Encyclopædia Britannica. NEW WERNER TWENTIETH CENTURY EDITION. VOL. IX.—(FAL—FYZ). Total number of Articles, 632. FALCON. ALFRED NEWTON, Professor of Zoology, Uni- FALCONRY. Col. E. DELME RADCLIFFE, author of "Fal- FALKLAND ISLANDS. Sir WYVILLE THOMSON, author of FAMILY. ANDREW LANG, M.A. FAMINES. CORNELIUS WALFORD, author of "Famines of FARADAY. J. CLERK MAXWELL, late Prof. of Experimen- FARNESE. T. M'K. WOOD. FARQUHAR. R. CARRUTHERS, LL.D. FARRAGUT. J. K. LAUGHTON, Royal Naval College, FASTING. Rev. J. SUTHERLAND BLACK, M.A. FAUSTUS. RICHARD GARNETT, LL.D. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Prof. DANIEL WILSON, Toronto. FENIANS. W. K. SULLIVAN, President of Queen's College, FERGHANA. COUTTS TROTTER. FERMENTATION. Prof. DITTMAR, Glasgow. FEUERBACH, P. J. A. W. L. R. CATES, joint editor of FEVER. J. O. AFFLECK, M.D. FEZ. C. B. NORMAN. FEZZAN. KEITH JOHNSTON. CONTENTS. FLORENCE. Misses HORNER, authors of "Walks through FLORIDA. GEORGE J. HAGAR, editor" Frank Leslie's Illus- FLOUR. JAMES PATON. FLYING FISH. ALBERT GUNTHER, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., Brit FOOTBALL. H. F. WILKINSON, one of the editors of the FOOTE. A. W. WARD, Professor of English Literature, Owens College, Manchester. FORAMINIFERA. Dr. W. B. CARPENTER, C.B. FORBES, J. D. A. ADAMS REILLY. FORD, JOHN. Prof. A. W. WARD. FORESTS. Dr. H. CLEGHORN, author of "Forests and Gar- FORGE. D. A. AIRD, editor of the "Forge and Lathe." FOSCOLO. J. MONTGOMERY STUART. FOSTER. T. F. HENDERSON. FOUNDLING HOSPITALS. W. C. SMITH, LL.B. FOX. J. GIBSON, Industrial Museum, Edinburgh. GEOGRAPHY. HENRI GAUSSERON. HISTORY. Very Rev. Dean KITCHIN, author of " LANGUAGE. HENRY NICOL. History LITERATURE. Rt. Rev. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D. FRANCKEN. J. A. CROWE, author of "Painting in Italy." FRANKINCENSE. F. H. BUTLER, M.A. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. JOHN BIGELOW, LL.D., author FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN. J. S. KELTIE. FRANKS. Very Rev. Dean KITCHIN. FRAUD. EDMUND ROBERTSON, LL.D., M.P., Professor of FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. Rev. J. SUTHERLAND FREEMASONRY. W. C. SMITH, LL.B. FREE TRADE. Prof. THOROLD ROGERS. FRESCO. C. HEATH WILSON, author of "Life and Works FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. E. W. BRABROOK. FROEBEL. Rev. R. H. QUICK, author of " Essays on Educa- FROG. JOHN GIBSON. FROISSART. WALTER BESANT, author of "French Hu- FUEL. H. BAUERMAN, Royal School of Mines. FUNCTION. A. CAYLEY, Sadlerian Professor of Pure FUNERAL RITES. JOHN RAE. FUNGUS. GEORGE MURRAY, Botanical Department, Brit- FUR. A. L. BELDEN, editor" Fur Trade Review," New York. FURNITURE. J. H. POLLEN. FUST. Rev. PONSONBY A. LYONS. K ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. FALA ALABA, a town of West Africa, about 190 miles N.W. | in every mesgeed or synagogue. Various pagan observances of Freetown in Sierra Leone, at the foot of the Konkodugor, and on the Fala River, a tributary of the Little Scarcies. It was founded by the Sulimas, who revolted from the Mahometan Foulas, and its warlike inhabitants Coon attained supremacy over the neighboring villages and country. The defences consist of a lofty stockade, and a moat about 20 feet deep and as many in breadth. From a distance the town appears like a grove of silk-cotton trees, and only at intervals are the brown roofs seen peering through the foliage. Major Laing about 1825 estimated the number of huts at about 4000. They are arranged in clusters round squares or court-yards, and though only built of clay are neat and even elegant. Winwood Reade, who was detained in the town during his Niger journey in 1869, has given a graphic description of life in Falaba in his African Sketch Book, vol. ii., 1873. See also Laing, Travels in W. Africa, 1825. are mingled in their ritual: every newly-built house is considered uninhabitable till the blood of a sheep or fowl has been spilt in it; a woman guilty of a breach of chastity has to undergo purification by leaping into a flaming fire; the Sabbath has been deified and, as the goddess Sanbat, receives adoration and sacrifice, and is said to have ten thousand times ten thousand angels to wait on her commands. There is a monastic system, introduced it is said in the 4th century A.D. by Aba Zebra, a pious man who retired from the world and lived in the cave of Hoharewa, in the province of Armatshoho. The monks must prepare all their food with their own hands, and no lay person, male or fe male, may enter their houses. Celibacy is not practised by the priests, but they are not allowed to marry a second time and no one is admitted into the order who has eaten bread with a Christian, or is the son or grandson of a man thus contaminated. Belief in the evil eye or shadow is universal, and