3. Ripe capsule split open.]

The foxglove, probably from folks'-glove, that is fairies' glove, is

known by a great variety of popular names in Britain. In the south of

Scotland it is called bloody fingers; farther north, dead-men's-bells;

and on the eastern borders, ladies' thimbles, wild mercury and Scotch

mercury. In Ireland it is generally known under the name of fairy

thimble. Among its Welsh synonyms are _menyg-ellyllon_ (elves' gloves),

_menyg y llwynog_ (fox's gloves), _bysedd cochion_ (redfingers) and

_bysedd y cwn_ (dog's fingers). In France its designations are _gants de

notre dame_ and _doigts de la Vierge_. The German name _Fingerhut_

(thimble) suggested to Fuchs, in 1542, the employment of the Latin

adjective _digitalis_ as a designation for the plant. Other species of

foxglove or _Digitalis_ although found in botanical collections are not

generally grown. For medicinal uses see DIGITALIS.

FOX INDIANS, the name, from one of their clans, of an Algonquian tribe,

whose former range was central Wisconsin. They call themselves

Muskwakiuk, "red earth people." Owing to heavy losses in their wars with

the Ojibways and the French, they allied themselves with the Sauk tribe

about 1780, the two tribes being now practically one.

FOX MORCILLO, SEBASTIAN (1526?-1559?), Spanish scholar and philosopher,

was born at Seville between 1526 and 1528. About 1548 he studied at

Louvain, and, following the example of the Spanish Jew, Judas Abarbanel,

published commentaries on Plato and Aristotle in which he endeavoured to

reconcile their teaching. In 1559 he was appointed tutor to Don Carlos,

son of Philip II., but did not live to take up the duties of the post,

as he was lost at sea on his way to Spain. His most original work is the

_De imitatione, seu de informandi styli ratione libri II_. (1554), a

dialogue in which the author and his brother take part under the

pseudonyms of Gaspar and Francisco Enuesia. Among Fox Morcillo's other

publications are: (1) _In Topica Ciceronis paraphrasis et scholia_

(1550); (2) _In Platonis Timaeum commentarii_ (1554); (3) _Compendium

ethices philosophiae ex Platone, Aristotele, aliisque philosophis

collectum_; (4) _De historiae institutione dialogus_ (1557), and (5) _De

naturae philosophia_.

He is the subject of an excellent monograph by Urbano Gonzalez de

Calle, _Sebastián Fox Morcillo: estudio histórico-crítico de sus

doctrinas_ (Madrid, 1903).

FOY, MAXIMILIEN SÉBASTIEN (1775-1825), French general and statesman, was

born at Ham in Picardy on the 3rd of February 1775. He was the son of an

old soldier who had fought at Fontenoy and had become post-master of the

town in which he lived. His father died in 1780, and his early

instruction was given by his mother, a woman of English origin and of

superior ability. He continued his education at the college of

Soissons, and thence passed at the age of fifteen to the artillery

school of La Fère. After eighteen months' successful study he entered

the army, served his first campaign in Flanders (1791-92), and was

present at the battle of Jemmapes. He soon attained the rank of captain,

and served successively under Dampierre, Jourdan, Pichegru and Houchard.

In 1794, in consequence of having spoken freely against the violence of

the extreme party at Paris, he was imprisoned by order of the

commissioner of the Convention, Joseph Lebon, at Cambray, but regained

his liberty soon after the fall of Robespierre. He served under Moreau

in the campaigns of 1796 and 1797, distinguishing himself in many

engagements. The leisure which the treaty of Campo Formio gave him he

devoted to the study of public law and modern history, attending the

lectures of Christoph Wilhelm von Koch (1737-1813), the famous professor

of public law at Strassburg. He was recommended by Desaix to the notice

of General Bonaparte, but declined to serve on the staff of the Egyptian

expedition. In the campaign of Switzerland (1798) he distinguished

himself afresh, though he served only with the greatest reluctance

against a people which possessed republican institutions. In Masséna's

brilliant campaign of 1799 Foy won the rank of _chef de brigade_. In the

following year he served under Moncey in the Marengo campaign and

afterwards in Tirol.

Foy's republican principles caused him to oppose the gradual rise of

Napoleon to the supreme power and at the time of Moreau's trial he

escaped arrest only by joining the army in Holland. Foy voted against

the establishment of the empire, but the only penalty for his

independence was a long delay before attaining the rank of general. In

1806 he married a daughter of General Baraguay d'Hilliers. In the

following year he was sent to Constantinople, and there took part in the

defence of the Dardanelles against the English fleet. He was next sent

to Portugal, and thenceforward he served in the Peninsular War from

first to last. Under Junot he won at last his rank of general of

brigade, under Soult he held a command in the pursuit of Sir John

Moore's army, and under Masséna he fought in the third invasion of

Portugal (1810). Masséna reposed the greatest confidence in Foy, and

employed him after Busaco in a mission to the emperor. Napoleon now made

Foy's acquaintance for the first time, and was so far impressed with his

merits as to make him a general of division at once. The part played by

General Foy at the battle of Salamanca won him new laurels, but above

all he distinguished himself when the disaster of Vittoria had broken

the spirit of the army. Foy rose to the occasion; his resistance in the

Pyrenees was steady and successful, and only a wound (at first thought

mortal) which he received at Orthez prevented him from keeping the field

to the last. At the first restoration of the Bourbons he received the

grand cross of the Legion of Honour and a command, and on the return of

Napoleon from Elba he declined to join him until the king had fled from

the country. He held a divisional command in the Waterloo campaign, and

at Waterloo was again severely wounded at the head of his division (see

WATERLOO CAMPAIGN). After the second restoration he returned to civil

life, devoting his energies for a time to his projected history of the

Peninsular War, and in 1819 was elected to the chamber of deputies. For

this position his experience and his studies had especially fitted him,

and by his first speech he gained a commanding place in the chamber,

which he never lost, his clear, manly eloquence being always employed on

the side of the liberal principles of 1789. In 1823 he made a powerful

protest against French intervention in Spain, and after the dissolution

of 1824 he was re-elected for three constituencies. He died at Paris on

the 28th of November 1825, and his funeral was attended, it is said, by

100,000 persons. His early death was regarded by all as a national

calamity. His family was provided for by a general subscription.

The _Histoire de la guerre de la Péninsula sous Napoléon_ was

published from his notes in 1827, and a collection of his speeches

(with memoir by Tissot) appeared in 1826 soon after his death. See

Cuisin, _Vie militaire, politique, &c., du général Foy_; Vidal, _Vie

militaire et politique du général Foy_.

FRAAS, KARL NIKOLAS (1810-1875), German botanist and agriculturist, was

born at Rattelsdorf, near Bamberg, on the 8th of September 1810. After

receiving his preliminary education at the gymnasium of Bamberg, he in

1830 entered the university of Munich, where he took his doctor's degree

in 1834. Having devoted great attention to the study of botany, he went

to Athens in 1835 as inspector of the court garden; and in April 1836 he

became professor of botany at the university. In 1842 he returned to

Germany and became teacher at the central agricultural school at

Schleissheim. In 1847 he was appointed professor of agriculture at

Munich, and in 1851 director of the central veterinary college. For many

years he was secretary of the Agricultural Society of Bavaria, but

resigned in 1861. He died at his estate of Neufreimann, near Munich, on

the 9th of November 1875.

His principal works are: [Greek: Stoicheia tês Botanikês] (Athens,

1835); _Synopsis florae classicae_ (Munich, 1845); _Klima und

Pflanzenwelt in der Zeit_ (Landsh., 1847); _Histor.-encyklopäd.

Grundriss der Landwirthschaftslehre_ (Stuttgart, 1848); _Geschichte

der Landwirthschaft_ (Prague, 1851); _Die Schule des Landbaues_

(Munich, 1852); _Baierns Rinderrassen_ (Munich, 1853); _Die künstliche

Fischerzeugung_ (Munich, 1854); _Die Natur der Landwirthschaft_

(Munich, 1857); _Buch der Natur für Landwirthe_ (Munich, 1860); _Die

Ackerbaukrisen und ihre Heilmittel_ (Munich, 1866); _Das Wurzelleben

der Culturpflanzen_ (Berlin, 1872); and _Geschichte der Landbau und

Forstwissenschaft seit dem 16^ten Jahrh._ (Munich, 1865). He also

founded and edited a weekly agricultural paper, the _Schranne_.

FRACASTORO [FRACASTORIUS], GIROLAMO [HIERONYMUS] (1483-1553), Italian

physician and poet, was born at Verona in 1483. It is related of him

that at his birth his lips adhered so closely that a surgeon was obliged

to divide them with his incision knife, and that during his infancy his

mother was killed by lightning, while he, though in her arms at the

moment, escaped unhurt. Fracastoro became eminently skilled, not only in

medicine and belles-lettres, but in most arts and sciences. He studied

at Padua, and became professor of philosophy there in 1502, afterwards

practising as a physician in Verona. It was by his advice that Pope Paul

III., on account of the prevalence of a contagious distemper, removed

the council of Trent to Bologna. He was the author of many works, both

poetical and medical, and was intimately acquainted with Cardinal Bembo,

Julius Scaliger, Gianbattista Ramusio (q.v.), and most of the great men

of his time. In 1517, when the builders of the citadel of San Felice

(Verona) found fossil mussels in the rocks, Fracastoro was consulted

about the marvel, and he took the same view--following Leonardo da

Vinci, but very advanced for those days--that they were the remains of

animals once capable of living in the locality. He died of apoplexy at

Casi, near Verona, on the 8th of August 1553; and in 1559 the town of

Verona erected a statue in his honour.

The principal work of Fracastoro is a kind of medical poem entitled

_Syphilidis, sive Morbi Gallici, libri tres_ (Verona, 1530), which has

been often reprinted and also translated into French and Italian.

Among his other works (all published at Venice) are _De vini

temperatura_ (1534); _Homocentricorum_ (1535); _De sympatha et

antipathia rerum_ (1546); and _De contagionibus_ (1546). His complete

works were published at Venice in 1555, and his poetical productions

were collected and printed at Padua in 1728.

