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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5

"Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker"

Author: Various

Release Date: April 1, 2011 [EBook #35747]

Language: English

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THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA

A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION

ELEVENTH EDITION

 

VOLUME X SLICE V

Fleury, Claude to Foraker

 

Articles in This Slice

FLEURY, CLAUDE FLYGARE-CARLÉN, EMILIE FLIEDNER, THEODOR FLYING BUTTRESS FLIGHT and FLYING FLYING COLUMN FLINCK, GOVERT "FLYING DUTCHMAN," FLINDERS, MATTHEW FLYING-FISH FLINSBERG FLYING-FOX FLINT, AUSTIN FLYING-SQUIRREL FLINT, ROBERT FLYSCH FLINT, TIMOTHY FOČA FLINT

(Michigan, U.S.A.)

FOCHABERS FLINT

(county of North Wales)

FOCSHANI FLINT

(town of North Wales)

FOCUS FLINT

(crystalline substance)

FOG FLINT IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS FOGAZZARO, ANTONIO FLOAT FOGELBERG, BENEDICT ERLAND FLOCK FOGGIA FLODDEN FÖHN FLODOARD FÖHR FLOE FOIL FLOOD, HENRY FOIL-FENCING FLOOD FOIX, PAUL DE FLOOD PLAIN FOIX FLOOR FOLARD, JEAN CHARLES FLOORCLOTH FOLD FLOQUET, CHARLES THOMAS FOLENGO, TEOFILO FLOR, ROGER DI FOLEY, JOHN HENRY FLORA FOLEY, SIR THOMAS FLORE AND BLANCHEFLEUR FOLI, ALLAN JAMES FLORENCE, WILLIAM JERMYN FOLIGNO FLORENCE OF WORCESTER FOLIO FLORENCE

(Alabama, U.S.A.)

FOLIUM FLORENCE

(capital of Tuscany)

FOLKES, MARTIN FLORES

(island in the Atlantic Ocean)

FOLKESTONE FLORES

(island of the Dutch East Indies)

FOLKLAND FLOREZ, ENRIQUE FOLKLORE FLORIAN, SAINT FOLLEN, AUGUST LUDWIG FLORIAN, JEAN PIERRE CLARIS DE FOLLEN, KARL FLORIANOPOLIS FOLLETT, SIR WILLIAM WEBB FLORIDA FONBLANQUE, ALBANY WILLIAM FLORIDABLANCA, DON JOSE MOÑINO Y REDONDO FOND DU LAC FLORIDOR FONDI FLORIN FONNI FLORIO, GIOVANNI FONSAGRADA FLORIS, FRANS FONSECA, MANOEL DEODORO DA FLORUS FONSECA, BAY OF FLORUS, JULIUS FONT FLORUS, PUBLIUS ANNIUS FONTAINE, PIERRE FRANÇOIS LÉONARD FLOTOW, FRIEDRICH FERDINAND ADOLF VON FONTAINEBLEAU FLOTSAM, JETSAM and LIGAN FONTAN, LOUIS MARIE FLOUNDER FONTANA, DOMENICO FLOUR and FLOUR MANUFACTURE FONTANA, LAVINIA FLOURENS, GUSTAVE FONTANA, PROSPERO FLOURENS, MARIE JEAN PIERRE FONTANE, THEODOR FLOWER, SIR WILLIAM HENRY FONTANES, LOUIS FLOWER FONTENAY-LE-COMTE FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL FONTENELLE, BERNARD LE BOVIER DE FLOYD, JOHN FONTENOY FLOYD, JOHN BUCHANAN FONTEVRAULT FLOYER, SIR JOHN FOOD FLUDD, ROBERT FOOD PRESERVATION FLÜGEL, GUSTAV LEBERECHT FOOL FLÜGEL, JOHANN GOTTFRIED FOOLS, FEAST OF FLUKE FOOLSCAP FLUME FOOL'S PARSLEY FLUMINI MAGGIORE FOOT FLUORANTHENE FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE FLUORENE FOOTBALL FLUORESCEIN FOOTE, ANDREW HULL FLUORESCENCE FOOTE, MARY HALLOCK FLUORINE FOOTE, SAMUEL FLUOR-SPAR FOOTMAN FLUSHING

(New York, U.S.A.)

FOOTSCRAY FLUSHING

(Zeeland, Holland)

FOOT-STALL FLUTE FOPPA, VINCENZO FLUX FORAGE FLY FORAIN, J. L. FLYCATCHER FORAKER, JOSEPH HENSON

FLEURY, CLAUDE (1640-1723), French ecclesiastical historian, was born at Paris on the 6th of December 1640. Destined for the bar, he was educated at the aristocratic college of Clermont (now that of Louis-le-Grand). In 1658 he was nominated an advocate to the parlement of Paris, and for nine years followed the legal profession. But he had long been of a religious disposition, and in 1667 turned from law to theology. He had been some time in orders when Louis XIV., in 1672, selected him as tutor of the princes of Conti, with such success that the king next entrusted to him the education of the count of Vermandois, one of his natural sons, on whose death in 1683 Fleury received for his services the Cistercian abbey of Loc-Dieu, in the diocese of Rhodez. In 1689 he was appointed sub-preceptor of the dukes of Burgundy, of Anjou, and of Berry, and thus became intimately associated with Fénelon, their chief tutor. In 1696 he was elected to fill the place of La Bruyère in the French Academy; and on the completion of the education of the young princes the king bestowed upon him the rich priory of Argenteuil, in the diocese of Paris (1706). On assuming this benefice he resigned, with rare disinterestedness, that of the abbey of Loc-Dieu. About this time he began his great work, the first of the kind in France, and one for which he had been collecting materials for thirty years—the Histoire ecclésiastique. Fleury’s evident intention was to write a history of the church for all classes of society; but at the time in which his great work appeared it was less religion than theology that absorbed the attention of the clergy and the educated public; and his work accordingly appealed to the student rather than to the popular reader, dwelling as it does very particularly on questions of doctrine, of discipline, of supremacy, and of rivalry between the priesthood and the imperial power. Nevertheless it had a great success. The first edition, printed at Paris in 20 volumes 4to, 1691, was followed by many others, among which may be mentioned that of Brussels, in 32 vols. 8vo, 1692, and that of Nismes, in 25 vols. 8vo, 1778 to 1780. The work of Fleury only comes down to the year 1414. It was continued by J. Claude Fabre and Goujet down to 1595, in 16 vols. 4to. In consulting the work of Fleury and its supplement, the general table of contents, published by Rondel, Paris, 1758, 1 vol. 4to, will be found very useful. Translations have been made of the entire work into Latin, German and Italian. The Latin translation, published at Augsburg, 1758-1759, 85 vols. 8vo, carries the work down to 1684. Fleury, who had been appointed confessor to the young king Louis XV. in 1716, because, as the duke of Orleans said, he was neither Jansenist nor Molinist, nor Ultramontanist, but Catholic, died on the 14th of July 1723. His great learning was equalled by the modest simplicity of his life and the uprightness of his conduct.

Fleury left many works besides his Histoire ecclésiastique. The following deserve special mention:—Histoire du droit françois (1674, 12mo); Mœurs des Israélites (1681, 12mo); Mœurs des Chrétiens (1682, 12mo); Traité du choix et de la méthode des études (1686, 2 vols. 12mo); Les Devoirs des maîtres et des domestiques (1688, 12mo). A number of the smaller works were published in one volume at Paris in 1807. The Roman Congregation of the Index condemned his Catéchisme historique (1679) and the Institution du droit ecclésiastique (1687).

See C. Ernst Simonetti, Der Character eines Geschichtsschreibers in dem Leben und aus den Schriften des Abts C. Fleury (Göttingen, 1746, 4to); C.F.P. Jaeger, Notice sur C. Fleury, considéré comme historien de l’église (Strassburg, 1847, 8vo); Reichlin-Meldegg, Geschichte des Christentums, i.

FLIEDNER, THEODOR (1800-1864), German Protestant divine, was born on the 21st of January 1800 at Epstein (near Wiesbaden), the small village in which his father was pastor. He studied theology at the universities of Giessen and Göttingen, and at the theological seminary of Herborn, and at the age of twenty he passed his final examination. After a year spent in teaching and preaching, in 1821 he accepted a call from the Protestant church at Kaiserswerth, a little town on the Rhine, a few miles below Düsseldorf. To help his people and to provide an endowment for his church, he undertook journeys in 1822 through part of Germany, and then in 1823 to Holland and England. He met with considerable success, and had opportunities of observing what was being done towards prison reform; in England he made the acquaintance of the philanthropist Elizabeth Fry. The German prisons were then in a very bad state. The prisoners were huddled together in dirty rooms, badly fed, and left in complete idleness. No one dreamed of instructing them, or of collecting statistics to form the basis of useful legislation on the subject. Fliedner, at first singly, undertook the work. He applied for permission to be imprisoned for some time, in order that he might look at prison life from the inside. This petition was refused, but he was allowed to hold fortnightly services in the Düsseldorf prison, and to visit the inmates individually. Those interested in the subject banded themselves together, and on the 18th of June 1826 the first Prison Society of Germany (Rheinisch-Westfälischer Gefängnisverein) was founded. In 1833 Fliedner opened in his own parsonage garden at Kaiserswerth a refuge for discharged female convicts. His circle of practical philanthropy rapidly increased. The state of the sick poor had for some time excited his interest, and it seemed to him that hospitals might be best served by an organized body of specially trained women. Accordingly in 1836 he began the first deaconess house, and the hospital at Kaiserswerth. By their ordination vows the deaconesses devoted themselves to the care of the poor, the sick and the young; but their engagements were not final—they might leave their work and return to ordinary life if they chose. In addition to these institutions Fliedner founded in 1835 an infant school, then a normal school for infant school mistresses (1836), an orphanage for orphan girls of the middle class (1842), and an asylum for female lunatics (1847). Moreover, he assisted at the foundation and in the management of similar institutions, not only in Germany, but in various parts of Europe.

In 1849 he resigned his pastoral charge, and from 1849 to 1851 he travelled over a large part of Europe, America and the East—the object of his journeys being to found “mother houses,” which were to be not merely training schools for deaconesses, but also centres whence other training establishments might arise. He established a deaconess house in Jerusalem, and after his return assisted by counsel and money in the erection of establishments at Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria and Bucharest. Among his later efforts may be mentioned the Christian house of refuge for female servants in Berlin (connected with which other institutions soon arose) and the “house of evening rest” for retired deaconesses at Kaiserswerth. In 1855 Fliedner received the degree of doctor in theology from the university of Bonn, in recognition rather of his practical activity than of his theological attainments. He died on the 4th of October 1864, leaving behind him over 100 stations attended by 430 deaconesses; and these by 1876 had increased to 150 with an attendance of 600.

Fliedner’s son Fritz Fliedner (1845-1901), after studying in Halle and Tübingen, became in 1870 chaplain to the embassy in Madrid. He followed in his father’s footsteps by founding several philanthropic institutions in Spain. He was also the author of a number of books, amongst which was an autobiography, Aus meinem Leben. Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen (1901).

Theodor Fliedner’s writings are almost entirely of a practical character. He edited a periodical, Der Armen und Kranken Freund, which contained information regarding the various institutions, and also the yearly almanac of the Kaiserswerth institution. Besides purely educational and devotional works, he wrote Buch der Märtyrer (1852); Kurze Geschichte der Entstehung der ersten evang. Liebesanstalten zu Kaiserswerth (1856); Nachricht über das Diakonissen-Werk in der Christ. Kirche (5th ed., 1867); Die evangel. Märtyrer Ungarns und Siebenbürgens; and Beschreibung der Reise nach Jerusalem und Constantinopel. All were published at Kaiserswerth. There is a translation of the German life by C. Winkworth (London, 1867). See also G. Fliedner, Theodor Fliedner, kurzer Abriss seines Lebens und Wirkens (3rd ed., 1892). See also on Fliedner and his work Kaiserswerth Deaconesses (London, 1857); Dean John S. Howson’s Deaconesses (London, 1862); The Service of the Poor, by E.C. Stephen (London, 1871); W.F. Stevenson’s Praying and Working (London, 1865).

FLIGHT and FLYING. Of the many scientific problems of modern times, there are few possessing a wider or more enduring interest than that of aerial navigation (see also Aeronautics). To fly has always been an object of ambition with man; nor will this occasion surprise when we remember the marvellous freedom enjoyed by volant as compared with non-volant animals. The subject of aviation is admittedly one of extreme difficulty. To tread upon the air (and this is what is really meant) is, at first sight, in the highest degree utopian; and yet there are thousands of living creatures which actually accomplish this feat. These creatures, however varied in form and structure, all fly according to one and the same principle; and this is a significant fact, as it tends to show that the air must be attacked in a particular way to ensure flight. It behoves us then at the outset to scrutinize very carefully the general configuration of flying animals, and in particular the size, shape and movements of their flying organs.

Flying animals differ entirely from sailing ships and from balloons, with which they are not unfrequently though erroneously compared; and a flying machine constructed upon proper principles can have nothing in common with either of those creations. The ship floats upon water and the balloon upon air; but the ship differs from the balloon, and the ship and the balloon differ from the flying creature and flying machine. The water and air, moreover, have characteristics of their own. The analogies which connect the water with the air, the ship with the balloon, and the ship and the balloon with the flying creature and flying machine are false analogies. A sailing ship is supported by the water and requires merely to be propelled; a flying creature and a flying machine constructed on the living type require to be both supported and propelled. This arises from the fact that water is much denser than air, and because water supports on its surface substances which fall through air. While water and air are both fluid media, they are to be distinguished from each other in the following particulars. Water is comparatively very heavy, inelastic and incompressible; air, on the other hand, is comparatively very light, elastic and compressible. If water be struck with violence, the recoil obtained is great when compared with the recoil obtained from air similarly treated. In water we get a maximum recoil with a minimum of displacement; in air, on the contrary, we obtain a minimum recoil with a maximum of displacement. Water and air when unconfined yield readily to pressure. They thus form movable fulcra to bodies acting upon them. In order to meet these peculiarities the travelling organs of aquatic and flying animals (whether they be feet, fins, flippers or wings) are made not of rigid but of elastic materials. The travelling organs, moreover, increase in size in proportion to the tenuity of the fluid to be acted upon. The difference in size of the travelling organs of animals becomes very marked when the land animals are contrasted with the aquatic, and the aquatic with the aerial, as in figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The peculiarities of water and air as supporting media are well illustrated by a reference to swimming, diving and flying birds. A bird when swimming extends its feet simultaneously or alternately in a backward direction, and so obtains a forward recoil. The water supports the bird, and the feet simply propel. In this case the bird is lighter than the water, and the long axis of the body is horizontal (a of fig. 4). When the bird dives, or flies under water, the long axis of the body is inclined obliquely downwards and forwards, and the bird forces itself into and beneath the water by the action of its feet, or wings, or both. In diving or sub-aquatic flight the feet strike upwards and backwards, the wings downwards and backwards (b of fig. 4). In aerial flying everything is reversed. The long axis of the bird is inclined obliquely upwards and forwards, and the wings strike, not downwards and backwards, but downwards and forwards (c of fig. 4). These changes in the direction of the long axis of the bird in swimming, diving and flying, and in the direction of the stroke of the wings in sub-aquatic and aerial flight, are due to the fact that the bird is heavier than the air and lighter than the water.

Fig

. 1.—Chillingham Bull (

Bos Scoticus

). Small travelling extremities adapted for land.

r, s, t, u

, figure-of-8 described by the feet in walking.

Fig

. 2.—The Turtle (

Chelonia imbricata

). Enlarged travelling extremities (flippers) adapted for water.

Fig

. 3.—The Bat (

Phyllocina gracilis

). Greatly expanded travelling extremities adapted for air.

Fig

. 4.—The King Penguin in the positions assumed by a bird in (

a

) swimming, (

b

) diving, and (

c

) flying.

The physical properties of water and air explain in a great measure how the sailing ship differs from the balloon, and how the latter differs from the flying creature and flying machine constructed on the natural type. The sailing ship is, as it were, immersed in two oceans, viz. an ocean of water and an ocean of air—the former being greatly heavier and denser than the latter. The ocean of water buoys or floats the ship, and the ocean of air, or part of it in motion, swells the sails which propel the ship. The moving air, which strikes the sails directly, strikes the hull of the vessel indirectly and forces it through the water, which, as explained, is a comparatively dense fluid. When the ship is in motion it can be steered either by the sails alone, or by the rudder alone, or by both combined. A balloon differs from a sailing ship in being immersed in only one ocean, viz. the ocean of air. It resembles the ship in floating upon the air, as the ship floats upon the water; in other words, the balloon is lighter than the air, as the ship is lighter than the water. But here all analogy ceases. The ship, in virtue of its being immersed in two fluids having different densities, can be steered and made to tack about in a horizontal plane in any given direction. This in the case of the balloon, immersed in one fluid, is impossible. The balloon in a calm can only rise and fall in a vertical line. Its horizontal movements, which ought to be the more important, are accidental movements due to air currents, and cannot be controlled; the balloon, in short, cannot be guided. One might as well attempt to steer a boat carried along by currents of water in the absence of oars, sails and wind, as to steer a balloon carried along by currents of air. The balloon has no hold upon the air, and this consequently cannot be employed as a fulcrum for regulating its course. The balloon, because of its vast size and from its being lighter than the air, is completely at the mercy of the wind. It forms an integral part, so to speak, of the wind for the time being, and the direction of the wind in every instance determines the horizontal motion of the balloon. The force required to propel a balloon against even a moderate breeze would result in its destruction. The balloon cannot be transferred with any degree of certainty from one point of the earth’s surface to another, and hence the chief danger in its employment. It may, quite as likely as not, carry its occupants out to sea. The balloon is a mere lifting machine and is in no sense to be regarded as a flying machine. It resembles the flying creature only in this, that it is immersed in the ocean of air in which it sustains itself. The mode of suspension is wholly different. The balloon floats because it is lighter than the air; the flying creature floats because it extracts from the air, by the vigorous downward action of its wings, a certain amount of upward recoil. The balloon is passive; the flying creature is active. The balloon is controlled by the wind; the flying creature controls the wind. The balloon in the absence of wind can only rise and fall in a vertical line; the flying creature can fly in a horizontal plane in any given direction. The balloon is inefficient because of its levity; the flying creature is efficient because of its weight.

Weight, however paradoxical it may appear, is necessary to flight. Everything which flies is vastly heavier than the air. The inertia of the mass of the flying creature enables it to control and direct its movements in the air. Many are of opinion that flight is a mere matter of levity and power. This is quite a mistake. No machine, however light and powerful, will ever fly whose travelling surfaces are not properly fashioned and properly applied to the air.

It was supposed at one time that the air sacs of birds contributed in some mysterious way to flight, but this is now known to be erroneous. The bats and some of the best-flying birds have no air sacs. Similar remarks are to be made of the heated air imprisoned within the bones of certain birds.1 Feathers even are not necessary to flight. Insects and bats have no feathers, and yet fly well. The only facts in natural history which appear even indirectly to countenance the flotation theory are the presence of a swimming bladder in some fishes, and the existence of membranous expansions or pseudo-wings in certain animals, such as the flying fish, flying dragon and flying squirrel. As, however, the animals referred to do not actually fly, but merely dart into the air and there sustain themselves for brief intervals, they afford no real support to the theory. The so-called floating animals are depicted at figs. 5, 6 and 7.

