum usitatissimum_) belongs to
the natural order _Linaceae_, and, like most plants which have been long
under cultivation, it possesses numerous varieties, while its origin is
doubtful. As cultivated it is an annual with an erect stalk rising to a
height of from 20 to 40 in., with alternate, sessile, narrowly
lance-shaped leaves, branching only at the top, each branch or branchlet
ending in a bright blue flower. The flowers are regular and symmetrical,
having five sepals, tapering to a point and hairy on the margin, five
petals which speedily fall, ten stamens, and a pistil bearing five
distinct styles. The fruit or boll is round, containing five cells, each
of which is again divided into two, thus forming ten divisions, each of
which contains a single seed. The seeds of the flax plant, well known as
linseed, are heavy, smooth, glossy and of a bright greenish-brown
colour. They are oval in section, but their maximum contour represents
closely that of a pear with the stalk removed. The contents are of an
oily nature, and when liquefied are of great commercial value.
The earliest cultivated flax was _Linum angustifolium_, a smaller plant
with fewer and narrower leaves than _L. usitatissimum_, and usually
perennial. This is known to have been cultivated by the inhabitants of
the Swiss lake-dwellings, and is found wild in south and west Europe
(including England), North Africa, and western Asia. The annual flax
(_L. usitatissimum_) has been cultivated for at least four or five
thousand years in Mesopotamia, Assyria and Egypt, and is wild in the
districts included between the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea and the
Black Sea. This annual flax appears to have been introduced into the
north of Europe by the Finns, afterwards into the west of Europe by the
western Aryans, and perhaps here and there by the Phoenicians; lastly,
into Hindustan by the eastern Aryans after their separation from the
European Aryans. (De Candolle, _Origin of Cultivated Plants_.)
The cultivation and preparation of flax are among the most ancient of
all textile industries, very distinct traces of their existence during
the stone age being preserved to the present day. "The use of flax,"
says Ferdinand Keller (_Lake Dwellings of Switzerland_, translated by
J.E. Lee), "reaches back to the very earliest periods of civilization,
and it was most extensively and variously applied in the lake-dwellings,
even in those of the stone period. But of the mode in which it was
planted, steeped, heckled, cleansed and generally prepared for use, we
can form no idea any more than we can of the mode or tools employed by
the settlers in its cultivation.... Rough or unworked flax is found in
the lake-dwellings made into bundles, or what are technically called
heads, and, as much attention was given to this last operation, it was
perfectly clean and ready for use." As to its applications at this early
period, Keller remarks: "Flax was the material for making lines and nets
for fishing and catching wild animals, cords for carrying the
earthenware vessels and other heavy objects; in fact, one can hardly
imagine how navigation could be carried on, or the lake-dwellings
themselves be erected, without the use of ropes and cords; and the
erection of memorial stones (menhirs, dolmens), at whichever era, and to
whatever people these monuments may belong, would be altogether
impracticable without the use of strong ropes."
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Flax Plant (_Linum usitatissimum_).]
_Manufacture._--That flax was extensively cultivated and was regarded as
of much importance at a very early period in the world's history there
is abundant testimony. Especially in ancient Egypt the fibre occupied a
most important place, linen having been there not only generally worn by
all classes, but it was the only material the priestly order was
permitted to wear, while it was most extensively used as wrappings for
embalmed bodies and for general purposes. In the Old Testament we are
told that Pharaoh arrayed Joseph "in vestures of fine linen" (Gen. xlii.
42), and among the plagues of Egypt that of hail destroyed the flax and
barley crops, "for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled"
(Exod. ix. 31). Further, numerous pictorial representations of flax
culture and preparation exist to the present day on the walls of tombs
and in Egypt. Sir J. G. Wilkinson in his description of ancient Egypt
shows clearly the great antiquity of the ordinary processes of preparing
flax. "At Beni Hassan," he says, "the mode of cultivating the plant, in
the same square beds now met with throughout Egypt (much resembling our
salt pans), the process of beating the stalks and making them into
ropes, and the manufacture of a piece of cloth are distinctly pointed
out." The preparation of the fibre as conducted in Egypt is illustrated
by Pliny, who says: "The stalks themselves are immersed in water, warmed
by the heat of the sun, and are kept down by weights placed upon them,
for nothing is lighter than flax. The membrane, or rind, becoming loose
is a sign of their being sufficiently macerated. They are then taken out
and repeatedly turned over in the sun until perfectly dried, and
afterwards beaten by mallets on stone slabs. That which is nearest the
rind is called _stupa_ ['tow'], inferior to the inner fibres, and fit
only for the wicks of lamps. It is combed out with iron hooks until the
rind is all removed. The inner part is of a whiter and finer quality.
