[1] _Digest_, xliii. 26. 12.
[2] _Ibid._ xliii. 26. 14, and cf. 17.
[3] Salvian, _De gub. Dei_, v. 8, ed. Halm, p. 62.
[4] H. Brunner, _Zeitschr. der sav. Stift. fur Rechtsgeschichte_,
Germ. Abth. viii. 1-38 (1887). Also in his Forschungen, 39-74 (1894).
[5] See F. Dahn, _Konige der Germanen_, viii. 2, 90 ff.
[6] F. Dahn, _Konige der Germanen_, viii. 2, 197.
[7] G. Waitz, _Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte_, vi. 112 ff. (1896).
Most fully described in G. Seeliger, _Die soziale u. politische
Bedeutung d. Grundherrschaft im fruheren Mittelalter_ (1903).
[8] F. Dahn, _Konige_, viii. 2, 89-90; 95.
FEUERBACH, ANSELM (1829-1880), German painter, born at Spires, the son
of a well-known archaeologist, was the leading classicist painter of the
German 19th-century school. He was the first to realize the danger
arising from contempt of technique, that mastery of craftsmanship was
needed to express even the loftiest ideas, and that an ill-drawn
coloured cartoon can never be the supreme achievement in art. After
having passed through the art schools of Dusseldorf and Munich, he went
to Antwerp and subsequently to Paris, where he benefited by the teaching
of Couture, and produced his first masterpiece, "Hafiz at the Fountain"
in 1852. He subsequently worked at Karlsruhe, Venice (where he fell
under the spell of the greatest school of colourists), Rome and Vienna.
He was steeped in classic knowledge, and his figure compositions have
the statuesque dignity and simplicity of Greek art. Disappointed with
the reception given in Vienna to his design of "The Fall of the Titans"
for the ceiling of the Museum of Modelling, he went to live in Venice,
where he died in 1880. His works are to be found at the leading public
galleries of Germany; Stuttgart has his "Iphigenia"; Karlsruhe, the
"Dante at Ravenna"; Munich, the "Medea"; and Berlin, "The Concert," his
last important picture. Among his chief works are also "The Battle of
the Amazons," "Pieta," "The Symposium of Plato," "Orpheus and Eurydice"
and "Ariosto in the Park of Ferrara."
FEUERBACH, LUDWIG ANDREAS (1804-1872), German philosopher, fourth son of
the eminent jurist (see below), was born at Landshut in Bavaria on the
28th of July 1804. He matriculated at Heidelberg with the intention of
pursuing an ecclesiastical career. Through the influence of Prof. Daub
he was led to an interest in the then predominant philosophy of Hegel
and, in spite of his father's opposition, went to Berlin to study under
the master himself. After two years' discipleship the Hegelian influence
began to slacken. "Theology," he wrote to a friend, "I can bring myself
to study no more. I long to take nature to my heart, that nature before
whose depth the faint-hearted theologian shrinks back; and with nature
man, man in his entire quality." These words are a key to Feuerbach's
development. He completed his education at Erlangen with the study of
natural science. His first book, published anonymously, _Gedanken uber
Tod und Unsterblichkeit_ (1830, 3rd ed. 1876), contains an attack upon
personal immortality and an advocacy of the Spinozistic immortality of
reabsorption in nature. These principles, combined with his embarrassed
manner of public speaking, debarred him from academic advancement. After
some years of struggling, during which he published his_ Geschichte der
neueren Philosophie_ (2 vols., 1833-1837, 2nd ed. 1844), and _Abalard
und Heloise_ (1834, 3rd ed. 1877), he married in 1837 and lived a rural
existence at Bruckberg near Nuremberg, supported by his wife's share in
a small porcelain factory. In two works of this period, _Pierre Bayle_
(1838) and _Philosophie und Christentum_ (1839), which deal largely with
theology, he held that he had proved "that Christianity has in fact long
vanished not only from the reason but from the life of mankind, that it
is nothing more than a fixed idea" in flagrant contradiction to the
distinctive features of contemporary civilization. This attack is
followed up in his most important work, _Das Wesen des Christentums_
(1841), which was translated into English (_The Essence of Religion_, by
George Eliot, 1853, 2nd ed. 1881), French and Russian. Its aim may be
described shortly as an effort to humanize theology. He lays it down
that man, so far as he is rational, is to himself his own object of
thought. Religion is consciousness of the infinite. Religion therefore
is "nothing else than the consciousness of the infinity of the
consciousness; or, in the consciousness of the infinite, the conscious
subject has for his object the infinity of his own nature." Thus God is
nothing else than man: he is, so to speak, the outward projection of
man's inward nature. In part 1 of his book he develops what he calls the
"true or anthropological essence of religion." Treating of God in his
various aspects "as a being of the understanding," "as a moral being or
law," "as love" and so on, Feuerbach shows that in every aspect God
corresponds to some feature or need of human nature. "If man is to find
contentment in God, he must find himself in God." In part 2 he discusses
the "false or theological essence of religion," i.e. the view which
regards God as having a separate existence over against man. Hence arise
various mistaken beliefs, such as the belief in revelation which not
only injures the moral sence, but also "poisons, nay destroys, the
divinest feeling in man, the sense of truth," and the belief in
sacraments such as the Lord's Supper, a piece of religious materialism
of which "the necessary consequences are superstition and immorality."
In spite of many admirable qualities both of style and matter the
_Essence of Christianity_ has never made much impression upon British
thought. To treat the actual forms of religion as expressions of our
various human needs is a fruitful idea which deserves fuller development
than it has yet received; but Feuerbach's treatment of it is fatally
vitiated by his subjectivism. Feuerbach denied that he was rightly
called an atheist, but the denial is merely verbal: what he calls
"theism" is atheism in the ordinary sense. Feuerbach labours under the
same difficulty as Fichte; both thinkers strive in vain to reconcile the
religious consciousness with subjectivism.
During the troubles of 1848-1849 Feuerbach's attack upon orthodoxy made
him something of a hero with the revolutionary party; but he never threw
himself into the political movement, and indeed had not the qualities of
a popular leader. During the period of the diet of Frankfort he had
given public lectures on religion at Heidelberg. When the diet closed he
withdrew to Bruckberg and occupied himself partly with scientific study,
partly with the composition of his _Theogonie_ (1857). In 1860 he was
compelled by the failure of the porcelain factory to leave Bruckberg,
and he would have suffered the extremity of want but for the assistance
of friends supplemented by a public subscription. His last book,
_Gottheit, Freiheit und Unsterblichkeit_, appeared in 1866 (2nd ed.,
1890). After a long period of decay he died on the 13th of September
1872.
Feuerbach's influence has been greatest upon the anti-Christian
theologians such as D.F. Strauss, the author of the _Leben Jesu_, and
Bruno Bauer, who like Feuerbach himself had passed over from Hegelianism
to a form of naturalism. But many of his ideas were taken up by those
who, like Arnold Ruge, had entered into the struggle between church and
state in Germany, and those who, like F. Engels and Karl Marx, were
leaders in the revolt of labour against the power of capital. His work
was too deliberately unsystematic ("keine Philosophie ist meine
Philosophie") ever to make him a power in philosophy. He expressed in an
eager, disjointed, but condensed and laboured fashion, certain
deep-lying convictions--that philosophy must come back from
unsubstantial metaphysics to the solid facts of human nature and natural
science, that the human body was no less important than the human spirit
("Der Mensch ist was er isst") and that Christianity was utterly out of
harmony with the age. His convictions gained weight from the simplicity,
uprightness and diligence of his character; but they need a more
effective justification than he was able to give them.
His works appeared in 10 vols. (Leipzig, 1846-1866); his
correspondence has been edited with an indifferent biography by Karl
Grun (1874). See A. Levy, _La Philosophie de Feuerbach_ (1904); M.
Meyer, _L. Feuerbach's Moralphilosophie_ (Berlin, 1899); E. v.
Hartmann, _Geschichte d. Metaphysik_ (Leipzig, 1899-1900), ii.
437-444: F. Engels, _L. Feuerbach und d. Ausgang d. class, deutsch.
Philos._ (2nd ed., 1895). (H. St.)