Fig

. 5.—The Red-throated Dragon

(

Draco haematopogon

).

Fig

. 6.—The Flying Colugo

(

Galeopithecus volans

); also called

flying lemur and flying squirrel.

Fig

. 7.—The Flying Fish (

Exocoetus exiliens

).

It has been asserted, and with some degree of plausibility, that a fish lighter than the water might swim, and that a bird lighter than the air might fly: it ought, however, to be borne in mind that, in point of fact, a fish lighter than the water could not hold its own if the water were in the least perturbed, and that a bird lighter than the air would be swept into space by even a moderate breeze without hope of return. Weight and power are always associated in living animals, and the fact that living animals are made heavier than the medium they are to navigate may be regarded as a conclusive argument in favour of weight being necessary alike to the swimming of the fish and the flying of the bird. It may be stated once for all that flying creatures are for the most part as heavy, bulk for bulk, as other animals, and that flight in every instance is the product, not of superior levity, but of weight and power directed upon properly constructed flying organs.

This fact is important as bearing on the construction of flying machines. It shows that a flying machine need not necessarily be a light, airy structure exposing an immoderate amount of surface. On the contrary, it favours the belief that it should be a compact and moderately heavy and powerful structure, which trusts for elevation and propulsion entirely to its flying appliances—whether actively moving wings, or screws, or aeroplanes wedged forward by screws. It should attack and subdue the air, and never give the air an opportunity of attacking or subduing it. It should smite the air intelligently and as a master, and its vigorous well-directed thrusts should in every instance elicit an upward and forward recoil. The flying machine must be multum in parvo. It must launch itself in the ocean of air, and must extract from that air, by means of its travelling surfaces—however fashioned and however applied—the recoil or resistance necessary to elevate and carry it forward. Extensive inert surfaces indeed are contra-indicated in a flying machine, as they approximate it to the balloon, which, as has been shown, cannot maintain its position in the air if there are air currents. A flying machine which could not face air currents would necessarily be a failure. To obviate this difficulty we are forced to fall back upon weight, or rather the structures and appliances which weight represents. These appliances as indicated should not be unnecessarily expanded, but when expanded they should, wherever practicable, be converted into actively moving flying surfaces, in preference to fixed or inert dead surfaces.

The question of surface is a very important one in aviation: it naturally resolves itself into one of active and passive surface. As there are active and passive surfaces in the flying animal, so there are, or should be, active and passive surfaces in the flying machine. Art should follow nature in this matter. The active surfaces in flying creatures are always greatly in excess of the passive ones, from the fact that the former virtually increase in proportion to the spaces through which they are made to travel. Nature not only distinguishes between active and passive surfaces in flying animals, but she strikes a just balance between them, and utilizes both. She regulates the surfaces to the strength and weight of the flying creature and the air currents to which the surfaces are to be exposed and upon which they are to operate. In her calculations she never forgets that her flying subjects are to control and not to be controlled by the air. As a rule she reduces the passive surfaces of the body to a minimum; she likewise reduces as far as possible the actively moving or flying surfaces. While, however, diminishing the surfaces of the flying animal as a whole, she increases as occasion demands the active or wing surfaces by wing movements, and the passive or dead surfaces by the forward motion of the body in progressive flight. She knows that if the wings are driven with sufficient rapidity they practically convert the spaces through which they move into solid bases of support; she also knows that the body in rapid flight derives support from all the air over which it passes. The manner in which the wing surfaces are increased by the wing movements will be readily understood from the accompanying illustrations of the blow-fly with its wings at rest and in motion (figs. 8 and 9). In fig. 8 the surfaces exposed by the body of the insect and the wings are, as compared with those of fig. 9, trifling. The wing would have much less purchase on fig. 8 than on fig. 9, provided the surfaces exposed by the latter were passive or dead surfaces. But they are not dead surfaces: they represent the spaces occupied by the rapidly vibrating wings, which are actively moving flying organs. As, moreover, the wings travel at a much higher speed than any wind that blows, they are superior to and control the wind; they enable the insect to dart through the wind in whatever direction it pleases.

The reader has only to imagine figs. 8 and 9 cut out in paper to realize that extensive, inert, horizontal aeroplanes2 in a flying machine would be a mistake. It is found to be so practically, as will be shown by and by. Fig. 9 so cut out would be heavier than fig. 8, and if both were exposed to a current of air, fig. 9 would be more blown about than fig. 8.

Fig

. 8.—Blow-fly (

Musca vomitoria

)

with its wings at rest.

Fig

. 9.—Blow-fly with its wings

in motion as in flight.

It is true that in beetles and certain other insects there are the elytra or wing cases—thin, light, horny structures inclined slightly upwards—which in the act of flight are spread out and act as sustainers or gliders. The elytra, however, are comparatively long narrow structures which occupy a position in front of the wings, of which they may be regarded as forming the anterior parts. The elytra are to the delicate wings of some insects what the thick anterior margins are to stronger wings. The elytra, moreover, are not wholly passive structures. They can be moved, and the angles made by their under surfaces with the horizon adjusted. Finally, they are not essential to flight, as flight in the great majority of instances is performed without them. The elytra serve as protectors to the wings when the wings are folded upon the back of the insect, and as they are extended on either side of the body more or less horizontally when the insect is flying they contribute to flight indirectly, in virtue of their being carried forward by the body in motion.

Natural Flight.—The manner in which the wings of the insect traverse the air, so as practically to increase the basis of support, raises the whole subject of natural flight. It is necessary, therefore, at this stage to direct the attention of the reader somewhat fully to the subject of flight, as witnessed in the insect, bird and bat, a knowledge of natural flight preceding, and being in some sense indispensable to, a knowledge of artificial flight. The bodies of flying creatures are, as a rule, very strong, comparatively light and of an elongated form,—the bodies of birds being specially adapted for cleaving the air. Flying creatures, however, are less remarkable for their strength, shape and comparative levity than for the size and extraordinarily rapid and complicated movements of their wings. Prof. J. Bell Pettigrew first satisfactorily analysed those movements, and reproduced them by the aid of artificial wings. This physiologist in 18673 showed that all natural wings, whether of the insect, bird or bat, are screws structurally, and that they act as screws when they are made to vibrate, from the fact that they twist in opposite directions during the down and up strokes. He also explained that all wings act upon a common principle, and that they present oblique, kite-like surfaces to the air, through which they pass much in the same way that an oar passes through water in sculling. He further pointed out that the wings of flying creatures (contrary to received opinions, and as has been already indicated) strike downwards and forwards during the down strokes, and upwards and forwards during the up strokes. Lastly he demonstrated that the wings of flying creatures, when the bodies of said creatures are fixed, describe figure-of-8 tracks in space—the figure-of-8 tracks, when the bodies are released and advancing as in rapid flight, being opened out and converted into waved tracks.

It may be well to explain here that a claim has been set up by his admirers for the celebrated artist, architect and engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, to be regarded as the discoverer of the principles and practice of flight (see Theodore Andrea Cook, Spirals in Nature and Art, 1903). The claim is, however, unwarranted; Leonardo’s chief work on flight, bearing the title Codice sul Volo degli Uccelli e Varie Altre Materie, written in 1505, consists of a short manuscript of twenty-seven small quarto pages, with simple sketch illustrations interspersed in the text. In addition he makes occasional references to flight in his other manuscripts, which are also illustrated. In none of Leonardo’s manuscripts, however, and in none of his figures, is the slightest hint given of his having any knowledge of the spiral movements made by the wing in flight or of the spiral structure of the wing itself. It is claimed that Leonardo knew the direction of the stroke of the wing, as revealed by recent researches and proved by modern instantaneous photography. As a matter of fact, Leonardo gives a wholly inaccurate account of the direction of the stroke of the wing. He states that the wing during the down stroke strikes downwards and backwards, whereas in reality it strikes downwards and forwards. In speaking of artificial flight Leonardo says: “The wings have to row downwards and backwards to support the machine on high, so that it moves forward.” In speaking of natural flight he remarks: “If in its descent the bird rows backwards with its wings the bird will move rapidly; this happens because the wings strike the air which successively runs behind the bird to fill the void whence it comes.” There is nothing in Leonardo’s writings to show that he knew either the anatomy or physiology of the wing in the modern sense.

Pettigrew’s discovery of the figure-of-8 and waved movements made by the wing in stationary and progressive flight was confirmed some two years after it was made by Prof. E.J. Marey of Paris4 by the aid of the “sphygmograph.”5 The movements in question are now regarded as fundamental, from the fact that they are alike essential to natural and artificial flight.

The following is Pettigrew’s description of wings and wing movements published in 1867:—

Fig. 10.

—Right Wing of the Beetle (

Goliathus micans

) when at rest; seen from above.

Fig. 11.

—Right Wing of the Beetle (

Goliathus micans

) when in motion; seen from behind. This figure shows how the wing twists and untwists when in action, and how it forms a true screw.

“The wings of insects and birds are, as a rule, more or less triangular in shape, the base of the triangle being directed towards the body, its sides anteriorly and posteriorly. They are also conical on section from within outwards and from before backwards, this shape converting the pinions into delicately graduated instruments balanced with the utmost nicety to satisfy the requirements of the muscular system on the one hand and the resistance and resiliency of the air on the other. While all wings are graduated as explained, innumerable varieties occur as to their general contour, some being falcated or scythe-like, others oblong, others rounded or circular, some lanceolate and some linear. The wings of insects may consist either of one or two pairs—the anterior or upper pair, when two are present, being in some instances greatly modified and presenting a corneous condition. They are then known as elytra, from the Gr. ἔλυτρον, a sheath. Both pairs are composed of a duplicature of the integument, or investing membrane, and are strengthened in various directions by a system of hollow, horny tubes, known to entomologists as the neurae or nervures. These nervures taper towards the extremity of the wing, and are strongest towards its root and anterior margin, where they supply the place of the arm in birds and bats. The neurae are arranged at the axis of the wing after the manner of a fan or spiral stair—the anterior one occupying a higher position than that farther back, and so of the others. As this arrangement extends also to the margins, the wings are more or less twisted upon themselves and present a certain degree of convexity on their superior or upper surface, and a corresponding concavity on their inferior or under surface,—their free edges supplying those fine curves which act with such efficacy upon the air in obtaining the maximum of resistance and the minimum of displacement. As illustrative examples of the form of wings alluded to, those of the beetle, bee and fly may be cited—the pinions in those insects acting as helices, or twisted levers, and elevating weights much greater than the area of the wings would seem to warrant” (figs. 10 and 11).... “To confer on the wings the multiplicity of movements which they require, they are supplied with double hinge or compound joints, which enable them to move not only in an upward, downward, forward and backward direction, but also at various intermediate degrees of obliquity. An insect with wings thus hinged may, as far as steadiness of body is concerned, be not inaptly compared to a compass set upon gimbals, where the universality of motion in one direction ensures comparative fixedness in another.”... “All wings obtain their leverage by presenting oblique surfaces to the air, the degree of obliquity gradually increasing in a direction from behind, forwards and downwards, during extension when the sudden or effective stroke is being given, and gradually decreasing in an opposite direction during flexion, or when the wing is being more slowly recovered preparatory to making a second stroke. The effective stroke in insects, and this holds true also of birds, is therefore delivered downwards and forwards, and not, as the majority of writers believe, vertically, or even slightly backwards.... The wing in the insect is more flattened than in the bird; and advantage is taken on some occasions of this circumstance, particularly in heavy-bodied, small-winged, quick-flying insects, to reverse the pinion more or less completely during the down and up strokes.”... “This is effected in the following manner. The posterior margin of the wing is made to rotate, during the down stroke, in a direction from above downwards and from behind forwards—the anterior margin travelling in an opposite direction and reciprocating. The wing may thus be said to attack the air by a screwing movement from above. During the up or return stroke, on the other hand, the posterior margin rotates in a direction from below upwards and from before backwards, so that by a similar but reverse screwing motion the pinion attacks the air from beneath.”... “A figure-of-8, compressed laterally and placed obliquely with its long axis running from left to right of the spectator, represents the movements in question. The down and up strokes, as will be seen from this account, cross each other, the wing smiting the air during its descent from above, as in the bird and bat, and during its ascent from below as in the flying fish and boy’s kite” (fig. 12).

Fig. 12

shows the figure-of-8 made by the margins of the wing in extension (continuous line), and flexion (dotted line). As the tip of the wing is mid-way between its margins, a line between the continuous and dotted lines gives the figure-of-8 made by the tip. The arrows indicate the reversal of the planes of the wing, and show how the down and up strokes

cross each other

.

... “The figure-of-8 action of the wing explains how an insect or bird may fix itself in the air, the backward and forward reciprocating action of the pinion affording support, but no propulsion. In these instances the backward and forward strokes are made to counterbalance each other. Although the figure-of-8 represents with considerable fidelity the twisting of the wing upon its axis during extension and flexion, when the insect is playing its wings before an object, or still better when it is artificially fixed, it is otherwise when the down stroke is added and the insect is fairly on the wing and progressing rapidly. In this case the wing, in virtue of its being carried forward by the body in motion, describes an undulating or spiral course, as shown in fig. 13.”

... “The down and up strokes are compound movements—the termination of the down stroke embracing the beginning of the up stroke, and the termination of the up stroke including the beginning of the down stroke. This is necessary in order that the down and up strokes may glide into each other in such a manner as to prevent jerking and unnecessary retardation.”6...

Fig. 13.

—Wave track made by the wing in progressive flight.

a, b

, Crests of the wave;

c, d, e

, up strokes;

x, x

, down strokes;

f

, point corresponding to the anterior margin of the wing, and forming a centre for the downward rotation of the wing (

a, g

);

g

, point corresponding to the posterior margin of the wing, and forming a centre for the upward rotation of the wing (

d, f

).

Fig. 14.

—

a, b

, line along which the wing travels during extension and flexion. The arrows indicate the direction in which the wing is spread out in extension and closed or folded in flexion.

Fig. 15.

—Right Wing of the Red-legged Partridge (

Perdix rubra

). Dorsal aspect as seen from above.

Fig. 16.

—Right Wing of the Red-legged Partridge (

Perdix rubra

). Dorsal and ventral aspects as seen from behind; showing auger-like conformation of wing. Compare with figs. 11 and 18.

Fig. 17.

—Right Wing of the Bat (

Phyllocina gracilis

). Dorsal aspect as seen from above.

Fig. 18.

—Right Wing of the Bat (

Phyllocina gracilis

). Dorsal and ventral aspects, as seen from behind. These show the screw-like configuration of the wing, and also how the wing twists and untwists during its action.

“The wing of the bird, like that of the insect, is concavo-convex, and more or less twisted upon itself when extended, so that the anterior or thick margin of the pinion presents a different degree of curvature to that of the posterior or thin margin. This twisting is in a great measure owing to the manner in which the bones of the wing are twisted upon themselves, and the spiral nature of their articular surfaces—the long axes of the joints always intersecting each other at right angles, and the bones of the elbow and wrist making a quarter of a turn or so during extension and the same amount during flexion. As a result of this disposition of the articular surfaces, the wing may be shot out or extended, and retracted or flexed in nearly the same plane, the bones composing the wing rotating on their axes during either movement (fig. 14). The secondary action, or the revolving of the component bones on their own axes, is of the greatest importance in the movements of the wing, as it communicates to the hand and forearm, and consequently to the primary and secondary feathers which they bear, the precise angles necessary for flight. It in fact ensures that the wing, and the curtain or fringe of the wing which the primary and secondary feathers form, shall be screwed into and down upon the wind in extension, and unscrewed or withdrawn from the wind during flexion. The wing of the bird may therefore be compared to a huge gimlet or auger, the axis of the gimlet representing the bones of the wing, the flanges or spiral thread of the gimlet the primary and secondary feathers” (figs. 15 and 16).... “From this description it will be evident that by the mere rotation of the bones of the forearm and hand the maximum and minimum of resistance is secured much in the same way that this object is attained by the alternate dipping and feathering of an oar.”... “The wing, both when at rest and when in motion, may not inaptly be compared to the blade of an ordinary screw propeller as employed in navigation. Thus the general outline of the wing corresponds closely with the outline of the propeller (figs. 11, 16 and 18), and the track described by the wing in space is twisted upon itself propeller fashion7 (figs. 12, 20, 21, 22, 23). The great velocity with which the wing is driven converts the impression or blur made by it into what is equivalent to a solid for the time being, in the same way that the spokes of a wheel in violent motion, as is well understood, more or less completely occupy the space contained within the rim or circumference of the wheel” (figs. 9, 20 and 21).

... “The wing of the bat bears a considerable resemblance to that of the insect, inasmuch as it consists of a delicate, semi-transparent, continuous membrane, supported in divers directions, particularly towards its anterior margin, by a system of osseous stays or stretchers which confer upon it the degree of rigidity requisite for flight. It is, as a rule, deeply concave on its under or ventral surface, and in this respect resembles the wing of the heavy-bodied birds. The movement of the bat’s wing in extension is a spiral one, the spiral running alternately from below upwards and forwards and from above downwards and backwards. The action of the wing of the bat, and the movements of its component bones, are essentially the same as in the bird” (figs. 17 and 18).

... “The wing strikes the air precisely as a boy’s kite would if it were jerked by its string, the only difference being that the kite is pulled forwards upon the wind by the string and the hand, whereas in the insect, bird and bat the wing is pushed forwards on the wind by the weight of the body and the power residing in the pinion itself” (fig. 19).8

Fig. 19.

—The Cape Barn-owl (

Strix capensis

), showing the kite-like surfaces presented by the ventral aspect of the wings and body in flight.

The figure-of-8 and kite-like action of the wing referred to lead us to explain how it happens that the wing, which in many instances is a comparatively small and delicate organ, can yet attack the air with such vigour as to extract from it the recoil necessary to elevate and propel the flying creature. The accompanying figures from one of Pettigrew’s later memoirs9 will serve to explain the rationale (figs. 20, 21, 22 and 23).

As will be seen from these figures, the wing during its vibration sweeps through a comparatively very large space. This space, as already explained, is practically a solid basis of support for the wing and for the flying animal. The wing attacks the air in such a manner as virtually to have no slip—this for two reasons. The wing reverses instantly and acts as a kite during nearly the entire down and up strokes. The angles, moreover, made by the wing with the horizon during the down and up strokes are at no two intervals the same, but (and this is a remarkable circumstance) they are always adapted to the speed at which the wing is travelling for the time being. The increase and decrease in the angles made by the wing as it hastens to and fro are due partly to the resistance offered by the air, and partly to the mechanism and mode of application of the wing to the air. The wing, during its vibrations, rotates upon two separate centres, the tip rotating round the root of the wing as an axis (short axis of wing), the posterior margin rotating around the anterior margin (long axis of wing). The wing is really eccentric in its nature, a remark which applies also to the rowing feathers of the bird’s wing. The compound rotation goes on throughout the entire down and up strokes, and is intimately associated with the power which the wing enjoys of alternately seizing and evading the air.

Figs.

