Part 23 (1/2)
Feathers are of four chief kinds. (1) _Quill feathers_ of the wing (_remiges_) and tail (_rectrices_); the former are attached to the hand and forearm. (2) _Contour feathers_, which determine the external form and are attached to certain areas of the skin; those overlapping the quills are known as _wing-coverts_ and _tail-coverts_. (3) Small soft _down feathers_.
(4) _Hair-like feathers_ (_filoplumes_). The plumage of birds is of characteristic colours, due either to pigments or physical structure (metallic feathers), and commonly having a protective function by harmonizing with the surroundings (especially in females), or, when of bright kind, playing a part in courts.h.i.+p (especially in males). The feathers of birds are periodically changed, generally once, but in some species twice a year. This is called _moulting_. When feathers have reached their full growth they become dry, and only the tube, or the vascular substance which it contains, continues to absorb moisture or fat. When, therefore, part of a feather is cut off, it does not grow out again; and a bird whose wings have been clipped remains in that condition till the next moulting season, when the old stumps are shed and new feathers grow out.
If, however, the stumps are pulled out sooner (by which operation the bird suffers nothing), the feathers will be renewed in a few weeks or even days.
The feather is a very strong formation, not readily damaged, the arch of the shaft resisting pressure, while the web and fine fibres yield without suffering. Being a bad conductor of heat, it preserves the high temperature of the bird, while it is so light as to be easily carried in flight. It is rendered almost impervious to wet by the oily fluid which most birds secrete at the base of the tail. Feathers form a considerable article of commerce, particularly those of the ostrich, heron, swan, peac.o.c.k, and goose, for plumes, ornaments, filling of beds, pens, and other purposes.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Feather-star holding on by its grasping threads and its larvae attached by stalks]
FEATHER-STAR, one of the stalkless echinoderms belonging to the Crinoidea.
A well-known type is the rosy feather-star (_Antedon rosacea_), not uncommon in British seas, and consisting of a central body or disc, from which proceed five radiating arms, each dividing into two secondary branches, so that ultimately there are ten slender rays. Each arm is furnished on both sides with lateral processes so as to a.s.sume a feather-like appearance. It is fixed when young by a short stalk, but exists in a free condition in its adult state.
FEATHERSTONE, an urban district or town in the W. Riding of Yorks, England, 2 miles west by south of Pontefract; inhabitants work chiefly in the collieries. Pop. 14,839.
FEB'RIFUGE is an agent used to lessen fever. Antipyrine, quinine, and salicylic acid, are well-known examples of drugs used as febrifuges, while cold baths and cold sponging are the most effective of other methods.
FEBRO'NIANISM, in Roman Catholic theology, a system of doctrines antagonistic to the admitted claims of the Pope, and a.s.serting the independence of national Churches, and the rights of bishops to unrestricted action in matters of discipline and Church government within their own dioceses. The term is derived from Justinus _Febronius_, _a nom de plume_ a.s.sumed by John Nicholas von Hontheim, Archbishop of Treves, in a work ent.i.tled _De Statu Ecclesiae et legitima Potestate Romani Pontificis_ (On the State of the Church and the Legitimate Power of the Roman Pontiff), published in 1763.
FEB'RUARY (from the Roman _Februa_, a festival of expiation or purification), the second month in the year, having twenty-eight days, except in leap-year, when it has twenty-nine. This latter number of days it had originally among the Romans, until the Senate decreed that the seventh month should bear the name of Augustus, when a day was taken from February and added to August to make it equal to July in number of days.
FeCAMP (f[=a]-ka[.n]; Lat. _Fiscanum_, derived from _Ficus Campus_, Fig Plain), a seaport of France, department of Seine-Inferieure, 23 miles north-east of Havre. It is one of the best ports in the Channel, and has many vessels employed in the cod, herring, and mackerel fisheries. Pop.
17,383.
FECHTER (fesh-t[=a]r), Charles Albert, French actor and dramatist, born in 1824, died in America in 1879. His first appearance on the stage was at the Salle Moliere, after which he made a short tour of Italy with a travelling French company. Returning to Paris, he appeared between 1844 and 1856 at different Parisian theatres, and in 1857 he was joint-director of the Odeon. In 1860 he came to London, and at once achieved great success as Ruy Blas and Hamlet at the Princess's Theatre, characters in which he departed widely from stage traditions. He subsequently leased the Lyceum, and afterwards the Adelphi, acting youthful and melodramatic parts with striking power. From 1870 to 1878 he lived in the United States, but his experiences as a manager in New York were not successful.