spirit-raisers, soothsayers, and rain-doctors are in repute. Education is in the hands of the monks and priests, and is confined to boys. Fasts, obligatory on all above seven years of age, are held on every Monday and Thursday, on every new moon, and at the passover (the 21st or 22d of April). The annual festivals are the passover, the harvest feast, the Baala Mazâlat or feast of tabernacles (during which, however, no booths are built), the day of covenant or assembly, and Abraham's day. It is believed that after death the soul remains in a place of darkness till the third day, when the first taskar or sacrifice for the dead is offered; prayers are read in the mesgeed for the repose of the departed, and for seven days a formal lament takes place every morning in his house. No coffins are used, and a stone vault is built over the corpse so that it may not come into direct contact with the earth. The Falashas are an industrious people, living for the most part in villages of their own, or, if they settle in a Christian or Mahometan town, occupying a separate quarter. They engage in agriculture, manufacture pottery, iron ware, and cloth, and are specially sought after for their skill in mason-work Their numbers are variously estimated at from 80,000 to 200,000. FALAISE, a town of France, the capital of an arrondissement in the department of Calvados, is situated on the right bank of the Ante, 21 miles S. by E. of Caen. It was formerly a place of some strength, and is still surrounded by old walls. The principal object of interest is the castle, now partly in ruins, but formerly the seat of the dukes of Normandy, and the birthplace of William the Conqueror. Near the castle, in the Place de la Trinité, is an equestrian statue in bronze of William the Conqueror, by Louis Rodel. Falaise has two large and populous suburbs, one of which, Guibray, rivals in size and importance the town itself, and is celebrated for its annual fair, which lasts from 10th to 25th August. The town contains a town-hall, a hospital, a theatre, several ancient churches, and a public library. The manufactures are chiefly cotton goods, hosiery, leather, and paper. The population in 1872 was 7749. FALASHAS (i. ., Exiles), the degenerate Jews of Abyssinia, found in considerable numbers in the provinces west of Takazze, namely, Semien, Wogara, Armatshoho, Walkait, Tchelga, Dembea, Tenkel, Dagusa, Alafa, Kunsula, Aschafer, Agarv-Meder, and Quara. It is doubtful whether they are to be ethnologically identified with the seed of Abraham, or regarded, like the Khazars of the 8th century, as, for the most part, mere proselytes to Judaism. As to the date when the race or the religion was introduced there is no authentic information,-one account carrying it back to the days of Solomon and his hypothetical son Menelek by the queen of Sheba, another to the time of the Babylonian captivity, and a third only to the 1st century of the Christian era. That one or other of the earlier dates is probably correct may be gathered from the fact that the Falashas know nothing of either the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud, make no use of the tephilin, and observe neither the feast of Purim nor the dedication of the Temple. They possess -not in Hebrew, of which they are altogether ignorant, but in Ethiopic (or Geez)—the canonical and apocryphal books of the Old Testament; a volume of extracts from the Pen-Teutonic Falk, though falz is commonly accounted its root. tateuch, with comments given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai; the Te-e-sa-sa Sanbat, or laws of the Sabbath; the Ardit, a book of secrets revealed to twelve saints, which is used as a charm against disease; lives of Abraham, Moses, etc.; and a translation of Josephus called Sana Aihud. A copy of the Orit or Mosaic law is kept in the holy of holies See Nott and Gliddon, Types of Mankind, 1868; Flad, Zwölf translated from the German by S. P. Goodhart, London, 1869. Jahre in Abyssinia, Basel, 1869, and his Falashes of Abyssinia, 1 FALCON (Latin, Falco; French, Faucon; Teutonic, Falk or Valken), a word now restricted to the high-couraged and long-winged Birds-of-Prey which take their quarry as it moves; but formerly it had a very different meaning, being by the naturalists of the last and even of the present century extended to a great number of birds comprised in the genus Falco of Linnæus and writers of his day,' while, 1 Unknown to classical writers the earliest use of this word is said to be by Servius Honoratus (circa 390-480 A.D.) in his notes on En. lib. x. vers. 145. It seems possibly to be the Latinized form of the The nomenclature of nearly all the older writers on this point is extremely confused, and the attempt to unravel it would hardly repay the trouble, and would undoubtedly occupy more space than could here