20, 21, 22 and 23 show the area mapped out by the left wing of the Wasp when the insect is fixed and the wing made to vibrate. These figures illustrate the various angles made by the wing with the horizon as it hastens to and fro, and show how the wing reverses and reciprocates, and how it twists upon itself in opposite directions, and describes a figure-of-8 track in space. Figs. 20 and 22 represent the forward or down stroke (

a b c d e f g

), figs. 21 and 23 the backward or up stroke (

g h i j k l a

). The terms forward and back strokes are here employed with reference to the head of the insect,

x, x

′, line to represent the horizon. If fig. 22, representing the down or forward stroke, be placed upon fig. 23, representing the up or backward stroke, it will be seen that

the wing crosses its own track

more or less completely at every stage of the down and up strokes.

The compound rotation of the wing is greatly facilitated by the wing being elastic and flexible. It is this which causes the wing to twist and untwist diagonally on its long axis when it is made to vibrate. The twisting referred to is partly a vital and partly a mechanical act;—that is, it is occasioned in part by the action of the muscles and in part by the greater resistance experienced from the air by the tip and posterior margin of the wing as compared with the root and anterior margin,—the resistance experienced by the tip and posterior margin causing them to reverse always subsequently to the root and anterior margin, which has the effect of throwing the anterior and posterior margins of the wing into figure-of-8 curves, as shown at figs. 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23.

The compound rotation of the wing, as seen in the bird, is represented in fig. 24.

Not the least curious feature of the wing movements is the remarkable power which the wing possesses of making and utilizing its own currents. Thus, when the wing descends it draws after it a strong current, which, being met by the wing during its ascent, greatly increases the efficacy of the up stroke. Similarly and conversely, when the wing ascends, it creates an upward current, which, being met by the wing when it descends, powerfully contributes to the efficiency of the down stroke. This statement can be readily verified by experiment both with natural and artificial wings. Neither the up nor the down strokes are complete in themselves.

The wing to act efficiently must be driven at a certain speed, and in such a manner that the down and up strokes shall glide into each other. It is only in this way that the air can be made to pulsate, and that the rhythm of the wing and the air waves can be made to correspond. The air must be seized and let go in a certain order and at a certain speed to extract a maximum recoil. The rapidity of the wing movements is regulated by the size of the wing, small wings being driven at a very much higher speed than larger ones. The different parts of the wing, moreover, travel at different degrees of velocity—the tip and posterior margin of the wing always rushing through a much greater space, in a given time, than the root and anterior margin.

Fig.

24.—Wing of the Bird with its root (

a, b

) cranked forwards.

a, b, Short axis of the wing (axis for tip of wing, h).

c, d, Long axis (axis for posterior margin of wing, h, i, j, k, l).

m, n, Short axis of rowing feathers of wing.

r, s, Long axis of rowing feathers of wing. The rotation of the rowing feathers on their long axis (they are eccentrics) enables them to open or separate during the up, and close or come together during the down strokes.

e f, g p, concave shape presented by the under surface of the wing.

Fig.

25 shows how different portions of the wing travel at different degrees of speed. In this figure the rod

a, b,

hinged at

x,

represents the wing. When the wing is made to vibrate, its several portions travel through the spaces

d b f, j k l, g h i,

and

e a c

in exactly the same interval of time. The part of the wing marked b, which corresponds with the tip, consequently travels very much more rapidly than the part marked

a

, which corresponds with the root.

m n, o p,

curves made by the wing at the end of the up and down strokes;

r

, position of the wing at the middle of the stroke.

Fig.

26.—In this figure

f, f’

represent the movable fulcra furnished by the air,

p p’

the power residing in the wing, and b the body to be moved. In order to make the problem of flight more intelligible, the lever formed by the wing is prolonged beyond the body (

b

), and to the root of the wing so extended the weight (

w, w′

) is attached; x represents the universal joint by which the wing is attached to the body. When the wing ascends as shown at

p

, the air (fulcrum

f

) resists its upward passage, and forces the body (

b

) or its representative (

w

) slightly downwards. When the wing descends as shown at

p’

, the air (fulcrum

f′

) resists its downward passage, and forces the body (

b

) or its representative (

w′

) slightly upwards. From this it follows that when the wing rises the body falls, and vice versa—the wing describing the arc of a large circle (

f f′

), the body (

b

), or the weights (

w, w′

) representing it, describing the arc of a small circle.

The rapidity of travel of the insect wing is in some cases enormous. The wasp, for instance, is said to ply its wings at the rate of 110, and the common house-fly at the rate of 330 beats per second. Quick as are the vibrations of natural wings, the speed of certain parts of the wing is amazingly increased. Wings as a rule are long and narrow. As a consequence, a comparatively slow and very limited movement at the root confers great range and immense speed at the tip, the speed of each portion of the wing increasing as the root of the wing is receded from. This is explained on a principle well understood in mechanics, viz. that when a wing or rod hinged at one end is made to move in a circle, the tip or free end of the wing or rod describes a much wider circle in a given time than a portion of the wing or rod nearer the hinge (fig. 25).

One naturally inquires why the high speed of wings, and why the progressive increase of speed at their tips and posterior margins? The answer is not far to seek. If the wings were not driven at a high speed, and if they were not eccentrics made to revolve upon two separate axes, they would of necessity be large cumbrous structures; but large heavy wings would be difficult to work, and what is worse, they would (if too large), instead of controlling the air, be controlled by it, and so cease to be flying organs.

There is, however, another reason why wings should be made to vibrate at high speeds. The air, as explained, is a very light, thin, elastic medium, which yields on the slightest pressure, and unless the wings attacked it with great violence the necessary recoil or resistance could not be obtained. The atmosphere, because of its great tenuity, mobility and comparative imponderability, presents little resistance to bodies passing through it at low velocities. If, however, the speed be greatly accelerated, the action of even an ordinary cane is sufficient to elicit a recoil. This comes of the action and reaction of matter, the resistance experienced varying according to the density of the atmosphere and the shape, extent and velocity of the body acting upon it. While, therefore, scarcely any impediment is offered to the progress of an animal in motion in the air, it is often exceedingly difficult to compress the air with sufficient rapidity and energy to convert it into a suitable fulcrum for securing the necessary support and forward impetus. This arises from the fact that bodies moving in air experience a minimum of resistance and occasion a maximum of displacement. Another and very obvious difficulty is traceable to the great disparity in the weight of air as compared with any known solid, and the consequent want of buoying or sustaining power which that disparity involves. If we compare air with water we find it is nearly 1000 times lighter. To meet these peculiarities the insect, bird and bat are furnished with extensive flying surfaces in the shape of wings, which they apply with singular velocity and power to the air, as levers of the third order. In this form of lever the power is applied between the fulcrum and the weight to be raised. The power is represented by the wing, the fulcrum by the air, and the weight by the body of the flying animal. Although the third order of lever is particularly inefficient when the fulcrum is rigid and immobile, it possesses singular advantages when these conditions are reversed, that is, when the fulcrum, as happens with the air, is elastic and yielding. In this instance a very slight movement at the root of the pinion, or that end of the lever directed towards the body, is followed by an immense sweep of the extremity of the wing, where its elevating and propelling power is greatest—this arrangement ensuring that the large quantity of air necessary for support and propulsion shall be compressed under the most favourable conditions.

In this process the weight of the body performs an important part, by acting upon the inclined planes formed by the wings in the plane of progression. The power and the weight may thus be said to reciprocate, the two sitting as it were side by side and blending their peculiar influences to produce a common result, as indicated at fig. 26.

When the wings descend they elevate the body, the wings being active and the body passive; when the body descends it contributes to the elevation of the wings,10 the body being active and the wings more or less passive. It is in this way that weight forms a factor in flight, the wings and the weight of the body reciprocating and mutually assisting and relieving each other. This is an argument for employing four wings in artificial flight,—the wings being so arranged that the two which are up shall always by their fall mechanically elevate the two which are down. Such an arrangement is calculated greatly to conserve the driving power, and as a consequence, to reduce the weight.

Fig.

27.—

a, b

, quill feathers;

c

, cork;

d, e, f, g

, downward and

forward

curved trajectory made by the feathers and cork before reaching the ground (

h, i

).

That the weight of the body plays an important part in the production of flight may be proved by a very simple experiment. If two quill feathers are fixed in an ordinary cork, and so arranged that they expand and arch above it (fig. 27), it is found that if the apparatus be dropped from a vertical height of 3 yds. it does not fall vertically downwards, but downwards and forwards in a curve, the forward travel amounting in some instances to a yard and a half. Here the cork, in falling, acts upon the feathers (which are to all intents and purposes wings), and these in turn act upon the air, in such a manner as to produce a horizontal transference.

In order to utilize the air as a means of transit, the body in motion, whether it moves in virtue of the life it possesses, or because of a force super-added, must be heavier than air. It must tread with its wings and rise upon the air as a swimmer upon the water, or as a kite upon the wind. This is necessary for the simple reason that the body must be active, the air passive. The flying body must act against gravitation, and elevate and carry itself forward at the expense of the air and of the force which resides in it, whatever that may be. If it were otherwise—if it were rescued from the law of gravitation on the one hand, and bereft of independent movement on the other, it would float about uncontrolled and uncontrollable like an ordinary balloon.

In flight one of two things is necessary. Either the wings must attack the air with great violence, or the air in rapid motion must attack the wings: either suffices. If a bird attempts to fly in a calm, the wings must be made to smite the air after the manner of a boy’s kite with great vigour and at a high speed. In this case the wings fly the bird. If, however, the bird is fairly launched in space and a stiff breeze is blowing, all that is required in many instances is to extend the wings at a slight upward angle to the horizon so that the under parts of the wings present kite-like surfaces. In these circumstances the rapidly moving air flies the bird. The flight of the albatross supplies the necessary illustration. If by any chance this magnificent bird alights upon the sea he must flap and beat the water and air with his wings with tremendous energy until he gets fairly launched. This done he extends his enormous pinions11 and sails majestically along, seldom deigning to flap his wings, the breeze doing the work for him. A familiar illustration of the same principle may be witnessed any day when children are engaged in the pastime of kite-flying. If two boys attempt to fly a kite in a calm, the one must hold up the kite and let go when the other runs. In this case the under surface of the kite is made to strike the still air. If, however, a stiff autumn breeze be blowing, it suffices if the boy who formerly ran when the kite was let go stands still. In this case the air in rapid motion strikes the under surface of the kite and forces it up. The string and the hand are to the kite what the weight of the flying creature is to the inclined planes formed by its wings.

The area of the insect, bird and bat, when the wings are fully expanded, is greater than that of any other class of animal, their weight being proportionally less. As already stated, however, it ought never to be forgotten that even the lightest insect, bird or bat is vastly heavier than the air, and that no fixed relation exists between the weight of body and expanse of wing in any of the orders. We have thus light-bodied and large-winged insects and birds, as the butterfly and heron; and others with heavy bodies and small wings, as the beetle and partridge. Similar remarks are to be made of bats. Those apparent inconsistencies in the dimensions of the body and wings are readily explained by the greater muscular development of the heavy-bodied, small-winged insects, birds and bats, and the increased power and rapidity with which the wings in them are made to oscillate. This is of the utmost importance in the science of aviation, as showing that flight may be attained by a heavy powerful animal with comparatively small wings, as well as by a lighter one with greatly enlarged wings. While, therefore, there is apparently no correspondence between the area of the wing and the animal to be raised, there is, except in the case of sailing insects, birds and bats, an unvarying relation as to the weight and number of oscillations; so that the problem of flight would seem to resolve itself into one of weight, power, velocity and small surfaces, versus buoyancy, debility, diminished speed and extensive surfaces—weight in either case being a sine qua non.

Fig

. 28.—Hawk and Pigeon.

That no fixed relation exists between the area of the wings and the size and weight of the body to be elevated is evident on comparing the dimensions of the wings and bodies of the several orders of insects, bats and birds. If such comparison be made, it will be found that the pinions in some instances diminish while the bodies increase, and the converse. No practical good can therefore accrue to aviation from elaborate measurements of the wings and body of any flying thing; neither can any rule be laid down as to the extent of surface required for sustaining a given weight in the air. The statements here advanced are borne out by the fact that the wings of insects, bats and birds may be materially reduced without impairing their powers of flight. In such cases the speed with which the wings are driven is increased in the direct ratio of the mutilation. The inference to be deduced from the foregoing is plainly this, that even in large-bodied, small-winged insects and birds the wing-surface is greatly in excess, the surplus wing area supplying that degree of elevating and sustaining power which is necessary to prevent undue exertion on the part of the volant animal. In this we have a partial explanation of the buoyancy of insects, and the great lifting power possessed by birds and bats,—the bats carrying their young without inconvenience, the birds elevating surprising quantities of fish, game, carrion, &c. (fig. 28).

While as explained, no definite relation exists between the weight of a flying animal and the size of its flying surfaces, there being, as stated, heavy-bodied and small-winged insects, birds and bats, and the converse, and while, as has been shown, flight is possible within a wide range, the wings being, as a rule, in excess of what are required for the purposes of flight,—still it appears from the researches of L. de Lucy that there is a general law, to the effect that the larger the volant animal, the smaller, by comparison, are its flying surfaces. The existence of such a law is very encouraging so far as artificial flight is concerned, for it shows that the flying surfaces of a large, heavy, powerful flying machine will be comparatively small, and consequently comparatively compact and strong. This is a point of very considerable importance, as the object desiderated in a flying machine is elevating capacity.

De Lucy tabulated his results as under:—

Insects

Birds.

Names.

Flying Surface

referred to the

  Kilogramme

= 2 ℔ 8 oz. 3 dwt.

  2 gr. avoird.

= 2 ℔ 3 oz. 4.428

  dr. troy.

Names.

Flying Surface

referred to the

  Kilogramme.

 

sq.

yds.

ft.

in.

 

sq.

yds.

ft.

in.

Gnat

11

8

92

Swallow

1

1

104½

Dragon-fly (small)

7

2

56

Sparrow

0

5

142½

Coccinella (Lady-bird)

5

13

87

Turtle-dove

0

4

100½

Dragon-fly (common)

5

2

89

Pigeon

0

2

113

Tipula, or Daddy-long-legs

3

5

11

Stork

0

2

20

Bee

1

2

74½

Vulture

0

1

116

Meat-fly

1

3

54½

Crane of Australia

0

0

130

Drone (blue)

1

2

20

 

 

Cockchafer

1

2

50

 

 

Lucanus cervus

Stag-beetle (female)

1

1

39½

 

 

Lucanus cervus

Stag-beetle (male)

0

8

33

 

 

Rhinoceros-beetle

0

6

122½

 

 

“It is easy, by the aid of this table, to follow the order, always decreasing, of the surfaces, in proportion as the winged animal increases in size and weight. Thus, in comparing the insects with one another, we find that the gnat, which weighs 460 times less than the stag-beetle, has 14 times more of surface. The lady-bird weighs 150 times less than the stag-beetle, and possesses 5 times more of surface, &c. It is the same with the birds. The sparrow weighs about 10 times less than the pigeon, and has twice as much surface. The pigeon weighs about 8 times less than the stork, and has twice as much surface. The sparrow weighs 339 times less than the Australian crane, and possesses 7 times more surface, &c. If now we compare the insects and the birds, the gradation will become even much more striking. The gnat, for example, weighs 97,000 times less than the pigeon, and has 40 times more surface; it weighs three millions of times less than the crane of Australia, and possesses 140 times more of surface than this latter, the weight of which is about 9 kilogrammes 500 grammes (25 ℔ 5 oz. 9 dwt. troy, 20 ℔ 15 oz. 2¼ dr. avoirdupois).

“The Australian crane, the heaviest bird weighed, is that which has the smallest amount of surface, for, referred to the kilogramme, it does not give us a surface of more than 899 square centimetres (139 sq. in.), that is to say, about an eleventh part of a square metre. But every one knows that these grallatorial animals are excellent birds of flight. Of all travelling birds they undertake the longest and most remote journeys. They are, in addition, the eagle excepted, the birds which elevate themselves the highest, and the flight of which is the longest maintained.”12

The way in which the natural wing rises and falls on the air, and reciprocates with the body of the flying creature, has a very obvious bearing upon artificial flight. In natural flight the body of the flying creature falls slightly forward in a curve when the wing ascends, and is slightly elevated in a curve when the wing descends. The wing and body are consequently always playing at cross purposes, the wing rising when the body is falling and vice versa. The alternate rise and fall of the body and wing of the bird are well seen when contemplating the flight of the gull from the stern of a steamboat, as the bird is following in the wake of the vessel. The complementary movements referred to are indicated at fig. 29, where the continuous waved line represents the trajectory made by the wing, and the dotted waved line that made by the body. As will be seen from this figure, the wing advances both when it rises and when it falls. It is a peculiarity of natural wings, and of artificial wings constructed on the principle of living wings, that when forcibly elevated or depressed, even in a strictly vertical direction, they inevitably dart forward. If, for instance, the wing is suddenly depressed in a vertical direction, as at a b of fig. 29, it at once darts downwards and forwards in a double curve (see continuous line of figure) to c, thus converting the vertical down stroke into a down, oblique, forward stroke. If, again, the wing be suddenly elevated in a strictly vertical direction, as at c d, the wing as certainly darts upwards and forwards in a double curve to e, thus converting the vertical up strokes into an upward, oblique, forward stroke. The same thing happens when the wing is depressed from e to f and elevated from g to h, the wing describing a waved track as at e g, g i.

Fig.

29 shows how in progressive flight the wing and the body describe

waved tracks

,—the crests of the waves made by the wing (

a, c, e, g, i

) being placed opposite the crests of the waves made by the body (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

There are good reasons why the wings should always be in advance of the body. A bird when flying is a body in motion; but a body in motion tends to fall not vertically downwards, but downwards and forwards. The wings consequently must be made to strike forwards and kept in advance of the body of the bird if they are to prevent the bird from falling downwards and forwards. If the wings were to strike backwards in aerial flight, the bird would turn a forward somersault.

That the wings invariably strike forwards during the down and up strokes in aerial flight is proved alike by observation and experiment. If any one watches a bird rising from the ground or the water, he cannot fail to perceive that the head and body are slightly tilted upwards, and that the wings are made to descend with great vigour in a downward and forward direction. The dead natural wing and a properly constructed artificial wing act in precisely the same way. If the wing of a gannet, just shot, be removed and made to flap in what the operator believes to be a strictly vertical downward direction, the tip of the wing, in spite of him, will dart forwards between 2 and 3 ft.—the amount of forward movement being regulated by the rapidity of the down stroke. This is a very striking experiment. The same thing happens with a properly constructed artificial wing. The down stroke with the artificial as with the natural wing is invariably converted into an oblique, downward and forward stroke. No one ever saw a bird in the air flapping its wings towards its tail. The old idea was that the wings during the down stroke pushed the body of the bird in an upward and forward direction; in reality the wings do not push but pull, and in order to pull they must always be in advance of the body to be flown. If the wings did not themselves fly forward, they could not possibly cause the body of the bird to fly forward. It is the wings which cause the bird to fly.

It only remains to be stated that the wing acts as a true kite, during both the down and the up strokes, its under concave or biting surface, in virtue of the forward travel communicated to it by the body of the flying creature, being closely applied to the air, during both its ascent and its descent. This explains how the wing furnishes a persistent buoyancy alike when it rises and when it falls (fig. 30).

Fig.