FEUERBACH, PAUL JOHANN ANSELM, RITTER VON (1775-1833), German jurist and
writer on criminal law, was born at Hainichen near Jena on the 14th of
November 1775. He received his early education at Frankfort on Main,
whither his family had removed soon after his birth. At the age of
sixteen, however, he ran away from home, and, going to Jena, was helped
by relations there to study at the university. In spite of poor health
and the most desperate poverty, he made rapid progress. He attended the
lectures of Karl Leonhard Reinhold and Gottlieb Hufeland, and soon
published some literary essays of more than ordinary merit. In 1795 he
took the degree of doctor in philosophy, and in the same year, though he
only possessed 150 thalers (L22: 10s.), he married. It was this step
which led him to success and fame, by forcing him to turn from his
favourite studies of philosophy and history to that of law, which was
repugnant to him, but which offered a prospect of more rapid
advancement. His success in this new and uncongenial sphere was soon
assured. In 1796 he published _Kritik des naturlichen Rechts als
Propadeutik zu einer Wissenschaft der naturlichen Rechte_, which was
followed, in 1798, by _Anti-Hobbes, oder uber die Grenzen der
burgerlichen Gewalt_, a dissertation on the limits of the civil power
and the right of resistance on the part of subjects against their
rulers, and by _Philosophische, juristische Untersuchungen uber das
Verbrechen des Hochverraths_. In 1799 he obtained the degree of doctor
of laws. Feuerbach, as the founder of a new theory of penal law, the
so-called "psychological-coercive or intimidation theory," occupied a
prominent place in the history of criminal science. His views, which he
first made known in his _Revision der Grundsatze und Grundbegriffe des
positiven peinlichen Rechts_ (1799), were further elucidated and
expounded in the _Bibliothek fur die peinliche Rechtswissenschaft_
(1800-1801), an encyclopaedic work produced in conjunction with Karl
L.W.G. Grolmann and Ludwig Harscher von Almendingen, and in his famous
_Lehrbuch des gemeinen in Deutschland geltenden peinlichen Rechts_
(1801). These works were a powerful protest against vindictive
punishment, and did much towards the reformation of the German criminal
law. The _Carolina_ (the penal code of the emperor Charles V.) had long
since ceased to be respected. What in 1532 was an inestimable blessing,
as a check upon the arbitrariness and violence of the effete German
procedure, had in the course of time outlived its usefulness and become
a source of evils similar to those it was enacted to combat. It availed
nothing that, at the commencement of the 18th century, a freer and more
scientific spirit had been breathed into Roman law; it failed to reach
the criminal law. The administration of justice was, before Feuerbach's
time, especially distinguished by two characteristics: the superiority
of the judge to all law, and the blending of the judicial and executive
offices, with the result that the individual was practically at the
mercy of his prosecutors. This state of things Feuerbach set himself to
reform, and using as his chief weapon the _Revision der Grundbegriffe_
above referred to, was successful in his task. His achievement in the
struggle may be summed up as: _nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege_ (no
wrong and no punishment without a remedy). In 1801 Feuerbach was
appointed extraordinary professor of law without salary, at the
university of Jena, and in the following year accepted a chair at Kiel,
where he remained two years. In 1804 he removed to the university of
Landshut; but on being commanded by King Maximilian Joseph to draft a
penal code for Bavaria (_Strafgesetzbuch fur das Konigreich Bayern_), he
removed in 1805 to Munich, where he was given a high appointment in the
ministry of justice and was ennobled in 1808. Meanwhile the practical
reform of penal legislation in Bavaria was begun under his influence in
1806 by the abolition of torture. In 1808 appeared the first volume of
his _Merkwurdige Criminalfalle_, completed in 1811--a work of deep
interest for its application of psychological considerations to cases Of
crime, and intended to illustrate the inevitable imperfection of human
laws in their application to individuals. In his _Betrachtungen uber das
Geschworenengericht_ (1811) Feuerbach declared against trial by jury,
maintaining that the verdict of a jury was not adequate legal proof of a
crime. Much controversy was aroused on the subject, and the author's
view was subsequently to some extent modified. The result of his labours
was promulgated in 1813 as the Bavarian penal code. The influence of
this code, the embodiment of Feuerbach's enlightened views, was immense.
It was at once made the basis for new codes in Wurttemberg and
Saxe-Weimar; it was adopted in its entirety in the grand-duchy of
Oldenburg; and it was translated into Swedish by order of the king.
Several of the Swiss cantons reformed their codes in conformity with it.
Feuerbach had also undertaken to prepare a civil code for Bavaria, to be
founded on the Code Napoleon. This was afterwards set aside, and the
Codex Maximilianus adopted as a basis. But the project did not become
law. During the war of liberation (1813-1814) Feuerbach showed himself
an ardent patriot, and published several political brochures which, from
the writer's position, had almost the weight of state manifestoes. One
of these is entitled _Uber deutsche Freiheit und Vertretung deutsche
Volker durch Landstande_ (1514). In 1814 Feuerbach was appointed second
president of the court of appeal at Bamberg, and three years later he
became first president of the court of appeal at Anspach. In 1821 he was
deputed by the government to visit France, Belgium, and the Rhine
provinces for the purpose of investigating their juridical institutions.
As the fruit of this visit, he published his treatises _Betrachtungen
uber Offentlichkeit und Mundigkeit der Gerechtigkeitspflege_ (1821) and
_Uber die Gerichtsverfassung und das gerichtliche Verfahren Frankreichs_
(1825). In these he pleaded unconditionally for publicity in all legal
proceedings. In his later years he took a deep interest in the fate of
the strange foundling Kaspar Hauser (q.v.), which had excited so much
attention in Europe; and he was the first to publish a critical summary
of the ascertained facts, under the title of _Kaspar Hauser, ein
Beispiel eines Verbrechens am Seelenleben_ (1832). Shortly before his
death appeared a collection of his _Kleine Schriften_ (1833). Feuerbach,
still in the full enjoyment of his intellectual powers, died suddenly at
Frankfort, while on his way to the baths of Schwalbach, on the 29th of
May 1833. In 1853 was published the _Leben und Wirken Ans. von
Feuerbachs_, 2 vols., consisting of a selection of his letters and
journals, with occasional notes by his fourth son Ludwig, the
distinguished philosopher.
See also, for an estimate of Feuerbach's life and work, Marquardtsen,
in _Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_, vol. vi.; and an "in memoriam"
notice in _Die allgemeine Zeitung_ (Augsburg), 15th Nov. 1875, by
Professor Dr Karl Binding of Leipzig University.
FEUILLANTS, CLUB OF THE, a political association which played a
prominent part during the French Revolution. It was founded on the 16th
of July 1791 by several members of the Jacobin Club, who refused to sign
a petition presented by this body, demanding the deposition of Louis
XVI. Among the dissident members were B. Barere; and E.J. Sieyes, who
were later joined by other politicians, among them being Dupont de
Nemours. The name of Feuillants was popularly given to this group of
men, because they met in the fine buildings which had been occupied by
the religious order bearing this name, in the rue Saint-Honore, near the
Place Vendome, in Paris. The members of the club preserved the title of
_Amis de la Constitution_, as being a sufficient indication of the line
they intended to pursue. This consisted in opposing everything not
contained in the Constitution; in their opinion, the latter was in need
of no modification, and they hated alike all those who were opposed to
it, whether _emigres_ or Jacobins; they affected to avoid all political
discussion, and called themselves merely a "conservative assembly."
This attitude they maintained after the Constituent Assembly had been
succeeded by the Legislative, but not many of the new deputies became
members of the club. With the rapid growth of extreme democratic ideas
the Feuillants soon began to be looked upon as reactionaries, and to be
classed with "aristocrats." They did, indeed, represent the aristocracy
of wealth, for they had to pay a subscription of four louis, a large sum
at that time, besides six livres for attendance. Moreover, the luxury
with which they surrounded themselves, and the restaurant which they had
annexed to their club, seemed to mock the misery of the half-starved
proletariat, and added to the suspicion with which they were viewed,
especially after the popular triumphs of the 20th of June and the 10th
of August 1792 (see FRENCH REVOLUTION). A few days after the
insurrection of the 10th of August, the papers of the Feuillants were
seized, and a list was published containing the names of 841 members
proclaimed as suspects. This was the death-blow of the club. It had made
an attempt, though a weak one, to oppose the forward march of the
Revolution, but, unlike the Jacobins, had never sent out branches into
the provinces. The name of Feuillants, as a party designation, survived
the club. It was applied to those who advocated a policy of "cowardly
moderation," and _feuillantisme_ was associated with _aristocratie_ in
the mouths of the sansculottes.
The act of separation of the Feuillants from the Jacobins was
published in a pamphlet dated the 16th of July 1791, beginning with
the words, _Les Membres de l'assemblee nationale_ ... (Paris, 1791).
The statutes of the club were also published in Paris. See also A.
Aulard, _Histoire politique de la Revolution francaise_ (Paris, 1903),
2nd ed., p. 153.