FRAGONARD, JEAN-HONORÉ (1732-1806), French painter, was born at Grasse,

the son of a glover. He was articled to a Paris notary when his father's

circumstances became straitened through unsuccessful speculations, but

he showed such talent and inclination for art that he was taken at the

age of eighteen to Boucher, who, recognizing the youth's rare gifts but

disinclined to waste his time with one so inexperienced, sent him to

Chardin's _atelier_. Fragonard studied for six months under the great

luminist, and then returned more fully equipped to Boucher, whose style

he soon acquired so completely that the master entrusted him with the

execution of replicas of his paintings. Though not a pupil of the

Academy, Fragonard gained the Prix de Rome in 1752 with a painting of

"Jeroboam sacrificing to the Idols," but before proceeding to Rome he

continued to study for three years under Van Loo. In the year preceding

his departure he painted the "Christ washing the Feet of the Apostles"

now at Grasse cathedral. In 1755 he took up his abode at the French

Academy in Rome, then presided over by Natoire. There he benefited from

the study of the old masters whom he was set to copy--always remembering

Boucher's parting advice not to take Raphael and Michelangelo too

seriously. He successively passed through the studios of masters as

widely different in their aims and technique as Chardin, Boucher, Van

Loo and Natoire, and a summer sojourn at the Villa d'Este in the company

of the abbé de Saint-Non, who engraved many of Fragonard's studies of

these entrancing gardens, did more towards forming his personal style

than all the training at the various schools. It was in these romantic

gardens, with their fountains, grottos, temples and terraces, that he

conceived the dreams which he was subsequently to embody in his art.

Added to this influence was the deep impression made upon his mind by

the florid sumptuousness of Tiepolo, whose works he had an opportunity

of studying in Venice before he returned to Paris in 1761. In 1765 his

"Corésus et Callirhoé" secured his admission to the Academy. It was made

the subject of a pompous eulogy by Diderot, and was bought by the king,

who had it reproduced at the Gobelins factory. Hitherto Fragonard had

hesitated between religious, classic and other subjects; but now the

demand of the wealthy art patrons of Louis XV.'s pleasure-loving and

licentious court turned him definitely towards those scenes of love and

voluptuousness with which his name will ever be associated, and which

are only made acceptable by the tender beauty of his colour and the

virtuosity of his facile brushwork--such works as the "Serment d'amour"

(Love Vow), "Le Verrou" (The Bolt), "La Culbute" (The Tumble), "La

Chemise enlevée" (The Shift Withdrawn), and "The Swing" (Wallace

collection), and his decorations for the apartments of Mme du Barry and

the dancer Marie Guimard.

The Revolution made an end to the _ancien régime_, and Fragonard, who

was so closely allied to its representatives, left Paris in 1793 and

found shelter in the house of his friend Maubert at Grasse, which he

decorated with the series of decorative panels known as the "Roman

d'amour de la jeunesse," originally painted for Mme du Barry's pavilion

at Louvreciennes. The panels in recent years came into the possession of

Mr Pierpont Morgan. Fragonard returned to Paris early in the 19th

century, where he died in 1806, neglected and almost forgotten. For half

a century or more he was so completely ignored that Lübke, in his

history of art (1873), omits the very mention of his name. But within

the last thirty years he has regained the position among the masters of

painting to which he is entitled by his genius. If the appreciation of

his art by the modern collector can be expressed in figures, it is

significant that the small and sketchy "Billet Doux," which appeared at

the Cronier sale in Paris in 1905 and was subsequently exhibited by

Messrs Duveen in London (1906), realized close on £19,000 at the Hôtel

Drouot.

Besides the works already mentioned, there are four important pictures

by Fragonard in the Wallace collection: "The Fountain of Love," "The

Schoolmistress," "A Lady carving her Name on a Tree" (usually known as

"Le Chiffre d'amour") and "The Fair-haired Child." The Louvre contains

thirteen examples of his art, among them the "Corésus," "The Sleeping

Bacchante," "The Shift Withdrawn," "The Bathers," "The Shepherd's Hour"

("L'Heure du berger"), and "Inspiration." Other works are in the museums

of Lille, Besançon, Rouen, Tours, Nantes, Avignon, Amiens, Grenoble,

Nancy, Orleans, Marseilles, &c., as well as at Chantilly. Some of

Fragonard's finest work is in the private collections of the Rothschild

family in London and Paris.

See R. Portalis, _Fragonard_ (Paris, 1899), fully illustrated; Felix

Naquet, _Fragonard_ (Paris, 1890); Virgile Josz, _Fragonard--moeurs du

XVIII^e siècle_ (Paris, 1901); E. and J. de Goncourt, _L'Art du

dix-huitième siècle--Fragonard_ (Paris, 1883). (P. G. K.)

FRAHN, CHRISTIAN MARTIN (1782-1851), German numismatist and historian,

was born at Rostock. He began his Oriental studies under Tychsen at the

university of Rostock, and afterwards prosecuted them at Göttingen and

Tübingen. He became a Latin master in Pestalozzi's famous institute in

1804, returned home in 1806, and in the following year was chosen to

fill the chair of Oriental languages in the Russian university of Kazan.

Though in 1815 he was invited to succeed Tychsen at Rostock, he

preferred to go to St Petersburg, where he became director of the

Asiatic museum and councillor of state. He died at St Petersburg.

Frahn wrote over 150 works. Among the more important are:

_Numophylacium orientale Pototianum_ (1813); _De numorum Bulgharicorum

fonte antiquissimo_ (1816); _Das muhammedanische Münzkabinet des

asiatischen Museum der kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St

Petersburg_ (1821); _Numi cufici ex variis museis selecti_ (1823);

_Notice d'une centaine d'ouvrages arabes, &c., qui manquent en grande

partie aux bibliothèques de l'Europe_ (1834); and _Nova supplementa ad

recensionem Num. Muham. Acad. Imp. Sci. Petropolitanae_ (1855). His

description of some medals struck by the Samanid and Bouid princes

(1804) was composed in Arabic because he had no Latin types.

FRAME, a word employed in many different senses, signifying something

joined together or shaped. It is derived ultimately from O.E. _fram_,

from, in its primary meaning "forward." In constructional work it

connotes the union of pieces of wood, metal or other material for

purposes of enclosure as in the case of a picture or mirror frame.

Frames intended for these uses are of great artistic interest but

comparatively modern origin. There is no record of their existence

earlier than the 16th century, but the decorative opportunities which

they afforded caused speedy popularity in an artistic age, and the

Renaissance found in the picture frame a rich and attractive means of

expression. The impulses which made frames beautiful have long been

extinct or dormant, but fine work was produced in such profusion that

great numbers of examples are still extant. Frames for pictures or

mirrors are usually square, oblong, round or oval, and, although they

have usually been made of wood or composition overlaid upon wood, the

richest and most costly materials have often been used. Ebony, ivory and

tortoiseshell; crystal, amber and mother-of-pearl; lacquer, gold and

silver, and almost every other metal have been employed for this

purpose. The domestic frame has in fact varied from the simplest and

cheapest form of a plain wooden moulding to the most richly carved

examples. The introduction in the 17th century of larger sheets of glass

gave the art of frame-making a great _essor_, and in the 18th century

the increased demand for frames, caused chiefly by the introduction of

cheaper forms of mirrors, led to the invention of a composition which

could be readily moulded into stereotyped patterns and gilded. This was

eventually the deathblow of the artistic frame, and since the use of

composition moulding became normal, no important school of wood-carving

has turned its attention to frames. The carvers of the Renaissance, and

down to the middle of the 18th century, produced work which was often of

the greatest beauty and elegance. In England nothing comparable to that

of Grinling Gibbons and his school has since been produced. Chippendale

was a great frame maker, but he not only had recourse to composition,

but his designs were often extravagantly rococo. Even in France there

has been no return of the great days when Oeben enclosed the

looking-glasses which mirrored the Pompadour in frames that were among

the choicest work of a gorgeous and artificial age. In the decoration of

frames as in so many other respects France largely followed the fashions

of Italy, which throughout the 16th and 17th centuries produced the most

elaborate and grandiose, the richest and most palatial, of the mirror

frames that have come down to us. English art in this respect was less

exotic and more restrained, and many of the mirrors of the 18th century

received frames the grace and simplicity of which have ensured their

constant reproduction even to our own day.

FRAMINGHAM, a township of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,

having an area of 27 sq. m. of hilly surface, dotted with lakes and

ponds. Pop. (1890) 9239; (1900) 11,302, of whom 2391 were foreign-born;

(1910 census) 12,948. It is served by the Boston & Albany, and the New

York, New Haven & Hartford railways. Included within the township are

three villages, Framingham Center, Saxonville and South Framingham, the

last being much the most important. Framingham Academy was established

in 1792, and in 1851 became a part of the public school system. A state

normal school (the first normal school in the United States, established

at Lexington in 1839, removed to Newton in 1844 and to Framingham in

1853) is situated here; and near South Framingham, in the township of

Sherborn, is the state reformatory prison for women. South Framingham

has large manufactories of paper tags, shoes, boilers, carriage wheels

and leather board; formerly straw braid and bonnets were the principal

manufactures. Saxonville manufactures worsted cloth. The value of the

township's factory products increased from $3,007,301 in 1900 to

$4,173,579 in 1905, or 38.8%. Framingham was first settled about 1640,

and was named in honour of the English home (Framlingham) of Governor

Thomas Danforth (1622-1699), to whom the land once belonged. In 1700 it

was incorporated as a township. The "old Connecticut path," the

Boston-to-Worcester turnpike, was important to the early fortunes of

Framingham Center, while the Boston & Worcester railway (1834) made the

greater fortune of South Framingham.

See J.H. Temple, _History of Framingham ... 1640-1880_ (Framingham,

1887).

FRAMLINGHAM, a market town in the Eye parliamentary division of Suffolk,

91 m. N.E. from London by a branch of the Great Eastern railway. Pop.

(1901) 2526. The church of St Michael is a fine Perpendicular and

Decorated building of black flint, surmounted by a tower 96 ft. high. In

the interior there are a number of interesting monuments, among which

the most noticeable are those of Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, and

of Henry Howard, the famous earl of Surrey, who was beheaded by Henry

VIII. The castle forms a picturesque ruin, consisting of the outer walls

44 ft. high and 8 ft. thick, 13 towers about 58 ft. high, a gateway and

some outworks. About half a mile from the town is the Albert Memorial

Middle Class College, opened in 1865, and capable of accommodating 300

boys. A bronze statue of the Prince Consort by Joseph Durham adorns the

front terrace.