be allowed. What many of them, even so lately as Pennant's time, termed the "Gentle Falcon" is certainly the bird we now call the Gos-Hawk (i. e., Goose-Hawk), which name itself may have Deen transferred to the Astur palumbarius of modern ornithologists from one of the long-winged Birds-of-Prey. on the other hand, by falconers, it was, and still is, techni- | From Port Kennedy, e most northern part of the Amer cally limited to the female of the birds employed by them in their vocation (see FALCONRY), whether "long-winged" and therefore "noble," or "short-winged" and "ignoble." According to modern usage, the majority of the Falcons, in the sense first given, may be separated into five very distinct groups: (1) the Falcons pure and simple (Falco proper); (2) the large northern Falcons (Hierofalco, Cuvier); (3) the "Desert Falcons" (Gennaa, Kaup); (4) the Merlins Esalon, Kaup); and (5) the Hobbies (Hypotriorchis, Boie). The precise order in which these should be ranked need not concern us here, but it must be mentioned that a sixth group, the Kestrels (Tinnunculus, Vieillot) is often added to them. This, however, appears to have been justifiably reckoned a distinct genus, and its consideration may for the present be deferred. The typical Falcon is by common consent allowed to be that almost cosmopolitan species to which unfortunately the FIG. 1.-Peregrine Falcon. English epithet "peregrine" (ie., strange or wandering) has been attached. It is the Falco peregrinus of Tunstall (1771) and of most recent ornithologists, though some1 prefer the specific name communis applied by J. F. Gmelin a few years later (1788) to a bird which, if his diagnosis be correct, could not have been a true Falcon at all, since it had yellow irides-a color never met with in the eyes of any bird now called by naturalists a "Falcon." This species inhabits suitable localities throughout the greater part of the globe, though examples from North America have by some received specific recognition as F. anatumthe "Duck-Hawk," and those from Australia have been described as distinct under the name of F. melanogenys. Here, as in so many other cases, it is almost impossible to decide as to which forms should, and which should not, be accounted merely local races. In size not surpassing a Raven, this Falcon (fig. 1) is perhaps the most powerful Bird-of-Prey for its bulk that flies, and its courage is not less than its power. It is the species, in Europe, most commonly trained for the sport of hawking (see FAL CONRY). Volumes have been written upon it, and to attempt a complete account of it is, within the limits now available, impossible. The plumage of the adult is generally blackish-blue above, and white, with a more or less deep cream-colored tinge, beneath-the lower parts, except the chin and throat, being barred transversely with black, while a black patch extends from the bill to the ear-coverts, and descends on either side beneath the mandible. The young have the upper parts deep blackish-brown, and the lower white, more or less strongly tinged with ochraceousbrown, and striped longitudinally with blackish-brown. 1 Among them Mr. Sharpe, who, in his recent Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, has besides rejected much of the evidence that the experience of those who have devoted years of study to the FalCODs has supplied. ican continent, to Tasmania, and from the shores of the Sea of Ochotsk to Mendoza in the Argentine territory, there is scarcely a country in which this Falcon has not been found. Specimens have been received from the Cape of Good Hope, and it is only a question of the technical differentiation of species whether it does not extend to Cape Horn. Fearless as it is, and adapting itself to almost every circumstance, it will form its eyry equally on the sea-washed cliffs, the craggy mountains, or (though more rarely) the drier spots of a marsh in the northern hemisphere, as on trees (says Schlegel) in the forests of Java, or the waterless ravines of Australia. In the United Kingdom it was formerly very common, and hardly a high rock from the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight but had a pair as its tenants. But the British gamekeeper has long held the mistaken faith that it is his worst foe, and the number of pairs which are now allowed to rear their brood unmolested in these islands must be small indeed. Yet its utility to the game-preserver, by destroying every one of his most precious wards that shows any sign of infirmity, can hardly be questioned by reason, and no one has more earnestly urged its claims to protection than Mr. G. E. Freeman (Falconry, etc., p. 10). Nearly allied to this Falcon are several species of which it is impossible here to treat at length, such as F. barbarus of Mauritania, F. minor of South Africa, the Asiatic