FEUILLET, OCTAVE (1821-1890), French novelist and dramatist, was born at
Saint-Lo, Manche, on the 11th of August 1821. He was the son of a Norman
gentleman of learning and distinction, who would have played a great
part in politics "sans ses diables de nerfs," as Guizot said. This
nervous excitability was inherited, though not to the same excess, by
Octave, whose mother died in his infancy and left him to the care of the
hyper-sensitive invalid. The boy was sent to the lycee Louis-le Grand,
in Paris, where he achieved high distinction, and was destined for the
diplomatic service. In 1840 he appeared before his father at Saint-Lo,
and announced that he had determined to adopt the profession of
literature. There was a stormy scene, and the elder Feuillet cut off his
son, who returned to Paris and lived as best he could by a scanty
journalism. In company with Paul Bocage he began to write for the stage,
and not without success; at all events, he continued to exist until,
three years after the quarrel, his father consented to forgive him.
Enjoying a liberal allowance, he now lived in Paris in comfort and
independence, and he published his early novels, none of which is quite
of sufficient value to retain the modern reader. The health and spirits
of the elder M. Feuillet, however, having still further declined, he
summoned his son to leave Paris and bury himself as his constant
attendant in the melancholy chateau at Saint-Lo. This was to demand a
great sacrifice, but Octave Feuillet cheerfully obeyed the summons. In
1851 he married his cousin, Mlle Valerie Feuillet, who helped him to
endure the mournful captivity to which his filial duty bound him.
Strangely enough, in this exile--rendered still more irksome by his
father's mania for solitude and by his tyrannical temper--the genius of
Octave Feuillet developed. His first definite success was gained in the
year 1852, when he published the novel _Bellah_ and produced the comedy
_La Crise_. Both were reprinted from the _Revue des deux mondes_, where
many of his later novels also appeared. He wrote books which have long
held their place, _La Petite Comtesse_ (1857), _Dalila_ (1857), and in
particular that universal favourite, _Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre_
(1858). He himself fell into a nervous state in his "prison," but he was
sustained by the devotion and intelligence of his wife and her mother.
In 1857, having been persuaded to make a play of the novel of _Dalila_,
he brought out this piece at the Vaudeville, and enjoyed a brilliant
success; on this occasion he positively broke through the _consigne_ and
went up to Paris to see his play rehearsed. His father bore the shock of
his temporary absence, and the following year Octave ventured to make
the same experiment on occasion of the performance of _Un Jeune Homme
pauvre_. To his infinite chagrin, during this brief absence his father
died. Octave was now, however, free, and the family immediately moved to
Paris, where they took part in the splendid social existence of the
Second Empire. The elegant and distinguished young novelist became a
favourite at court; his pieces were performed at Compiegne before they
were given to the public, and on one occasion the empress Eugenie
deigned to play the part of Mme de Pons in _Les Portraits de la
Marquise_. Feuillet did not abandon the novel, and in 1862 he achieved a
great success with _Sibylle_. His health, however, had by this time
begun to decline, affected by the sad death of his eldest son. He
determined to quit Paris, where the life was far too exciting for his
nerves, and to regain the quietude of Normandy. The old chateau of the
family had been sold, but he bought a house called "Les Paillers" in the
suburbs of Saint-Lo, and there he lived, buried in his roses, for
fifteen years. He was elected to the French Academy in 1862, and in 1868
he was made librarian of Fontainebleau palace, where he had to reside
for a month or two in each year. In 1867 he produced his masterpiece of
_Monsieur de Camors_, and in 1872 he wrote _Julia de Treoeur_, which is
hardly less admirable. His last years, after the sale of "Les Paillers,"
were passed in a ceaseless wandering, the result of the agitation of his
nerves. He was broken by sorrow and by ill-health, and when he passed
away in Paris on the 29th of December 1890, his death was a release. His
last book was _Honneur d'artiste_ (1890). Among the too-numerous
writings of Feuillet, the novels have lasted longer than the dramas; of
the former three or four seem destined to retain their charm as
classics. He holds a place midway between the romanticists and the
realists, with a distinguished and lucid portraiture of life which is
entirely his own. He drew the women of the world whom he saw around him
with dignity, with indulgence, with extraordinary penetration and
clairvoyance. There is little description in his novels, which sometimes
seem to move on an almost bare and colourless stage, but, on the other
hand, the analysis of motives, of emotions, and of "the fine shades" has
rarely been carried further. Few have written French with greater purity
than Feuillet, and his style, reserved in form and never excessive in
ornament, but full of wit and delicate animation, is in admirable
uniformity with his subjects and his treatment. It is probably in
_Sibylle_ and in _Julia de Trecoeur_ that he can now be studied to most
advantage, though _Monsieur de Camors_ gives a greater sense of power,
and though _Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre_ still preserves its
popularity.
See also Sainte-Beuve, _Nouveaux Lundis_, vol. v.; F. Brunetiere,
_Nouveaux Essais sur la litterature contemporaine_ (1895). (E. G.)
FEUILLETON (a diminutive of the Fr. _feuillet_, the leaf of a book),
originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of
French newspapers. Its inventor was Bertin the elder, editor of the
_Debats_. It was not usually printed on a separate sheet, but merely
separated from the political part of the newspaper by a line, and
printed in smaller type. In French newspapers it consists chiefly of
non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle
of the fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles; and
its general characteristics are lightness, grace and sparkle. The
_feuilleton_ in its French sense has never been adopted by English
newspapers, though in various modern journals (in the United States
especially) the sort of matter represented by it is now included. But
the term itself has come into English use to indicate the instalment of
a serial story printed in one part of a newspaper.
FEUQUIERES, ISAAC MANASSES DE PAS, MARQUIS DE (1590-1640), French
soldier, came of a distinguished family of which many members held high
command in the civil wars of the 16th century. He entered the Royal army
at the age of thirty, and soon achieved distinction. In 1626 he served
in the Valtelline, and in 1628-1629 at the celebrated siege of La
Rochelle, where he was taken prisoner. In 1629 he was made _Marechal de
Camp_, and served in the fighting on the southern frontiers of France.
After occupying various military positions in Lorraine, he was sent as
an ambassador into Germany, where he rendered important services in
negotiations with Wallenstein. In 1636 he commanded the French corps
operating with the duke of Weimar's forces (afterwards Turenne's "Army
of Weimar"). With these troops he served in the campaigns of 1637 (in
which he became lieutenant-general), 1638 and 1639. At the siege of
Thionville (Diedenhofen) he received a mortal wound. His _lettres
inedites_ appeared (ed. Gallois) in Paris in 1845.
His son ANTOINE MANASSES DE PAS, Marquis de Feuquieres (1648-1711), was
born at Paris in 1648, and entered the army at the age of eighteen. His
conduct at the siege of Lille in 1667, where he was wounded, won him
promotion to the rank of captain. In the campaigns of 1672 and 1673 he
served on the staff of Marshal Luxemburg, and at the siege of Oudenarde
in the following year the king gave him command of the Royal Marine
regiment, which he held until he obtained a regiment of his own in 1676.
In 1688 he served as a brigadier at the siege of Philipsburg, and
afterwards led a ravaging expedition into south Germany, where he
acquired much booty. Promoted _Marechal de Camp_, he served under
Catinat against the Waldenses, and in the course of the war won the
nickname of the "Wizard." In 1692 he made a brilliant defence of
Speierbach against greatly superior forces, and was rewarded with the
rank of lieutenant-general. He bore a distinguished part in Luxemburg's
great victory of Neerwinden or Landen in 1693. Marshal Villeroi
impressed him less favourably than his old commander Luxemburg, and the
resumption of war in 1701 found him in disfavour in consequence. The
rest of his life, embittered by the refusal of the marshal's baton, he
spent in compiling his celebrated memoirs, which, coloured as they were
by the personal animosities of the writer, were yet considered by
Frederick the Great and the soldiers of the 18th century as the standard
work on the art of war as a whole. He died in 1711. The _Memoires sur la
guerre_ appeared in the same year and new editions were frequently
published (Paris 1711, 1725, 1735, &c., London 1736, Amsterdam
subsequently). An English version appeared in London 1737, under the
title _Memoirs of the Marquis de Feuquieres_, and a German translation
(_Feuquieres geheime Nachrichten_) at Leipzig 1732, 1738, and Berlin
1786. They deal in detail with every branch of the art of war and of
military service.
FEVAL, PAUL HENRI CORENTIN (1817-1887), French novelist and dramatist,
was born on the 27th of September 1817, at Rennes in Brittany, and much
of his best work deals with the history of his native province. He was
educated for the bar, but after his first brief he went to Paris, where
he gained a footing by the publication of his "Club des phoques" (1841)
in the _Revue de Paris_. The _Mysteres de Londres_ (1844), in which an
Irishman tries to avenge the wrongs of his countrymen by seeking the
annihilation of England, was published under the ingenious pseudonym
"Sir Francis Trolopp." Others of his novels are: _Le Fils du diable_
(1846); _Les Compagnons du silence_ (1857); _Le Bossu_ (1858); _Le
Poisson d'or_ (1863); _Les Habits noirs_ (1863); _Jean le diable_
(1868), and _Les Compagnons du tresor_ (1872). Some of his novels were
dramatized, _Le Bossu_ (1863), in which he had M. Victorien Sardou for a
collaborator, being especially successful in dramatic form. His
chronicles of crime exercised an evil influence, eventually recognized
by the author himself. In his later years he became an ardent Catholic,
and occupied himself in revising his earlier works from his new
standpoint and in writing religious pamphlets. Reverses of fortune and
consequent overwork undermined his mental and bodily health, and he died
of paralysis in the monastery of the Brothers of Saint John in Paris on
the 8th of March 1887.