30 shows the kite-like action of the wing during the down and up strokes, how the angles made by the wing with the horizon (

a, b

) vary at every stage of these strokes, and how the wing evades the superimposed air during the up stroke, and seizes the nether air during the down stroke. In this figure the spaces between the double dotted lines (

c g, i b

) represent the down strokes, the single dotted line (

h, i

) representing the up stroke. The kite-like surfaces and angles made by the wing with the horizon (

a, b

) during the down strokes are indicated at

c d e f g, j k l m

,—those made during the up strokes being indicated at

g h i

. As the down and up strokes run into each other, and the convex surface of the wing is always directed upwards and the concave surface downwards, it follows that the upper surface of the wing evades in a great measure the upper air, while the under surface seizes the nether air. It is easy to understand from this figure how the wing always flying forwards furnishes a persistent buoyancy.

The natural kite formed by the wing differs from the artificial kite only in this, that the former is capable of being moved in all its parts, and is more or less flexible and elastic, whereas the latter is comparatively rigid. The flexibility and elasticity of the kite formed by the natural wing are rendered necessary by the fact that the wing, as already stated, is practically hinged at its root and along its anterior margin, an arrangement which necessitates its several parts travelling at different degrees of speed, in proportion as they are removed from the axes of rotation. Thus the tip travels at a higher speed than the root, and the posterior margin than the anterior margin. This begets a twisting diagonal movement of the wing on its long axis, which, but for the elasticity referred to, would break the wing into fragments. The elasticity contributes also to the continuous play of the wing, and ensures that no two parts of it shall reverse at exactly the same instant. If the wing was inelastic, every part of it would reverse at precisely the same moment, and its vibration would be characterized by pauses or dead points at the end of the down and up strokes which would be fatal to it as a flying organ. The elastic properties of the wing are absolutely essential, when the mechanism and movements of the pinion are taken into account. A rigid wing can never be an effective flying instrument.

The kite-like surfaces referred to in natural flight are those upon which the constructors of flying machines very properly ground their hopes of ultimate success. These surfaces may be conferred on artificial wings, aeroplanes, aerial screws or similar structures; and these structures, if we may judge from what we find in nature, should be of moderate size and elastic. The power of the flying organs will be increased if they are driven at a comparatively high speed, and particularly if they are made to reverse and reciprocate, as in this case they will practically create the currents upon which they are destined to rise and advance. The angles made by the kite-like surfaces with the horizon should vary according to circumstances. They should be small when the speed is high, and vice versa. This, as stated, is true of natural wings. It should also be true of artificial wings and their analogues.

Artificial Flight.—We are now in a position to enter upon a consideration of artificial wings and wing movements, and of artificial flight and flying machines.

We begin with artificial wings. The first properly authenticated account of an artificial wing was given by G.A. Borelli in 1670. This author, distinguished alike as a physiologist, mathematician and mechanician, describes and figures a bird with artificial wings, each of which consists of a rigid rod in front and flexible feathers behind. The wings are represented as striking vertically downwards, as the annexed duplicate of Borelli’s figure shows (fig. 31).

Fig

. 31.

Borelli’s bird with artificial wings.

r e, Anterior margin of the right wing, consisting of a rigid rod.

o a, Posterior margin of the right wing, consisting of flexible feathers.

b c, Anterior; and

f, Posterior margins of the left wing same as the right.

d, Tail of the bird.

r g, d h, Vertical direction of the down stroke of the wing.

Borelli was of opinion that flight resulted from the application of an inclined plane, which beats the air, and which has a wedge action. He, in fact, endeavours to prove that a bird wedges itself forward upon the air by the perpendicular vibration of its wings, the wings during their action forming a wedge, the base of which (c b e) is directed towards the head of the bird, the apex (a f) being directed towards the tail (d). In the 196th proposition of his work (De motu animalium, Leiden, 1685) he states that—

“If the expanded wings of a bird suspended in the air shall strike the undisturbed air beneath it with a motion perpendicular to the horizon, the bird will fly with a transverse motion in a plane parallel with the horizon.” “If,” he adds, “the wings of the bird be expanded, and the under surfaces of the wings be struck by the air ascending perpendicularly to the horizon with such a force as shall prevent the bird gliding downwards (i.e. with a tendency to glide downwards) from falling, it will be urged in a horizontal direction.”

The same argument is restated in different words as under:—“If the air under the wings be struck by the flexible portions of the wings (flabella, literally fly flaps or small fans) with a motion perpendicular to the horizon, the sails (vela) and flexible portions of the wings (flabella) will yield in an upward direction and form a wedge, the point of which is directed towards the tail. Whether, therefore, the air strikes the wings from below, or the wings strike the air from above, the result is the same,—the posterior or flexible margins of the wings yield in an upward direction, and in so doing urge the bird in a horizontal direction.”

There are three points in Borelli’s argument to which it is necessary to draw attention: (1) the direction of the down stroke: it is stated to be vertically downwards; (2) the construction of the anterior margin of the wing: it is stated to consist of a rigid rod; (3) the function delegated to the posterior margin of the wing: it is said to yield in an upward direction during the down stroke.

With regard to the first point. It is incorrect to say the wing strikes vertically downwards, for, as already explained, the body of a flying bird is a body in motion; but as a body in motion tends to fall downwards and forwards, the wing must strike downwards and forwards in order effectually to prevent its fall. Moreover, in point of fact, all natural wings, and all artificial wings constructed on the natural type, invariably strike downwards and forwards.

With regard to the second point, viz. the supposed rigidity of the anterior margin of the wing, it is only necessary to examine the anterior margins of natural wings to be convinced that they are in every case flexible and elastic. Similar remarks apply to properly constructed artificial wings. If the anterior margins of natural and artificial wings were rigid, it would be impossible to make them vibrate smoothly and continuously. This is a matter of experiment. If a rigid rod, or a wing with a rigid anterior margin, be made to vibrate, the vibration is characterized by an unequal jerky motion, at the end of the down and up strokes, which contrasts strangely with the smooth, steady fanning movement peculiar to natural wings.

As to the third point, viz. the upward bending of the posterior margin of the wing during the down stroke, it is necessary to remark that the statement is true if it means a slight upward bending, but that it is untrue if it means an extensive upward bending.

Borelli does not state the amount of upward bending, but one of his followers, E.J. Marey, maintains that during the down stroke the wing yields until its under surface makes a backward angle with the horizon of 45°. Marey further states that during the up stroke the wing yields to a corresponding extent in an opposite direction—the posterior margin of the wing, according to him, passing through an angle of 90°, plus or minus according to circumstances, every time the wing rises and falls.

That the posterior margin of the wing yields to a slight extent during both the down and up strokes will readily be admitted, alike because of the very delicate and highly elastic properties of the posterior margins of the wing, and because of the comparatively great force employed in its propulsion; but that it does not yield to the extent stated by Marey is a matter of absolute certainty. This admits of direct proof. If any one watches the horizontal or upward flight of a large bird he will observe that the posterior or flexible margin of the wing never rises during the down stroke to a perceptible extent, so that the under surface of the wing, as a whole, never looks backwards. On the contrary, he will perceive that the under surface of the wing (during the down stroke) invariably looks forwards and forms a true kite with the horizon, the angles made by the kite varying at every part of the down stroke, as shown more particularly at c d e f g, i j k l m of fig. 30.

The authors who have adopted Borelli’s plan of artificial wing, and who have endorsed his mechanical views of the wing’s action most fully, are J. Chabrier, H.E.G. Strauss-Dürckheim and Marey. Borelli’s artificial wing, it will be remembered, consists of a rigid rod in front and a flexible sail behind. It is also made to strike vertically downwards. According to Chabrier, the wing has only one period of activity. He believes that if the wing be suddenly lowered by the depressor muscles, it is elevated solely by the reaction of the air. There is one unanswerable objection to this theory: the birds and bats, and some if not all the insects, have distinct elevator muscles, and can elevate their wings at pleasure when not flying and when, consequently, the reaction of the air is not elicited. Strauss-Dürckheim agrees with Borelli both as to the natural and the artificial wing. He is of opinion that the insect abstracts from the air by means of the inclined plane a component force (composant) which it employs to support and direct itself. In his theology of nature he describes a schematic wing as consisting of a rigid ribbing in front, and a flexible sail behind. A membrane so constructed will, according to him, be fit for flight. It will suffice if such a sail elevates and lowers itself successively. It will of its own accord dispose itself as an inclined plane, and receiving obliquely the reaction of the air, it transfers into tractile force a part of the vertical impulsion it has received. These two parts of the wing, moreover, are equally indispensable to each other.

Marey repeats Borelli and Dürckheim with very trifling modifications, so late as 1869. He describes two artificial wings, the one composed of a rigid rod and sail—the rod representing the stiff anterior margin of the wing; the sail, which is made of paper bordered with cardboard, the flexible posterior margin. The other wing consists of a rigid nervure in front and behind of thin parchment which supports fine rods of steel. He states that if the wing only elevates and depresses itself, “the resistance of the air is sufficient to produce all the other movements. In effect (according to Marey) the wing of an insect has not the power of equal resistance in every part. On the anterior margin the extended nervures make it rigid, while behind it is fine and flexible. During the vigorous depression of the wing, the nervure has the power of remaining rigid, whereas the flexible portion, being pushed in an upward direction on account of the resistance it experiences from the air, assumes an oblique position which causes the upper surface of the wing to look forwards.” The reverse of this, in Marey’s opinion, takes place during the elevation of the wing—the resistance of the air from above causing the upper surface of the wing to look backwards.... “At first,” he says, “the plane of the wing is parallel with the body of the animal. It lowers itself—the front part of the wing strongly resists, the sail which follows it being flexible yields. Carried by the ribbing (the anterior margin of the wing) which lowers itself, the sail or posterior margin of the wing being raised meanwhile by the air, which sets it straight again, the sail will take an intermediate position and incline itself about 45° plus or minus according to circumstances.... The wing continues its movements of depression inclined to the horizon; but the impulse of the air, which continues its effect, and naturally acts upon the surface which it strikes, has the power of resolving itself into two forces, a vertical and a horizontal force; the first suffices to raise the animal, the second to move it along.”13 Marey, it will be observed, reproduces Borelli’s artificial wing, and even his text, at a distance of nearly two centuries.

The artificial wing recommended by Pettigrew is a more exact imitation of nature than either of the foregoing. It is of a more or less triangular form, thick at the root and anterior margin, and thin at the tip and posterior margin. No part of it is rigid. It is, on the contrary, highly elastic and flexible throughout. It is furnished with springs at its root to contribute to its continued play, and is applied to the air by a direct piston action in such a way that it descends in a downward and forward direction during the down stroke, and ascends in an upward and forward direction during the up stroke. It elevates and propels both when it rises and falls. It, moreover, twists and untwists during its action and describes figure-of-8 and waved tracks in space, precisely as the natural wing does. The twisting is most marked at the tip and posterior margin, particularly that half of the posterior margin next the tip. The wing when in action may be divided into two portions by a line running diagonally between the tip of the wing anteriorly and the root of the wing posteriorly. The tip and posterior parts of the wing are more active than the root and anterior parts, from the fact that the tip and posterior parts (the wing is an eccentric) always travel through greater spaces, in a given time, than the root and anterior parts.

Fig

. 32.—Elastic Spiral Wing, which twists and untwists during its action, to form

a mobile helix or screw

. This wing is made to vibrate by a direct piston action, and by a slight adjustment can be propelled vertically, horizontally or at any degree of obliquity.

a b, Anterior margin of wing, to which the neurae or ribs are affixed.

c d, Posterior margin of wing crossing anterior one.

x, Ball-and-socket joint at root of wing, the wing being attached to the side of the cylinder by the socket.

t, Cylinder.

r r, Piston, with cross heads (w, w) and piston head (s).

o o, Stuffing boxes.

e, f, Driving chains.

m, Superior elastic band, which assists in elevating the wing.

n, Inferior elastic band, which antagonizes m. The alternate stretching of the superior and inferior elastic bands contributes to the continuous play of the wing, by preventing dead points at the end of the down and up strokes. The wing is free to move in a vertical and horizontal direction and at any degree of obliquity.

The wing is so constructed that the posterior margin yields freely in a downward direction during the up stroke, while it yields comparatively little in an upward direction during the down stroke; and this is a distinguishing feature, as the wing is thus made to fold and elude the air more or less completely during the up stroke, whereas it is made to expand and seize the air with avidity during the down stroke. The oblique line referred to as running diagonally across the wing virtually divides the wing into an active and a passive part, the former elevating and propelling, the latter sustaining.

It is not possible to determine with exactitude the precise function discharged by each part of the wing, but experiment tends to show that the tip of the wing elevates, the posterior margin propels, and the root sustains.

The wing—and this is important—is driven by a direct piston action with an irregular hammer-like movement, the pinion having communicated to it a smart click at the beginning of every down stroke—the up stroke being more uniform. The following is the arrangement (fig. 32). If the artificial wing here represented (fig. 32) be compared with the natural wing as depicted at fig. 33, it will be seen that there is nothing in the one which is not virtually reproduced in the other. In addition to the foregoing, Pettigrew recommended a double elastic wing to be applied to the air like a steam-hammer, by being fixed to the head of the piston. This wing, like the single wing described, twists and untwists as it rises and falls, and possesses all the characteristics of the natural wing (fig. 34).

Fig

. 33 shows the Spiral Elastic Wings of the Gull. Each wing forms a mobile helix or screw.

a b, Anterior margin of left wing.

c d, Posterior margin of ditto.

d g, Primary or rowing feathers of left wing.

g a, Secondary feathers ditto.

x, Root of right wing with ball-and-socket joint.

l, Elbow joint.

m, Wrist joint,

n,o, Hand and finger joints.

Fig

. 34.—Double Elastic Wing driven by direct piston action. During the up stroke of the piston the wing is very decidedly convex on its upper surface (

a b c d

, A A′); its under surface (

e f g h

, A A′) being deeply concave and inclined obliquely upwards and forwards. It thus evades, to a considerable extent, the air during the up stroke. During the down stroke of the piston the wing is flattened out in every direction, and its extremities twisted in such a manner as to form two screws, as seen at

a′ b′ c′ d′, e′ f′ g′ h′

, B, B′. The active area of the wing is by this arrangement considerably diminished during the up stroke, and considerably augmented during the down stroke; the wing seizing the air with greater avidity during the down than during the up stroke.

i, j, k

, elastic band to regulate the expansion of the wing;

l

, piston;

m

, piston head;

n

, cylinder.

He also recommends an elastic aerial screw consisting of two blades, which taper and become thinner towards the tips and posterior margins. When the screw is made to rotate, the blades, because of their elasticity, assume a great variety of angles, the angles being least where the speed of the blades is greatest and vice versa. The pitch of the blades is thus regulated by the speed attained (fig. 35).

The peculiarity of Pettigrew’s wings and screws consists in their elasticity, their twisting action, and their great comparative length and narrowness. They offer little resistance to the air when they are at rest, and when in motion the speed with which they are driven is such as to ensure that the comparatively large spaces through which they travel shall practically be converted into solid bases of support.

After Pettigrew enunciated his views (1867) as to the screw configuration and elastic properties of natural wings, and more especially after his introduction of spiral, elastic artificial wings, and elastic screws, a great revolution took place in the construction of flying models. Elastic aeroplanes were advocated by D.S. Brown,14 elastic aerial screws by J. Armour,15 and elastic aeroplanes, wings and screws by Alphonse Pénaud.16

Fig

. 35.—Elastic Aerial Screw with twisted blades resembling wings (

a b c d, e f g h

).

x, End of driving shaft.

v,w, Sockets in which the roots of the blades of the screw rotate, the degree of rotation being limited by steel springs (z, s).

a b, e f, tapering elastic rods forming anterior or thick margins of blades of screw.

d c, h g, Posterior or thin elastic margins of blades of screw. The arrows m, n, o, p, q, r indicate the direction of travel.

Pénaud’s experiments are alike interesting and instructive. He constructed models to fly by three different methods:—(a) by means of screws acting vertically upwards; (b) by aeroplanes propelled horizontally by screws; and (c) by wings which flapped in an upward and downward direction. An account of his helicoptère or screw model appeared in the Aeronaut for January 1872, but before giving a description of it, it may be well to state very briefly what is known regarding the history of the screw as applied to the air.

Fig

. 36.—Cayley’s Flying Model.

The first suggestion on this subject was given by A.J.P. Paucton in 1768. This author, in his treatise on the Théorie de la vis d’Archimède, describes a machine provided with two screws which he calls a “ptérophores.” In 1796 Sir George Cayley gave a practical illustration of the efficacy of the screw as applied to the air by constructing a small machine, consisting of two screws made of quill feathers, a representation of which we annex (fig. 36). Sir George writes as under:—

“As it may be an amusement to some of your readers to see a machine rise in the air by mechanical means, I will conclude my present communication by describing an instrument of this kind, which any one can construct at the expense of ten minutes’ labour.

“a and b, fig. 36, are two corks, into each of which are inserted four wing feathers from any bird, so as to be slightly inclined like the sails of a windmill, but in opposite directions in each set. A round shaft is fixed in the cork a, which ends in a sharp point. At the upper part of the cork b is fixed a whalebone bow, having a small pivot hole in its centre to receive the point of the shaft. The bow is then to be strung equally on each side to the upper portion of the shaft, and the little machine is completed. Wind up the string by turning the flyers different ways, so that the spring of the bow may unwind them with their anterior edges ascending; then place the cork with the bow attached to it upon a table, and with a finger on the upper cork press strong enough to prevent the string from unwinding, and, taking it away suddenly, the instrument will rise to the ceiling.”

Cayley’s screws were peculiar, inasmuch as they were superimposed and rotated in opposite directions. He estimated that if the area of the screws was increased to 200 sq. ft., and moved by a man, they would elevate him. His interesting experiment is described at length, and the apparatus figured in Nicolson’s Journal, 1809, p. 172.

Other experimenters, such as J. Degen in 1816 and Ottoris Sarti in 1823, followed Cayley at moderate intervals, constructing flying models on the vertical screw principle. In 1842 W.H. Phillips succeeded, it is stated, in elevating a steam model by the aid of revolving fans, which according to his account flew across two fields after having attained a great altitude; and in 1859 H. Bright took out a patent for a machine to be sustained by vertical screws. In 1863 the subject of aviation by vertical screws received a fresh impulse from the experiments of Gustave de Ponton d’Amécourt, G. de la Landelle, and A. Nadar, who exhibited models driven by clock-work springs, which ascended with graduated weights a distance of from 10 to 12 ft. These models were so fragile that they usually broke in coming in contact with the ground in their descent. Their flight, moreover, was unsatisfactory, from the fact that it only lasted a few seconds.

Fig

. 37.—De la Landelle’s Flying-machine.

m, n, o, p

;

q, r, s, t

, Screws arranged on vertical axes to act vertically upwards. The vertical axes are surmounted by two parachutes, and the body of the machine is furnished with an engine, propeller, rudders and an extensive aeroplane.

Stimulated by the success of his spring models, Ponton d’Amécourt had a small steam model constructed. This model, which was shown at the exhibition of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain at the Crystal Palace in 1868, consisted of two superposed screws propelled by an engine, the steam for which was generated (for lightness) in an aluminium boiler. This steam model proved a failure, inasmuch as it only lifted a third of its own weight. Fig. 37 embodies de la Landelle’s ideas.

