Amide Powder: ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, charcoal. Has also
been used in German artillery.
Ammonpulver: ammonium nitrate and charcoal. Has been used by Austrian
artillery, and lately reintroduced by the Germans.
Ballistite: equal parts of nitroglycerine and soluble nitrocotton with
some mineral jelly.
Cordite: the principal smokeless powder of the British Empire.
Indurite: gun-cotton and nitrobenzene. Abandoned by U.S. navy.
Neonite: a gelatinized powder. Contains nitrocellulose insoluble and
soluble, metallic nitrates, and vaseline.
Noddite: a strip sporting-rifle powder containing nitroglycerine,
nitrocellulose, mineral jelly.
Rottweil Smokeless Powder: a gelatined powder containing camphor and
diphenylamine.
See also _Grenade_; _Shell_; _Torpedo_; _Fireworks_; _Rockets_.
EXPO'NENT. In algebra a^3 denotes three a's multiplied together; a^n means
that n of the letter a are to be multiplied. These numbers or letters
placed immediately above and to the right of another number or letter are
called exponents, and indicate the power to which the number or letter is
raised. Exponents can be fractional or negative, in which case new
interpretations can be found. On the assumption that a^m x a^n = a^{m+n}
for all values of m and n, a^{1/n} is interpreted as the nth root of a,
a^{-n} as the reciprocal of a^n.
EXPONENTIAL THEOREM. If a^x = N, x is said to be the logarithm of N to the
base a. There are two bases of logarithms in common use, the base 10 and
the Napierian base e. The exponential theorem states that the value of e^x
is given by the infinite series 1 + x + x^2/(1.2) + x^3/(1.2.3) + ... +
x^n/(1.2.3..n) +, &c. Putting x equal to 1, e = 1 + 1 + 1/(1.2) + 1/(1.2.3)
+ 1/(1.2.3.4) +, &c. e can be expressed to any number of decimal places by
working out the value of the terms on the right-hand side. It is an
incommensurable number which to five decimal places is equal to 2.71828.
See _Logarithm_.
EXPORTS. See _Foreign Trade_.
EX POST FACTO, in law, a term designating something as done after and
bearing upon something previously done; thus a law is said to be _ex post
facto_, or retrospective, when it is enacted to punish an offence committed
before the passing of the law.
EXPOSURE, the situation of a building, &c., with respect to sun and wind;
'aspect' with regard to the quarter of the heavens. A house facing
south-west or south-east will be found much healthier than one facing due
north; and as it is also warmer, less fuel will be required for heating
purposes.
EXPRESSED OILS, in chemistry, are those which are obtainable from bodies
only by pressing, to distinguish them from mineral and essential oils,
which last are, for the most part, obtained by distillation.
EXTENSION, (1) in physics and metaphysics, that property of a body in
virtue of which it occupies a portion of space. (2) In logic, _extension_
is the extent of the application of a general term, that is, the objects
collectively which are included under it; thus, the word figure is more
extensive than triangle, circle, or parallelogram; European more extensive
than French, Frenchman, German, &c. Matter and mind are the most extensive
terms of which any definite conception can be formed. Extension is
contrasted with _comprehension_ or _intension_.--Cf. Titchner, _Text-Book
of Psychology_.
EXTINCTEUR (eks-tan-t_eu_r), an apparatus for the extinction of fire,
consisting of a metallic case containing water and materials for generating
carbonic acid. When required, the materials are brought into contact by
pushing a rod which breaks a bottle containing acid, the gas mixes with the
water, and the pressure generated is sufficient to project the water
charged with the gas to a distance of 40 or 50 feet.
EX'TRACT, a term to denote all that can be dissolved out of a substance by
a specified menstruum, such as water, alcohol, ether, &c. In modern
pharmacy the term is applied to two kinds of preparation from vegetables.