F. babylonicus, F. peregrinator of India -the Shaheen, and perhaps F. cassini of South America, with some others. Next to the typical Falcons comes a group known as the "great northern" Falcons (Hierofalco). Of these the most remarkable is the Gyrfalcon (F. gyrfalco), whose home is in the Scandinavian mountains, though the young are yearly visitants to the plains of Holland and Germany. In plumage it very much resembles F. peregrinus, but its flanks have generally a bluer tinge, and its superiority in size is at once manifest. Nearly allied to it is the Icelander (F. islandus), which externally differs in its paler coloring, and in almost entirely wanting the black mandibular patch. Its proportions, however, differ a good deal, its body being elongated. Its country is shown by its name, but it also inhabits South Greenland, and not unfrequently makes its way to the British Islands. Very close to this comes the Greenland Falcon (F. candicans), a native of North Greenland, and perhaps of other countries within the Arctic circle. Like the last, the Greenland Falcon from time to time occurs in the United Kingdom, but it is always to be distinguished by wearing a plumage in which at every age the prevailing color is pure white. In North-Eastern America these birds are replaced by a kindred form (F. labradorus) first detected by Audubon, and lately recognized by Mr. Dresser (Orn. Miscell., i. p. 135). It is at once distinguished by its very dark coloring, the lower parts being occasionally almost as deeply tinted at all ages as the upper. All the birds hitherto named possess one character in common. The darker markings of their plumage are longitudinal before the first real moult takes place, and for ever afterwards are transverse. In other words, when young the markings are in form of stripes, when old in form of bars. The variation of tint is very great, especially in F. peregrinus; but the experience of falconers, whose business it is to keep their birds in the very highest condition, shows that a Falcon of either of these groups if light-colored in youth is light-colored when adult, and if dark when young is also dark when old-age, after the first moult, making no difference in the complexion of the bird. The next group is that of the so-called "Desert Falcons" (Gennaa), wherein the difference just indicated does not obtain, for long as the bird may live and often as it may moult, the original style of markings never gives way to any other. Foremost among these are to be considered the Lanner and the Saker (commonly termed F. lanarius and F. sacer), both well known in the palmy days of Falconry, but only within the last forty years or so re-admitted to full recognition. Both of these birds belong properly to South-eastern Europe, North Africa, and South-western Asia. They are, for their bulk, less powerful than the members of the preceding group, and It is not to be inferred, however, as many writers have done, that Falcons habitually prey upon birds in which disease has made any serious progress. Such birds meet their fate from the less noble Accipitres, or predatory animals of many kinds. But when a bird in first affected by any disorder, its power of taking care of itself is at once impaired, and hence in the majority of cases it may become an easy victim under circumstances which would enable a perfectly sound bird to escape from the attack even of a Falcon. though they may be trained to high flights are naturally | group, but they are considerably larger than either of the captors of humbler game. The precise number of species former. belonging here is very doubtful, but among the many candidates for recognition are especially to be named the Lugger (F. jugger) of India, and the Prairie Falcon (F. mexicanus) of the western plains of North America. The systematist finds it hard to decide in what group he should place two somewhat large Australian species (F. hypoleucus and F. subniger), both of which are rare FIG. 2.-Merlin. in collections-the latter especially; and, until more is known about them, their position must remain doubtful. We have then a small but very beautiful group-the Merlins (salon of some writers, Lithofalco of others). The European Merlin (F. asalon) is perhaps the boldest of the Accipitres, not hesitating to attack birds of twice its own size, and even on occasion threatening human beings. Yet it readily becomes tame, if not affectionate, when reelaimed, and its ordinary prey consists of the smaller PasIts "pinion of glossy blue" has become almost pro seres. FIG. 3.