His son, PAUL FEVAL (1860- ), became well known as a novelist and
dramatist. Among his works are _Nouvelles_ (1890), _Maria Laura_ (1891),
and _Chantepie_ (1896).
FEVER (Lat. _febris_, connected with _fervere_, to burn), a term
generally used to include all conditions in which the normal temperature
of the animal body is markedly exceeded for any length of time. When the
temperature reaches as high a point as 106 deg. F. the term hyperpyrexia
(excessive fever) is applied, and is regarded as indicating a condition
of danger; while, if it exceeds 107 deg. or 108 deg. for any length of
time, death almost always results. The diseases which are called
specific fevers, because of its being a predominant factor in them, are
discussed separately under their ordinary names. Occasionally in certain
specific fevers and febrile diseases the temperature may attain the
elevation of 110 deg.-112 deg. prior to the fatal issue. For the
treatment of fever in general, see THERAPEUTICS.
_Pathology._--Every rise of temperature is due to a disturbance in the
heat-regulating mechanism, the chief variable in which is the action of
the skin in eliminating heat (see ANIMAL HEAT). Although for all
practical purposes this mechanism works satisfactorily, it is not by any
means perfect, and many physiological conditions cause a transient rise
of temperature; e.g. severe muscular exercise, in which the cutaneous
eliminating mechanism is unable at once to dispose of the increased
amount of heat produced in the muscles. Pathologically, the
heat-regulating mechanism may be disturbed in three different ways: 1st,
by mechanical interference with the nervous system; 2nd, by interference
with heat elimination; 3rd, by the action of various poisons.
1. In the human subject, fever the result of _mechanical interference_
with the nervous system rarely occurs, but it can readily be produced in
the lower animals by stimulating certain parts of the great brain, e.g.
the anterior portion of the corpus striatum. This leads to a rise of
temperature with increased heat production. The high temperature seems
to cause disintegration of cell protoplasm and increased excretion of
nitrogen and of carbonic acid. Possibly some of the cases of high
temperature recorded after injuries to the nervous system may be caused
in this way; but some may also be due to stimulation of vaso-constrictor
fibres to the cutaneous vessels diminishing heat elimination. So far the
pathology of this condition has not been studied with the same care that
has been devoted to the investigation of the third type of fever.
2. Fever may readily be produced by _interference with heat
elimination_. This has been done by submitting dogs to a temperature
slightly below that of the rectum, and it is seen in man in _Sunstroke_.
The typical nervous symptoms of fever are thus produced, and the rate of
chemical change in the tissues is accelerated, as is shown by the
increased excretion of carbonic acid. The protoplasm is also injured and
the proteids are broken down, and thus an increased excretion of
nitrogen is produced and the cells undergo degenerative changes.
3. The products of various micro-organisms have a toxic action on the
protoplasm of a large number of animals, and among the symptoms of this
toxic action one of the most frequent is a rise in temperature. While
this is by no means a necessary accompaniment, its occurrence is so
general that the term _Fever_ has been applied to the general reaction
of the organism to the microbial poison. Toxins which cause a marked
rise of temperature in men may cause a fall in other animals. It is not
the alteration of temperature which is the great index of the severity
of the struggle between the host and the parasite, but the death and
removal to a greater or lesser extent of the protoplasm of the host. In
this respect fever resembles poisoning with phosphorus and arsenic and
other similar substances. The true measure of the intensity of a fever
is the extent of disintegration of protoplasm, and this may be estimated
by the amount of nitrogen excreted in the urine. The increased
disintegration of protoplasm is also indicated by the rise in the
excretion of sulphur and phosphorus and by the appearance in the urine
of acetone, aceto-acetic and [beta]-oxybutyric acids (see NUTRITION).
Since the temperature is generally proportionate to the intensity of the
toxic action, its height is usually proportionate to the excretion of
nitrogen. But sometimes the rise of temperature is not marked, while the
excretion of nitrogen is very decidedly increased. When the temperature
is sufficiently elevated, the heat has of itself an injurious action on
the protoplasm, and tends to increase disintegration just as when heat
elimination is experimentally retarded. But the increase due to rise of
temperature is small compared to that produced by the destructive action
of the microbial products. In the beginning of a fever the activity of
the metabolism is not increased to any marked extent, and any increase
is necessarily largely due to the greater activity of the muscles of the
heart and respiratory mechanism, and to the muscular contractions which
produce the initial rigors. Thus the excretion of carbon dioxide--the
great measure of the _activity of metabolism_--is not usually increased,
and there is no evidence of an increased combustion. In the later stages
the increased temperature may bring about an acceleration in the rate of
chemical change; but this is comparatively slight, less in fact than the
increase observed on taking muscular exercise after rest. The _rise of
temperature_ is primarily due to diminished heat elimination. This
diminished giving off of heat was demonstrated by means of the
calorimeter by I. Rosenthal, while E. Maragliano showed that the
cutaneous vessels are contracted. Even in the later stages, until
defervescence occurs, heat elimination is inadequate to get rid of the
heat produced.
The toxic action is manifested not only by the increased disintegration
of protoplasm, but also by disturbances in the functions of the various
organs. The activity of the _digestive glands_ is diminished and
appetite is lost. Food is therefore not taken, although when taken it
appears to be absorbed in undiminished quantities. As a result of this
the patient suffers from inanition, and lives largely on his own fats
and proteids, and for this reason rapidly emaciates. The functions of
the _liver_ are also diminished in activity. Glycogen is not stored in
the cells, and the bile secretion is modified, the essential
constituents disappearing almost entirely in some cases. The production
of urea is also interfered with, and the proportion of nitrogen in the
urine not in the urea increases. This is in part due to the increased
disintegration of proteids setting free sulphur and phosphorus, which,
oxidized into sulphuric and phosphoric acids, combine with the ammonia
which would otherwise have been changed to urea. Thus the proportion of
ammonia in the urine is increased. Concurrently with these alterations
in the functions of the liver-cells, a condition of granular
degeneration and probably a state of fatty degeneration makes its
appearance. That the functional activity of the _kidneys_ is modified,
is shown by the frequent appearance of proteoses or of albumen and
globulin in the urine. Frequently the toxin acts very markedly on the
protoplasm of the kidney epithelium, and causes a shedding of the cells
and sometimes inflammatory reaction. The _muscles_ are weakened, but so
far no satisfactory study has been made of the influence of microbial
poisons on muscular contraction. A granular and fatty degeneration
supervenes, and the fibres waste. The _nervous structures_, especially
the nerve-cells, are acted upon, and not only is their functional
activity modified, but they also undergo structural changes of a
chromatolytic nature. The _blood_ shows two important changes--first, a
fall in the alkalinity due to the products of disintegration of
protoplasm; and, secondly, an increase in the number of leucocytes, and
chiefly in the polymorpho-nuclear variety. This is best marked in
pneumonia, where the normal number is often increased twofold and
sometimes more than tenfold, while it is altogether absent in enteric
fever.
An interesting general modification in the metabolism is the enormous
fall in the excretion of chlorine, a fall far in excess of what could be
accounted for by inanition, and out of all proportion to the fall in the
sodium and potassium with which the chlorine is usually combined in the
urine. The fevered animal in fact stores chlorine in its tissues, though
in what manner and for what reason is not at present known.
AUTHORITIES.--Von Noorden, L_ehrbuch der Pathologie des Stoffwechsels_
(Berlin, 1893); _Metabolism and Practical Medicine_, vol. ii., article
"Fever" by F. Kraus (1907); Dr A. Rabe, _Die modernen Fiebertheorien_
(Berlin, 1894); Dr G.B. Ughetti, _Das Fieber_, trans. by Dr R.
Teuscher (Jena, 1895); Dr M. Lovit, "Die Lehre von Fieber,"
_Vorlesungen uber allgemeine Pathologie_, erstes Heft (Jena, 1897);
Louis Guinon, "De la fievre," in Bouchard's _Traite de pathologie
generale_, t. iii. 2nd partie (Paris, 1899); Sir J.B. Sanderson, "The
Doctrine of Fever," in Allbutt's _System of Medicine_, vol. i. p. 139
(London, 1896). (D. N. P.)