Men are not ashamed to prepare it" (Pliny, _N.H._ xix. 1). For many
ages, even down to the early part of the 14th century, Egyptian flax
occupied the foremost place in the commercial world, being sent into all
regions with which open intercourse was maintained. Among Western
nations it was, without any competitor, the most important of all
vegetable fibres till towards the close of the 18th century, when, after
a brief struggle, cotton took its place as the supreme vegetable fibre
of commerce.
Flax prospers most when grown upon land of firm texture resting upon a
moist subsoil. It does well to succeed oats or potatoes, as it requires
the soil to be in fresh condition without being too rich. Lands newly
broken up from pasture suit it well, as these are generally freer from
weeds than those that have been long under tillage. It is usually
inexpedient to apply manure directly to the flax crop, as the tendency
of this is to produce over-luxuriance, and thereby to mar the quality of
the fibre, on which its value chiefly depends. For the same reason it
must be thickly seeded, the effect of this being to produce tall,
slender stems, free from branches. The land, having been ploughed in
autumn, is prepared for sowing by working it with the grubber, harrow
and roller, until a fine tilth is obtained. On the smooth surface the
seed is sown broadcast by hand or machine, at the rate of 3 bushels per
acre, and covered in the same manner as clover seeds. It is advisable
immediately to hand-rake it with common hay-rakes, and thus to remove
all stones and clods, and to secure a uniform close cover of plants.
When these are about 2 to 3 in. long the crop must be carefully
hand-weeded. This is a tedious and expensive process, and hence the
importance of sowing the crop on land as free as possible from weeds of
all kinds. The weeders, faces to the wind, move slowly on hands and
knees, and should remove every vestige of weed in order that the flax
plants may receive the full benefit of the land. When flax is cultivated
primarily on account of the fibre, the crop ought to be pulled before
the capsules are quite ripe, when they are just beginning to change from
a green to a pale-brown colour, and when the stalks of the plant have
become yellow throughout about two-thirds of their height.
The various operations through which the crop passes from this point
till flax ready for the market is produced are--(1) Pulling, (2)
Rippling, (3) Retting, (4) Drying, (5) Rolling, (6) Scutching.
_Pulling_ and _rippling_ may be dismissed very briefly. Flax is always
pulled up by the root, and under no circumstances is it cut or shorn
like cereal crops. The pulling ought to be done in dry clear weather;
and care is to be taken in this, as in all the subsequent operations, to
keep the root-ends even and the stalks parallel. At the same time it is
desirable to have, as far as possible, stalks of equal length
together,--all these conditions having considerable influence on the
quality and appearance of the finished sample. As a general rule the
removal of the "bolls" or capsules by the process of rippling
immediately follows the pulling, the operation being performed in the
field; but under some systems of cultivation, as, for example, the
Courtrai method, alluded to below, the crop is made up into sheaves,
dried and stacked, and is only boiled and retted in the early part of
the next ensuing season. The best rippler, or apparatus for separating
the seed capsules from the branches, consists of a kind of comb having,
set in a wooden frame, iron teeth made of round-rod iron 3/16ths of an
inch asunder at the bottom, and half an inch at the top, and 18 in.
long, to allow a sufficient spring, and save much breaking of flax. The
points should begin to taper 3 in, from the top. A sheet or other cover
being spread on the field, the apparatus is placed in the middle of it,
and two ripplers sitting opposite each other, with the machine between
them, work at the same time. It is unadvisable to ripple the flax so
severely as to break or tear the delicate fibres at the upper part of
the stem. The two valuable commercial products of the flax plant, the
seeds and the stalk, are separated at this point. We have here to do
with the latter only.
_Retting_ or _rotting_ is an operation of the greatest importance, and
one in connexion with which in recent years numerous experiments have
been made, and many projects and processes put forth, with the view of
remedying the defects of the primitive system or altogether supplanting
it. From the earliest times two leading processes of retting have been
practised, termed respectively water-retting and dew-retting; and as no
method has yet been introduced which satisfactorily supersedes these
operations, they will first be described.