One is got by digesting the plant in water or other solvent, and
evaporating or distilling away the excess of solvent until the extracted
matter is sufficiently inspissated. The other is got by bruising the plant
in a mortar, separating the juice, warming it until the green
colouring-matter separates, and filtering it off. The juice is next heated
until the albumen coagulates, and again filtered. The juice is now
evaporated to a syrup, the green colouring-matter added and well mixed, and
the evaporation is thereafter continued until the required concentration is
attained. Extracts must be capable of being redissolved, so as to form a
solution like that from which they were derived. Extracts are used in
cookery, medicine, and the manufacture of perfumery.--_Extract of Meat_
(_extractum carnis_) is a soft, yellowish-brown solid, or very thick syrup,
which is employed as a portable soup. It is now manufactured on the large
scale by processes proposed by Liebig.
EXTRADI'TION (Lat. _ex_, out, and _tradere_, to hand over), the act by
which a person accused of a crime is given up by the Government in whose
territories he has taken refuge to the Government of which he is a subject.
Conventions have been entered into by Britain with almost all civilized
countries for the apprehension and extradition of persons charged with
particular offences, especially those of the most heinous stamp, such as
murder, robbery, embezzlement, arson, rape, and piracy. The Extradition Act
of 1870 makes special provision that no criminal shall be surrendered for a
political offence, and that the criminal shall not be tried for any but the
crime for which he was demanded. Other British Extradition Acts are those
of 1873, 1895, and 1906. See _International Law_.--Cf. Sir E. Clarke, _The
Law of Extradition_.
EXTRAVAGAN'ZA, in music or the drama, a species of composition designed to
produce effect by its wild irregularity and incoherence; differing from a
burlesque in being an original composition and not a mere travesty.
EXTRAVASA'TION (Lat. _extra_, beyond, and _vas_, vessel), an escape of some
fluid, as blood or urine, from the vessel containing it. _Blood
extravasation_, in contusions and other accidents, is when blood-vessels
are ruptured by the injury, and the blood finds its way into the
neighbouring tissues. In some accidents to the urethra and bladder
extravasation of urine is a very serious occurrence.
EXTREME UNCTION has been, since an early period, one of the seven
sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. It is performed in cases of mortal
disease by anointing in the form of a cross, the eyes, ears, nose, mouth,
hands, feet, and reins (in the case of males). It is administered after
confession and the eucharist, and is believed to remove the last stains of
sin. It can only be administered by a bishop or priest, and is not applied
in the case of young children or excommunicated persons.
EXU'MA, GREAT and LITTLE, two of the Bahama Islands. The former is 30 miles
long and 3 miles wide, and has a good harbour. Pop. 3465.
EYALET ([=i]'a-let), a former administrative division of the Turkish
Empire, subdivided into sanjaks or provinces, and kazas or districts. It
was ruled by a pasha, and gave place to the vilayet on the reorganization
of the empire in 1871.
EYCK ([=i]k), Hubert and Jan van, brothers, famous painters of the old
Flemish school, born at Maaseyck, Hubert in 1366, Jan probably about 1385.
They lived first at Bruges, whence the younger brother is called John of
Bruges, and afterwards at Ghent, to which they removed about 1420. Here
they executed the celebrated _Adoration of the Lamb_ for the Cathedral of
Ghent; a painting which, in its different parts, contains above three
hundred figures, and is a masterpiece. It was in two horizontal divisions,
comprising ten panels, of which only the two central ones remain at Ghent,
the others being at Berlin. Hubert did not live to see it completed. He
died at Ghent (1426), as did also his sister Margaret, who was likewise a
painter (1431). Jan finished the work in 1432, and returned to Bruges,
where he remained till his death, which took place in 1441, and executed
several excellent pieces. His reputation became very great even during his
lifetime, by his share in the introduction of oil-painting; the original
invention of which has been incorrectly ascribed to him by many. Jan van
Eyck also introduced improvements in linear and aerial perspective, and in
painting upon glass. Three portraits by Jan van Eyck, _The Scholar_, _The
Man with a Turban_, and _Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife_, are in the
National Gallery, London; the _Madonna of the Chancellor Rollin_ is in the
Louvre.--Cf. W. H. J. Weale, _John and Hubert van Eyck_.