FEYDEAU, ERNEST-AIME (1821-1873), French author, was born in Paris, on
the 16th of March 1821. He began his literary career in 1844, by the
publication of a volume of poetry, _Les Nationales_. Either the partial
failure of this literary effort, or his marriage soon afterwards to a
daughter of the economist Blanqui, caused him to devote himself to
finance and to archaeology. He gained a great success with his novel
_Fanny_ (1858), a success due chiefly to the cleverness with which it
depicted and excused the corrupt manners of a certain portion of French
society. This was followed in rapid succession by a series of fictions,
similar in character, but wanting the attraction of novelty; none of
them enjoyed the same vogue as _Fanny_. Besides his novels Feydeau wrote
several plays, and he is also the author of _Histoire generale des
usages funebres et des sepultures des peuples anciens_ (3 vols.,
1857-1861); _Le Secret du bonheur_ (sketches of Algerian life) (2 vols.,
1864); and _L'Allemagne en 1871_ (1872), a clever caricature of German
life and manners. He died in Paris on the 27th of October 1873.
See Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. xiv., and Barbey
d'Aurevilly, _Les Oeuvres et les hommes au XIX^e siecle_.
FEZ (_Fas_), the chief city of Morocco, into which empire it was
incorporated in 1548. It lies in 34 deg. 6' 3" N., 4 deg. 38' 15" W.,
about 230 m. N.E. of Marrakesh, 100 m. E. from the Atlantic and 85 m. S.
of the Mediterranean. It is beautifully situated in a deep valley on the
Wad Fas, an affluent of the Wad Sebu, which divides the town into two
parts--the ancient town, Fas el Bali, on the right bank, and the new,
Fas el Jadid, on the left.
Like many other Oriental cities, Fez from a distance appears a very
attractive place. It stretches out between low hills, crowned by the
ruins of ancient fortresses, and though there is nothing imposing,
there is something particularly impressive in the sight of that
white-roofed conglomeration of habitations, broken only by occasional
mosque towers or, on the outskirts, by luxuriant foliage. Except on the
south side the city is surrounded by hills, interspersed with groves of
orange, pomegranate and other fruit trees, and large olive gardens.
From its peculiar situation Fez has a drainage superior to that of most
Moorish towns. When the town becomes very dirty, the water is allowed to
run down the streets by opening lids for the purpose in the conduits and
closing the ordinary exits, so that it overflows and cleanses the
pavements. The Fasis as a rule prefer to drink the muddy river water
rather than that of the pure springs which abound in certain quarters of
the town. But the assertion that the supply and drainage system are one
is a libel, since the drainage system lies below the level of the fresh
river water, and was organized by a French renegade, under Mohammed
XVI., about the close of the 18th century. The general dampness of the
town renders it unhealthy, however, as the pallid faces of the
inhabitants betoken, but this is considered a mark of distinction and is
jealously guarded.
Most of the streets are exceedingly narrow, and as the houses are high
and built in many cases over the thoroughfares these are often very dark
and gloomy, though, since wooden beams, rough stones and mortar are used
in building, there is less of that ruined, half-decayed appearance so
common in other Moorish towns where mud concrete is the material
employed.
As a commercial town Fez is a great depot for the trade of Barbary and
wares brought from the east and south by caravans. The manufactures
still carried on are those of yellow slippers of the famous Morocco
leather, fine white woollen and silk haiks, of which it is justly proud,
women's embroidered sashes, various coarse woollen cloths and blankets,
cotton and silk handkerchiefs, silk cords and braids, swords and guns,
saddlery, brass trays, Moorish musical instruments, rude painted pottery
and coloured tiles. Until recent times the city had a monopoly of the
manufacture of Fez caps, for it was supposed that the dye which imparts
the dull crimson hue of these caps could not be procured elsewhere; they
are now, however, made both in France and Turkey. The dye is obtained
from the juice of a berry which grows in large quantities near the town,
and is also used in the dyeing of leather. Some gold ornaments are made,
the gold being brought from the interior by caravans which trade
regularly with Timbuktu.
As in other capitals each trade has a district or street devoted chiefly
to its activities. Old Fez is the business portion of the town, new Fez
being occupied principally by government quarters and the Jews' mellah.
The tradesman usually sits cross-legged in a corner of his shop with his
goods so arranged that he can reach most of them without moving.
In the early days of Mahommedan rule in Morocco, Fez was the seat of
learning and the empire's pride. Its schools of religion, philosophy and
astronomy enjoyed a great reputation in Africa and also in southern
Europe, and were even attended by Christians. On the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain, refugees of all kinds flocked to Fez, and brought with
them some knowledge of arts, sciences and manufactures, and thither
flocked students to make use of its extensive libraries. But its glories
were brief, and though still "the university town" of Morocco, it
retains but a shadow of its greatness. Its library, estimated by Gerhard
Rohlfs in 1861 to contain 5000 volumes, is open on Fridays, and any Moor
of known respectability may borrow volumes on getting an order and
signing a receipt for them. There are about 1500 students who read at
the Karueein. They pay no rents, but buy the keys of the rooms from the
last occupants, selling them again on leaving.
The Karueein is celebrated as the largest mosque in Africa, but it is by
no means the most magnificent. On account of the vast area covered, the
roof, supported by three hundred and sixty-six pillars of stone, appears
very low. The side chapel for services for the dead contains twenty-four
pillars. All these columns support horse-shoe arches, on which the roof
is built, long vistas of arches being seen from each of the eighteen
doors of the mosque. The large lamp is stated to weigh 1763 lb. and to
have 509 lights, but it is very seldom lit. The total number of lights
in the Karueein is given as seventeen hundred, and they are said to
require 3-1/2 cwt. of oil for one filling. The mosque of Mulai Idris,
built by the founder of Fez about the year 810, is considered so sacred
that the streets which approach its entrance are forbidden to Jews,
Christians or four-footed beasts. The sanctity of the shrine in
particular is esteemed very great, and this accounts for the crowds
which daily flock to it. The Tumiat door leading to it was once very
fine, but is now much faded. Opposite to it is a refuge for friendless
sharifas--the female descendants of Mahomet--built by Mohammed XVII.
It is believed that the foundation stone of Fez was laid in 808 by Idris
II. Since then its history has been chequered, as it was successfully
besieged no fewer than eight times in the first five hundred years of
its existence, yet only once knew foreign masters, when in 1554 the
Turks took possession of it without a siege and held it for a short
time. Fez became the chief residence of the Filali dynasty, who obtained
possession of the town in 1649 (see further MOROCCO: _History_).
The population has been very varyingly estimated; probably the
inhabitants number under one hundred thousand, even when the court is in
residence.
See H. Gaillard, _Une Ville de l'Islam. Fes_ (Paris, 1905); C.
Rene-Leclerc, "Le commerce et l'industrie a Fez" in _Renseignements
col. comite afrique francaise_ (1905).
FEZZAN (the ancient _Phazania_, or country of the Garamantes), a region
of the Sahara, forming a "kaimakamlik" of the Ottoman vilayet of Tripoli
(q.v.). Its frontiers, ill-defined, run from Bonjem, within 50 m. of the
Mediterranean on the north, south-westward to the Akakus range of hills,
which separates Fezzan from Ghat, thence eastward for over 400 m., and
then turn north and west to Bonjem again, embracing an area of about
156,000 sq. m.
_Physical Features._--The general form of the country is determined by
the ranges of hills, including the Jebel-es-Suda (highest peak about
4000 ft.), the Haruj-el-Aswad and the Haruj-el-Abiad, which between 14
deg. and 19 deg. E. and 27 deg. and 29 deg. N. form the northern edge of
a broad desert plateau, and shut off the northern region draining to the
Mediterranean from the depressions in which lie the oases of Fezzan
proper in the south. The central depression of Hofra ("ditch"), as it is
called, lies in about 26 deg. N. It does not form a continuous fertile
tract, but consists of a monotonous sandy expanse somewhat more thickly
studded with oases than the surrounding wastes. The Hofra at its lowest
part is not more than 600 ft. above the sea-level, and in this hollow is
situated the capital Murzuk. It has a general east to west direction.
North-west of the Hofra is a long narrow valley, the Wadi-el-Gharbi,
which trends north-east and is the most fertile district of Fezzan. It
contains several perennial springs and lake-like basins. One of these
basins, the saline Bahr-el-Dud ("Sea of Worms"), has an extent of 600
sq. m., and is in places 26 ft. deep. Southwards the Hofra rises to a
height of 2000 ft., and in this direction lies the oasis of Gatron,
followed by Tejerri on the verge of the desert, which marks the southern
limit of the date and the northern of the dum palm. Beyond Tejerri the
Saharan plateau rises continuously to the Tibesti highlands. (See
further TRIPOLI.)