Framlingham (Frendlingham, Framalingaham) in early Saxon times was

probably the site of a fortified earthwork to which St Edmund the Martyr

is said to have fled from the Danes in 870. The Danes captured the

stronghold after the escape of the king, but it was won back in 921, and

remained in the hands of the crown, passing to William I. at the

Conquest. Henry I. in 1100 granted it to Roger Bigod, who in all

probability raised the first masonry castle. Hugh, son of Roger, created

earl of Norfolk in 1141, succeeded his father, and the manor and castle

remained in the Bigod family until 1306, when in default of heirs it

reverted to the crown, and was granted by Edward II. to his half-brother

Thomas de Brotherton, created earl of Norfolk in 1312. On an account

roll of Framlingham Castle of 1324 there is an entry of "rent received

from the borough," also of "rent from those living outside the borough,"

and in all probability burghal rights had existed at a much earlier

date, when the town had grown into some importance under the shelter of

the castle. Town and castle followed the vicissitudes of the dukedom of

Norfolk, passing to the crown in 1405, and being alternately restored

and forfeited by Henry V., Richard III., Henry VII., Edward VI., Mary,

Elizabeth and James I., and finally sold in 1635 to Sir Robert Hitcham,

who left it in 1636 to the master and fellows of Pembroke Hall,

Cambridge.

In the account roll above mentioned reference is made to a fair and a

market, but no early grant of either is to be found. In 1792 two annual

fairs were held, one on Whit Monday, the other on the 10th of October;

and a market was held every Saturday. The market day is still Saturday,

but the fairs are discontinued.

See Robert Hawes, _History of Framlingham in the County of Suffolk_,

edited by R. Loder (Woodbridge, 1798).

FRANC, a French coin current at different periods and of varying values.

The first coin so called was one struck in gold by John II. of France in

1360. On it was the legend _Johannes Dei gracia Francorum rex_; hence,

it is said, the name. It also bore an effigy of King John on horseback,

from which it was called a _franc à cheval_, to distinguish it from

another coin of the same value, issued by Charles V., on which the king

was represented standing upright under a Gothic dais; this coin was

termed a _franc à pied_. As a coin it disappeared after the reign of

Charles VI., but the name continued to be used as an equivalent for the

_livre tournois_, which was worth twenty sols. French writers would

speak without distinction of so many livres or so many francs, so long

as the sum mentioned was an even sum; otherwise livre was the correct

term, thus "_trois livres_" or "_trois francs_," but "_trois livres cinq

sols_." In 1795 the livre was legally converted into the franc, at the

rate of 81 livres to 80 francs, the silver franc being made to weigh

exactly five grammes. The franc is now the unit of the monetary system

and also the money of account in France, as well as in Belgium and

Switzerland. In Italy the equivalent is the lira, and in Greece the

drachma. The franc is divided into 100 centimes, the lira into 100

centesimi and the drachma into 100 lepta. Gold is now the standard, the

coins in common use being ten and twenty franc pieces. The twenty franc

gold piece weighs 6.4516 grammes, .900 fine. The silver coins are five,

two, one, and half franc pieces. The five franc silver piece weighs 25

grammes, .900 fine, while the franc piece weighs 5 grammes, .835 fine.

See also MONEY.

FRANÇAIS, ANTOINE, COUNT (1756-1836), better known as FRANÇAIS OF

NANTES, French politician and author, was born at Beaurepaire, in the

department of Isère. In 1791 he was elected to the legislative assembly

by the department of Loire Inférieure, and was noted for his violent

attacks upon the farmers general, the pope and the priests; but he was

not re-elected to the Convention. During the Terror, as he had belonged

to the Girondin party, he was obliged to seek safety in the mountains.

In 1798 he was elected to the council of Five Hundred by the department

of Isère, and became one of its secretaries; and in the following year

he voted against the Directory. He took office under the consulate as

prefect of Charente Inférieure, rose to be a member of the council of

state, and in 1804 obtained the important post of director-general of

the indirect taxes (_droits réunis_). The value of his services was

recognized by the titles of count of the empire and grand officer of the

Legion of Honour. On the second restoration he retired into private

life; but from 1819 to 1822 he was representative of the department of

Isère, and after the July revolution he was made a peer of France. He

died at Paris on the 7th of March 1836.

Français wrote a number of works, but his name is more likely to be

preserved by the eulogies of the literary men to whom he afforded

protection and assistance. It is sufficient to mention _Le Manuscrit

de feu M. Jérôme_ (1825); _Recueil de fadaises composé sur la montagne

à l'usage des habitants de la plaine_ (1826); _Voyage dans la vallée

des originaux_ (1828); _Tableau de la vie rurale, ou l'agriculture

enseignée d'une manière dramatique_ (1829).

FRANÇAIS, FRANÇOIS LOUIS (1814-1897), French painter, was born at

Plombières (Vosges), and, on attaining the age of fifteen, was placed as

office-boy with a bookseller. After a few years of hard struggle, during

which he made a precarious living by drawing on stone and designing

woodcut vignettes for book illustration, he studied painting under

Gigoux, and subsequently under Corot, whose influence remained decisive

upon Français's style of landscape painting. He generally found his

subjects in the neighbourhood of Paris, and though he never rivalled his

master in lightness of touch and in the lyric poetry which is the

principal charm of Corot's work, he is still counted among the leading

landscape painters of his country and period. He exhibited first at the

Salon in 1837 and was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1890.

Comparatively few of his pictures are to be found in public galleries,

but his painting of "An Italian Sunset" is at the Luxembourg Museum in

Paris. Other works of importance are "Daphnis et Chloé" (1872), "Bas

Meudon" (1861), "Orpheus" (1863), "Le Bois sacré" (1864), "Le Lac de

Némi" (1868).

FRANCATELLI, CHARLES ELMÉ (1805-1876), Anglo-Italian cook, was born in

London, of Italian extraction, in 1805, and was educated in France,

where he studied the art of cookery. Coming to England, he was employed

successively by various noblemen, subsequently becoming manager of

Crockford's club. He left Crockford's to become chief cook to Queen

Victoria, and afterwards he was chef at the Reform Club. He was the

author of _The Modern Cook_ (1845), which has since been frequently

republished; of a _Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes_ (1861),

and of _The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book_ (1862).

Francatelli died at Eastbourne on the 10th of August 1876.

FRANCAVILLA FONTANA, a town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, in the

province of Lecce, 22 m. by rail E. by N. of Taranto, 460 ft. above

sea-level. Pop. (1901) 17,759 (town); 20,510 (commune). It is in a fine

situation, and has a massive square castle of the Umperiali family, to

whom, with Oria, it was sold by S. Carlo Borromeo in the 16th century

for 40,000 ounces of gold, which he distributed in one day to the poor.

FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844- ), French critic, essayist and novelist (whose

real name was Jacques Anatole Thibault), was born in Paris on the 16th

of April 1844. His father was a bookseller, one of the last of the

booksellers, if we are to believe the Goncourts, into whose

establishment men came, not merely to order and buy, but to dip, and

turn over pages and discuss. As a child he used to listen to the nightly

talks on literary subjects which took place in his father's shop.

Nurtured in an atmosphere so essentially bookish, he turned naturally to

literature. In 1868 his first work appeared, a study of Alfred de Vigny,

followed in 1873 by a volume of verse, _Les Poëmes dorés_, dedicated to

Leconte de Lisle, and, as such a dedication suggests, an outcome of the

"Parnassian" movement; and yet another volume of verse appeared in 1876,

_Les Noces corinthiennes_. But the poems in these volumes, though

unmistakably the work of a man of great literary skill and cultured

taste, are scarcely the poems of a man with whom verse is the highest

form of expression.

He was to find his richest vein in prose. He himself, avowing his

preference for a simple, or seemingly simple, style as compared with the

_artistic_ style, vaunted by the Goncourts--a style compounded of

neologisms and "rare" epithets, and startling forms of

expression--observes: "A simple style is like white light. It is

complex, but not to outward seeming. In language, a beautiful and

desirable simplicity is but an appearance, and results only from the

good order and sovereign economy of the various parts of speech." And

thus one may say of his own style that its beautiful translucency is the

result of many qualities--felicity, grace, the harmonious grouping of

words, a perfect measure. Anatole France is a sceptic. The essence of

his philosophy, if a spirit so light; evanescent, elusive, can be said

to have a philosophy, is doubt. He is a doubter in religion,

metaphysics, morals, politics, aesthetics, science--a most genial and

kindly doubter, and not at all without doubts even as to his own

negative conclusions. Sometimes his doubts are expressed in his own

person--as in the _Jardin d'épicure_ (1894) from which the above

extracts are taken, or _Le Livre de mon ami_ (1885), which may be

accepted, perhaps, as partly autobiographical; sometimes, as in _La

Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque_ (1893) and _Les Opinions de M. Jérôme

Coignard_ (1893), or _L'Orme du mail_ (1897), Le Mannequin d'osier

(1897), _L'Anneau d'améthyste_ (1899), and _M. Bergeret à Paris_ (1901),

he entrusts the expression of his opinions, dramatically, to some

fictitious character--the abbé Coignard, for instance, projecting, as it

were, from the 18th century some very effective criticisms on the

popular political theories of contemporary France--or the M. Bergeret of

the four last-named novels, which were published with the collective

title of _Histoire contemporaine_. This series deals with some modern

problems, and particularly, in _L'Anneau d'améthyste_ and _M. Bergeret à

Paris_, with the humours and follies of the anti-Dreyfusards. All this

makes a piquant combination. Neither should reference be omitted to his

_Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard_ (1881), crowned by the Institute, nor to

works more distinctly of fancy, such as _Balthasar_ (1889), the story of

one of the Magi or _Thaïs_ (1890), the story of an actress and courtesan

of Alexandria, whom a hermit converts, but with the loss of his own

soul. His ironic comedy, _Crainquebille_ (Renaissance theatre, 1903),

was founded on his novel (1902) of the same year. His more recent work

includes his anti-clerical _Vie de Jeanne d'Arc_ (1908); his pungent

satire the _Île des penguins_ (1908); and a volume of stories, _Les Sept

Femmes de la Barbe-Bleue_ (1909). Lightly as he bears his erudition, it

is very real and extensive, and is notably shown in his utilization of

modern archaeological and historical research in his fiction (as in the

stories in _Sur une pierre blanche_). As a critic--see the _Vie

littéraire_ (1888-1892), reprinted mainly from _Le Temps_--he is

graceful and appreciative. Academic in the best sense, he found a place

in the French Academy, taking the seat vacated by Lesseps, and was

received into that body on the 24th of December 1896. In the _affaire

Dreyfus_ he sided with M. Zola.