All the models referred to (Cayley’s excepted17) were provided with rigid screws. In 1872 Pénaud discarded the rigid screws in favour of elastic ones, as Pettigrew had done some years before.

Fig

. 38.—Hélicoptère or Screw-Model, by Pénaud.

Pénaud also substituted india-rubber under torsion for the whalebone and clock springs of the smaller models, and the steam of the larger ones. His hélicoptère or screw-model is remarkable for its lightness, simplicity and power. The accompanying sketch will serve to illustrate its construction (fig. 38). It consists of two superposed elastic screws (a a, b b), the upper of which (a a) is fixed in a vertical frame (c), which is pivoted in the central part (d) of the under screw. From the centre of the under screw an axle provided with a hook (e), which performs the part of a crank, projects in an upward direction. Between the hook or crank (e) and the centre of the upper screw (a a), the india-rubber in a state of torsion (f) extends. By fixing the lower screw and turning the upper one a sufficient number of times the requisite degree of torsion and power is obtained. The apparatus when liberated flies into the air sometimes to a height of 50 ft., and gyrates in large circles for a period varying from 15 to 30 seconds.

Pénaud next directed his attention to the construction of a model, to be propelled by a screw and sustained by an elastic aeroplane extending horizontally. Sir George Cayley proposed such a machine in 1810, and W.S. Henson constructed and patented a similar machine in 1842. Several inventors succeeded in making models fly by the aid of aeroplanes and screws, as, e.g. J. Stringfellow in 1847,18 and F. du Temple in 1857. These models flew in a haphazard sort of a way, it being found exceedingly difficult to confer on them the necessary degree of stability fore and aft and laterally. Pénaud succeeded in overcoming the difficulty in question by the invention of what he designated an automatic rudder. This consisted of a small elastic aeroplane placed aft or behind the principal aeroplane which is also elastic. The two elastic aeroplanes extended horizontally and made a slight upward angle with the horizon, the angle made by the smaller aeroplane (the rudder) being slightly in excess of that made by the larger. The motive power was india-rubber in the condition of torsion; the propeller, a screw. The reader will understand the arrangement by a reference to the accompanying drawing (fig. 39).

Models on the aeroplane screw type may be propelled by two screws, one fore and one aft, rotating in opposite directions; and in the event of only one screw being employed it may be placed in front of or behind the aeroplane.

When such a model is wound up and let go it descends about 2 ft., after which, having acquired initial velocity, it rises and flies in a forward direction at a height of from 8 to 10 ft. from the ground for a distance of from 120 to 130 ft. It flies this distance in from 10 to 11 seconds, its mean speed being something like 12 ft. per second. From experiments made with this model, Pénaud calculates that one horse-power would elevate and support 85 ℔

Fig

. 39.—Aeroplane Model with Automatic Rudder.

a a, Elastic aeroplane.

b b, Automatic rudder.

c c, Aerial screw centred at f.

d, Frame supporting aeroplane, rudder and screw.

e, India-rubber, in a state of torsion, attached to hook or crank at f. By holding the aeroplane (a a) and turning the screw (c c) the necessary power is obtained by torsion. (Pénaud.)

D.S. Brown also wrote (1874) in support of elastic aero-biplanes. His experiments proved that two elastic aeroplanes united by a central shaft or shafts, and separated by a wide interval, always produce increased stability. The production of flight by the vertical flapping of wings is in some respects the most difficult, but this also has been attempted and achieved. Pénaud and A.H. de Villeneuve each constructed winged models. Marey was not so fortunate. He endeavoured to construct an artificial insect on the plan advocated by Borelli, Strauss-Dürckheim and Chabrier, but signally failed, his insect never having been able to lift more than a third of its own weight.

Fig

. 40.—Pénaud’s Artificial Flying Bird.

a b c d, a′ b′ c′ d′, Elastic wings, which twist and untwist when made to vibrate.

a b, a′ b′, Anterior margins of wings.

c d, c′ d′, Posterior margins of wings.

c, c′, Inner portions of wings attached to central shaft of model by elastic bands at e.

f, India-rubber in a state of torsion, which provides the motive power, by causing the crank situated between the vertical wing supports (g) to rotate; as the crank revolves the wings are made to vibrate by means of two rods which extend between the crank and the roots of the wings.

h, Tail of artificial bird.

De Villeneuve and Pénaud constructed their winged models on different types, the former selecting the bat, the latter the bird. De Villeneuve made the wings of his artificial bat conical in shape and comparatively rigid. He controlled the movements of the wings, and made them strike downwards and forwards in imitation of natural wings. His model possessed great power of rising. It elevated itself from the ground with ease, and flew in a horizontal direction for a distance of 24 ft., and at a velocity of 20 m. an hour. Pénaud’s model differed from de Villeneuve’s in being provided with elastic wings, the posterior margins of which in addition to being elastic were free to move round the anterior margins as round axes (see fig. 24). India-rubber springs were made to extend between the inner posterior parts of the wings and the frame, corresponding to the backbone of the bird.

A vertical movement having been communicated by means of india-rubber in a state of torsion to the roots of the wings, the wings themselves, in virtue of their elasticity, and because of the resistance experienced from the air, twisted and untwisted and formed reciprocating screws, precisely analogous to those originally described and figured by Pettigrew in 1867. Pénaud’s arrangement is shown in fig. 40.

If the left wing of Pénaud’s model (a b, c d of fig. 40) be compared with the wing of the bat (fig. 18), or with Pettigrew’s artificial wing (fig. 32), the identity of principle and application is at once apparent.

In Pénaud’s artificial bird the equilibrium is secured by the addition of a tail. The model cannot raise itself from the ground, but on being liberated from the hand it descends 2 ft. or so, when, having acquired initial velocity, it flies horizontally for a distance of 50 or more feet, and rises as it flies from 7 to 9 ft. The following are the measurements of the model in question:—length of wing from tip to tip, 32 in.; weight of wing, tail, frame, india-rubber, &c., 73 grammes (about 2½ ounces).

(J. B. P.)

Flying Machines.—Henson’s flying machine, designed in 1843, was the earliest attempt at aviation on a great scale. Henson was one of the first to combine aerial screws with extensive supporting structures occupying a nearly horizontal position. The accompanying illustration explains the combination (fig. 41).

Fig

. 41.—Henson’s Aerostat.

“The chief feature of the invention was the very great expanse of its sustaining planes, which were larger in proportion to the weight it had to carry than those of many birds. The machine advanced with its front edge a little raised, the effect of which was to present its under surface to the air over which it passed, the resistance of which, acting upon it like a strong wind on the sails of a windmill, prevented the descent of the machine and its burden. The sustaining of the whole, therefore, depended upon the speed at which it travelled through the air, and the angle at which its under surface impinged on the air in its front.... The machine, fully prepared for flight, was started from the top of an inclined plane, in descending which it attained a velocity necessary to sustain it in its further progress. That velocity would be gradually destroyed by the resistance of the air to the forward flight; it was, therefore, the office of the steam-engine and the vanes it actuated simply to repair the loss of velocity; it was made, therefore, only of the power and weight necessary for that small effect.” The editor of Newton’s Journal of Arts and Sciences speaks of it thus:—“The apparatus consists of a car containing the goods, passengers, engines, fuel, &c., to which a rectangular frame, made of wood or bamboo cane, and covered with canvas or oiled silk, is attached. This frame extends on either side of the car in a similar manner to the outstretched wings of a bird; but with this difference, that the frame is immovable. Behind the wings are two vertical fan wheels, furnished with oblique vanes, which are intended to propel the apparatus through the air. The rainbow-like circular wheels are the propellers, answering to the wheels of a steamboat, and acting upon the air after the manner of a windmill. These wheels receive motions from bands and pulleys from a steam or other engine contained in the car. To an axis at the stern of the car a triangular frame is attached, resembling the tail of a bird, which is also covered with canvas or oiled silk. This may be expanded or contracted at pleasure, and is moved up and down for the purpose of causing the machine to ascend or descend. Beneath the tail is a rudder for directing the course of the machine to the right or to the left; and to facilitate the steering a sail is stretched between two masts which rise from the car. The amount of canvas or oiled silk necessary for buoying up the machine is stated to be equal to one square foot for each half pound of weight.”

F.H. Wenham, thinking to improve upon Henson, invented in 1866 what he designated his aeroplanes.19 These were thin, light, long, narrow structures, arranged above each other in tiers like so many shelves. They were tied together at a slight upward angle, and combined strength and lightness. The idea was to obtain great sustaining area in comparatively small space with comparative ease of control. It was hoped that when the aeroplanes were wedged forward in the air by vertical screws, or by the body to be flown, each aeroplane would rest or float upon a stratum of undisturbed air, and that practically the aeroplanes would give the same support as if spread out horizontally. The accompanying figures illustrate Wenham’s views (figs. 42 and 43).

Fig

. 42.—Wenham’s system of Aeroplanes designed to carry a man.

a, a, Thin planks, tapering at each end, and attached to a triangle.

b, Similar plank for supporting the aeronaut.

c, c, Thin bands of iron with truss planks a, a, and

d, d, Vertical rods. Between these are stretched five bands of holland 15 in. broad and 16 ft. long, the total length of the web being 80 ft. This apparatus when caught by a gust of wind, actually lifted the aeronaut.

Fig

. 43.—A similar system, planned by Wenham.

a, a, Main spar 16 ft. long;

b, b, Panels, with base board for aeronaut attached to main spar.

e, e, Thin tie-band of steel with struts starting from main spar. This forms a strong light framework for the aeroplanes, consisting of six webs of thin holland 15 in. broad. The aeroplanes are kept in parallel plane by vertical divisions of holland 2 ft. wide.

c, c′, Wing propellers driven by the feet.

Fig

. 44.—Stringfellow’s Flying Machine.

Stringfellow, who was originally associated with Henson, and built a successful flying model in 1847, made a second model in 1868, in which Wenham’s aeroplanes were combined with aerial screws. This model was on view at the exhibition of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, held at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1868. It was remarkably compact, elegant and light, and obtained the £100 prize of the exhibition for its engine, which was the lightest and most powerful so far constructed. The illustration below (fig. 44), drawn from a photograph, gives a very good idea of the arrangement—a, b, c representing the superimposed aeroplanes, d the tail, e, f the screw propellers. The superimposed aeroplanes (a, b, c) in this machine contained a sustaining area of 28 sq. ft., in addition to the tail (d). Its engine represented a third of a horse power, and the weight of the whole (engine, boiler, water, fuel, superimposed aeroplanes and propellers) was under 12 ℔ Its sustaining area, if that of the tail (d) be included, was something like 36 sq. ft., i.e. 3 sq. ft. for every pound. The model was forced by its propellers along a wire at a great speed, but so far as an observer could determine, failed to lift itself, notwithstanding its extreme lightness and the comparatively very great power employed. Stringfellow, however, stated that it occasionally left the wire and was sustained by its aeroplanes alone.

The aerial steamer of Thomas Moy (fig. 45), designed in 1874, consisted of a light, powerful, skeleton frame resting on three wheels; a very effective light engine constructed on a new principle, which dispensed with the old-fashioned, cumbrous boiler; two long, narrow, horizontal aeroplanes; and two comparatively very large aerial screws. The idea was to get up the initial velocity by a preliminary run on the ground. This accomplished it was hoped that the weight of the machine would gradually be thrown upon the aeroplanes in the same way that the weight of certain birds—the eagle, e.g.—is thrown upon the wings after a few hops and leaps. Once in the air the aeroplanes, it was believed, would become effective in proportion to the speed attained. The machine, however, did not realize the high expectations formed of it, and like all its predecessors it was doomed to failure.

Fig

. 45.—Moy’s Aerial Steamer.

Two of the most famous of the next attempts to solve the problem of artificial flight, by means of aeroplanes, were those of Prof. S.P. Langley and Sir Hiram S. Maxim, who began their aerial experiments about the same time (1889-1890). By 1893-1894 both had embodied their views in models and large flying machines.

Langley, who occupied the position of secretary to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, U.S.A., made many small flying models and one large one. These he designated “aerodromes.” They were all constructed on a common principle, and were provided with extensive flying surfaces in the shape of rigid aeroplanes inclined at an upward angle to the horizon, and more or less fixed on the plan advocated by Henson. The cardinal idea was to force the aeroplanes (slightly elevated at their anterior margins) forwards, kite-fashion, by means of powerful vertical screw propellers driven at high speed—the greater the horizontal speed provided by the propellers, the greater, by implication, the lifting capacity of the aerodrome. The bodies, frames and aeroplanes of the aerodromes were strengthened by vertical and other supports, to which were attached aluminium wires to ensure absolute rigidity so far as that was possible. Langley aimed at great lightness of construction, and in this he succeeded to a remarkable extent. His aeroplanes were variously shaped, and were, as a rule, concavo-convex, the convex surface being directed upwards. He employed a competent staff of highly trained mechanics at the Smithsonian Institution, and great secrecy was observed as to his operations. He flew his smallest models in the great lecture room of the National Museum, and his larger ones on the Potomac river about 40 m. below Washington.

While Langley conducted his preliminary experiments in 1889, he did not construct and test his steam-driven flying models until 1893. These were made largely of steel and aluminium, and one of them in 1896 made the longest flight then recorded for a flying machine, namely, fully half a mile on the Potomac river. The largest aerodrome, intended to carry passengers and to be available for war purposes, was built to the order and at the expense of the American government, which granted a sum of fifty thousand dollars for its construction.

Fig

. 46.—Langley’s Flying Machine.

a

, Large aeroplane;

b

, Small aeroplane;

c

, Propelling screws.

Langley’s machine shown in fig. 46 was a working model, not intended to carry passengers. In configuration the body-portion closely resembled a mackerel. The backbone was a light but very rigid tube of aluminium steel, 15 ft. in length, and a little more than 2 in. in diameter. The engines were located in the portion of the framework corresponding to the head of the fish; they weighed 60 oz. and developed one horse-power. There were four boilers made of thin hammered copper and weighing a little more than 7 ℔ each; these occupied the middle portion of the fish. The fuel used was refined gasoline, and the extreme end of the tail of the fish was utilized for a storage tank with a capacity of one quart. There were twin screw propellers, which could be adjusted to different angles in practice, to provide for steering, and made 1700 revolutions a minute. The wings, or aeroplanes, four in number, consisted of light frames of tubular aluminium steel covered with china silk. The pair in front were 42 in. wide and 40 ft. from tip to tip. They could be adjusted at different angles. The machine required to be dropped from a height, or a preliminary forward impetus had to be given to it, before it could be started. Fixity of all the parts was secured by a tubular mast extending upwards and downwards through about the middle of the craft, and from its extremities ran stays of aluminium wire to the tips of the aeroplanes and the end of the tubular backbone. By this trussing arrangement the whole structure was rendered exceedingly stiff.

Fig.

47.—Langley’s Aerodrome in flight.

In the larger aerodrome (fig. 47) the aeroplanes were concavo-convex, narrow, greatly elongated and square at their free extremities, the two propellers, which were comparatively very large, being placed amidships, so to speak. At the first trial of this machine, on the 7th of October 1903, just as it left the launching track it was jerked violently down at the front (being caught, as subsequently appeared, by the falling ways), and under the full power of its engine was pulled into the water, carrying with it its engineer. When the aerodrome rose to the surface, it was found that while the front sustaining surfaces had been broken by their impact with the water, yet the rear ones were comparatively uninjured. At the second and last attempt, on the 8th of December 1903, another disaster, again due to the launching ways, occurred as the machine was leaving the track. This time the back part of the machine, in some way still unexplained, was caught by a portion of the launching car, which caused the rear sustaining surface to break, leaving the rear entirely without support and it came down almost vertically into the water. Darkness had come before the engineer, who had been in extreme danger, could aid in the recovery of the aerodrome. The boat and machine had drifted apart, and one of the tugs in its zeal to render assistance had fastened a rope to the frame of the machine in the reverse position from what it should have been attached, and had broken the frame entirely in two. Owing to lack of funds further trials were abandoned (see Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1904, p. 122).

Fig

. 48.—Sir H. Maxim’s Flying Machine.

Sir Hiram S. Maxim, like Langley, employed a staff of highly skilled workmen. His machine (fig. 48) consisted of a platform, on which stood a large water-tube boiler, a number of concavo-convex aeroplanes arranged in tiers like shelves, each making a slight upward angle with the horizon, two very large vertical screws placed aft and propelled by steam engines, tanks for the storage of water, naphtha, &c. The boiler was especially noteworthy. The water was contained in about 2000 bent copper tubes, only 3⁄8 in. in external diameter, heated by over 7000 gas jets arranged in rows. The fuel was naphtha or gasoline. Steam could be got up in the short space of half a minute. The steam-generating appliances, which weighed only 1000 ℔ in all, were placed in the front of the machine. The motive power was provided by a pair of two-cylinder, compound engines, poised about 8 ft. from the ground, and about 6 ft. apart. Each of them was independently governed, and furnished together 363 horse-power in actual effect, an amount which, considering that their total weight was only 600 ℔, gave the extraordinary efficiency of over 1 horse-power for every 2 ℔ weight. The high and the low pressure cylinders were 5 and 8 in. in diameter respectively, and the stroke was 12 in. When going at full speed these engines conferred 425 revolutions per minute on the two gigantic propellers that drove the machine along. These were in appearance like two-bladed marine propellers except that they were square instead of rounded at the ends, and were broad and thin. They were built from overlapping strips of American pine, planed smooth and covered with glued canvas. They weighed 135 ℔ each, the length of each blade being close upon 9 ft. and the width at the ends 5½ ft. The pitch was 16 ft. They were carefully stayed by steel wires to their shafts, or the first revolution would have snapped them off short. The material of which the framework was built was thin steel tubing, exceedingly light. All the wires and ties were of the best steel, capable of standing a strain of 100 tons to the square inch. The body of the machine was oblong in shape, with the fore-part cut away like a water-chute boat, and a long counter at the stern over which the propellers revolved. It had canvas stretched all over it. High overhead, like a gigantic awning, was the slightly concavo-convex main aeroplane, tilted towards the front at an imperceptible angle, and stretched taut. Its area was 1400 sq. ft., increased by side wings to 2700 sq. ft. There were also side aeroplanes arranged in tiers, and large aeroplanes in front, which were pivoted and served for vertical steering. The machine was strengthened in every direction by vertical and other supports and securely wired together at all points. It was furnished with four strong flanged wheels and ran along a light broad-gauge (9 ft.) railway track, 1800 ft. long, in the hope that when the speed reached a certain point it would leave the rails, but it was prevented from rising more than an inch or so by four arms, or outriggers, furnished with wheels, which projected from its sides and ran under an inverted wooden upper or safety track outside the railway track proper.