EYE, the organ of vision, is an instrument presenting some analogy to a
photographic camera. It is provided with a lens for focussing images upon a
sensitive membrane called the _retina_. The walls of the globe of the eye
are formed principally of two fibrous membranes: one white and opaque--the
_sclerotic_ (Gr. _skl[=e]ros_, hard)--which envelops two-thirds of the
globe posteriorly; and the other transparent, and resembling a horny plate,
whence its name, _cornea_ (Lat. _corneus_, horny). The sclerotic is a tough
fibrous coat, and is the part to which the phrase 'white of the eye' is
applied. In the front of the globe the sclerotic is abruptly transformed
into the transparent portion (the cornea), which is circular, and which
forms a window through which one can see into the interior. A membrane, the
_conjunctiva_, so named because it unites the eye to the lid, spreads over
the anterior portion of the globe, and then folds back on itself and lines
the internal surface of the eyelids. On the internal surface of the
sclerotic is a vascular membrane called the _choroid_. This is essentially
the blood-vessel coat of the eyeball. About the place where the sclerotic
passes into the cornea the choroid becomes continuous with the _iris_, a
round curtain, the structure seen through the cornea, differently coloured
in different individuals. In its centre is a round hole, the _pupil_, which
appears as if it were a black spot. The _iris_ forms a diaphragm suspended
in the space behind the cornea which is filled with clear fluid, the
_aqueous humour_. The _iris_ consists of a framework of connective tissue,
and its posterior surface is lined by cells containing pigment which gives
the colour to the eye. In its substance are bundles of involuntary muscular
fibres, arranged in a ring round the margin of the pupil. In a bright light
the circular fibres contract and the pupil is made smaller; but in the dark
these fibres relax and allow the pupil to dilate more or less widely, thus
allowing more luminous rays to enter the eye. Just behind the pupil is the
_crystalline lens_, resembling a small, very strongly magnifying glass,
convex on each side, though more so behind. Minute bands of muscle in the
choroid can alter the convexity of the lens, and thus adapt its focus to
the position of objects at different distances. The large space in the
globe of the eye that intervenes between the retina lining its inner
surface and the lens in front is occupied by a transparent jelly-like mass
called the _vitreous body_. The internal surface of the choroid, or rather
the pigmentary layer which covers it, is lined by the retina or nervous
tunic upon which the images of the objects that we see are focussed. The
retina is a very complex mechanism consisting of certain elements which are
stimulated by light, and others that transmit the effects of such
stimulation as a nervous current to the optic nerve which carries it to the
brain. It is composed of cones and cylinders or _rods_, joined together
like the stakes of a palisade, perpendicular to the plane of the membrane,
and forming by their free extremities a mosaic, each microscopic division
of which is about 0.0008 of a line in diameter according to Helmholtz, and
represents a section of a rod. These rods and cones are believed to be the
agents by whose aid the waves of light become transformed into the stimulus
of a sensation. The ocular globe is put in motion in the orbit by six
muscles, grouped two by two, which raise or lower the eye, turn it inward
or outward, or on its antero-posterior axis. In these movements the centre
of the globe is immovable, and the eye moves round its transverse and
vertical diameters. These three orders of movements are independent of each
other, and may be made singly or in combination, in such a manner as to
direct the pupil towards all points of the circumference of the orbit. Each
eye is furnished with two eyelids, moved by muscles, which shield it from
too much light and keep it from being injured. They are fringed with short,
fine hairs called eyelashes; and along the edge of the lids is a row of
glands similar to the sebaceous glands of the skin. The eyebrows, ridges of
thickened integument and muscle, situated on the upper circumference of the
orbit and covered with short hairs, also regulate to some extent the
admission of light by muscular contraction. In reptiles, some fishes
(sharks, &c.), in birds, and in some mammals a third eyelid or nictitating
membrane is present, and can be drawn over the surface of the eye so as to
clear it of foreign matters, and also to modify the light. The lachrymal
apparatus is composed of, firstly, the _lachrymal gland_, which lies in a
depression of the orbital arch; secondly, the _lachrymal canals_, by which
the tears are poured out upon the conjunctiva a little above the border of
the upper lid; thirdly, the _lachrymal ducts_, which are destined to
receive the tears after they have bathed the eye, and of which the orifices
or _lachrymal points_ are seen near the internal ends of the lids;
fourthly, the _lachrymal sac_, in which the lachrymal ducts terminate, that
empties the tears into the _nasal canal_. The tears, by running over the
surface of the conjunctiva, render it supple and facilitate the movements
of the globe and eyelids by lessening the friction. The influence of moral
or physical causes increases their secretion, and when the lachrymal ducts
do not suffice to carry them off they run over the lids.