For studies of M. Anatole France's talent see Maurice Bàrrès, _Anatole

France_ (1885); Jules Lemaître, _Les Contemporains_ (2nd series,

1886); and G. Brandes, _Anatole France_ (1908). In 1908 Frederic

Chapman began an edition of _The works of Anatole France in an English

translation_ (John Lane).

FRANCE, a country of western Europe, situated between 51° 5' and 42° 20'

N., and 4° 42' W. and 7° 39' E. It is hexagonal in form, being bounded

N.W. by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover (_Pas de Calais_) and the

English Channel (_La Manche_), W. by the Atlantic Ocean, S.W. by Spain,

S.E. by the Mediterranean Sea, E. by Italy, Switzerland and Germany,

N.E. by Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium. From north to south its length

is about 600 m., measured from Dunkirk to the Col de Falguères; its

breadth from east to west is 528 m., from the Vosges to Cape Saint

Mathieu at the extremity of Brittany. The total area is estimated[1] at

207,170 sq. m., including the island of Corsica, which comprises 3367

sq. m. The coast-line of France extends for 384 m. on the Mediterranean,

700 on the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the Channel, and 865 on

the Atlantic. The country has the advantage of being separated from its

neighbours over the greater part of its frontier by natural barriers of

great strength, the Pyrenees forming a powerful bulwark on the

south-west, the Alps on the south-east, and the Jura and the greater

portion of the Vosges Mountains on the east. The frontier generally

follows the crest line of these ranges. Germany possesses both slopes of

the Vosges north of Mont Donon, from which point the north-east boundary

is conventional and unprotected by nature.

France is geographically remarkable for its possession of great natural

and historical highways between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic

Ocean. The one, following the depression between the central plateau and

the eastern mountains by way of the valleys of the Rhône and Saône,

traverses the Côte d'Or hills and so gains the valley of the Seine; the

other, skirting the southern base of the Cévennes, reaches the ocean by

way of the Garonne valley. Another natural highway, traversing the

lowlands to the west of the central plateau, unites the Seine basin with

that of the Garonne.

_Physiography._--A line drawn from Bayonne through Agen, Poitiers,

Troyes, Reims and Valenciennes divides the country roughly into two

dissimilar physical regions--to the west and north-west a country of

plains and low plateaus; in the centre, east and south-east a country

of mountains and high plateaus with a minimum elevation of 650 ft. To

the west of this line the only highlands of importance are the

granitic plateaus of Brittany and the hills of Normandy and Perche,

which, uniting with the plateau of Beauce, separate the basins of the

Seine and Loire. The highest elevations of these ranges do not exceed

1400 ft. The configuration of the region east of the dividing line is

widely different. Its most striking feature is the mountainous and

eruptive area known as the Massif Central, which covers south-central

France. The central point of this huge tract is formed by the

mountains of Auvergne comprising the group of Cantal, where the Plomb

du Cantal attains 6096 ft., and that of Mont Dore, containing the Puy

de Sancy (6188 ft.), the culminating point of the Massif, and to the

north the lesser elevations of the Monts Dôme. On the west the

downward slope is gradual by way of lofty plateaus to the heights of

Limousin and Marche and the table-land of Quercy, thence to the plains

of Poitou, Angoumois and Guienne. On the east only river valleys

divide the Auvergne mountains from those of Forez and Margeride,

western spurs of the Cévennes. On the south the Aubrac mountains and

the barren plateaus known as the Causses intervene between them and

the Cévennes. The main range of the Cévennes (highest point Mont

Lozère, 5584 ft.) sweeps in a wide curve from the granitic table-land

of Morvan in the north along the right banks of the Saône and Rhône to

the Montagne Noire in the south, where it is separated from the

Pyrenean system by the river Aude. On the south-western border of

France the Pyrenees include several peaks over 10,000 ft. within

French territory; the highest elevation therein, the Vignemale, in the

centre of the range, reaches 10,820 ft. On the north their most

noteworthy offshoots are, in the centre, the plateau of Lannemezan

from which rivers radiate fanwise to join the Adour and Garonne; and

in the east the Corbière. On the south-eastern frontier the French

Alps, which include Mont Blanc (15,800 ft.), and, more to the south,

other summits over 11,000 ft. in height, cover Savoy and most of

Dauphiné and Provence, that is to say, nearly the whole of France to

the south and east of the Rhône. North of that river the parallel

chains of the Jura form an arc of a circle with its convexity towards

the north-west. In the southern and most elevated portion of the range

there are several summits exceeding 5500 ft. Separated from the Jura

by the defile of Belfort (Trouée de Belfort) the Vosges extend

northward parallel to the course of the Rhine. Their culminating

points in French territory, the Ballon d'Alsace and the Höhneck in the

southern portion of the chain, reach 4100 ft. and 4480 ft. The Vosges

are buttressed on the west by the Faucilles, which curve southwards to

meet the plateau of Langres, and by the plateaus of Haute-Marne,

united to the Ardennes on the north-eastern frontier by the wooded

highlands of Argonne.

[Illustration: Map of France (Physical Devisions).]

_Seaboard._--The shore of the Mediterranean encircling the Gulf of the

Lion (Golfe du Lion)[2] from Cape Cerbera to Martigues is low-lying

and unbroken, and characterized chiefly by lagoons separated from the

sea by sand-dunes. The coast, constantly encroaching on the sea by

reason of the alluvium washed down by the rivers of the Pyrenees and

Cévennes, is without important harbours saving that of Cette, itself

continually invaded by the sand. East of Martigues the coast is rocky

and of greater altitude, and is broken by projecting capes (Couronne,

Croisette, Sicié, the peninsula of Giens and Cape Antibes), and by

deep gulfs forming secure roadsteads such as those of Marseilles,

which has the chief port in France, Toulon, with its great naval

harbour, and Hyères, to which may be added the Gulf of St Tropez.

Along the Atlantic coast from the mouth of the Adour to the estuary

of the Gironde there stretches a monotonous line of sand-dunes

bordered by lagoons on the land side, but towards the sea harbourless

and unbroken save for the Bay of Arcachon. To the north as far as the

rocky point of St Gildas, sheltering the mouth of the Loire, the

shore, often occupied by salt marshes (marshes of Poitou and

Brittany), is low-lying and hollowed by deep bays sheltered by large

islands, those of Oléron and Ré lying opposite the ports of Rochefort

and La Rochelle, while Noirmoutier closes the Bay of Bourgneuf.

Beyond the Loire estuary, on the north shore of which is the port of

St Nazaire, the peninsula of Brittany projects into the ocean and here

begins the most rugged, wild and broken portion of the French

seaboard; the chief of innumerable indentations are, on the south the

Gulf of Morbihan, which opens into a bay protected to the west by the

narrow peninsula of Quiberon, the Bay of Lorient with the port of

Lorient, and the Bay of Concarneau; on the west the dangerous Bay of

Audierne and the Bay of Douarnenez separated from the spacious

roadstead of Brest, with its important naval port, by the peninsula of

Crozon, and forming with it a great indentation sheltered by Cape St

Mathieu on the north and by Cape Raz on the south; on the north,

opening into the English Channel, the Morlaix roads, the Bay of St

Brieuc, the estuary of the Rance, with the port of St Malo and the Bay

of St Michel. Numerous small archipelagoes and islands, of which the

chief are Belle Île, Groix and Ushant, fringe the Breton coast. North

of the Bay of St Michel the peninsula of Cotentin, terminating in the

promontories of Hague and Barfleur, juts north into the English

Channel and closes the bay of the Seine on the west. Cherbourg, its

chief harbour, lies on the northern shore between the two

promontories. The great port of Le Havre stands at the mouth of the

Seine estuary, which opens into the bay of the Seine on the east.

North of that point a line of high cliffs, in which occur the ports of

Fécamp and Dieppe, stretches nearly to the sandy estuary of the Somme.

North of that river the coast is low-lying and bordered by sand-dunes,

to which succeed on the Strait of Dover the cliffs in the

neighbourhood of the port of Boulogne and the marshes and sand-dunes

of Flanders, with the ports of Calais and Dunkirk, the latter the

principal French port on the North Sea.

To the maritime ports mentioned above must be added the river ports of

Bayonne (on the Adour), Bordeaux (on the Garonne), Nantes (on the

Loire), Rouen (on the Seine). On the whole, however, France is

inadequately provided with natural harbours; her long tract of coast

washed by the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay has scarcely three or

four good seaports, and those on the southern shore of the Channel

form a striking contrast to the spacious maritime inlets on the

English side.

_Rivers._--The greater part of the surface of France is divided

between four principal and several secondary basins.

The basin of the Rhône, with an area (in France) of about 35,000 sq.

m., covers eastern France from the Mediterranean to the Vosges, from

the Cévennes and the Plateau de Langres to the crests of the Jura and

the Alps. Alone among French rivers, the Rhône, itself Alpine in

character in its upper course, is partly fed by Alpine rivers (the

Arve, the Isère and the Durance) which have their floods in spring at

the melting of the snow, and are maintained by glacier-water in

summer. The Rhône, the source of which is in Mont St Gothard, in

Switzerland, enters France by the narrow defile of L'Écluse, and has a

somewhat meandering course, first flowing south, then north-west, and

then west as far as Lyons, whence it runs straight south till it

reaches the Mediterranean, into which it discharges itself by two

principal branches, which form the delta or island of the Camargue.

The Ain, the Saône (which rises in the Faucilles and in the lower part

of its course skirting the regions of Bresse and Dombes, receives the

Doubs and joins the Rhône at Lyons), the Ardèche and the Gard are the

affluents on the right; on the left it is joined by the Arve, the

Isère, the Drôme and the Durance. The small independent river, the

Var, drains that portion of the Alps which fringes the Mediterranean.

The basin of the Garonne occupies south-western France with the

exception of the tracts covered by the secondary basins of the Adour,

the Aude, the Hérault, the Orb and other smaller rivers, and the

low-lying plain of the Landes, which is watered by numerous coast

rivers, notably by the Leyre. Its area is nearly 33,000 sq. m., and

extends from the Pyrenees to the uplands of Saintonge, Périgord and

Limousin. The Garonne rises in the valley of Aran (Spanish Pyrenees),

enters France near Bagnères-de-Luchon, has first a north-west course,

then bends to the north-east, and soon resumes its first direction.