_Climate._--The average temperature of Murzuk was found by Rohlfs to be
70 deg. F. Frost is not uncommon in the winter months. The climate is a
very regular one, and is in general healthy, the dryness of the air in
summer making the heat more bearable than on the sea coast. An almost
perpetual blue sky overhangs the desert, and the people of Fezzan are so
unaccustomed to and so ill-prepared for wet weather that, as in Tuat and
Tidikelt, they pray to be spared from rain. Water is found almost
everywhere at small depths.
_Flora and Fauna._--The date-palm is the characteristic tree of Fezzan,
and constitutes the chief wealth of the land. Many different kinds of
date-palms are found in the oases: in that of Murzuk alone more than 30
varieties are counted, the most esteemed being named the Tillis, Tuati
and Auregh. In all Fezzan the date is the staple food, not only for men,
but for camels, horses and dogs. Even the stones of the fruit are
softened and given to the cattle. The huts of the poorer classes are
entirely made of date-palm leaves, and the more substantial habitations
consist chiefly of the same material. The produce of the tree is small,
100 full-grown trees yielding only about 40 cwt. of dates. Besides the
date there are numerous olive, fig and almond trees. Various grains are
cultivated. Wheat and barley are sown in winter, and in spring, summer
and autumn several kinds of durra, especially ksob and gafoli. Cotton
flourishes, is perennial for six or seven years, and gives large pods of
moderate length of staple.
There are no large carnivora in Fezzan. In the uninhabited oases
gazelles and antelopes are occasionally found. The most important animal
is the camel, of which there are two varieties, the Tebu or Sudan camel
and the Arabian, differing very much in size, form and capabilities.
Horses and cattle are not numerous. Among birds are ostriches, falcons,
vultures, swallows and ravens; in summer wild pigeons and ducks are
numerous, but in winter they seek a warmer climate. There are no
remarkable insects or snakes. A species of _Artemia_ or brine shrimp,
about a quarter of an inch in length, of a colour resembling the bright
hue of the gold fish, is fished for with cotton nets in the "Sea of
Worms," and mixed with dates and kneaded into a paste, which has the
taste and smell of salt herring, is considered a luxury by the people of
Fezzan.
_Inhabitants._--The total population is estimated at between 50,000 and
80,000. The inhabitants are a mixed people, derived from the surrounding
Teda and Bornu on the south, Tuareg of the plateaus on the west, Berbers
and Arabs from the north. The primitive inhabitants, called by their
Arab conquerors Berauna, are believed to have been of Negro origin. They
no longer persist as a distinct people. In colour the present
inhabitants vary from black to white, but the prevailing hue of skin is
a Malay-like yellow, the features and woolly hair being Negro. The chief
languages are the Kanuri or Bornu language and Arabic. Many understand
Targish, the Teda and the Hausa tongues. If among such a mixed people
there can be said to be any national language, it is that of Bornu,
which is most widely understood and spoken. The people of Sokna, north
of the Jebel-es-Suda, have a peculiar Berber dialect which Rohlfs found
to be very closely allied to that of Ghadames. The men wear a haik or
barakan like those of Tripoli, and a fez; short hose, and a large loose
shirt called mansaria, with red or yellow slippers, complete their
toilet. Yet one often sees the large blue or white _tobe_ of Bornu, and
the _litham_ or shawl-muffler of the Tuareg, wound round the mouth to
keep out the blown sand of the desert. The women, who so long as they
are young have very plump forms, and who are generally small, are more
simply dressed, as a rule, in the barakan, wound round their bodies;
they seldom wear shoes, but generally have sandals made of palm leaf.
Like the Arab women they load arms and legs with heavy metal rings,
which are of silver among the more wealthy. The hair, thickly greased
with butter, soon catching the dust which forms a crust over it, is done
up in numberless little plaits round the head, in the same fashion as in
Bornu and the Hausa countries. Children run about naked until they
attain the age of puberty, which comes very early, for mothers of ten or
twelve years of age are not uncommon. The Fezzani are of a gay
disposition, much given to music and dancing.
_Towns and Trade._--Murzuk, the present capital, which is in telegraphic
communication with the town of Tripoli, lies in the western corner of
the Hofra depression, in 25 deg. 55' N. and 14 deg. 10' E. It was
founded about 1310, about which time the _kasbah_ or citadel was built.
The Turks repaired it, as well as the town-wall, which has, however,
again fallen into a ruinous condition. Murzuk, which had in 1906 some
3000 inhabitants, is cut in two by a wide street, the _dendal_. The
citadel and most of the houses are built of salt-saturated dried mud.
Sokna, about midway between Tripoli and Murzuk, situated on a great
gravel plain north of the Suda range, has a population of about 2500.
Garama (Jerma-el-Kedima), the capital under the Garamantes and the
Romans, was in the Wadi-el-Gharbi. It was a flourishing town at the time
of the Arab conquest but is now deserted. Among the ruins is a
well-preserved stone monument marking the southern limit of the Roman
dominions in this part of Africa. The modern Jerma is a small place a
little north of the site of Garama. Zuila, the capital under the Arabs,
lies in a depression called the Sherguia east of Murzuk on the most
direct caravan route to Barca and Egypt. Of Traghen, the capital under
the Nesur dynasty, which was on the same caravan route and between Zuila
and Murzuk, little besides the ruined kasbah remains.
Placed roughly midway between the countries of the central Sudan and
Tripoli, Fezzan serves as a depot for caravans crossing the Sahara; its
commerce is unimportant. Its most important export is that of dates.
Slave dealing, formerly the most lucrative occupation of the people, is
moribund owing to the stoppage of slave raiding by the European
governments in their Sudan territories.
_History._--The country formed part of the territory of the Garamantes,
described by Herodotus as a very powerful people. Attempts have been
made to identify the Garamantes with the Berauna of the Arabs of the 7th
century, and to the period of the Garamantes Duveyrier assigns the
remains of remarkable hydraulic works, and certain tombs and rock
sculptures--indications, it is held, of a Negro civilization of ancient
date which existed in the northern Sahara. The Garamantes, whether of
Libyan or Negro origin, had certainly a considerable degree of
civilization when in the year 19 B.C. they were conquered by the
proconsul L. Cornelius Balbus Minor and their country added to the Roman
empire. By the Romans it was called Phazania, whence the present name
Fezzan. After the Vandal invasion Phazania appears to have regained
independence and to have been ruled by a Berauna dynasty. At this time
the people were Christians, but in 666 the Arabs conquered the country
and all traces of Christianity seem speedily to have disappeared.
Subject at first to the caliphs, an independent Arab dynasty, that of
the Beni Khattab, obtained power early in the 10th century. In the 13th
century the country came under the rule of the king of Kanem (Bornu),
but soon afterwards the Nesur, said to have been a native or Berauna
dynasty, were in power. More probably the Nesur were hereditary
governors originally appointed by the rulers of Kanem. In the 14th
century the Nesur were conquered and dethroned by an Arab tribe, that of
Khorman, who reduced the people of Fezzan to a state of slavery, a
position from which they were rescued about the middle of the 16th
century by a sherif of Morocco, Montasir-b.-Mahommed, who founded the
dynasty of Beni Mahommed. This dynasty, which came into frequent
conflict with the Turks, who had about the same time that Montasir
secured Fezzan established themselves in Tripoli, gradually extended its
borders as far as Sokna in the north. It was the Beni Mahommed who chose
Murzuk as their capital. They became intermittently tributary to the
pasha of Tripoli, but within Fezzan the power of the sultans was
absolute. They maintained a body-guard of mamelukes, mostly
Europeans--Greeks, Genoese, or their immediate descendants. The annual
tribute was paid to the pasha either in money or in gold, senna or
slaves. The last of the Beni Mahommed sultans was killed in the vicinity
of Traghen in 1811 by El-Mukkeni, one of the lieutenants of Yusef Pasha,
the last sovereign but one of the independent Karamanli dynasty of
Tripoli. El-Mukkeni now made himself sultan of Fezzan, and became
notorious by his slaving expeditions into the central Sudan, in which he
advanced as far as Bagirmi. In 1831, Abd-el-Jelil, a chief of the
Walid-Sliman Arabs, usurped the sovereign authority. After a troublous
reign of ten years he was slain in battle by a Turkish force under Bakir
Bey, and Fezzan was added to the Turkish empire. Towards the end of the
19th century the Turks, alarmed at the increase of French influence in
the neighbouring countries, reinforced their garrison in Fezzan. The
kaimakamlik is said to yield an annual revenue of L6000 only to the
Tripolitan treasury.