[Illustration: Section of the Human Eye]
_Vision._--The retina renders the eye sensible of light, and we may
therefore consider it as the essential organ of vision. The function of the
other portions is to focus the luminous rays on the surface of the retina,
a condition necessary for distinct vision and the clear perception of
objects. The visual impressions are transmitted from the retina to the
brain by means of the optic nerve. The two optic nerves converge from the
eyes toward the centre of the base of the brain, where there is a partial
interlacement of their fibres in such a manner that a portion of the right
nerve goes to the left side of the brain, and a part of the left nerve to
the right side; this is called the _chiasma_ or _commissure_ of the optic
nerves. The principal advantage of having two eyes is in the estimation of
distance and the perception of relief. In order to see a point as single by
two eyes we must make its two images fall on corresponding points of the
retinas; and this implies a greater or less convergence of the optic axes
according as the object is nearer or more remote. To accommodate the eye to
different distances the lens is capable of altering itself with great
precision and rapidity. When we look at a near object, the anterior surface
of the lens bulges forward, becoming more convex the nearer the object; the
more distant the object the more the lens is flattened. When the
transparency of the cornea, the crystalline lens, or any of the contents of
the globe of the eye is destroyed, either partially or entirely, then will
partial or total blindness follow, since no image can be formed upon the
retina; but although all the media and the cornea be perfectly transparent,
and retain their proper forms, which likewise is necessary to distinct
vision, yet injury or inactivity of the optic nerve, or injury of the parts
of the brain with which it is connected, may produce disturbance of vision
or total blindness. Defective vision may also arise from the crystalline
lens being so convex as to form an image before the rays reach the retina
(a defect known as short sight or myopia), in which case distinct vision
will be procured by interposing a concave lens between the eye and the
object of such a curvature as shall cause the rays that pass through the
crystalline lens to meet on the retina; or the lens may be too flat, a
defect which is corrected by convex lenses. In old age, and in fact in most
people after about forty-five years of age, the elasticity of the lens
becomes reduced, and convex lenses become necessary to make it possible to
focus near objects. This condition is known as _presbyopia_. In the lower
organisms the organs of sight appear as mere pigment spots. In higher
forms, simple lenses or refracting bodies occur. Insects, crustaceans, &c.,
have large masses of simple eyes or ocelli aggregated together to form
compound eyes--the separate facets or lenses being optically distinct, and
sometimes numbering many thousands. In the cephalopods well-developed eyes
presenting a distant analogy in structure to those of the highest animals
are found; and in all vertebrate animals the organ of vision corresponds
generally to what has been described, though they vary much in structure
and adaptation to the surroundings of the animal.--Cf. J. Herbert Parsons,
_Diseases of the Eye_.
EYE ([=a]), a municipal borough, England, county Suffolk, 19 miles north of
Ipswich. Up till 1885 it sent a member to Parliament, and it still gives
its name to a parliamentary division of East Suffolk. Pop. 1781.
EYEBRIGHT (_Euphrasia officin[=a]lis_), a small plant belonging to the nat.
ord. Scrophulariaceae, which is common in Britain and most parts of Europe,
in North Asia, &c. It is an annual, half-parasitic on grass-roots, from 3
to 8 inches high, often much branched. The whole plant has a bitter taste.
Under the name of _euphrasy_ it formerly enjoyed a great reputation in
diseases of the eyes.
EYEMOUTH, a fishing-town of Berwickshire, Scotland, at the mouth of the
Eye, an important place in the thirteenth century. Pop. 2477.