Joining the Atlantic between Royan and the Pointe de Grave, opposite

the tower of Cordouan. In the lower part of its course, from the

Bec-d'Ambez, where it receives the Dordogne, it becomes considerably

wider, and takes the name of Gironde. The principal affluents are the

Ariège, the Tarn with the Aveyron and the Agout, the Lot and the

Dordogne, which descends from Mont Dore-les-Bains, and joins the

Garonne at Bec-d'Ambez, to form the Gironde. All these affluents are

on the right, and with the exception of the Ariège, which descends

from the eastern Pyrenees, rise in the mountains of Auvergne and the

southern Cévennes, their sources often lying close to those of the

rivers of the Loire and Rhône basins. The Neste, a Pyrenean torrent,

and the Save, the Gers and the Baïse, rising on the plateau of

Lannemezan, are the principal left-hand tributaries of the Garonne.

North of the basin of the Garonne an area of over 3800 sq. m. is

watered by the secondary system of the Charente, which descends from

Chéronnac (Haute-Vienne), traverses Angoulême and falls into the

Atlantic near Rochefort. Farther to the north a number of small

rivers, the chief of which is the Sèvre Niortaise, drain the coast

region to the south of the plateau of Gâtine.

The basin of the Loire, with an area of about 47,000 sq. m., includes

a great part of central and western France or nearly a quarter of the

whole country. The Loire rises in Mont Gerbier de Jonc, in the range

of the Vivarais mountains, flows due north to Nevers, then turns to

the north-west as far as Orléans, in the neighbourhood of which it

separates the marshy region of the Sologne (q.v.) on the south from

the wheat-growing region of Beauce and the Gâtinais on the north.

Below Orléans it takes its course towards the south-west, and lastly

from Saumur runs west, till it reaches the Atlantic between Paimboeuf

and St Nazaire. On the right the Loire receives the waters of the

Furens, the Arroux, the Nièvre, the Maine (formed by the Mayenne and

the Sarthe with its affluent the Loir), and the Erdre, which joins the

Loire at Nantes; on the left, the Allier (which receives the Dore and

the Sioule), the Loiret, the Cher, the Indre, the Vienne with its

affluent the Creuse, the Thouet, and the Sèvre-Nantaise. The peninsula

of Brittany and the coasts of Normandy on both sides of the Seine

estuary are watered by numerous independent streams. Amongst these the

Vilaine, which passes Rennes and Redon, waters, with its tributaries,

an area of 4200 sq. m. The Orne, which rises in the hills of Normandy

and falls into the Channel below Caen, is of considerably less

importance.

The basin of the Seine, though its area of a little over 30,000 sq. m.

is smaller than that of any of the other main systems, comprises the

finest network of navigable rivers in the country. It is by far the

most important basin of northern France, those of the Somme and

Scheldt in the north-west together covering less than 5000 sq. m.,

those of the Meuse and the Rhine in the north-east less than 7000 sq.

m. The Seine descends from the Langres plateau, flows north-west down

to Méry, turns to the west, resumes its north-westerly direction at

Montereau, passes through Paris and Rouen and discharges itself into

the Channel between Le Havre and Honfleur. Its affluents are, on the

right, the Aube; the Marne, which joins the Seine at Charenton near

Paris; the Oise, which has its source in Belgium and is enlarged by

the Aisne; and the Epte; on the left the Yonne, the Loing, the

Essonne, the Eure and the Rille.

_Lakes._--France has very few lakes. The Lake of Geneva, which forms

32 m. of the frontier, belongs to Switzerland. The most important

French lake is that of Grand-Lieu, between Nantes and Paimboeuf

(Loire-Inférieure), which presents a surface of 17,300 acres. There

may also be mentioned the lakes of Bourget and Annecy (both in Savoy),

St Point (Jura), Paladru (Isère) and Nantua (Ain). The marshy

districts of Sologne, Brenne, Landes and Dombes still contain large

undrained tracts. The coasts present a number of maritime inlets,

forming inland bays, which communicate with the sea by channels of

greater or less width. Some of these are on the south-west coast, in

the Landes, as Carcans, Lacanau, Biscarosse, Cazau, Sanguinet; but

more are to be found in the south and south-east, in Languedoc and

Provence, as Leucate, Sigean, Thau, Vaccarès, Berre, &c. Their want of

depth prevents them from serving as roadsteads for shipping, and they

are useful chiefly for fishing or for the manufacture of bay-salt.

_Climate._--The north and north-west of France bear a great

resemblance, both in temperature and produce, to the south of England,

rain occurring frequently, and the country being consequently suited

for pasture. In the interior the rains are less frequent, but when

they occur are far more heavy, so that there is much less difference

in the annual rainfall there as compared with the rest of the country

than in the number of rainy days. The annual rainfall for the whole of

France averages about 32 in. The precipitation is greatest on the

Atlantic seaboard and in the elevated regions of the interior. It

attains over 60 in. in the basin of the Adour (71 in. at the western

extremity of the Pyrenees), and nearly as much in the Vosges, Morvan,

Cévennes and parts of the central plateau. The zone of level country

extending from Reims and Troyes to Angers and Poitiers, with the

exception of the Loire valley and the Brie, receives less than 24 in.

of rain annually (Paris about 23 in.), as also does the Mediterranean

coast west of Marseilles. The prevailing winds, mild and humid, are

west winds from the Atlantic; continental climatic influence makes

itself felt in the east wind, which is frequent in winter and in the

east of France, while the _mistral_, a violent wind from the

north-west, is characteristic of the Mediterranean region. The local

climates of France may be grouped under the following seven

designations: (1) Sequan climate, characterizing the Seine basin and

northern France, with a mean temperature of 50° F., the winters being

cold, the summers mild; (2) Breton climate, with a mean temperature of

51.8° F., the winters being mild, the summers temperate, it is

characterized by west and south-west winds and frequent fine rains;

(3) Girondin climate (characterizing Bordeaux, Agen, Pau, &c.), having

a mean of 53.6° F., with mild winters and hot summers, the prevailing

wind is from the north-west, the average rainfall about 28 in.; (4)

Auvergne climate, comprising the Cévennes, central plateau, Clermont,

Limoges and Rodez, mean temperature 51.8° F., with cold winters and

hot summers; (5) Vosges climate (comprehending Epinal, Mézières and

Nancy), having a mean of 48.2° F., with long and severe winters and

hot and rainy summers; (6) Rhône climate (experienced by Lyons,

Chalon, Mâcon, Grenoble) mean temperature 51.8° F., with cold and wet

winters and hot summers, the prevailing winds are north and south; (7)

Mediterranean climate, ruling at Valence, Nîmes, Nice and Marseilles,

mean temperature, 57.5° F., with mild winters and hot and almost

rainless summers.

_Flora and Fauna._--The flora of southern France and the Mediterranean

is distinct from that of the rest of the country, which does not

differ in vegetation from western Europe generally. Evergreens

predominate in the south, where grow subtropical plants such as the

myrtle, arbutus, laurel, holm-oak, olive and fig; varieties of the

same kind are also found on the Atlantic coast (as far north as the

Cotentin), where the humidity and mildness of the climate favour their

growth. The orange, date-palm and eucalyptus have been acclimatized on

the coast of Provence and the Riviera. Other trees of southern France

are the cork-oak and the Aleppo and maritime pines. In north and

central France the chief trees are the oak, the beech, rare south of

the Loire, and the hornbeam; less important varieties are the birch,

poplar, ash, elm and walnut. The chestnut covers considerable areas in

Périgord, Limousin and Béarn; resinous trees (firs, pines, larches,

&c.) form fine forests in the Vosges and Jura.

The indigenous fauna include the bear, now very rare but still found

in the Alps and Pyrenees, the wolf, harbouring chiefly in the Cévennes

and Vosges, but in continually decreasing areas; the fox, marten,

badger, weasel, otter, the beaver in the extreme south of the Rhône

valley, and in the Alps the marmot; the red deer and roe deer are

preserved in many of the forests, and the wild boar is found in

several districts; the chamois and wild goat survive in the Pyrenees

and Alps. Hares, rabbits and squirrels are common. Among birds of prey

may be mentioned the eagle and various species of hawk, and among

game-birds the partridge and pheasant. The reptiles include the

ringed-snake, slow-worm, viper and lizard. (R. Tr.)

_Geology._--Many years ago it was pointed out by Élíe de Beaumont and

Dufrénoy that the Jurassic rocks of France form upon the map an

incomplete figure of 8. Within the northern circle of the 8 lie the

Mesozoic and Tertiary beds of the Paris basin, dipping inwards; within

the southern circle lie the ancient rocks of the Central Plateau, from

which the later beds dip outwards. Outside the northern circle lie on

the west the folded Palaeozoic rocks of Brittany, and on the north the

Palaeozoic _massif_ of the Ardennes. Outside the southern circle lie

on the west the Mesozoic and Tertiary beds of the basin of the

Garonne, with the Pyrenees beyond, and on the east the Mesozoic and

Tertiary beds of the valley of the Rhône, with the Alps beyond.

In the geological history of France there have been two great periods

of folding since Archean times. The first of these occurred towards

the close of the Palaeozoic era, when a great mountain system was

raised in the north running approximately from E. to W., and another

chain arose in the south, running from S.W. to N.E. Of the former the

remnants are now seen in Brittany and the Ardennes; of the latter the

Cévennes and the Montagne Noire are the last traces visible on the

surface. The second great folding took place in Tertiary times, and to

it was due the final elevation of the Jura and the Western Alps and of

the Pyrenees. No great mountain chain was ever raised by a single

effort, and folding went on to some extent in other periods besides

those mentioned. There were, moreover, other and broader oscillations

which raised or lowered extensive areas without much crumpling of the

strata, and to these are due some of the most important breaks in the

geological series.

The oldest rocks, the gneisses and schists of the Archean period, form

nearly the whole of the Central Plateau, and are also exposed in the

axes of the folds in Brittany. The Central Plateau has probably been a

land mass ever since this period, but the rest of the country was

flooded by the Palaeozoic sea. The earlier deposits of that sea now

rise to the surface in Brittany, the Ardennes, the Montagne Noire and

the Cévennes, and in all these regions they are intensely folded.