At a trial carried out in 1894 at Bexley, Kent, only the main aeroplane, the fore and aft rudders, and the top and bottom side planes were in position. After everything had been got in readiness, careful observers were stationed along the track, and the machine was connected to a dynamometer. The engines were then started and the pump set so as to deliver over 5000 ℔ of water per hour into the boiler. The gas was then carefully turned on until the pressure amounted to 310 ℔ per sq. in., and the dynamometer showed a thrust of more than 2100 ℔ A small safety-valve placed in the steam pipe had been adjusted so as to blow off slightly at 310 ℔ and with a strong blast at 320 ℔ The signal being given to let go, the machine darted forward at a terrific pace, and the safety-valve ceased to blow. More gas was instantly turned on, and before the machine had advanced 300 ft., the steam had mounted to 320 ℔ per sq. in., and the safety-valve was blowing off a steady blast. When the machine had travelled only a few hundred feet, all four of the small outrigger wheels were fully engaged, which showed that the machine was lifting at least 8000 ℔ The speed rapidly increased until when the machine had run about 900 ft. one of the rear axletrees, which were of 2 in. steel tubing, doubled up and set the rear end of the machine completely free. When the machine had travelled about 1000 ft., the left-hand forward wheel became disengaged from the safety track, and shortly after this the right-hand wheel broke the upper track—3 in. by 9 in. Georgia pine—and a plank became entangled in the framework of the machine. Steam had already been shut off, and the machine coming to rest fell directly to the ground, all four of its wheels sinking deeply into the turf without leaving other marks. Before making this run the wheels which were to engage the upper track were painted, and the paint left by them on the upper track indicated the exact point where the machine lifted. The area of the aeroplanes was very nearly 4000 sq. ft. and the total lifting effect was fully 10,000 ℔ The planes therefore lifted 2.5 ℔ per sq. ft., and 5 ℔ for each pound thrust. Nearly half of the power of the engines was lost in the screw slip. This showed that the diameter of the screws was not great enough; it should have been at least 22 ft.

In 1897 M.C. Ader, who had already tested, with indifferent results, two full-sized flying machines, built a third apparatus with funds furnished by the French government. This reproduced the structure of a bird with almost servile imitation, save that traction was obtained by two screw-propellers. The steam engine weighed about 7 ℔ per horse-power, but the equilibrium of the apparatus was defective.

Largely with the view of studying the problem of maintaining equilibrium, several experimenters, including Otto Lilienthal, Percy Pilcher and Octave Chanute, cultivated gliding flight by means of aeroplanes capable of sustaining a man. They depended mainly on the utilization of natural air currents, trusting for stability and balance to movements in their own bodies, or in portions of their machines which they could control. They threw themselves from natural or artificial elevations, or, facing the wind, they ran or were dragged forwards against it until they got under way and the wind caught hold of their aeroplanes. To Lilienthal in Germany belongs the double credit of demonstrating the superiority of arched over flat surfaces, and of reducing gliding flight to regular practice. He made over 2000 glides safely, using gravity as his motive power, with concave, batlike wings, in some cases with superposed surfaces (fig. 49). It was with a machine of the latter type that he was upset by a sudden gust of wind and killed in 1896. Pilcher in England improved somewhat on Lilienthal’s apparatus, but used the same general method of restoring the balance, when endangered, by shifting the weight of the operator’s body. He too made several hundred glides in safety, but finally was thrown over by a gust of wind and killed in 1899. Chanute in America confined his endeavours to the production of automatic stability, and made the surfaces movable instead of the man. He used several different forms of apparatus, including one with five superposed pairs of wings and a tail (fig. 50) and another with two continuous aeroplanes, one above the other (fig. 51). He made over 1000 glides without accident.

Fig

. 49.—Lilienthal’s Gliding Machine.

Similar experiments were meanwhile conducted by Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, in whose hands the glider developed into a successful flying machine. These investigators began their work in 1900, and at an early stage introduced two characteristic features—a horizontal rudder in front for steering in the vertical plane, and the flexing or bending of the ends of the main supporting aeroplanes as a means of maintaining the structure in proper balance. Their machines to begin with were merely gliders, the operator lying upon them in a horizontal, position, but in 1903 a petrol motor was added, and a flight lasting 59 seconds was performed. In 1905 they made forty-five flights, in the longest of which they remained in the air for half an hour and covered a distance of 24½ m. The utmost secrecy, however, was maintained concerning their experiments, and in consequence their achievements were regarded at the time with doubt and suspicion, and it was hardly realized that their success would reach the point later achieved.

Fig

. 50.—Chanute’s Multiple Gliding Machine.

Fig

. 51.—Chanute’s Biplane Gliding Machine.

Thanks, however, to the efforts of automobile engineers, great improvements were now being effected in the petrol engine, and, although the certainty and trustworthiness of its action still left something to be desired, it provided the designers of flying machines with what they had long been looking for—a motor very powerful in proportion to its weight. Largely in consequence of this progress, and partly no doubt owing to the stimulus given by the activity of builders of dirigible balloons, the construction of motor-driven aeroplanes began to attract a number of workers, especially in France. In 1906 A. Santos Dumont, after a number of successful experiments with dirigible cigar-shaped gas balloons, completed an aeroplane flying machine. It consisted of the following parts:—(a) A system of aeroplanes arranged like the capital letter T at a certain upward angle to the horizon and bearing a general resemblance to box kites; (b) a pair of very light propellers driven at a high speed; and (c) an exceedingly light and powerful petrol engine. The driver occupied a position in the centre of the arrangement, which is shown in fig. 52. The machine was furnished with two wheels and vertical supports which depended from the anterior parts of the aeroplanes and supported it when it touched the ground on either side. With this apparatus he traversed on the 12th of November 1906 a distance of 220 metres in 21 seconds.

Fig.

52.—Santos Dumont’s Flying Machine.

About a year later Henry Farman made several short flights on a machine of the biplane type, consisting of two main supporting surfaces one above the other, with a box-shaped vertical rudder behind and two small balancing aeroplanes in front. The engine was an eight-cylinder Antoinette petrol motor, developing 49 horse-power at 1100 revolutions a minute, and driving directly a single metal screw propeller. On the 27th of October 1906 he flew a distance of nearly half a mile at Issy-les-Molineaux, and on the 13th of January 1908 he made a circular flight of one kilometre, thereby winning the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of £2000. In March he remained in the air for 3½ minutes, covering a distance of 1¼ m.; but in the following month a rival, Leon Delagrange, using a machine of the same type and constructed by the same makers, Messrs Voisin, surpassed this performance by flying nearly 2½ m. in 6½ minutes. In July Farman remained in the air for over 20 minutes; on the 6th of September Delagrange increased the time to nearly 30 minutes, and on the 29th of the same month Farman again came in front with a flight lasting 42 minutes and extending over nearly 24½ m.

But the best results were obtained by the Wright brothers—Orville Wright in America and Wilbur Wright in France. On the 9th of September 1908 the former, at Fort Myer, Virginia, made three notable flights; in the first he remained in the air 57½ minutes and in the second 1 hour 3 minutes, while in the third he took with him a passenger and covered nearly 4 m. in 6 minutes. Three days later he made a flight of 45 m. in 1 hour 141⁄3 minutes, but on the 17th he had an accident, explained as being due to one of his propellers coming into contact with a stay, by which his machine was wrecked, he himself seriously injured, and Lieutenant Selfridge, who was with him, killed. Four days afterwards Wilbur Wright at Le Mans in France beat all previous records with a flight lasting 1 hour 31 minutes 254⁄5 seconds, in which he covered about 56 m.; and subsequently, on the 11th of October, he made a flight of 1 hour 9 minutes accompanied by a passenger. On the 31st of December he succeeded in remaining in the air for 2 hours 20 minutes 23 seconds.

Wilbur Wright’s machine (fig. 53), that used by his brother being essentially the same, consisted of two slightly arched supporting surfaces, each 12½ metres long, arranged parallel one above the other at a distance of 14⁄5 metres apart. As they were each about 2 metres wide their total area was about 50 sq. metres. About 3 metres in front of them was arranged a pair of smaller horizontal aeroplanes, shaped like a long narrow ellipse, which formed the rudder that effected changes of elevation, the driver being able by means of a lever to incline them up or down according as he desired to ascend or descend. The rudder for lateral steering was placed about 2½ metres behind the main surfaces and was formed of two vertical pivoted aeroplanes. The lever by which they were turned was connected with the device by which the ends of the main aeroplanes could be flexed simultaneously though in opposite directions; i.e. if the ends of the aeroplanes on one side were bent downwards, those on the other were bent upwards. By the aid of this arrangement the natural cant of the machine when making a turn could be checked, if it became excessive. The four-cylinder petrol engine was placed on the lower aeroplane a little to the right of the central line, being counterbalanced by the driver (and passenger if one was carried), who sat a little to the left of the same line. Making about 1200 revolutions a minute, it developed about 24 horse-power, and was connected by chain gearing to two wooden propellers, 2½ metres in diameter and 3½ metres apart, the speed of which was about 450 revolutions a minute. The whole machine, with aeronaut, weighed about 1100 ℔, the weight of the motor being reputed to be 200 ℔

Plate I.

Fig.

1.—PAULHAN FLYING ON FARMAN BIPLANE.

Fig.

2.—WRIGHT BIPLANE.

Plate II.

Fig.

3.—BLERIOT MONOPLANE.

Fig.

4.—A.V. ROE’S TRIPLANE.

Fig.

53.—Wright Flying Machine; diagrammatic sketch.

A, B, Main supporting surfaces.

C, D, Aeroplanes of horizontal rudder with fixed semilunar fin E.

F, Vertical rudder.

G, Motor.

H, Screws.

A feature of the year 1909 was the success obtained with monoplanes having only a single supporting surface, and it was on a machine of this type that the Frenchman Blériot on July 25th flew across the English Channel from Calais to Dover in 31 minutes. Hubert Latham all but performed the same feat on an Antoinette monoplane. The year saw considerable increases in the periods for which aviators were able to remain in the air, and Roger Sommer’s flight of nearly 2½ hours on August 7th was surpassed by Henry Farman on November 3rd, when he covered a distance estimated at 137¼ m. in 4 hr. 17 min. 53 sec. In both these cases biplanes were employed. Successful aviation meetings were held, among other places, at Reims, Juvisy, Doncaster and Blackpool; and at Blackpool a daring flight was made in a wind of 40 m. an hour by Latham. This aviator also proved the possibility of flying at considerable altitudes by attaining on December 1st a height of over 1500 ft., but this record was far surpassed in the following January by L. Paulhan, who on a biplane rose to a height of 1383 yds. at Los Angeles. In the course of the year three aviators were killed—Lefèvbre and Ferber in September and Fernandez in December; and four men perished in September by the destruction of the French airship “République,” the gas-bag of which was ripped open by a broken propeller. In January 1910 Delagrange was killed by the fracture of one of the wings of a monoplane on which he was flying. On April 27th-28th, 1910, Paulhan successfully flew from London to Manchester, with only one stop, within 24 hours, for the Daily Mail’s £10,000 prize.

The progress made by all these experiments at aviation had naturally created widespread interest, both as a matter of sport and also as indicating a new departure in the possibilities of machines of war. And in 1909 the British government appointed a scientific committee, with Lord Rayleigh as chairman, as a consultative body for furthering the development of the science in England.

The table below gives some details, approximately correct, of the principal experiments made with flying machines up to 1908.

Year.

Experimenter.

Tip

to

Tip.

Surface.

Weight.

Pounds

per

sq. ft.

Speed

per

hour.

Maximum

Flight.

Motor.

Horse-

power.

Pounds

sustained

per h.p.

 

 

Ft.

Sq. ft.

℔

 

Mls.

Ft.

 

 

 

1879

Tatin

6.2

7.5

3.85

0.51

18

100?

Compressed

air

0.03

110?

1885

1889

Hargrave (No. 16)

5.5

26.0

5.00

0.19

10

343

”

0.06

79

1893

Phillips

22.0

136.0

402.00

3.00

28

500?

Steam

5.6 

72?

1894

Maxim*

50.0

4000.0

8000.00

2.5

36

300?

”

363.00

28

1896

Langley

12.0

70.0

30.00

0.43

24

4,000

”

1.00

30

1897

Tatin and Richet

21.0

86.0

72.00

0.83

40

460

”

1.33

55

1897

Ader*

49.0

270.0

1100.00

4.00

50?

100?

”

40.00

27

1895

Lilienthal*

23.0

151.0

220.00

1.46

23

1,200

Gravity

2.00

110

1896

Pilcher*

23.0

170.0

200.00

1.17

25

900

”

2.00

100

1896

Chanute*

16.0

135.0

178.00

1.31

22

360

”

2.00

89

1906

S. Dumont*

39  

560  

550  

0.98

22.26

2,900

Petrol

50  

23

1908

W. Wright*

41  

650  

1100  

1.7

37

295,000

Petrol

24  

46

* The apparatus marked thus * carried a man or men.

References.—Some of the books mentioned under Aeronautics contain details of flying machines; see H.W.L. Moedebeck, A Pocketbook of Aeronautics, trans. by W. Mansergh Varley (London, 1907); Sir Hiram S. Maxim, Artificial and Natural Flight (London, 1908); F.W. Lanchester, Aerodynamics and Aerodonetics (London, 1907 and 1908); C.C. Turner, Aerial Navigation of To-day (London, 1909); also two papers on “Aerial Navigation” read by Colonel G.O. Fullerton before the Royal United Service Institution in 1892 and 1906; papers read by Major B.F.S. Baden-Powell and E.S. Bruce before the Society of Arts, London, in April 1907 and December 1908 respectively; Cantor Lectures by F.W. Lanchester (Society of Arts, 1909); and the Proceedings of the Aeronautical Society (founded 1865), &c.

1 According to Dr Crisp, the swallow, martin, snipe and many birds of passage have no air in their bones.—Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. part xxv., 1857, p. 13.

2 By the term aeroplane is meant a thin, light, expanded structure inclined at a slight upward angle to the horizon intended to float or rest upon the air, and calculated to afford a certain amount of support to any body attached to it.

3 “On the Various Modes of Flight in relation to Aeronautics,” by J. Bell Pettigrew, Proc. Roy. Inst., 1867; “On the Mechanical Appliances by which Flight is attained in the Animal Kingdom,” by the same author, Trans. Linn. Soc., 1867.

4 Revue des cours scientifiques de la France et de l’Étranger, 1869.

5 The sphygmograph, as its name indicates, is a recording instrument. It consists of a smoked cylinder revolving by means of clock-work at a known speed, and a style or pen which inscribes its surface by scratching or brushing away the lampblack. The movements to be registered are transferred to the style or pen by one or more levers, and the pen in turn transfers them to the cylinder, where they appear as legible tracings. In registering the movements of the wings the tips and margins of the pinions were, by an ingenious modification, employed as the styles or pens. By this arrangement the different parts of the wings were made actually to record their own movements. As will be seen from this account, the figure-of-8 or wave theory of stationary and progressive flight has been made the subject of a rigorous experimentum crucis.

6 This continuity of the down into the up stroke and the converse is greatly facilitated by the elastic ligaments at the root and in the substance of the wing. These assist in elevating, and, when necessary, in flexing and elevating it. They counteract in some measure what may be regarded as the dead weight of the wing, and are especially useful in giving it continuous play.

7 “The importance of the twisted configuration or screw-like form cannot be over-estimated. That this shape is intimately associated with flight is apparent from the fact that the rowing feathers of the wing of the bird are every one of them distinctly spiral in their nature; in fact, one entire rowing feather is equivalent—morphologically and physiologically—to one entire insect wing. In the wing of the martin, where the bones of the pinion are short, and in some respects rudimentary, the primary and secondary feathers are greatly developed, and banked up in such a manner that the wing as a whole presents the same curves as those displayed by the insect’s wing, or by the wing of the eagle, where the bones, muscles and feathers have attained a maximum development. The conformation of the wing is such that it presents a waved appearance in every direction—the waves running longitudinally, transversely and obliquely. The greater portion of the wing may consequently be removed without essentially altering either its form or its functions. This is proved by making sections in various directions, and by finding that in some instances as much as two-thirds of the wing may be lopped off without materially impairing the power of flight.”—Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. vol. xxvi. pp. 325, 326.

8 “On the Various Modes of Flight in relation to Aeronautics,” Proc. Roy. Inst., 1867; “On the Mechanical Appliances by which Flight is attained in the Animal Kingdom,” Trans. Linn. Soc., 1867, 26.

9 “On the Physiology of Wings; being an analysis of the movements by which flight is produced in the Insect, Bat and Bird,” Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. vol. 26.

10 The other forces which assist in elevating the wings are—(a) the elevator muscles of the wings, (b) the elastic properties of the wings, and (c) the reaction of the compressed air on the under surfaces of the wings.

11 The wings of the albatross, when fully extended, measure across the back some 14 ft. They are exceedingly narrow, being sometimes under a foot in width.

12 On the Flight of Birds, of Bats and of Insects, in reference to the subject of Aerial Locomotion, by L. de Lucy (Paris).

13 E.J. Marey, Revue des cours scientifiques de la France et de l’étranger (1869).

14 “The Aero-bi-plane, or First Steps to Flight,” Ninth Annual Report of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, 1874.

15 “Resistance to Falling Planes on a Path of Translation,” Ninth Annual Report of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, 1874.

16 The Aeronaut for January 1872 and February 1875.

17 Cayley’s screws, as explained, were made of feathers, and consequently elastic. As, however, no allusion is made in his writings to the superior advantages possessed by elastic over rigid screws, it is to be presumed that feathers were employed simply for convenience and lightness. Pettigrew, there is reason to believe, was the first to advocate the employment of elastic screws for aerial purposes.

18 Stringfellow constructed a second model, which is described and figured further on (fig. 44).

19 “On Aerial Locomotion,” Aeronautical Society’s Report for 1867.

FLINCK, GOVERT (1615-1660), Dutch painter, born at Cleves in 1615, was apprenticed by his father to a silk mercer, but having secretly acquired a passion for drawing, was sent to Leuwarden, where he boarded in the house of Lambert Jacobszon, a Mennonite, better known as an itinerant preacher than as a painter. Here Flinck was joined by Jacob Backer, and the companionship of a youth determined like himself to be an artist only confirmed his passion for painting. Amongst the neighbours of Jacobszon at Leuwarden were the sons and relations of Rombert Ulenburg, whose daughter Saske married Rembrandt in 1634. Other members of the same family lived at Amsterdam, cultivating the arts either professionally or as amateurs. The pupils of Lambert probably gained some knowledge of Rembrandt by intercourse with the Ulenburgs. Certainly J. von Sandrart, who visited Holland in 1637, found Flinck acknowledged as one of Rembrandt’s best pupils, and living habitually in the house of the dealer Hendrik Ulenburg at Amsterdam. For many years Flinck laboured on the lines of Rembrandt, following that master’s style in all the works which he executed between 1636 and 1648; then he fell into peculiar mannerisms by imitating the swelling forms and grand action of Rubens’s creations. Finally he sailed with unfortunate complacency into the Dead Sea of official and diplomatic painting. Flinck’s relations with Cleves became in time very important. He was introduced to the court of the Great Elector, Frederick William of Brandenburg, who married in 1646 Louisa of Orange. He obtained the patronage of John Maurice of Orange, who was made stadtholder of Cleves in 1649. In 1652 a citizen of Amsterdam, Flinck married in 1656 an heiress, daughter of Ver Hoeven, a director of the Dutch East India Company. He was already well known even then in the patrician circles over which the burgomasters De Graef and the Echevin Six presided; he was on terms of intimacy with the poet Vondel and the treasurer Uitenbogaard. In his house, adorned with antique casts, costumes, and a noble collection of prints, he often received the stadtholder John Maurice, whose portrait is still preserved in the work of the learned Barleius.