EYE-PIECE, in a telescope, microscope, or other optical instrument, the
lens, or combination of lenses to which the eye is applied. As the use of a
single lens limits the field of view, eye-pieces are generally formed from
two lenses or lens systems, called the eye-lens and the field-lens, placed
at a distance apart. The Ramsden or positive eye-piece consists of two
lenses of equal focal length placed at a distance apart equal to two-thirds
of the focal length of either lens. The object looked at requires to be a
short distance in front of the field-lens. In the Huyghens or negative
eye-piece the focal lengths of the field- and eye-lenses are in the ratio 3
to 1, and the distance between the lenses is twice the focal length of the
eye-lens. As a result the image formed by, say, the objective of a
telescope is in focus when between the two lenses.
EYLAU ([=i]'lou), a small town, about 28 miles distant from Koenigsberg, in
Prussia, famous for a bloody battle fought between Napoleon and the allied
Russians and Prussians, on the 7th and 8th of Feb., 1807. Both sides
claimed the victory. The loss of the Allies was about 20,000 men, while
that of the French must have been considerably greater.
EYRE ([=a]r), Edward John, Australian explorer and colonial governor, born
in Yorkshire 1815, died in 1901. He went to Australia in 1833, in 1839
discovered Lake Torrens, and in 1840 explored its eastern shores and the
adjacent Flinders Range. He then commenced his perilous journey along the
shores of the Great Australian Bight, and reached King George's Sound, in
Western Australia, a distance of 1200 miles, with a single native boy,
having left Adelaide more than a year before. In 1845 he published
_Discoveries in Central Australia_. After filling several governorships, he
was appointed Governor of Jamaica in 1862. In 1865 he was confronted with a
negro rebellion, which he crushed with some severity, and was recalled. On
his return to England John Stuart Mill and other so-called humanitarians
took measures to try him for murder, but failed. Tennyson and Carlyle were
among his most strenuous defenders.
EYRE, LAKE, a large salt-water lake of South Australia. Area about 4000 sq.
miles, but it is subject to great fluctuations in size.
EZE'KIEL (Heb. _Yehezg[=e]l_, 'God shall strengthen'), the third of the
great prophets, a priest, and the son of Buzi. He was carried away when
young (about 599 B.C.) into the Babylonian captivity. His prophetic career
extended over a period of twenty-two years, from the fifth to the
twenty-seventh year of the captivity. The _Book of Ezekiel_ contains
predictions made before the fall of Jerusalem, 586 B.C. (chaps. i-xxiv);
prophecies against some of the neighbouring tribes (chaps. xxv-xxxii);
prophecies concerning the future of Israel (xxxiii-xxxix); and a series of
visions relating to the circumstances of the people after the restoration.
EZRA, a celebrated Jewish scribe and priest. Under his guidance the second
expedition of the Jews set out from Babylon to Palestine in the reign of
Artaxerxes I, about 458 B.C. The important services rendered by Ezra to his
countrymen on that occasion, and also in arranging, and in some measure, it
is believed, settling the canon of Scripture, are specially acknowledged by
the Jews, and he has even been regarded as the second founder of the
nation. Josephus states that he died in Jerusalem; others assert that he
returned to Babylon, and died there at the age of 120 years. _The Book of
Ezra_ contains an account of the favours bestowed upon the Jews by the
Persian monarchs, the rebuilding of the temple, Ezra's mission to
Jerusalem, and the various regulations and forms introduced by him. It is
written partly in Hebrew and partly in Chaldee; this has led some to
conclude that it is the work of different hands.
* * * * *
F
F, the sixth letter of the English alphabet, is a labio-dental
articulation, formed by the passage of breath between the lower lip and the
upper front teeth. It is classed as a surd spirant, its corresponding
sonant spirant being _v_, which is distinguished from _f_ by being
pronounced with voice instead of breath, as may be perceived by pronouncing
_ef, ev_. The figure of the letter F is the same as that of the ancient
Greek digamma, which it also closely resembles in power. As a mediaeval
Roman numeral F stands for 40, and with a bar above it, it is 40,000. F, in
music, is the fourth note of the diatonic scale.
FAAM-TEA, or FAHAM-TEA, a name given to the dried leaves of the _Angraecum
fragrans_, an orchid growing in the Mauritius and in India, and much prized
for the fragrance of its leaves, an infusion of which is used as a
stomachic and as an expectorant in pulmonary complaints.