Towards the close of the Palaeozoic era France had become a part of a

great continent; in the north the Coal Measures of the Boulonnais and

the Nord were laid down in direct connexion with those of Belgium and

England, while in the Central Plateau the Coal Measures were deposited

in isolated and scattered basins. The Permian and Triassic deposits

were also, for the most part, of continental origin; but with the

formation of the Rhaetic beds the sea again began to spread, and

throughout the greater part of the Jurassic period it covered nearly

the whole of the country except the Central Plateau, Brittany and the

Ardennes. Towards the end of the period, however, during the

deposition of the Portlandian beds, the sea again retreated, and in

the early part of the Cretaceous period was limited (in France) to the

catchment basins of the Saône and Rhône--in the Paris basin the

contemporaneous deposits were chiefly estuarine and were confined to

the northern and eastern rim. Beginning with the Aptian and Albian the

sea again gradually spread over the country and attained its maximum

in the early part of the Senonian epoch, when once more the ancient

massifs of the Central Plateau, Brittany and the Ardennes, alone rose

above the waves. There was still, however, a well-marked difference

between the deposits of the northern and the southern parts of France,

the former consisting of chalk, as in England, and the latter of

sandstones and limestones with Hippurites. During the later part of

the Cretaceous period the sea gradually retreated and left the whole

country dry.

During the Tertiary period arms of the sea spread into France--in the

Paris basin from the north, in the basins of the Loire and the Garonne

from the west, and in the Rhône area from the south. The changes,

however, were too numerous and complex to be dealt with here.

[Illustration: Geologic Map.]

In France, as in Great Britain, volcanic eruptions occurred during

several of the Palaeozoic periods, but during the Mesozoic era the

country was free from outbursts, except in the regions of the Alps and

Pyrenees. In Tertiary times the Central Plateau was the theatre of

great volcanic activity from the Miocene to the Pleistocene periods,

and many of the volcanoes remain as nearly perfect cones to the

present day. The rocks are mainly basalts and andesites, together with

trachytes and phonolites, and some of the basaltic flows are of

enormous extent.

On the geology of France see the classic _Explication de la carte

géologique de la France_ (Paris, vol. i. 1841, vol. ii. 1848), by

Dufrénoy and Élie de Beaumont; a more modern account, with full

references, is given by A. de Lapparent, _Traité de géologie_ (Paris,

1906). (J. A. H.)

_Population._

The French nation is formed of many different elements. Iberian

influence in the south-west, Ligurian on the shores of the

Mediterranean, Germanic immigrations from east of the Rhine and

Scandinavian immigrations in the north-west have tended to produce

ethnographical diversities which ease of intercommunication and other

modern conditions have failed to obliterate. The so-called Celtic type,

exemplified by individuals of rather less than average height,

brown-haired and brachycephalic, is the fundamental element in the

nation and peoples the region between the Seine and the Garonne; in

southern France a different type, dolichocephalic, short and with black

hair and eyes, predominates. The tall, fair and blue-eyed individuals

who are found to the north-east of the Seine and in Normandy appear to

be nearer in race to the Scandinavian and Germanic invaders; a tall and

darker type with long faces and aquiline noses occurs in some parts of

Franche-Comté and Champagne, the Vosges and the Perche. From the Celts

has been derived the gay, brilliant and adventurous temperament easily

moved to extremes of enthusiasm and depression, which combined with

logical and organizing faculties of a high order, the heritage from the

Latin domination, and with the industry, frugality and love of the soil

natural in an agricultural people go to make up the national character.

The Bretons, who most nearly represent the Celts, and the Basques, who

inhabit parts of the western versant of the Pyrenees, have preserved

their distinctive languages and customs, and are ethnically the most

interesting sections of the nation; the Flemings of French Flanders

where Flemish is still spoken are also racially distinct. The

immigration of Belgians into the northern departments and of Italians

into those of the south-east exercise a constant modifying influence on

the local populations.

[Illustration: Map of France.]

During the 19th century the population of France increased to a less

extent than that of any other country (except Ireland) for which

definite data exist, and during the last twenty years of that period it

was little more than stationary. The following table exhibits the rate

of increase as indicated by the censuses from 1876 to 1906.

Population.

1876 36,905,788

1881 37,672,048

1886 38,218,903

1891 38,342,948

1896 38,517,975

1901 38,961,945

1906 39,252,245

Thus the rate of increase during the decade 1891-1901 was .16%, whereas

during the same period the population of England increased 1.08%. The

birth-rate markedly decreased during the 19th century; despite an

increase of population between 1801 and 1901 amounting to 40%, the

number of births in the former was 904,000, as against 857,000 in the

latter year, the diminution being accompanied by a decrease in the

annual number of deaths.[3] In the following table the decrease in

births and deaths for the decennial periods during the thirty years

ending 1900 are compared.

_Births._

1871-1880 935,000 or 25.4 per 1000

1881-1890 909,000 " 23.9 "

1891-1900 853,000 " 22.2 "

_Deaths._

1871-1880 870,900 or 23.7 per 1000

1881-1890 841,700 " 22.1 "

1891-1900 829,000 " 21.5 "

About two-thirds of the French departments, comprising a large

proportion of those situated in mountainous districts and in the basin

of the Garonne, where the birth-rate is especially feeble, show a

decrease in population. Those which show an increase usually possess

large centres of industry and are already thickly populated, e.g. Seine

and Pas-de-Calais. In most departments the principal cause of decrease

of population is the attraction of great centres. The average density of

population in France is about 190 to the square mile, the tendency being

for the large towns to increase at the expense of the small towns as

well as the rural communities. In 1901 37% of the population lived in

centres containing more than 2000 inhabitants, whereas in 1861 the

proportion was 28%. Besides the industrial districts the most thickly

populated regions include the coast of the department of

Seine-Inférieure and Brittany, the wine-growing region of the Bordelais

and the Riviera.[4]

In the quinquennial period 1901-1905, out of the total number of births

the number of illegitimate births to every 1000 inhabitants was 2.0, as

compared with 2.1 in the four preceding periods of like duration.

In 1906 the number of foreigners in France was 1,009,415 as compared

with 1,027,491 in 1896 and 1,115,214 in 1886. The departments with the

largest population of foreigners were Nord (191,678), in which there is

a large proportion of Belgians; Bouches-du-Rhône (123,497),

Alpes-Maritimes (93,554), Var (47,475), Italians being numerous in these

three departments; Seine (153,647), Meurthe-et-Moselle (44,595),

Pas-de-Calais (21,436) and Ardennes (21,401).

The following table gives the area in square miles of each of the

eighty-seven departments with its population according to the census

returns of 1886, 1896 and 1906:

+-----------------------+--------+-----------+-----------------------+

| | Area | | Population. |

| Departments. | sq. m. +-----------+-----------+-----------+

| | | 1886. | 1896. | 1906. |

+-----------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| Ain | 2,249 | 364,408 | 351,569 | 345,856 |

| Aisne | 2,867 | 555,925 | 541,613 | 534,495 |

| Allier | 2,849 | 424,582 | 424,378 | 417,961 |

| Alpes-Maritimes | 1,442 | 238,057 | 265,155 | 334,007 |

| Ardèche | 2,145 | 375,472 | 363,501 | 347,140 |

| Ardennes | 2,028 | 332,759 | 318,865 | 317,505 |

| Ariège | 1,893 | 237,619 | 219,641 | 205,684 |

| Aube | 2,326 | 257,374 | 251,435 | 243,670 |

| Aude | 2,448 | 332,080 | 310,513 | 308,327 |

| Aveyron | 3,386 | 415,826 | 389,464 | 377,299 |

| Basses-Alpes | 2,698 | 129,494 | 118,142 | 113,126 |

| Basses-Pyrénées | 2,977 | 432,999 | 423,572 | 426,817 |

| Belfort, Territoire de| 235 | 79,758 | 88,047 | 95,421 |

| Bouches-du-Rhône | 2,026 | 604,857 | 673,820 | 765,918 |

| Calvados | 2,197 | 437,267 | 417,176 | 403,431 |

| Cantal | 2,231 | 241,742 | 234,382 | 228,690 |

| Charente | 2,305 | 366,408 | 356,236 | 351,733 |

| Charente-Inférieure | 2,791 | 462,803 | 453,455 | 453,793 |

| Cher | 2,819 | 355,349 | 347,725 | 343,484 |

| Corrèze | 2,273 | 326,494 | 322,393 | 317,430 |

| Corse (Corsica) | 3,367 | 278,501 | 290,168 | 291,160 |

| Côte-d'Or | 3,392 | 381,574 | 368,168 | 357,959 |

| Côtes-du-Nord | 2,786 | 628,256 | 616,074 | 611,506 |

| Creuse | 2,164 | 284,942 | 279,366 | 274,094 |

| Deux-Sèvres | 2,337 | 353,766 | 346,694 | 339,466 |

| Dordogne | 3,561 | 492,205 | 464,822 | 447,052 |

| Doubs | 2,030 | 310,963 | 302,046 | 298,438 |

| Drôme | 2,533 | 314,615 | 303,491 | 297,270 |

| Eure | 2,330 | 358,829 | 340,652 | 330,140 |

| Eure-et-Loir | 2,293 | 283,719 | 280,469 | 273,823 |

| Finistère | 2,713 | 707,820 | 739,648 | 795,103 |

| Gard | 2,270 | 417,099 | 416,036 | 421,166 |

| Gers | 2,428 | 274,391 | 250,472 | 231,088 |

| Gironde | 4,140 | 775,845 | 809,902 | 823,925 |

| Haute-Garonne | 2,458 | 481,169 | 459,377 | 442,065 |

| Haute-Loire | 1,931 | 320,063 | 316,699 | 314,770 |

| Haute-Marne | 2,415 | 247,781 | 232,057 | 221,724 |

| Hautes-Alpes | 2,178 | 122,924 | 113,229 | 107,498 |

| Haute-Saône | 2,075 | 290,954 | 272,891 | 263,890 |

| Haute-Savoie | 1,775 | 275,018 | 265,872 | 260,617 |

| Hautes-Pyrénées | 1,750 | 234,825 | 218,973 | 209,397 |

| Haute-Vienne | 2,144 | 363,182 | 375,724 | 385,732 |

| Hérault | 2,403 | 439,044 | 469,684 | 482,799 |

| Ille-et-Vilaine | 2,699 | 621,384 | 622,039 | 611,805 |

| Indre | 2,666 | 296,147 | 289,206 | 290,216 |

| Indre-et-Loire | 2,377 | 340,921 | 337,064 | 337,916 |

| Isère | 3,179 | 581,680 | 568,933 | 562,315 |

| Jura | 1,951 | 281,292 | 266,143 | 257,725 |

| Landes | 3,615 | 302,266 | 292,884 | 293,397 |

| Loir-et-Cher | 2,479 | 279,214 | 278,153 | 276,019 |

| Loire | 1,853 | 603,384 | 625,336 | 643,943 |

| Loire-Inférieure | 2,694 | 643,884 | 646,172 | 666,748 |

| Loiret | 2,629 | 374,875 | 371,019 | 364,999 |

| Lot | 2,017 | 271,514 | 240,403 | 216,611 |

| Lot-et-Garonne | 2,079 | 307,437 | 286,377 | 274,610 |

| Lozère | 1,999 | 141,264 | 132,151 | 128,016 |

| Maine-et-Loire | 2,706 | 527,680 | 514,870 | 513,490 |

| Manche | 2,475 | 520,865 | 500,052 | 487,443 |

| Marne | 3,167 | 429,494 | 439,577 | 434,157 |

| Mayenne | 2,012 | 340,063 | 321,187 | 305,457 |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2,038 | 431,693 | 466,417 | 517,508 |