The earliest of Flinck’s authentic pieces is a likeness of a lady, dated 1636, in the gallery of Brunswick. His first subject picture is the “Blessing of Jacob,” in the Amsterdam museum (1638). Both are thoroughly Rembrandtesque in effect as well as in vigour of touch and warmth of flesh tints. The four “civic guards” of 1642, and “the twelve musketeers” with their president in an arm-chair (1648), in the town-hall at Amsterdam, are fine specimens of composed portrait groups. But the best of Flinck’s productions in this style is the peace of Münster in the museum of Amsterdam, a canvas with 19 life-size figures full of animation in the faces, “radiant with Rembrandtesque colour,” and admirably distributed. Flinck here painted his own likeness to the left in a doorway. The mannered period of Flinck is amply illustrated in the “Marcus Curius eating Turnips before the Samnite Envoys,” and “Solomon receiving Wisdom,” in the palace on the Dam at Amsterdam. Here it is that Flinck shows most defects, being faulty in arrangement, gaudy in tint, flat and shallow in execution, and partial to whitened flesh that looks as if it had been smeared with violet powder and rouge. The chronology of Flinck’s works, so far as they are seen in public galleries, comprises, in addition to the foregoing, the “Grey Beard” of 1639 at Dresden, the “Girl” of 1641 at the Louvre, a portrait group of a male and female (1646) at Rotterdam, a lady (1651) at Berlin. In November 1659 the burgomaster of Amsterdam contracted with Flinck for 12 canvases to represent four heroic figures of David and Samson and Marcus Curius and Horatius Cocles, and scenes from the wars of the Batavians and Romans. Flinck was unable to finish more than the sketches. In the same year he received a flattering acknowledgment from the town council of Cleves on the completion of a picture of Solomon which was a counterpart of the composition at Amsterdam. This and other pictures and portraits, such as the likenesses of Frederick William of Brandenburg and John Maurice of Nassau, and the allegory of “Louisa of Orange attended by Victory and Fame” and other figures at the cradle of the first-born son of the elector, have disappeared. Of several pictures which were painted for the Great Elector, none are preserved except the “Expulsion of Hagar” in the Berlin museum. Flinck died at Amsterdam on the 22nd of February 1660.

FLINDERS, MATTHEW (1774-1814), English navigator, explorer, and man of science, was born at Donington, near Boston, in Lincolnshire, on the 16th of March 1774. Matthew was at first designed to follow his father’s profession of surgeon, but his enthusiasm in favour of a life of adventure impelled him to enter the royal navy, which he did on the 23rd of October 1789. After a voyage to the Friendly Islands and West Indies, and after serving in the “Bellerophon” during Lord Howe’s “glorious first of June” (1794) off Ushant, Flinders went out in 1795 as midshipman in the “Reliance” to New South Wales. For the next few years he devoted himself to the task of accurately laying down the outline and bearings of the Australian coast, and he did his work so thoroughly that he left comparatively little for his successors to do. With his friend George Bass, the surgeon of the “Reliance,” in the year of his arrival he explored George’s river; and, after a voyage to Norfolk Island, again in March 1796 the two friends in the same boat, the “Tom Thumb,” only 8 ft. long, and with only a boy to help them, explored a stretch of coast to the south of Port Jackson. After a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, when he was promoted to a lieutenancy, Flinders was engaged during February 1798 in a survey of the Furneaux Islands, lying to the north of Tasmania. His delight was great when, in September of the same year, he was commissioned along with Bass, who had already explored the sea between Tasmania and the south coast to some extent and inferred that it was a strait, to proceed in the sloop “Norfolk” (25 tons) to prove conclusively that Van Diemen’s Land was an island by circumnavigating it. In the same sloop, in the summer of next year, Flinders made an exploration to the north of Port Jackson, the object being mainly to survey Glasshouse Bay (Moreton Bay) and Hervey’s Bay. Returning to England he was appointed to the command of an expedition for the thorough exploration of the coasts of Terra Australis, as the southern continent was still called, though Flinders is said to have been the first to suggest for it the name Australia. On the 18th of July 1801 the sloop “Investigator” (334 tons), in which the expedition sailed, left Spithead, Flinders being furnished with instructions and with a passport from the French government to all their officials in the Eastern seas. Among the scientific staff was Robert Brown, one of the most eminent English botanists; and among the midshipmen was Flinders’s relative, John Franklin, of Arctic fame. Cape Leeuwin, on the south-west coast of Australia, was reached on November 6, and King George’s sound on the 9th of December. Flinders sailed round the Great Bight, examining the islands and indentations on the east side, noting the nature of the country, the people, products, &c., and paying special attention to the subject of the variation of the compass. Spenser and St Vincent Gulfs were discovered and explored. On the 8th of April 1802, shortly after leaving Kangaroo Islands, at the mouth of St Vincent Gulf, Flinders fell in with the French exploring ship, “Le Géographe,” under Captain Nicolas Baudin, in the bay now known as Encounter Bay. In the narrative of the French expedition published in 1807 (when Flinders was a prisoner in the Mauritius) by M. Peron, the naturalist to the expedition, much of the land west of the point of meeting was claimed as having been discovered by Baudin, and French names were extensively substituted for the English ones given by Flinders. It was only in 1814, when Flinders published his own narrative, that the real state of the case was fully exposed. Flinders continued his examination of the coast along Bass’s Strait, carefully surveying Port Phillip. Port Jackson was reached on the 9th of May 1802.

After staying at Port Jackson for about a couple of months, Flinders set out again on the 22nd of July to complete his circumnavigation of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef was examined with the greatest care in several places. The north-east entrance of the Gulf of Carpentaria was reached early in November; and the next three months were spent in an examination of the shores of the gulf, and of the islands that skirt them. An inspection of the “Investigator” showed that she was in so leaky a condition that only with the greatest precaution could the voyage be completed in her. Flinders completed the survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after touching at the island of Timor, the “Investigator” sailed round the west and south of Australia, and Port Jackson was reached on the 9th of June 1803. Much suffering was endured by nearly all the members of the expedition: a considerable proportion of the men succumbed to disease, and their leader was so reduced by scurvy that his health was greatly impaired.

Flinders determined to proceed home in H.M.S. “Porpoise” as a passenger, submit the results of his work to the Admiralty, and obtain, if possible, another vessel to complete his exploration of the Australian coast. The “Porpoise” left Port Jackson on the 10th of August, accompanied by the H.E.I.C.’s ship “Bridgewater” (750 tons) and the “Cato” (450 tons) of London. On the night of the 17th the “Porpoise” and “Cato” suddenly struck on a coral reef and were rapidly reduced to wrecks. The officers and men encamped on a small sandbank near, 3 or 4 ft. above high-water, a considerable quantity of provisions, with many of the papers and charts, having been saved from the wrecks. The reef was in about 22° 11′ S. and 155° E., and about 800 m. from Port Jackson. Flinders returned to Port Jackson in a six-oared cutter in order to obtain a vessel to rescue the party. The reef was again reached on the 8th of October, and all the officers and men having been satisfactorily disposed of, Flinders on the 11th left for Jones Strait in an unsound schooner of 29 tons, the “Cumberland,” with ten companions, and a valuable collection of papers, charts, geological specimens, &c. On the 15th of December he put in at Mauritius, when he discovered that France and England were at war. The passport he possessed from the French government was for the “Investigator”; still, though he was now on board another ship, his mission was essentially the same, and the work he was on was simply a continuation of that commenced in the unfortunate vessel. Nevertheless, on her arrival at Port Louis the “Cumberland” was seized by order of the governor-general de Caen. Flinders’s papers were taken possession of, and he found himself virtually a prisoner. We need not dwell on the sad details of this unjustifiable captivity, which lasted to June 1810. But there can be no doubt that the hardships and inactivity Flinders was compelled to endure for upwards of six years told seriously on his health, and brought his life to a premature end. He reached England in October 1810, after an absence of upwards of nine years. The official red-tapeism of the day barred all promotion to the unfortunate explorer, who set himself to prepare an account of his explorations, though unfortunately an important part of his record had been retained by de Caen. The results of his labours were published in two large quarto volumes, entitled A Voyage to Terra Australis, with a folio volume of maps. The very day (July 19, 1814) on which his work was published Flinders died, at the early age of forty. The great work is a model of its kind, containing as it does not only a narrative of his own and of previous voyages, but masterly statements of the scientific results, especially with regard to magnetism, meteorology, hydrography and navigation. Flinders paid great attention to the errors of the compass, especially to those caused by the presence of iron in ships. He is understood to have been the first to discover the source of such errors (which had scarcely been noticed before), and after investigating the laws of the variations, he suggested counter-attractions, an invention for which Professor Barlow got much credit many years afterwards. Numerous experiments on ships’ magnetism were conducted at Portsmouth by Flinders, by order of the admiralty, in 1812. Besides the Voyage, Flinders wrote Observations on the Coast of Van Diemen’s Land, Bass’s Strait, &c., and two papers in the Phil. Trans.—one on the “Magnetic Needle” (1805), and the other, “Observations on the Marine Barometer” (1806).

(J. S. K.)

FLINSBERG, a village and watering-place of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, on the Queis, at the foot of the Iserkamm, 1450 ft. above the sea, 5 m. W. of Friedeberg, the terminus station of the railway from Greiffenberg. Pop. (1900) 1957. It contains an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and has some manufactures of wooden wares. Flinsberg is celebrated for its chalybeate waters, specific in cases of feminine disorders, and used both for bathing and drinking. It is also a climatic health resort of some reputation, and the visitors number about 8500 annually.

See Adam, Bad Flinsberg als klimatischer Kurort (Görlitz, 1891).

FLINT, AUSTIN (1812-1886), American physician, was born at Petersham, Massachusetts, on the 20th of October 1812, and graduated at the medical department of Harvard University in 1833. From 1847 to 1852 he was professor of the theory and practice of medicine in Buffalo Medical College, of which he was one of the founders, and from 1852 to 1856 he filled the same chair in the university of Louisville. From 1861 to 1886 he was professor of the principles and practice of medicine and clinical medicine in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York. He wrote many text-books on medical subjects, among these being Diseases of the Heart (1859-1870); Principles and Practice of Medicine (1866); Clinical Medicine (1879); and Physical Exploration of the Lungs by means of Auscultation and Percussion (1882). He died in New York on the 13th of March 1886.

His son, Austin Flint, junr., who was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, on the 28th of March 1836, after studying at Harvard and at the university of Louisville, graduated at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1857. He then became professor of physiology at the university of Buffalo (1858) and subsequently at other centres, his last connexion being with the Cornell University Medical College (1898-1906). He was better known as a teacher and writer on physiology than as a practitioner, and his Text-book of Human Physiology (1876) was for many years a standard book in American medical colleges. He also published an extensive Physiology of Man (5 vols., 1866-1874), Chemical Examination of the Urine in Disease (1870), Effects of Severe and Protracted Muscular Exercise (1871), Source of Muscular Power (1878), and Handbook of Physiology (1905). In 1896 he became a consulting physician to the New York State Hospital for the Insane.

FLINT, ROBERT (1838-  ), Scottish divine and philosopher, was born near Dumfries and educated at the university of Glasgow. After a few years of pastoral service, first in Aberdeen and then at Kilconquhar, Fife, he was appointed professor of moral philosophy and political economy at St Andrews in 1864. From 1876 to 1903 he was professor of divinity at Edinburgh. He contributed a number of articles to the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His chief works are Christ’s Kingdom upon Earth (Sermons, 1865); Philosophy of History in Europe (1874; partly rewritten with reference to France and Switzerland, 1894); Theism and Anti-theistic Theories (2 vols., being the Baird Lectures for 1876-1877; often reprinted); Socialism (1894); Sermons and Addresses (1899); Agnosticism (1903).

FLINT, TIMOTHY (1780-1840), American clergyman and writer, was born in Reading, Massachusetts, on the 11th of July 1780. He graduated at Harvard in 1800, and in 1802 settled as a Congregational minister in Lunenburg, Mass., where he pursued scientific studies with interest; and his labours in his chemical laboratory seemed so strange to the people of that retired region, that some persons supposed and asserted that he was engaged in counterfeiting. This, together with political differences, led to disagreeable complications, which resulted in his resigning his charge (1814) and becoming a missionary (1815) in the valley of the Mississippi. He was also for a short period a teacher and a farmer. His observations on the manners and character of the settlers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys were recorded in a picturesque work called Recollections of the Last Ten Years passed in the Valley of the Mississippi (1826; reprinted in England and translated into French), the first account of the western states which brought to light the real life and character of the people. The success which this work met with, together with the failing health of the writer, led him to relinquish his more active labours for literary pursuits, and, besides editing the Western Review in Cincinnati from 1825 to 1828 and Knickerbocker’s Magazine (New York) in 1833, he published a number of books, including Francis Berrian, or the Mexican Patriot (1826), his best novel; A Condensed Geography and History of the Western States, or the Mississippi Valley (2 vols., 1828); Arthur Clenning (1828), a novel; and Indian Wars in the West (1833). His style is vivid, plain and forcible, and his matter interesting; and his works on the western states are of great value. He died in Salem, Mass., on the 16th of August 1840.

FLINT, a city and the county-seat of Genesee county, Michigan, U.S.A., on Flint river, 68 m. (by rail) N.W. of Detroit. Pop. (1890) 9803; (1900) 13,103, of whom 2165 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 38,550. It is served by the Grand Trunk and the Père Marquette railways, and by an electric line, the Detroit United railway, connecting with Detroit. The city has a fine court-house (1904), a federal building (1908), a city hall (1908) and a public library. The Michigan school for the deaf, established in 1854, and the Oak Grove hospital (private) for the treatment of mental and nervous diseases, are here. Flint has important manufacturing interests, its chief manufactures being automobiles, wagons, carriages—Flint is called “the vehicle city,”—flour, woollen goods, iron goods, cigars, beer, and bricks and tiles; and its grain trade is of considerable importance. In 1904 the total value of the city’s factory product was $6,177,170, an increase of 31.1% over that of 1900. The settlement of the place, then called the Grand Traverse of the Flint, began in 1820, but Flint’s growth was very slow until 1831, when it was platted as a village; it was chartered as a city in 1855.

FLINT, or Flintshire (sîr Gallestr), a county of North Wales, the smallest in the country, bounded N. by the Irish Sea and the Dee estuary, N.E. by the Dee, E. by Cheshire, and S.W. by Denbighshire. Area, 257 sq. m. Included in Flint is the detached hundred of Maelor, lying 8 m. S.E. of the main part of the county, and shut in by Cheshire on the N. and N.E., by Shropshire on the S., and by Denbighshire on the W. and N.W. The Clwyd valley is common to Flint and Denbigh. Those of the Alyn and Wepre (from Ewloe Castle to the Dee) are fine. The Dee, entering the county near Overton, divides Maelor from Denbigh on the W., passes Chester and bounds most of the county on the N. The Clwyd enters Flint near Bodfary, and joining the Elwy near Rhuddlan, reaches the Irish Sea near Rhyl. The Alyn enters the county under Moel Fammau, passes Cilcen and Mold (y Wyddgrug), runs underground near Hesb-Alyn (Alyn’s drying-up), bends south to Caergwrle, re-enters Denbighshire and joins the Dee. Llyn Helyg (willow-pool), near Whitford, is the chief lake.

Both for their influence upon the physical features and for their economic value the carboniferous rocks of Flintshire are the most important. From Prestatyn on the coast a band of carboniferous limestone passes close by Holywell and through Caerwen; it forms the Halkin Mountain east of Halkin, whence it continues past Mold to beyond the county boundary. The upper portion of this series is cherty in the north—the chert is quarried for use in the potteries of Staffordshire—but traced southward it passes into sandstones and grits; above these beds come the Holywell shales, possibly the equivalent of the Pendleside series of Lancashire and Derbyshire, while upon them lies the Gwespyr sandstone, which has been thought to correspond to the Gannister coal measures of Lancashire, but may be a representative of the Millstone Grit. Farther to the east, the coal measures, with valuable coals, some oil shale, and with fireclays and marls which are used for brick and tile-making, extend from Talacre through Flint, Northop, Hawarden and Broughton to Hope. The carboniferous rocks appear again through the intervention of a fault, in the neighbourhood of St Asaph. Silurian strata, mostly of Wenlock age, lie below the carboniferous limestone on the western border of the county. Triassic red beds of the Bunter fill the Clwyd valley and appear again on the coal measures S.E. of Chester. Lead and zinc ores have been worked in the lower carboniferous rocks in the north of the county, and caves in the same formation, at Caer Gwyn and Ffynnon Beuno, have yielded the remains of Pleistocene mammals along with palaeolithic implements. Much glacial drift obscures the older rocks on the east and north and in the vale of Clwyd. Short stretches of blown sand occur on the coast near Rhyl and Talacre.

The London & North-Western railway follows the coast-line. Other railways which cross the county are the Great Western, and the Wrexham, Mold & Connah’s Quay, acquired by the Great Central company. For pasture the vale of Clwyd is well known. Oats, turnips and swedes are the chief crops. Stock and dairy farming prospers, native cattle being crossed with Herefords and Downs, native sheep with Leicesters and Southdowns, while in the thick mining population a ready market is found for meat, cheese, butter, &c. The population (81,700 in 1901) nearly doubled in the 19th century, and Flintshire to-day is one of the most densely populated counties in North Wales. The area of the ancient county is 164,744 acres, and that of the administrative county 163,025 acres. The collieries begin at Llanasa, run through Whitford, Holywell, Flint, Halkin (Halcyn), Northop, Buckley, Mold and Hawarden (Penarlâg). At Halkin, Mold, Holywell, Prestatyn and Talacre lead is raised, and is sometimes sent to Bagillt, Flint or Chester to be smelted. Zinc, formerly only worked at Dyserth, has increased in output, and copper mines also exist, as at Talargoch, together with smelting works, oil, vitriol, potash and alkali manufactories. Potteries around Buckley send their produce chiefly to Connah’s Quay, whence a railway crosses the Dee to the Birkenhead (Cheshire) district. Iron seams are now thin, but limestone quarries yield building stone, lime for burning and small stone for chemical works. Fisheries are unproductive and textile manufactures small.

The county returns one member to parliament. The parliamentary borough district (returning one member), consists of Caergwrle, Caerwys, Flint, Holywell, Mold, Overton, St Asaph and Rhuddlan. In addition, there is a small part of the Chester parliamentary borough. There is one municipal borough, Flint (pop. 4625). The other urban districts are: Buckley (5780), Connah’s Quay (3369), Holywell (2652), Mold (4263), Prestatyn (1261) and Rhyl (8473). Flint is in the North Wales and Chester circuit, assizes being held at Mold. The Flint borough has a separate commission of the peace, but no separate court of quarter sessions. The ancient county, which is in the dioceses of Chester, Lichfield and St Asaph, contains forty-six entire ecclesiastical parishes and districts, with parts of eleven others.