FABER, Frederick William, D.D., a theologian and hymn-writer, the nephew of
George Stanley Faber, born at Durham in 1814, died 26th Sept., 1863. In
1845 he became a convert to Roman Catholicism, and founded the oratory of
St. Philip Neri, afterwards transferred to Brompton.
FABIAN SOCIETY, a Socialist organization, founded in 1888, whose object, as
defined by the basis which members are required to sign, is the
nationalization of all land and industrial capital for the benefit of the
whole community; this result to be attained, not by any violent upheaval,
but by educating the minds of the masses and gradually extending the
control of the State over the factors of production. Its policy, as
expounded in _Fabian Essays_ (1889) by a number of its early members, is
frankly opportunist, and contemplates the use of existing political
machinery and the acceptance of any measure of reform which will further
the ultimate aims of the society. The name is derived from that of the
Roman general, Quintus Fabius Maximus, known as Cunctator from the cautious
tactics by which he ultimately defeated Hannibal. Prominent members of the
society at different times have been Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, H. G.
Wells, and J. A. Hobson. The society has branches in Great Britain, the
Colonies, and America, and has issued a number of publications, notably
_Fabian Tracts_. A research department recently established has done useful
work. The growth of the labour movement has rather diminished the
importance of the society, and has led to some secessions from its ranks.
FABII (f[=a]'bi-[=i]), an ancient and renowned family of Rome, who, having
undertaken the duty of defending Roman territory against the incursions of
the Veientines, established themselves at a post on the River Cremera.
Being drawn into an ambush, they were killed to a man (477 B.C.). A boy who
happened to be left in Rome became the second founder of the family. Among
its celebrated members in aftertimes was Fabius Maximus, whose policy of
defensive warfare was so successful against Hannibal in the second Punic
War (218-201 B.C.); and Quintus Fabius Pictor, who lived about the same
time and wrote a history of Rome in Greek, thus being the earliest Roman
historian.
FABLE (Lat. _fabula_, narrative), in literature, a term applied originally
to every imaginative tale, but confined in modern use to short stories,
either in prose or verse, in which animals and sometimes inanimate things
are feigned to act and speak with human interests and passions for the
purpose of inculcating a moral lesson in a pleasant and pointed manner. The
fable consists properly of two parts--the symbolical representation and the
application, or the instruction intended to be deduced from it, which
latter is called the _moral_ of the tale, and must be apparent in the fable
itself. The oldest fables are supposed to be the Oriental; among these the
Indian fables of Pilpay or Bidpai, and the fables of the Arabian Lokman,
are celebrated. Amongst the Greeks, Aesop is the master of a simple but
very effective style of fable. The fables of Phaedrus are a second-rate
Latin version of those of Aesop. In modern times Gellert and Lessing among
the Germans, Gay among the English, the Spanish Yriarte, the Italian
Pignotti, and the Russian Ivan Krylov, are celebrated. The first place,
however, amongst modern fabulists belongs to the French writer La Fontaine.
R. L. Stevenson wrote a collection of fables.--Cf. Walter Jerrold, _The Big
Book of Fables_.
FABLIAUX (fab'li-[=o]; O.F. _fabliaus_, Lat. _fabella_, dim. of _fabula_,
story), in French literature, the short metrical tales of the Trouveres, or
early poets of the Langue d'Oil, composed for the most part in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. These productions were intended merely for
recitation, not for singing, and had as their principal subjects the
current gossip and news of the day, which were treated in a witty and
sarcastic way. The fabliaux lashed not only the clergy and nobility in
their degeneracy, but even mocked the religious chivalrous spirit, and the
religious and knightly doctrines and ceremonies.
FABRE, Jean Henri, French entomologist, born at Sainte-Leone, Aveyron, in
1823, died 11th Oct., 1915. The son of very poor parents, he received a
free education at Rodez, and then went to the normal school at Vaucluse,
and at the age of eighteen he began his career as teacher. He was in charge
of a primary school, and in his spare time studied mathematics and physics.