| Meuse | 2,409 | 291,971 | 290,384 | 280,220 |

| Morbihan | 2,738 | 535,256 | 552,028 | 573,152 |

| Nièvre | 2,659 | 347,645 | 333,899 | 313,972 |

| Nord | 2,229 | 1,670,184 | 1,811,868 | 1,895,861 |

| Oise | 2,272 | 403,146 | 404,511 | 410,049 |

| Orne | 2,372 | 367,248 | 339,162 | 315,993 |

| Pas-de-Calais | 2,606 | 853,526 | 906,249 | 1,012,466 |

| Puy-de-Dôme | 3,094 | 570,964 | 555,078 | 535,419 |

| Pyrénées-Orientales | 1,599 | 211,187 | 208,387 | 213,171 |

| Rhône | 1,104 | 772,912 | 839,329 | 858,907 |

| Saône-et-Loire | 3,330 | 625,885 | 621,237 | 613,377 |

| Sarthe | 2,410 | 436,111 | 425,077 | 421,470 |

| Savoie | 2,389 | 267,428 | 259,790 | 253,297 |

| Seine | 185 | 2,961,089 | 3,340,514 | 3,848,618 |

| Seine-Inférieure | 2,448 | 833,386 | 837,824 | 863,879 |

| Seine-et-Marne | 2,289 | 355,136 | 359,044 | 361,939 |

| Seine-et-Oise | 2,184 | 618,089 | 669,098 | 749,753 |

| Somme | 2,423 | 548,982 | 543,279 | 532,567 |

| Tarn | 2,231 | 358,757 | 339,827 | 330,533 |

| Tarn-et-Garonne | 1,440 | 214,046 | 200,390 | 188,553 |

| Var | 2,325 | 283,689 | 309,191 | 324,638 |

| Vaucluse | 1,381 | 241,787 | 236,313 | 239,178 |

| Vendée | 2,708 | 434,808 | 441,735 | 442,777 |

| Vienne | 2,719 | 342,785 | 338,114 | 333,621 |

| Vosges | 2,279 | 413,707 | 421,412 | 429,812 |

| Yonne | 2,880 | 355,364 | 332,656 | 315,199 |

+-----------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| Total |207,076 |38,218,903 |38,517,975 |39,252,245 |

+-----------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

The French census uses the commune as the basis of its returns, and

employs the following classifications in respect to communal population:

(1) Total communal population. (2) _Population comptée à part_, which

includes soldiers and sailors, inmates of prisons, asylums, schools,

members of religious communities, and workmen temporarily engaged in

public works. (3) Total _municipal_ population, i.e. communal population

minus the _population comptée à part_. (4) _Population municipale

agglomérée au chef-lieu de la commune_, which embraces the urban

population as opposed to the rural population. The following tables,

showing the growth of the largest towns in France, are drawn up on the

basis of the fourth classification, which is used throughout this work

in the articles on French towns, except where otherwise stated.

In 1906 there were in France twelve towns with a population of over

100,000 inhabitants. Their growth or decrease from 1886 to 1906 is

shown in the following table:

+------------+----------+----------+----------+

| | 1886. | 1896. | 1906. |

+------------+----------+----------+----------+

| Paris |2,294,108 |2,481,223 |2,711,931 |

| Lyons | 344,124 | 398,867 | 430,186 |

| Marseilles | 249,938 | 332,515 | 421,116 |

| Bordeaux | 225,281 | 239,806 | 237,707 |

| Lille | 143,135 | 160,723 | 196,624 |

| St Etienne | 103,229 | 120,300 | 130,940 |

| Le Havre | 109,199 | 117,009 | 129,403 |

| Toulouse | 123,040 | 124,187 | 125,856 |

| Roubaix | 89,781 | 113,899 | 119,955 |

| Nantes | 110,638 | 107,137 | 118,244 |

| Rouen | 100,043 | 106,825 | 111,402 |

| Reims | 91,130 | 99,001 | 102,800 |

+------------+----------+----------+----------+

In the same years the following eighteen towns, now numbering from

50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, each had:

+------------+--------+--------+--------+

| | 1886. | 1896. | 1906. |

+------------+--------+--------+--------+

| Nice | 61,464 | 69,140 | 99,556 |

| Nancy | 69,463 | 83,668 | 98,302 |

| Toulon | 53,941 | 70,843 | 87,997 |

| Amiens | 68,177 | 74,808 | 78,407 |

| Limoges | 56,699 | 64,718 | 75,906 |

| Angers | 65,152 | 69,484 | 73,585 |

| Brest | 59,352 | 64,144 | 71,163 |

| Nîmes | 62,198 | 66,905 | 70,708 |

| Montpellier| 45,930 | 62,717 | 65,983 |

| Dijon | 50,684 | 58,355 | 65,516 |

| Tourcoing | 41,183 | 55,705 | 62,694 |

| Rennes | 52,614 | 57,249 | 62,024 |

| Tours | 51,467 | 56,706 | 61,507 |

| Calais | 52,839 | 50,818 | 59,623 |

| Grenoble | 43,260 | 50,084 | 58,641 |

| Orléans | 51,208 | 56,915 | 57,544 |

| Le Mans | 46,991 | 49,665 | 54,907 |

| Troyes | 44,864 | 50,676 | 51,228 |

+------------+--------+--------+--------+

Of the population in 1901, 18,916,889 were males and 19,533,899

females, an excess of females over males of 617,010, i.e. 1.6% or

about 508 females to every 492 males. In 1881 the proportion was 501

females to every 499 males, since when the disparity has been slightly

more marked at every census. Below is a list of the departments in

which the number of women to every thousand men was (1) greatest and

(2) least.

(1) | (2)

|

Creuse 1131 | Belfort 886

Côtes-du-Nord 1117 | Basses-Alpes 893

Seine 1103 | Var 894

Calvados 1100 | Meuse 905

Cantal 1098 | Hautes-Alpes 908

Seine-Inférieure 1084 | Meurthe-et-Moselle 918

Basses-Pyrénées 1080 | Haute-Savoie 947

Departments from which the adult males emigrate regularly either to

sea or to seek employment in towns tend to fall under the first head,

those in which large bodies of troops are stationed under the second.

The annual number of emigrants from France is small. The Basques of

Basses-Pyrénées go in considerable numbers to the Argentine Republic,

the inhabitants of Basses Alpes to Mexico and the United States, and

there are important French colonies in Algeria and Tunisia.

The following table shows the distribution of the active population of

France according to their occupations in 1901.

+--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| Occupation | Males. | Females. | Total. |

+--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| Forestry and agriculture | 5,517,617 | 2,658,952 | 8,176,569 |

| Manufacturing industries | 3,695,213 | 2,124,642 | 5,819,855 |

| Trade | 1,132,621 | 689,999 | 1,822,620 |

| Domestic service | 223,861 | 791,176 | 1,015,037 |

| Transport | 617,849 | 212,794 | 830,643 |

| Public service | 1,157,835 | 139,734 | 1,297,569 |

| Liberal professions | 226,561 | 173,278 | 399,839 |

| Mining, quarries | 261,320 | 5,031 | 266,351 |

| Fishing | 63,372 | 4,400 | 67,772 |

| Unclassed | 14,316 | 4,504 | 18,820 |

+--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| Grand Total |12,910,565 | 6,804,510 |19,715,075 |

+--------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

_Religion._

Great alterations were made with regard to religious matters in France

by a law of December 1905, supplemented by a law of January 1907 (see

below, _Law and Institutions_). Before that time three religions

(_cultes_) were recognized and supported by the state--the Roman

Catholic, the Protestant (subdivided into the Reformed and Lutheran) and

the Hebrew. In Algeria the Mahommedan religion received similar

recognition. By the law of 1905 all the churches ceased to be recognized

or supported by the state and became entirely separated therefrom, while

the adherents of all creeds were permitted to form associations for

public worship (_associations cultuelles_), upon which the expenses of

maintenance were from that time to devolve. The state, the departments,

and the communes were thus relieved from the payment of salaries and

grants to religious bodies, an item of expenditure which amounted in the

last year of the old system to £1,101,000 paid by the state and £302,200

contributed by the departments and communes. Before these alterations

the relations between the state and the Roman Catholic communion, by far

the largest and most important in France, were chiefly regulated by the

provisions of the Concordat of 1801, concluded between the first consul,

Bonaparte, and Pope Pius VII. and by other measures passed in 1802.

France is divided into provinces and dioceses as follows:

Archbishoprics. Bishoprics.

PARIS Chartres, Meaux, Orléans, Blois, Versailles.

AIX Marseilles, Fréjus, Digne, Gap, Nice, Ajaccio.

ALBI Rodez, Cahors, Mende, Perpignan.

AUCH Aire, Tarbes, Bayonne.

AVIGNON Nîmes, Valence, Viviers, Montpellier.

BESANÇON Verdun, Bellay, St Dié, Nancy.

BORDEAUX Agen, Angoulême, Poitiers, Périgueux, La Rochelle, Luçon.

BOURGES Clermont, Limoges, Le Puy, Tulle, St Flour.

CAMBRAI Arras.

CHAMBÉRY Annecy, Tarentaise, St Jean-de-Maurienne.

LYONS Autun, Langres, Dijon, St Claude, Grenoble.

REIMS Soissons, Châlons-sur-Marne, Beauvais, Amiens.

RENNES Quimper, Vannes, St Brieuc.