-Hobby. verbial, and a deep ruddy blush suffuses its lower parts; but these are characteristic only of the male-the female maintaining very nearly the sober brown plumage she wore when as a nestling she left her lowly cradle in the heather. Very close to this bird comes the Pigeon-Hawk (F. columbarius) of North America-so close, indeed, that none but an expert ornithologist can detect the difference. The Turauti of Anglo-Indians (F. chicquera), and its representative from Southern Africa (F. ruficollis), also belong to this 1 French, Émerillon; Icelandic, Smirill. Lastly, we have the Hobbies (Hypotriorchis), comprising a greater number of forms-though how many seems to be doubtful. They are in life at once recognizable by their bold upstanding position, and at any time by their long wings. The type of this group is the English Hobby (F. subbuteo), a bird of great power of dight, chiefly used in the capture of insects, which form its ordinary food. It is a summer visitant to most parts of Europe, including these islands, and is most wantonly and needlessly de stroyed by gamekeepers. A second European species of the group is the beautiful F. eleonora, which hardly comes further north than the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and, though in some places abundant, is an extremely local bird. The largest species of this section seems to be the Neotropical F. femoralis, for F. diroleucus though often ranked here is now supposed to belong to the group of typical Falcons. (A. N.) FALCONE, ANIELLO (1600-1665), a battle-painter, was the son of a tradesman, and was born in Naples. He showed his artistic tendency at an early age, received some instruction from a relative, and then studied under Ribera (Lo Spagnoletto), of whom he ranks as the most eminent pupil. Besides battle-pictures, large and small, taken from biblical as well as secular history, he painted various religious subjects, which, however, count for little in his general reputation. He became, as a battle-painter, almost as celebrated as Borgognone (Courtois), and was named "L'Oracolo delle Battaglie." His works have animation, variety, truth to nature, and careful color. Falcone was bold, generous, used to arms, and an excellent fencer. In the insurrection of Masaniello (1647) he resolved to be bloodily avenged for the death, at the hands of two Spaniards, of a nephew and of a pupil in the school of art which he had established in Naples. He and many of his scholars, including Salvator Rosa and Carlo Coppola, formed an scoured the streets by day, exulting in slaughter; at night armed band named the Compagnia della Morte. They they were painters again, and handled the brush with impetuous zeal. Peace being restored, they had to decamp. ticed the works of Falcone, and became his friend, and a Falcone and Rosa made off to Rome; here Borgognone noFrench gentleman induced him to go to France, where Louis XIV. became one of his patrons. Ultimately Colbert obtained permission for the painter to return to Naples, and there he died in 1665. Two of his battle-pieces are to be seen in the Louvre and in the Naples museum; he painted a portrait of Masaniello, and engraved a few plates. Among his principal scholars, besides Rosa and Coppola (whose works are sometimes ascribed to Falcone himself), were Domenico Gargiuolo named Micco Spadaro, Paolo Porpora, and Andrea di Lione. FALCONER, HUGH (1808-1865), a distinguished pale ontologist and botanist, descended from an old Scotch family, was born at Forres, 29th February, 1808. In 1826 he graduated as M. A. at Aberdeen, where he began to manifest a decided taste for the study of natural history and botany. He afterwards studied medicine in the university of Edinburgh, taking the degree of M.D. in 1829 Proceeding to India in 1830 as assistant-surgeon on th Bengal establishment of the East India Company, he made on his arrival an examination of the fossil bones from Ava in the possession of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and a description of the collection which he published immediately gave him a recognized position among the scientists of India. In 1831 he was appointed to the army station at Meerut, in the north-western provinces, and in 1832 he succeeded his friend Dr. Royle as superintendent of the botanic garden of Saharunpoor. He was thus placed in a district particularly rich in paleontological remains, the existence of which was, however, then unknown; and he immediately set to work to investigate both its natural history and geology. In 1834 he published a description of the geological character of the neighboring Sewalik hills, in the Tertiary strata of which he discovered bones of crocodiles, tortoises, and other fossil remains; and subsequently, along with other conjoint laborers, he brought to light a sub-tropical fossil fauna of unexampled extent and richness. For these valuable dis coveries he and Captain Cautley received in 1837 the Wollaston medal in duplicate from the Geological Society of London. In 1834 Falconer was appointed to inquire into the fitness of India for the growth of the tea-plant, and |