_Water-retting._--For this--the process by which flax is generally
prepared--pure soft water, free from iron and other materials which
might colour the fibre, is essential. Any water much impregnated with
lime is also specially objectionable. The dams or ponds in which the
operation is conducted are of variable size, and usually between 4 and 5
ft. in depth. The rippled stalks are tied in small bundles and packed,
roots downwards, in the dams till they are quite full; over the top of
the upper layer is placed a stratum of rushes and straw, or sods with
the grassy side downwards, and above all stones of sufficient weight to
keep the flax submerged. Under favourable circumstances a process of
fermentation should immediately be set up, which soon makes itself
manifest by the evolution of gaseous bubbles. After a few days the
fermentation subsides; and generally in from ten days to two weeks the
process ought to be complete. The exact time, however, depends upon the
weather and upon the particular kind of water in which the flax is
immersed. The immersion itself is a simple matter; the difficulty lies
in deciding when the process is complete. If allowed to remain under
water too long, the fibre is weakened by what is termed "over-retting,"
a condition which increases the amount of codilla in the scutching
process; whilst "under-retting" leaves part of the gummy or resinous
matter in the material, which hinders the subsequent process of
manufacture. As the steeping is such a critical operation, it is
essential that the stalks be frequently examined and tested as the
process nears completion. When it is found that the fibre separates
readily from the woody "shove" or core, the beets or small bundles are
ready for removing from the dams. It is drained, and then spread, evenly
and equally, over a grassy meadow to dry. The drying, which takes from a
week to a fortnight, must be uniform, so that all the fibres may spin
equally well. To secure this uniformity, it is necessary to turn the
material over several times during the process. It is ready for
gathering when the core cracks and separates easily from the fibre. At
this point advantage is taken of fine dry weather to gather up the flax,
which is now ready for scutching, but the fibre is improved by stooking
and stacking it for some time before it is taken to the scutching mill.
_Dew-retting_ is the process by which all the Archangel flax and a large
portion of that sent out from St Petersburg are prepared. By this method
the operation of steeping is entirely dispensed with, and the flax is,
immediately after pulling, spread on the grass where it is under the
influence of air, sunlight, night-dews and rain. The process is tedious,
the resulting fibre is brown in colour, and it is said to be peculiarly
liable to undergo heating (probably owing to the soft heavy quality of
the flax) if exposed to moisture and kept close packed with little
access of air. Archangel flax is, however, peculiarly soft and silky in
structure, although in all probability water-retting would result in a
fibre as good or even better in quality.
The theory of retting, according to the investigations of J. Kolb, is
that a peculiar fermentation is set up under the influence of heat and
moisture, resulting in a change of the intercellular substance--pectose
or an analogue of that body--into pectin and pectic acid. The former,
being soluble, is left in the water; but the latter, an insoluble body,
is in part attached to the fibres, from which it is only separated by
changing into soluble metapectic acid under the action of hot alkaline
ley in the subsequent process of bleaching.
To a large extent retting continues to be conducted in the primitive
fashions above described, although numerous and persistent attempts have
been made to improve upon it, or to avoid the process altogether. The
uniform result of all experiments has only been to demonstrate the
scientific soundness of the ordinary process of water-retting, and all
the proposed improvements of recent times seek to obviate the
tediousness, difficulties and uncertainties of the process as carried on
in the open air. In the early part of the 19th century much attention
was bestowed, especially in Ireland, on a process invented by Mr James
Lee. He proposed to separate the fibre by purely mechanical means
without any retting whatever; but after the Irish Linen Board had
expended many thousands of pounds and much time in making experiments
and in erecting his machinery, his entire scheme ended in complete
failure. About the year 1851 Chevalier Claussen sought to revive a
process of "cottonizing" flax--a method of proceeding which had been
suggested three-quarters of a century earlier. Claussen's process
consisted in steeping flax fibre or tow for twenty-four hours in a weak
solution of caustic soda, next boiling it for about two hours in a
similar solution, and then saturating it in a solution containing 5% of
carbonate of soda, after which it was immersed in a vat containing water
acidulated with 1/2% of sulphuric acid. The action of the acid on the
carbonate of soda with which the fibre was impregnated caused the fibre
to split up into a fine cotton-like mass, which it was intended to
manufacture in the same manner as cotton. A process to turn good flax
into bad cotton had, however, on the face of it, not much to recommend
it to public acceptance; and Claussen's process therefore remains only
as an interesting and suggestive experiment.