AUTHORITIES.--The most notable of the European travellers who have
visited Fezzan, and to whose works reference should be made for more
detailed information regarding it, are, taking them in the order of
date, as follows: F. Hornemann, 1798; G.F. Lyon, 1819; D. Denham, H.
Clapperton and W. Oudney, 1822; J. Richardson, 1845; H. Barth,
1850-1855; E. Vogel, 1854; H. Duveyrier, 1859-1861; M. von Beurmann,
1862; G. Rohlfs, 1865; G. Nachtigal, 1869; P.L. Monteil, 1892; H.
Vischer, 1906. Nachtigal's _Sahara and Sudan_, vol. i. (Berlin, 1879),
gathers up much of the information in earlier works, and a list of the
Beni Mahommed sovereigns is given in A.M.H.J. Stokvis, _Manuel
d'histoire_, vol. i. (Leiden, 1888), p. 471. Miss Tinne (q.v.), who
travelled with Nachtigal as far as Murzuk, was shortly afterwards
murdered at the Sharaba wells on the road to Ghat.
FIACRE, SAINT (Celt. _Fiachra_), an anchorite of the 7th century, of
noble Irish descent. We have no information concerning his life in his
native country. His _Acta_, which have scarcely any historical value,
relate that he left Ireland, and came to France with his companions. He
approached St Faro, the bishop of Meaux, to whom he made known his
desire to live a life of solitude in the forest. St Faro assigned him a
spot called Prodilus (Brodolium), the modern Breuil, in the province of
Brie. There St Fiacre built a monastery in honour of the Holy Virgin,
and to it added a small house for guests, to which he himself withdrew.
Here he received St Chillen (? Killian), who was returning from a
pilgrimage to Rome, and here he remained until his death, having
acquired a great reputation for miracles. His remains rested for a long
time in the place which he had sanctified. In 1568, at the time of the
religious troubles, they were transferred to the cathedral of Meaux,
where his shrine may still be seen in the sacristy. Various relics of St
Fiacre were given to princes and great personages. His festival is
celebrated on the 30th of August. He is the patron of Brie, and
gardeners invoke him as their protector. French hackney-coaches received
the name of _fiacre_ from the Hotel St Fiacre, in the rue St Martin,
Paris, where one Sauvage, who was the first to provide cabs for hire,
kept his vehicles.
See _Acta Sanctorum_, Augusti vi. 598-620; J. O'Hanlon, _Lives of the
Irish Saints_, viii. 421-447 (Dublin, 1875-1904); J.C. O'Meagher,
"Saint Fiacre de la Brie," in _Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy_, 3rd series, ii. 173-176. (H. De.)
FIARS PRICES, in the law of Scotland, the average prices of each of the
different sorts of grain grown in each county, as fixed annually by the
sheriff, usually after the verdict of a jury; they serve as a rule for
ascertaining the value of the grain due to feudal superiors, to the
clergy or to lay proprietors of teinds, to landlords as a part or the
whole of their rents and in all cases where the price of grain has not
been fixed by the parties. It is not known when or how the practice of
"striking the fiars," as it is called, originated. It probably was first
used to determine the value of the grain rents and duties payable to the
crown. In confirmation of this view it seems that at first the duty of
the sheriffs was merely to make a return to the court of exchequer of
the prices of grain within their counties, the court itself striking the
fiars; and from an old case it appears that the fiars were struck above
the true prices, being regarded rather as punishments to force the
king's tenants to pay their rents than as the proper equivalent of the
grain they had to pay. Co-existent, however, with these fiars, which
were termed sheriffs' fiars, there was at an early period another class
called commissaries' fiars, by which the values of teinds were
regulated. They have been traced back to the Reformation, and were under
the management of the commissary or consistorial courts, which then took
the place of the bishops and their officials. They have now been long
out of use, but they were perhaps of greater antiquity than the
sheriffs' fiars, and the model upon which these were instituted. In 1723
the court of session passed an Act of Sederunt for the purpose of
regulating the procedure in fiars courts. Down to that date the practice
of striking the fiars was by no means universal over Scotland; and even
in those counties into which it had been introduced, there was, as the
preamble of the act puts it, "a general complaint that the said fiars
are struck and given out by the sheriffs without due care and inquiry
into the current and just prices." The act in consequence provided that
all sheriffs should summon annually, between the 4th and the 20th of
February, a competent number of persons, living in the shire, of
experience in the prices of grain within its bounds, and that from these
they should choose a jury of fifteen, of whom at least eight were to be
heritors; that witnesses and other evidence as to the price of grain
grown in the county, especially since the 1st of November preceding
until the day of inquiry, were to be brought before the jury, who might
also proceed on "their own proper knowledge"; that the verdict was to be
returned and the sentence of the sheriff pronounced by the 1st of March;
and further, where custom or expediency recommended it, the sheriff was
empowered to fix fiars of different values according to the different
qualities of the grain. It cannot be said that this act has remedied all
the evils of which it complained. The propriety of some of its
provisions has been questioned, and the competency of the court to pass
it has been doubted, even by the court itself. Its authority has been
entirely disregarded in one county--Haddingtonshire--where the fiars are
struck by the sheriff alone, without a jury; and when this practice was
called in question the court declined to interfere, observing that the
fiars were better struck in Haddingtonshire than anywhere else. The
other sheriffs have in the main followed the act, but with much variety
of detail, and in many instances on principles the least calculated to
reach the true average prices. Thus in some counties the averages are
taken on the number of transactions, without regard to the quantities
sold. In one case, in 1838, the evidence was so carelessly collected
that the second or inferior barley fiars were 2s. 4d. higher than the
first. Formerly the price was struck by the boll, commonly the
Linlithgowshire boll; now the imperial quarter is always used.
The origin of the plural word fiars (feors, feers, fiers) is
uncertain. Jamieson, in his _Dictionary_, says that it comes from the
Icelandic _fe_, wealth; Paterson derives it from an old French word
_feur_, an average; others connect it with the Latin _forum_ (i.e.
market). The _New English Dictionary_ accepts the two latter
connexions. On the general subject of fiars prices see Paterson's
_Historical Account of the Fiars in Scotland_ (Edin., 1852); Connell,
_On Tithes_; Hunter's _Landlord and Tenant_.
FIBRES (or FIBERS, in American spelling; from Lat. _fibra_, apparently
connected either with _filum_, thread, or _findere_, to split), the
general term for certain structural components of animal and vegetable
tissue utilized in manufactures, and in respect of such uses, divided
for the sake of classification into textile, papermaking, brush and
miscellaneous fibres.
I. _Textile Fibres_ are mostly products of the organic world, elaborated
in their elongated form to subserve protective functions in animal life
(as wool and epidermal hairs, &c.) or as structural components of
vegetable tissues (flax, hemp and wood cells). It may be noted that the
inorganic world provides an exception to this general statement in the
fibrous mineral asbestos (q.v.), which is spun or twisted into coarse
textiles. Other silicates are also transformed by artificial processes
into fibrous forms, such as "glass," which is fused and drawn or spun to
a continuous fibre, and various "slags" which, in the fused state, are
transformed into "slag wool." Lastly, we note that a number of metals
are drawn down to the finest dimensions, in continuous lengths, and
these are woven into cloth or gauze, such metallic cloths finding
valuable applications in the arts. Certain metals in the form of fine
wire are woven into textile fabrics used as dress materials. Such
exceptional applications are of insignificant importance, and will not
be further considered in this article.
The common characteristics of the various forms of matter comprised in
the widely diversified groups of textile fibres are those of the
colloids. Colloidal matter is intrinsically devoid of structure, and in
the mass may be regarded as homogeneous; whereas crystalline matter in
its proximate forms assumes definite and specific shapes which express a
complex of internal stresses. The properties of matter which condition
its adaptation to structural functions, first as a constituent of a
living individual, and afterwards as a textile fibre, are homogeneous
continuity of substance, with a high degree of interior cohesion, and
associated with an irreducible minimum of elasticity or extensibility.
The colloids show an infinite diversity of variations in these essential
properties: certain of them, and notably cellulose (q.v.), maintain
these characteristics throughout a cycle of transformations such as
permit of their being brought into a soluble plastic form, in which
condition they may be drawn into filaments in continuous length. The
artificial silks or lustra-celluloses are produced in this way, and have
already taken an established position as staple textiles. For a more
detailed account of these products see CELLULOSE.
The animal fibres are composed of nitrogenous colloids of which the
typical representatives are the albumens, fibrines and gelatines. They
are of highly complex constitution and their characteristics have only
been generally investigated. The vegetable fibre substances are
celluloses and derivatives of celluloses, also typically colloidal
bodies. The broad distinction between the two groups is chiefly evident
in their relationship to alkalis. The former group are attacked,
resolved and finally dissolved, under conditions of action by no means
severe. The celluloses, on the other hand, and therefore the vegetable
fibres, are extraordinarily resistant to the action of alkalis.