FED'ERAL, or FEDERALIST, an appellation in America given to those politicians who wanted to strengthen the central government, in opposition to those who wished to extend the separate authority of each individual state. Hence in the Civil Wars of 1861-5 the term _Federals_ was applied to the Northern party.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, government by the confederation of several united states, self-governing in local matters, but subject in matters of general polity to a central authority, as, for instance, the Swiss Republic, the United States of North America, Mexico, Argentine, Brazil, The Union of South Africa, and Russia since the revolution of 1917. The degree to which such states give up their individual rights as sovereign bodies may be very different.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Viscount Bryce, _The American Commonwealth_; Burgess, _Political Science and Comparative Const.i.tutional Law_; Freeman, _History of Federal Government_.
FEE, or FIEF (A.S. _feoh_, cattle, property), in law, primarily meant a loan of land, an estate held in trust on condition of the grantee giving personal or other service to the prince or lord who granted it. Feudal estates, however, soon came to be regarded as inalienable heritages held on various tenures; hence the term fee came to be equivalent to an estate of inheritance, that is, an interest in land which pa.s.ses to heirs if the owner die intestate. The amplest estate or interest in land is that of a _fee-simple_, which is also called an absolute fee, in contradistinction to a fee limited or clogged with certain conditions. A fee-simple means the entire and absolute possession of land, with full power to alienate it by deed, gift, or will. It is the estate out of which other lesser estates are said to be carved; such as a _fee-tail_ (see _Entail_), which is limited to particular heirs, and subject to certain restrictions of use; and a _base fee_, which ceases with the existence of certain conditions.
FEE-FARM, in law, a kind of tenure of land without homage, fealty, or other service, except that mentioned in the feoffment, which is usually the full rent.
FEELING is properly a synonym for sensation, or that state of consciousness which results from the application of a stimulus to some sensory nerve. It is the most universal of the senses, existing wherever there are nerves; and they are distributed over all parts of the body, though most numerous in such parts as the finger-tips and the lines where skin and mucous membrane pa.s.s into each other. This universal distribution of feeling is necessary, otherwise parts of the body might be destroyed without our knowledge. The structures which thus apprehend the impressions of contact are papillae or conical elevations of the skin in which the nerves end, and which are richly supplied with blood-vessels. The term feeling is also used for a general sense of comfort or discomfort which cannot be localized, and it designates states of consciousness which are either agreeable or disagreeable. In a figurative sense the term is also applied to a mental emotion, or even to a moral conception; thus we may speak of a friendly feeling, a feeling of freedom. See _Emotion_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Bain, _The Emotions and the Will_; T. Ribot, _Psychology of the Emotions_.
FEGATELLA, a genus of Liverworts, family Marchantiales. _F. conica_ is common on moist banks.
FEIJOA, a genus of Myrtaceae, natives of Brazil. The flowers are pollinated by birds, which feed on the juicy petals, a very unusual method.
FEISUL, or FEISAL, Emir, King of Irak (Mesopotamia), born in 1887, the third surviving son of Hussein, King of Hejaz. Educated at Constantinople, Feisul held several posts under the Turkish Government, but took an active part in the revolutionary movement which resulted in the deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid. He then returned to Arabia, where he commanded the Arabs against Ibn Saud, the head of a new religious sect, who threatened his father's emirate. During the European War Hussein sided with the Allies, and Feisul organized and commanded a regular Arab army, which formed Lord Allenby's right wing, and took part in the latter's operations in Palestine. As a reward for his services an independent, or semi-independent, state was established at Damascus under Feisul, and the prince was proclaimed King of Syria in March, 1920. Serious friction, however, arose between the French authorities and the Arabs, and hostilities broke out in July. The French, under General Gouraud, occupied Damascus, compelled the Arabs to recognize the French mandate for Syria, and deposed the new King of Syria. In August, 1921, Feisul became the first Arab king of the new state of Irak (Mesopotamia), set up by the British Government. He was crowned with great splendour at Bagdad on the 23rd of Aug., in the presence of a great gathering of his people and the representatives of the British Government. A personal message from King George V was handed to Feisul, and the British High Commissioner, Sir Percy c.o.x, formally announced the recognition by Great Britain of the new ruler of Irak.
FELANICHE (fel-[.a]-n[=e]'ch[=a]), a town in the Island of Majorca, a very ancient place with Moorish remains. Pop. (commune), 11,400.
FELEGYHAZA (f[=a]'led-ya-z[.a]), a town of Hungary, 66 miles S.E. of Budapest, with large cattle-markets and an extensive trade in corn, wine, and fruit. Pop. 34,924.
FELICU'DI, one of the Lipari Isles, off the north coast of Sicily, 10 miles west of Salina. It is about 9 miles in circuit. The soil is both fertile and well cultivated. Pop. 800.