He subsequently became professor of physics at the College of Ajaccio, and
his interest in insects having in the meantime been aroused, he turned his
entire attention to entomological pursuits. His reputation as a naturalist
increased, and his work was praised by Darwin. He was particularly noted
for the remarkable patience with which he investigated the life-history of
insects, and for his minute and painstaking observations. His works first
appeared in the _Annales des sciences naturelles_ from 1855-8, and were
afterwards amplified in his _Souvenirs Entomologiques_ in 10 volumes,
published between 1878 and 1907. He was made a chevalier of the Legion of
Honour, and in 1912 the French Government granted him a pension. His works
were translated into English by A. Texeira de Mattos.
FABRIA'NO, an episcopal city of Italy, province of Ancona. Pop. 23,750.
FABRICIUS, Gaius (with the cognomen Luscinus), an ancient Roman, celebrated
on account of his fearlessness, integrity, moderation, and contempt of
riches. After having conquered the Samnites and Lucanians, and enriched his
country with the spoils, of which he alone took nothing, he was sent on an
embassy to Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, who tried in vain to corrupt him by
large presents. When consul in 279 B.C., Fabricius delivered up to Pyrrhus
his treacherous physician, who had offered to poison his royal master for a
sum of money. In gratitude for the service the king released the Roman
prisoners without ransom. In 275 B.C. Fabricius was chosen censor. He died
about 250 B.C.
FABRICIUS, Johann Albrecht, a German scholar, born at Leipzig in 1668, died
in 1736. He became professor of rhetoric and moral philosophy at Hamburg,
and published many learned works, amongst which are his _Bibliotheca
Latina_, _Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica_, and _Bibliotheca Antiquaria_.
FABRICIUS, Johann Christian, German entomologist, born 1743, died 3rd
March, 1808. After studying at Copenhagen, Leyden, Edinburgh, and under
Linnaeus at Upsala, he obtained the post of professor of natural history in
the University of Kiel. In 1755 appeared his _Systema Entomologiae_, which
gave to this science an entirely new form. In 1778 he published his
_Philosophia Entomologica_, written upon the plan of the well-known
_Philosophia Botanica_ of Linnaeus.
FACCIOLATI (f[.a]t-cho-lae't[=e]), Jacopo, Italian classical scholar, born
1682, died 1769; professor in the University of Padua. The most important
work with which he was connected was the _Tot[=i]us Latinit[=a]tis
Lexicon_, compiled by Forcellini under his direction and with his
co-operation.
FACE, the front part of the head, the seat of most of the sense-organs. The
bony basis of the face, exclusive of the thirty-two teeth (these not being
in the strict sense bones), is composed of fourteen bones, called, in
anatomy, the _bones of the face_. The anterior part of the brain-case
(frontal bone) also forms an important feature of the face. Of all these
bones the lower jaw only is movable, being articulated with the base of the
skull. The other bones are firmly joined together and incapable of motion.
In most mammals the jaws project much more than in men, and form the
prominent feature of the face, while the forehead recedes. See _Facial
Angle_.
FACE'TIAE, humorous sayings, witticisms, jests. There have been many
collections of such. Amongst the most notable are the _Asteia_ (Jests) of
Hierocles, an old Greek collection, the _Liber Facetiarum_ of Poggio
Bracciolini, and Joe Miller's _Jest-Book_.
FACIAL ANGLE, an angle of importance in the method of skull measurement
introduced by Camper, the Dutch anatomist, who sought to establish a
connection between the magnitude of this angle and the intelligence of
different animals and men, maintaining that it is always greater as the
intellectual powers are greater. Suppose a straight line drawn at the base
of the skull, posteriorly across the external orifice of the ear to the
bottom of the nose, and another straight line from the bottom of the nose,
or from the roots of the upper incisors, to the most prominent part of the
forehead, then both lines will form an angle which will be more or less
acute. In apes this angle is only from 45deg to 60deg; in the skull of a
negro, about 70deg; in a European, from 75deg to 85deg. In another mode of
drawing the lines the angle included between them varies in man from 90deg
to 120deg, and is more capable of comparison among vertebrate animals than
the angle of Camper. Though of some importance in the comparison of races,
this angle is fallacious as a test of individual capacity.
[Illustration: Facial Angle.