The animal fibres are relatively few in number but of great industrial
importance. They occur as detached units and are of varying dimensions;
sheep's wool having lengths up to 36 in., the fleeces being shorn for
textile uses at lengths of 2 to 16 in.; horse hair is used in lengths of
4 to 24 in., whereas the silks may be considered as being produced in
continuous length, "reeled silks" having lengths measured in hundreds of
yards, but "spun silks" are composed of silk fibres purposely broken up
into short lengths.
The vegetable fibres are extremely numerous and of very diversified
characteristics. They are individualized units only in the case of seed
hairs, of which cotton is by far the most important; with this exception
they are elaborated as more or less complex aggregates. The bast tissues
of dicotyledonous annuals furnish such staple materials as flax, hemp,
rhea or ramie and jute. The bast occurs in a peripheral zone, external
to the wood and beneath the cortex, and is mechanically separated from
the stem, usually after steeping, followed by drying.
The commercial forms of these fibres are elongated filaments composed of
the elementary bast cells (ultimate fibres) aggregated into bundles. The
number of these as any part of the filament may vary from 3 to 20 (see
figs.). In the processes of refinement preparatory to the spinning
(hackling, scutching) and in the spinning process itself, the
fibre-bundles are more or less subdivided, and the divisibility of the
bundles is an element in the textile value of the raw material. But the
value of the material is rather determined by the length of the ultimate
fibres (for, although not the spinning unit, the tensile strength of the
yarn is ultimately limited by the cohesion of these fibres), qualified
by the important factor of uniformity.
Thus, the ultimate fibre of flax has a length of 25 to 35 mm.; jute, on
the other hand, 2 to 3 mm.; and this disparity is an essential condition
of the difference of values of these fibres. Rhea or ramie, to cite
another typical instance, has an ultimate fibre of extraordinary length,
but of equally conspicuous variability, viz. from 50 to 200 mm. The
variability is a serious impediment in the preparation of the material
for spinning and this defect, together with low drawing or spinning
quality, limits the applications of this fibre to the lower counts or
grades of yarn.
The monocotyledons yield still more complex fibre aggregates, which are
the fibro-vascular bundles of leaves and stems. These complex structures
as a class do not yield to the mechanical treatment by which the bast
fibres are subdivided, nor is there any true spinning quality such as is
conditioned by bringing the ultimate fibres into play under the drawing
process, which immediately precedes the twisting into yarn. Such
materials are therefore only used for the coarsest textiles, such as
string or rope. An exception to be noted in passing is to be found in
the pine apple (_Ananassa Sativa_) the fibres of which are worked into
yarns and cloth of the finest quality. The more important fibres of this
class are manila, sisal, phormium. A heterogeneous mass of still more
complex fibre aggregates, in many cases the entire stem (cereal straws,
esparto), in addition to being used in plaited form, e.g. in hats,
chairs, mats, constitute the staple raw material for paper
manufacturers, requiring a severe chemical treatment for the separation
of the ultimate fibres.
In this class we must include the woods which furnish wood pulps of
various classes and grades. Chemical processes of two types, (a) acid
and (b) alkaline, are also employed in resolving the wood, and the
resolution not only effects a complete isolation of the wood cells, but,
by attacking the hydrolysable constituents of the wood substance
(lignocellulose), the cells are obtained in the form of cellulose. These
cellulose pulps are known in commerce as "sulphite pulps" and "soda
pulps" respectively. In addition to these raw materials or "half stuffs"
the paper-maker employs the rejecta of the vegetable and textile
industries, scutching, spinning and cloth wastes of all kinds, which are
treated by chemical (boiling) and mechanical means (beating) to separate
the ultimate fibres and reduce them to the suitable dimensions (0.5-2.0
mm.). These papermaking fibres have also to be reckoned with as textile
raw materials, in view of a new and growing industry in "pulp yarns"
(_Papierstoffgarn_), a coarse textile obtained by treating paper as
delivered in narrow strips from the paper machine; the strips are
reeled, dried to retain 30-40% moisture, and in this condition subjected
to the twisting operation, which confers the cylindrical form and adds
considerably to the strength of the fibrous strip. The following are the
essential characteristics of the economically important fibres.
_Animal._--A. Silk. (a) The true silks are produced by the _Bombyx
Mori_, the worm feeding on the leaves of the mulberry. The fibre is
extruded as a viscous liquid from the glands of the worm, and solidifies
to a cylindrical thread. The cohesion of these threads in pairs gives to
raw silk the form of a dual cylinder (Plate I. fig. 2). For textile
purposes the thread is reeled from the cocoon, and several units, five
and upwards, are brought together and suitably twisted. (b) The "Wild"
silks are produced by a large variety of insects, of which the most
important are the various species of Antherea, which yield the Tussore
silks. These silks differ in form and composition from the true silks.
While they consist of a "dual" thread, each unit of these is complex,
being made up of a number of fibrillae. This unit thread is quadrangular
in section, and of larger diameter than the true silk, the mean breadth
being 0.052 mm., as compared with 0.018, the mean diameter of the true
silks. The variations in structure as well as in dimensions are,
however, very considerable.
B. Epidermal hairs. Of these (a) wool, the epidermal protective covering
of sheep, is the most important. The varying species of the animal
produce wools of characteristic qualities, varying considerably in
fineness, in length of staple, in composition and in spinning quality.
Hence the classing of the fleeces or raw wool followed by the elaborate
processes of selection, i.e. "sorting" and preparation, which precede
the actual spinning or twisting of the yarn. These consist in entirely
freeing the fibres and sorting them mechanically (combing, &c.),
thereafter forming them into continuous lengths of parallelized units.
This is followed by the spinning process which consists in a
simultaneous drawing and twisting, and a continuous production of the
yarn with the structural characteristics of worsted yarns. The shorter
staple--from 5 to 25% of average fleeces--is prepared by the "carding"
process for the spinning operation, in which drawing and twisting are
simultaneous, the length spun being then wound up, and the process being
consequently intermittent. This section of the industry is known as
"woollen spinning" in contrast to the former or "_worsted_ spinning."
(b) An important group of raw material closely allied to the wools are
the epidermal hairs of the Angora goat (mohair), the llama, alpaca.
Owing to their form and the nature of the substance of which they are
composed, they possess more lustre than the wools. They present
structural differences from sheep wools which influence the processes by
which they are prepared or spun, and the character of the yarns; but the
differences are only of subordinate moment.
[Illustration: PLATE I.
FIG. 1.--RAW SILK. _Bombyx mori_. Filament of bave, viewed in length.
X 110.
FIG. 2.--RAW SILK. _Bombyx mori_. Single fibres in transverse section
showing each fibre or "bave" as dual cylinder. X 235.
FIG. 3.--ARTIFICIAL "SILK." Lustra-cellulose viscose process, single
fibres in transverse section X 235. Normal type--polygon of 5
sides--with concave sides due to contact of the component units of
textile filament.
FIG. 4.--WOOL FIBRES. Australian merino viewed in length, X 235.
Surface imbrications--the structural cause of true felting properties.
FIG. 5.--FLAX STEM. _Linum usitatissimum_. Transverse section of stem,
X 235, showing bast fibres occupying central zone.
FIG. 6.--RAMIE. Section of bast region, X 235. Showing bast fibres
bundles but only slightly occurring as individuals.]
[Illustration: PLATE II.
FIG. 7.--JUTE. Bast bundles. Section of bast region, X 235, showing
agglomerated bundles of bast fibre, each bundle representing a
spinning unit or filament.
FIG. 8.--MAIZE STEM. _Zea mais_. Fibro-vascular bundle in section. X
110, typical of monocotyledonous structure.
FIG. 9.--COTTON. FLAX. RAMIE. JUTE. Ultimate fibres in the length, X
110. Portions selected to show typical structural characteristics.
FIG. 10.--COTTON. FLAX. RAMIE. JUTE. Ultimate fibres--transverse
section, X 110. Note similarity of ramie to cotton and jute to flax.
FIG. 11.--ESPARTO. Cellulose. Ultimate fibres of paper making pulp.
Typical fusiform bast fibres. X 65.
FIG. 12.--SECTION OF HAND-MADE PAPER. X 110. Ultimate component fibres
disposed in every plane.]
(c) Various animal hairs, such as those of the cow, camel and rabbit,
are also employed; the latter is largely worked into the class of
fabrics known as felts. In these the hairs are compacted together by
taking advantage of the peculiarity of structure which causes the
imbrications of the surface.
(d) Horse hair is employed in its natural form as an individual filament
or monofil.[1]
_Vegetable Fibres._--The subjoined scheme of classification sets out the
morphological structural characteristics of the vegetable fibres:--