The only modification of water-retting which has hitherto endured the
test of prolonged experiment, and taken a firm position as a distinct
improvement, is the warm-water retting patented in England in 1846 by an
American, Robert B. Schenck. For open pools and dams Schenck substitutes
large wooden vats under cover, into which the flax is tightly packed in
an upright position. The water admitted into the tanks is raised to and
maintained at a temperature of from 75 deg. to 95 deg. F. during the
whole time the flax is in steep. In a short time a brisk fermentation is
set up, gases at first of pleasant odour, but subsequently becoming very
repulsive, being evolved, and producing a frothy scum over the surface
of the water. The whole process occupies only from 50 to 60 hours. A
still further improvement, due to Mr Pownall, comes into operation at
this point, which consists of immediately passing the stalks as they are
taken out of the vats between heavy rollers over which a stream of pure
water is kept flowing. By this means, not only is all the slimy
glutinous adherent matter thoroughly separated, but the subsequent
processes of breaking and scutching are much facilitated.
A process of retting by steam was introduced by W. Watt of Glasgow in
1852, and subsequently modified and improved by J. Buchanan. The system
possessed the advantages of rapidity, being completed in about ten
hours, and freedom from any noxious odour; but it yielded only a harsh,
ill-spinning fibre, and consequently failed to meet the sanguine
expectations of its promoters.
In connexion with improvements in retting, Mr Michael Andrews, secretary
of the Belfast Flax Supply Association, made some suggestions and
experiments which deserve close attention. In a paper contributed to the
International Flax Congress at Vienna in 1873 he entered into details
regarding an experimental rettery he had formed, with the view of
imitating by artificial means the best results obtained by the ordinary
methods. In brief, Mr Andrews' method consists in introducing water at
the proper temperature into the retting vat, and maintaining that
temperature by keeping the air of the chamber at a proper degree of
heat. By this means the flax is kept at a uniform temperature with great
certainty, since even should the heat of the air vary considerably
through neglect, the water in the vat only by slow degrees follows such
fluctuations. "It may be remarked," says Mr Andrews, "that the
superiority claimed for this method of retting flax over what is known
as the 'hot-water steeping' is uniformity of temperature; in fact the
experiments have demonstrated that an absolute control can be exercised
over the means adopted to produce the artificial climate in which the
vats containing the flax are situated."
Several other attempts have been made with a view of obtaining a quick
and practical method of retting flax. The one by Messrs Doumer and
Deswarte appears to have been well received in France, but in Ireland
the invention of Messrs Loppens and Deswarte has recently received the
most attention. The apparatus consists of a tank with two chambers, the
partition being perforated. The flax is placed in the upper chamber and
covered by two sets of rods or beams at right angles to each other.
Fresh water is allowed to enter the lower chamber immediately under the
perforated partition. As the tank fills, the water enters the upper
chamber and carries with it the flax and the beams, the latter being
prevented from rising too high. The soluble substances are dissolved by
the water, and the liquid thus formed being heavier than water, sinks to
the bottom of the tank where it is allowed to escape through an outlet.
By this arrangement the flax is almost continually immersed in fresh
water, a condition which hastens the retting. The flow of the liquids,
in and out, can be so arranged that the motion is very slow, and hence
the liquids of different densities do not mix. When the operation is
completed, the whole of the water is run off, and the flax remains on
the perforated floor, where it drains thoroughly before being removed to
dry.
The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, and
the Belfast Flax Supply Association, have jointly made some experiments
with this method, and the following extract from the Association's
report for 1905 shows the success which attended their efforts:--
"By desire of the department (which has taken up the position of an
impartial critic of the experiment) a quantity of flax straw was
divided into two equal lots. One part was retted at Millisle by the
patent-system of Loppens and Deswarte; the other was sent to Courtrai
and steeped in the Lys. Both lots when retted and scutched were
examined by an inspector of the department and by several flax
spinners. That which was retted at Millisle was pronounced superior to
the other"....
"To summarise results up to date--
1. It has been proved that flax can be thoroughly dried in the field
in Ireland.