ROUEN Bayeux, Evreux, Sées, Coutances.

SENS Troyes, Nevers, Moulins.

TOULOUSE Montauban, Pamiers, Carcassonne.

TOURS Le Mans, Angers, Nantes, Laval.

The dioceses are divided into parishes each under a parish priest

known as a _curé_ or _desservant_ (incumbent). The bishops and

archbishops, formerly nominated by the government and canonically

confirmed by the pope, are now chosen by the latter. The appointment

of curés rested with the bishops and had to be confirmed by the

government, but this confirmation is now dispensed with. The

archbishops used to receive an annual salary of £600 each and the

bishops £400.

The archbishops and bishops are assisted by vicars-general (at

salaries previously ranging from £100 to £180), and to each cathedral

is attached a chapter of canons. A cure, in addition to his regular

salary, received fees for baptisms, marriages, funerals and special

masses, and had the benefit of a free house called a _presbytère_. The

total personnel of state-paid Roman Catholic clergy amounted in 1903

to 36,169. The Roman priests are drawn from the seminaries,

established by the church for the education of young men intending to

join its ranks, and divided into lower and higher seminaries (_grands

et petits séminaires_), the latter giving the same class of

instruction as the _lycées_.

The number of Protestants may be estimated at about 600,000 and the

Jews at about 70,000. The greatest number of Jews is to be found at

Paris, Lyons and Bordeaux, while the departments of the centre and of

the south along the range of the Cévennes, where Calvinism flourishes,

are the principal Protestant localities, Nîmes being the most

important centre. Considerable sprinklings of Protestants are also to

be found in the two Charentes, in Dauphiné, in Paris and in

Franche-Comté. The two Protestant bodies used to cost the state about

£60,000 a year and the Jewish Church about £6000.

Both Protestant churches have a parochial organization and a

presbyterian form of church government. In the Reformed Church (far

the more numerous of the two bodies) each parish has a council of

presbyters, consisting of the pastor and lay-members elected by the

congregation. Several parishes form a consistorial circumscription,

which has a consistorial council consisting of the council of

presbyters of the chief town of the circumscription, the pastor and

one delegate of the council of presbyters from each parish and other

elected members. There are 103 circumscriptions (including Algeria),

which are grouped into 21 provincial synods composed of a pastor and

lay delegate from each consistory. All the more important questions of

church discipline and all decisions regulating the doctrine and

practice of the church are dealt with by the synods. At the head of

the whole organization is a General Synod, sitting at Paris. The

organization of the Lutheran Church (_Église de la confession

d'Augsburg_) is broadly similar. Its consistories are grouped into two

special synods, one at Paris and one at Montbéliard (for the

department of Doubs and Haute-Saône and the territory of Belfort,

where the churches of this denomination are principally situated). It

also has a general synod--composed of 2 inspectors,[5] 5 pastors

elected by the synod of Paris, and 6 by that of Montbéliard, 22 laymen

and a delegate of the theological faculty at Paris--which holds

periodical meetings and is represented in its relations with the

government by a permanent executive commission.

The Jewish parishes, called synagogues, are grouped into departmental

consistories (Paris, Bordeaux, Nancy, Marseilles, Bayonne, Lille,

Vesoul, Besançon and three in Algeria). Each synagogue is served by a

rabbi assisted by an officiating minister, and in each consistory is a

grand rabbi. At Paris is the central consistory, controlled by the

government and presided over by the supreme grand rabbi.

_Agriculture._

Of the population of France some 17,000,000 depend upon agriculture for

their livelihood, though only about 6,500,000 are engaged in work on the

land. The cultivable land of the country occupies some 195,000 sq. m. or

about 94% of the total area; of this 171,000 sq. m. are cultivated.

There are besides 12,300 sq. m. of uncultivable area covered by lakes,

rivers, towns, &c. Only the roughest estimate is possible as to the

sizes of holdings, but in general terms it may be said that about 3

million persons are proprietors of holdings under 25 acres in extent

amounting to between 15 and 20% of the cultivated area, the rest being

owned by some 750,000 proprietors, of whom 150,000 possess half the area

in holdings averaging 400 acres in extent. About 80% of holdings

(amounting to about 60% of the cultivated area) are cultivated by the

proprietor; of the rest approximately 13% are let on lease and 7% are

worked on the system known as _métayage_ (q.v.).

The capital value of land, which greatly decreased during the last

twenty years of the 19th century, is estimated at £3,120,000,000, and

that of stock, buildings, implements, &c., at £340,000,000. The value

per acre of land, which exceeds £48 in the departments of Seine, Rhône

and those fringing the north-west coast from Nord to Manche inclusive,

is on the average about £29, though it drops to £16 and less in

Morbihan, Landes, Basses-Pyrénées, and parts of the Alps and the central

plateau.

While wheat and wine constitute the staples of French agriculture, its

distinguishing characteristic is the variety of its products.

_Cereals_ occupy about one-third of the cultivated area. For the

production of _wheat_, in respect of which France is self-supporting,

French Flanders, the Seine basin, notably the Beauce and the Brie, and

the regions bordering on the lower course of the Loire and the upper

course of the Garonne, are the chief areas. Rye, on the other hand,

one of the least valuable of the cereals, is grown chiefly in the poor

agricultural territories of the central plateau and western Brittany.

Buckwheat is cultivated mainly in Brittany. Oats and barley are

generally cultivated, the former more especially in the Parisian

region, the latter in Mayenne and one or two of the neighbouring

departments. Meslin, a mixture of wheat and rye, is produced in the

great majority of French departments, but to a marked extent in the

basin of the Sarthe. Maize covers considerable areas in Landes,

Basses-Pyrénées and other south-western departments.

+----------+---------------------+-----------------------+---------------------+

| | Average Acreage | Average Production | Average Yield |

| |(Thousands of Acres).|(Thousands of Bushels).| per Acre (Bushels). |

| +----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+

| |1886-1895.|1896-1905.| 1886-1895.| 1896-1905.|1886-1895.|1896-1905.|

+----------+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+

| Wheat | 17,004 | 16,580 | 294,564 | 317,707 | 17.3 | 19.1 |

| Meslin | 720 | 491 | 12,193 | 8,826 | 16.9 | 17.0 |

| Rye | 3,888 | 3,439 | 64,651 | 56,612 | 16.6 | 16.4 |

| Barley | 2,303 | 1,887 | 47,197 | 41,066 | 20.4 | 21.0 |

| Oats | 9,507 | 9,601 | 240,082 | 253,799 | 25.2 | 26.4 |

| Buckwheat| 1,484 | 1,392 | 26,345 | 23,136 | 17.7 | 16.6 |

| Maize | 1,391 | 1,330 | 25,723 | 24,459 | 18.4 | 18.4 |

+----------+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+

_Forage Crops._--The mangold-wurzel, occupying four times the acreage

of swedes and turnips, is by far the chief root-crop in France. It is

grown largely in the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais and in

those of the Seine basin, the southern limit of its cultivation being

roughly a line drawn from Bordeaux to Lyons. The average area occupied

by it in the years from 1896 to 1905 was 1,043,000 acres, the total

average production being 262,364,000 cwt. and the average production

per acre 10½ tons. Clover, lucerne and sainfoin make up the bulk of

artificial pasturage, while vetches, crimson clover and cabbage are

the other chief forage crops.

_Vegetables.--Potatoes_ are not a special product of any region,

though grown in great quantities in the Bresse and the Vosges. Early

potatoes and other vegetables (_primeurs_) are largely cultivated in

the districts bordering the English Channel. Market-gardening is an

important industry in the regions round Paris, Amiens and Angers, as

it is round Toulouse, Montauban, Avignon and in southern France

generally. The market-gardeners of Paris and its vicinity have a high

reputation for skill in the forcing of early vegetables under glass.

_Potatoes: Decennial Averages._

+-----------+-----------+------------+-------------+

| | | |Average Yield|

| | Acreage. | Total Yield| per Acre |

| | | (Tons). | (Tons). |

+-----------+-----------+------------+-------------+

| 1886-1895 | 3,690,000 | 11,150,000 | 3.02 |

| 1896-1905 | 3,735,000 | 11,594,000 | 3.1 |

+-----------+-----------+------------+-------------+

_Industrial Plants._[6]--The manufacture of sugar from beetroot, owing

to the increased use of sugar, became highly important during the

latter half of the 19th century, the industry both of cultivation and

manufacture being concentrated in the northern departments of Aisne,

Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme and Oise, the first named supplying nearly

a quarter of the whole amount produced in France.

_Flax and hemp_ showed a decreasing acreage from 1881 onwards. Flax is

cultivated chiefly in the northern departments of Nord,

Seine-Inférieure, Pas-de-Calais, Côtes-du-Nord, hemp in Sarthe,

Morbihan and Maine-et-Loire.

_Colza_, grown chiefly in the lower basin of the Seine

(Seine-Inférieure and Eure), is the most important of the

oil-producing plants, all of which show a diminishing acreage. The

three principal regions for the production of tobacco are the basin of

the Garonne (Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot and Gironde), the basin of

the Isère (Isère and Savoie) and the department of Pas-de-Calais. The

state controls its cultivation, which is allowed only in a limited

number of departments. Hops cover only about 7000 acres, being almost

confined to the departments of Nord, Côte d'Or and Meurthe-et-Moselle.

_Decennial Averages 1896-1905._

+------------+----------+--------------+---------------+

| | | | Average Yield |

| | Acreage. | Production | per Acre |

| | | (Tons). | (Tons). |

+------------+----------+--------------+---------------+

| Sugar beet | 672,000 | 6,868,000 | 10.2 |

| Hemp | 64,856 | 18,451[7] | .28[7] |

| Flax | 57,893 | 17,857[7] | .30[7] |

| Colza | 102,454 | 47,697 | .46 |

| Tobacco | 41,564 | 22,453 | .54 |

+------------+----------+--------------+---------------+

_Vineyards_ (see WINE).--The vine grows generally in France, except in

the extreme north and in Normandy and Brittany. The great

wine-producing regions are:

1. The country fringing the Mediterranean coast and including Hérault

(240,822,000 gals. in 1905), and Aude (117,483,000 gals. in 1905), the

most productive departments in France in this respect.

2. The department of Gironde (95,559,000 gals. in 1905), whence come

Médoc and the other wines for which Bordeaux is the market.

3. The lower valley of the Loire, including Touraine and Anjou, and

the district of Saumur.