Among sites of antiquarian or historical interest, besides the fragmentary ruin of Flint Castle, the following may be mentioned:—Caerwys, near Flint, still shows traces of Roman occupation. Bodfary (Bodfari) was traditionally occupied by the Romans. Moel y gaer (bald hill of the fortress), near Northop, is a remarkably perfect old British post. Maes y Garmon (perhaps for Meusydd Garmon, as y, the article, has no significance before a proper name, and so to be translated, battlefields of Germanus). A mile from Mold is the reputed scene of une victoire sans larmes, gagnée non par les armes, mais par la foi (E.H. Vollet). The Britons, says the legend, were threatened by the Picts and Saxons, at whose approach the Alleluia of that Easter (A.D. 430) was sung. Panic duly seized the invaders, but the victor, St Germanus, confessor and bishop of Auxerre (A.D. 380-448), had to return to the charge in 446. He has, under the name Garmon, a great titular share in British topography. At Bangor Iscoed, “the great high choir in Maelor,” was the monastery, destroyed with over 2000 monks, by Æthelfred of Northumberland in 607, as (by a curious coincidence) its namesake Bangor in Ireland was sacked by the Danes in the 9th century. Bede says (ii. 2) that Bangor monastery was in seven sections, with three hundred (working) monks. The supposed lines of direction of Watt’s and Offa’s dykes were: Basingwerk, Halkin, Hope, Alyn valley, Oswestry (Croes Oswallt, “Oswald’s cross”), for Watt’s, and Prestatyn, Mold, Minera, across the Severn (Hafren, or Sabrina) for Offa’s. Owain Gwynedd (Gwynedd or Venedocia, is North Wales) defeated Henry II. at Coed Ewloe (where is a tower) and at Coleshill (Cynsyllt). Near Pant Asa (pant is a bottom) is the medieval Maen Achwynfan (achwyn, to complain, maen, stone), and tumuli, menhirs (meini hirion) and inscribed stones are frequent throughout the county. There is a 14th-century cross in Newmarket churchyard. Caergwrle Castle seems early Roman, or even British; but most of the castles in the county date from the early Edwards.

See H. Taylor, Flint (London, 1883).

FLINT, a municipal borough and the county town of the above; a seaport and contributory parliamentary borough, on the south of the Dee estuary, 192 m. from London by the London & North-Western railway. Pop. (1901) 4265. The seat of great alkali manufactures, it imports chiefly sulphur and other chemicals, exporting coal, soda, potash, copper, &c. The county gaol here, as at Haverfordwest, occupied an angle of the castle, was removed to Mold, and is now Chester Castle (jointly with Cheshire.)

Flint Castle was built on a lonely rock by the riverside by Edward I. Here met Edward II. and Piers Gaveston. Edward III. bestowed its constableship upon the earls of Chester, and here Richard II. surrendered to Bolingbroke. It was twice taken, after siege, by the parliamentarians, and finally dismantled in 1647. There remain a square court (with angle towers), round tower and drawbridge, all three entrusted to a constable, appointed by the crown under the Municipal Corporations Reforms Act. Made a borough by Edward I., Flint was chartered by Edward III., and by Edward the Black Prince, as earl of Chester.

FLINT (a word common in Teutonic and Scandinavian languages, possibly cognate with the Gr. πλίνθος, a tile), in petrology, a dark grey or dark brown crypto-crystalline substance which has an almost vitreous lustre, and when pure appears structureless to the unaided eye. In the mass it is dark and opaque, but thin plates or the edges of splinters are pale yellow and translucent. Its hardness is greater than that of steel, so that a knife blade leaves a grey metallic streak when drawn across its surface. Its specific gravity is 2.6 or only a little less than that of crystalline quartz. It is brittle, and when hammered readily breaks up into a powder of angular grains. The fracture is perfectly conchoidal, so that blows with a hammer detach flakes which have convex, slightly undulating surfaces. At the point of impact a bulb of percussion, which is a somewhat elevated conical mark, is produced. This serves to distinguish flints which have been fashioned by human agencies from those which have been split merely by the action of frost and the weather. The bulb is evidence of a direct blow, probably intentionally made, and is a point of some importance to archaeologists investigating Palaeolithic implements. With skill and experience a mass of flint can be worked to any simple shape by well directed strokes, and further trimming can be effected with pressure by a pointed stone in a direction slightly across the edge of the weapon. The purest flints have the most perfect conchoidal fracture, and prehistoric man is known to have quarried or mined certain bands of flint which were specially suitable for his purposes.

Silica forms nearly the whole substance of flint; calcite and dolomite may occur in it in small amounts, and analysis has also detected minute quantities of volatile ingredients, organic compounds, &c., to which the dark colour is ascribed by some authorities. These are dispelled by heat and the flint becomes white and duller in lustre. Microscopic sections show that flint is very finely crystalline and consists of quartz or chalcedonic silica; colloidal or amorphous silica may also be present but cannot form any considerable part of the rock. Spicules of sponges and fragments of other organisms, such as molluscs, polyzoa, foraminifera and brachiopods, often occur in flint, and may be partly or wholly silicified with retention of their original structure. Nodules of flint when removed from the chalk which encloses them have a white dull rough surface, and exposure to the weather produces much the same appearance on broken flints. At first they acquire a bright and very smooth surface, but this is subsequently replaced by a dull crust, resembling white or yellowish porcelain. It has been suggested that this change is due to the removal of the colloidal silica in solution, leaving behind the fibres and grains of more crystalline structure. This process must be a very slow one as, from its chemical composition, flint is a material of great durability. Its great hardness also enables it to resist attrition. Hence on beaches and in rivers, such as those of the south-east of England, flint pebbles exist in vast numbers. Their surfaces often show minute crescentic or rounded cracks which are the edges of small conchoidal fractures produced by the impact of one pebble on another during storms or floods.

Flint occurs primarily as concretions, veins and tabular masses in the white chalk of such localities as the south of England (see Chalk). It is generally nodular, and forms rounded or highly irregular masses which may be several feet in diameter. Although the flint nodules often lie in bands which closely follow the bedding, they were not deposited simultaneously with the chalk; very often the flint bands cut across the beds of the limestone and may traverse them at right angles. Evidently the flint has accumulated along fissures, such as bedding planes, joints and other cracks, after the chalk had to some extent consolidated. The silica was derived from the tests of radiolaria and the spicular skeletons of sponges. It has passed into solution, filtered through the porous matrix, and has been again precipitated when the conditions were suitable. Its formation is consequently the result of “concretionary action.” Where the flints lie the chalk must have been dissolved away; we have in fact a kind of metasomatic replacement in which a siliceous rock has slowly replaced a calcareous one. The process has been very gradual and the organisms of the original chalk often have their outlines preserved in the flint. Shells may become completely silicified, or may have their cavities occupied by flint with every detail of the interior of the shell preserved in the outer surface of the cast. Objects of this kind are familiar to all collectors of fossils in chalk districts.

Chert is a coarser and less perfectly homogeneous substance of the same nature and composition as flint. It is grey, black or brown, and commonly occurs in limestone (e.g. the Carboniferous Limestone) in the same way as flint occurs in chalk. Some cherts contain tests of radiolaria, and correspond fairly closely to the siliceous radiolarian oozes which are gathering at the present day at the bottom of some of the deepest parts of the oceans. Brownish cherts are found in the English Greensand; these often contain remains of sponges.

The principal uses to which flint has been put are the fabrication of weapons in Palaeolithic and Neolithic times. Other materials have been employed where flint was not available, e.g. obsidian, chert, chalcedony, agate and quartzite, but to prehistoric man (see Flint Implements below) flint must have been of great value and served many of the uses to which steel is put at the present day. Flint gravels are widely employed for dressing walks and roads, and for rough-cast work in architecture. For road-mending flint, though very hard, is not regarded with favour, as it is brittle and pulverizes readily; binds badly, yielding a surface which breaks up with heavy traffic and in bad weather; and its fine sharp-edged chips do much damage to tires of motors and cycles. Seasoned flints from the land, having been long exposed to the atmosphere, are preferred to flints freshly dug from the chalk pits. Formerly flint and steel were everywhere employed for striking a light; and gun flints were required for fire-arms. A special industry in the shaping of gun flints long existed at Brandon in Suffolk. In 1870 about thirty men were employed. Since then the trade has become almost extinct as gun flints are in demand only in semi-savage countries where modern fire-arms are not obtainable. Powdered flint was formerly used in the manufacture of glass, and is still one of the ingredients of many of the finer varieties of pottery.

(J. S. F.)

FLINT IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS. The excavation of these remains of the prehistoric races of the globe in river-drift gravel-beds has marked a revolution in the study of Man’s history (see Archaeology). Until almost the middle of the 19th century no suspicion had arisen in the minds of British and European archaeologists that the momentous results of the excavations then proceeding in Egypt and Assyria would be dwarfed by discoveries at home which revolutionized all previous ideas of Man’s antiquity. It was in 1841 that Boucher de Perthes observed in some sand containing mammalian remains, at Menchecourt near Abbeville, a flint, roughly worked into a cutting implement. This “find” was rapidly followed by others, and Boucher de Perthes published his first work on the subject, Antiquités celtiques et antédiluviennes: mémoire sur l’industrie primitive et les arts à leur origin (1847), in which he proclaimed his discovery of human weapons in beds unmistakably belonging to the age of the Drift. It was not until 1859 that the French archaeologist convinced the scientific world. An English mission then visited his collection and testified to the great importance of his discoveries. The “finds” at Abbeville were followed by others in many places in England, and in fact in every country where siliceous stones which are capable of being flaked and fashioned into implements are to be found. The implements occurred in beds of rivers and lakes, in the tumuli and ancient burial-mounds; on the sites of settlements of prehistoric man in nearly every land, such as the shell-heaps and lake-dwellings; but especially embedded in the high-level gravels of England and France which have been deposited by river-floods and long left high and dry above the present course of the stream. These gravels represent the Drift or Palaeolithic period when man shared Europe with the mammoth and woolly-haired rhinoceros. The worked flints of this age are, however, unevenly distributed; for while the river-gravels of south-eastern England yield them abundantly, none has been found in Scotland or the northern English counties. On the continent the same partial distribution is observable: while they occur plentifully in the north-western area of France, they are not discovered in Sweden, Norway or Denmark. The association of these flints, fashioned for use by chipping only, with the bones of animals either extinct or no longer indigenous, has justified their reference to the earlier period of the Stone Age, generally called Palaeolithic. Those flint implements, which show signs of polishing and in many cases remarkably fine workmanship, and are found in tumuli, peat-bogs and lake-dwellings mixed with the bones of common domestic animals, are assigned to the Neolithic or later Stone Age. The Palaeolithic flints are hammers, flakes, scrapers, implements worked to a cutting edge at one side, implements which resemble rude axes, flat ovoid implements worked to an edge all round, and a great quantity of spear and arrow heads. None of these is ground or polished. The Neolithic flints, on the other hand, exhibit more variety of design, are carefully finished, and the particular use of each weapon can be easily detected. Man has reached the stage of culture when he could socket a stone into a wooden handle, and fix a flaked flint as a handled dagger or knife. The workmanship is superior to that shown in any of the stone utensils made by savage tribes of historic times. The manner of making flint implements appears to have been in all ages much the same. Flint from its mode of fracture is the only kind of stone which can be chipped or flaked into almost any shape, and thus forms the principal material of these earliest weapons. The blows must be carefully aimed or the flakes dislodged will be shattered: a gun-flint maker at Brandon, Suffolk, stated that it took him two years to acquire the art.

For accounts of the gun-flint manufacture at Brandon, and detailed descriptions of ancient flint-working, see Sir John Evans, Ancient Stone Implements (1897), Lord Avebury’s Prehistoric Times (1865, 1900); also Thomas Wilson, “Arrow-heads, Spear-heads and Knives of Prehistoric Times,” in Smithsonian Report for 1897; and W.K. Moorehead, Prehistoric Implements (1900).

FLOAT (in O. Eng. flot and flota, in the verbal form fléotan; the Teutonic root is flut-, another form of flu-, seen in “flow,” cf. “fleet”; the root is seen in Gr. πλέειν, to sail, Lat. pluere, to rain; the Lat. fluere and fluctus, wave, is not connected), the action of moving on the surface of water, or through the air. The word is used also of a wave, or the flood of the tide, river, backwater or stream, and of any object floating in water, as a mass of ice or weeds; a movable landing-stage, a flat-bottomed boat, or a raft, or, in fishing, of the cork or quill used to support a baited line or fishing-net. It is also applied to the hollow or inflated organ by means of which certain animals, such as the “Portuguese man-of-war,” swim, to a hollow metal ball or piece of whinstone, &c., used to regulate the level of water in a tank or boiler, and to a piece of ivory in the cistern of a barometer. “Float” is also the name of one of the boards of a paddle-wheel or water-wheel. In a theatrical sense, it is used to denote the footlights. The word is also applied to something broad, level and shallow, as a wooden frame attached to a cart or wagon for the purpose of increasing the carrying capacity; and to a special kind of low, broad cart for carrying heavy weights, and to a platform on wheels used for shows in a procession. The term is applied also to various tools, especially to many kinds of trowels used in plastering. It is also used of a dock where vessels may float, as at Bristol, and of the trenches used in “floating” land. In geology and mining, loose rock or ore brought down by water is known as “float,” and in tin-mining it is applied to a large trough used for the smelted tin. In weaving the word is used of the passing of weft threads over part of the warp without being woven in with it, also of the threads so passed. In the United States a voter not attached to any particular party and open to bribery is called a “float” or “floater.”

FLOCK. 1. (A word found in Old English and Old Norwegian, from which come the Danish and Swedish words, and not in other Teutonic languages), originally a company of people, now mainly, except in figurative usages, of certain animals when gathered together for feeding or moving from place to place. For birds it is chiefly used of geese; and for other animals most generally of sheep and goats. It is from the particular application of the word to sheep that “flock” is used of the Christian Church in its relation to the “Good Shepherd,” and also of a congregation of worshippers in its relation to its spiritual head.

2. (Probably from the Lat. floccus, but many Teutonic languages have the same word in various forms), a tuft of wool, cotton or similar substance. The name “flock” is given to a material formed of wool or cotton refuse, or of shreds of old woollen or cotton rags, torn by a machine known as a “devil.” This material is used for stuffing mattresses or pillows, and also in upholstery. The name is also applied to a special kind of wall-paper, which has an appearance almost like cloth, or, in the more expensive kinds, of velvet. It is made by dusting on a specially prepared adhesive surface finely powdered fibres of cotton or silk. The word “flocculent” is used of many substances which have a fleecy or “flock”-like appearance, such as a precipitate of ferric hydrate.

FLODDEN, or Flodden Field, near the village of Branxton, in Northumberland, England (10 m. N.W. of Wooler), the scene of a famous battle fought on the 9th of September 1513 between the English and the Scots. On the 22nd of August a great Scottish army under King James IV. had crossed the border. For the moment the earl of Surrey (who in King Henry VIII.’s absence was charged with the defence of the realm) had no organized force in the north of England, but James wasted much precious time among the border castles, and when Surrey appeared at Wooler, with an army equal in strength to his own, which was now greatly weakened by privations and desertion, he had not advanced beyond Ford Castle. The English commander promptly sent in a challenge to a pitched battle, which the king, in spite of the advice of his most trusted counsellors, accepted. On the 6th of September, however, he left Ford and took up a strong position facing south, on Flodden Edge. Surrey’s reproaches for the alleged breach of faith, and a second challenge to fight on Millfield Plain were this time disregarded. The English commander, thus foiled, executed a daring and skilful march round the enemy’s flank, and on the 9th drew up for battle in rear of the hostile army. It is evident that Surrey was confident of victory, for he placed his own army, not less than the enemy, in a position where defeat would involve utter ruin. On his appearance the Scots hastily changed front and took post on Branxton Hill, facing north. The battle began at 4 P.M. Surrey’s archers and cannon soon gained the upper hand, and the Scots, unable quietly to endure their losses, rushed to close quarters. Their left wing drove the English back, but Lord Dacre’s reserve corps restored the fight on this side. In all other parts of the field, save where James and Surrey were personally opposed, the English gradually gained ground. The king’s corps was then attacked by Surrey in front, and by Sir Edward Stanley in flank. As the Scots were forced back, a part of Dacre’s force closed upon the other flank, and finally Dacre himself, boldly neglecting an almost intact Scottish division in front of him, charged in upon the rear of King James’s corps. Surrounded and attacked on all sides, this, the remnant of the invading army, was doomed. The circle of spearmen around the king grew less and less, and in the end James and a few of his nobles were alone left standing. Soon they too died, fighting to the last man. Among the ten thousand Scottish dead were all the leading men in the kingdom of Scotland, and there was no family of importance that had not lost a member in this great disaster. The “King’s Stone,” said to mark the spot where James was killed, is at some distance from the actual battlefield. “Sybil’s Well,” in Scott’s Marmion, is imaginary.

FLODOARD (894-966), French chronicler, was born at Epernay, and educated at Reims in the cathedral school which had been established by Archbishop Fulcon (822-900). As canon of Reims, and favourite of the archbishops Herivaeus (d. 922) and Seulfus (d. 925), he occupied while still young an important position at the archiepiscopal court, but was twice deprived of his benefices by Heribert, count of Vermandois, on account of his steady opposition to the election of the count’s infant son to the archbishopric. Upon the final triumph of Archbishop Artold in 947, Flodoard became for a time his chief adviser, but withdrew to a monastery in 952, and spent the remaining years of his life in literary and devotional work. His history of the cathedral church at Reims (Historia Remensis Ecclesiae) is one of the most remarkable productions of the 10th century. Flodoard had been given charge of the episcopal archives, and constructed his history out of the original texts, which he generally reproduces in full; the documents for the period of Hincmar being especially valuable. The Annales which Flodoard wrote year by year from 919 to 966 are doubly important, by reason of the author’s honesty and the central position of Reims in European affairs in his time. Flodoard’s poetical works are of hardly less historical interest. The long poem celebrating the triumph of Christ and His saints was called forth by the favour shown him by Pope Leo VII., during whose pontificate he visited Rome, and he devotes fourteen books to the history of the popes.

Flodoard’s works were published in full by J.P. Migne (Patrologia Latina, vol. 135); a modern edition of the Annales is the one edited by P. Lauer (Paris, 1906). For bibliography see A. Molinier, Sources de l’histoire de France (No. 932).

FLOE (of uncertain derivation; cf. Norse flo, layer, level plain), a sheet of floating ice detached from the main body of polar ice. It is of less extent than the field of “pack” ice, which is a compacted mass of greater depth drifting frequently under the influence of deep currents, while the floating floe is driven by the wind.

FLOOD, HENRY (1732-1791), Irish statesman, son of Warden Flood, chief justice of the king’s bench in Ireland, was born in 1732, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he became proficient in the classics. His father was a man of good birth and fortune, and he himself married a member of the influential Beresford family, who brought him a large fortune. In his early years he was handsome, witty, good-tempered, and a brilliant conversationalist. His judgment was sound, and he had a natural gift of eloquence which had been cultivated and developed by study of classical oratory and the practice of elocution. Flood therefore possessed every personal advantage when, in 1759, he entered the Irish parliament as member for Kilkenny in his twenty-seventh year. There was at that time no party in the Irish House of Commons that could truly be called national, and until a few years before there had been none that deserved even the name of an opposition. The Irish parliament was still constitutionally subordinate to the English privy council; it had practically no powers of independent legislation, and none of controlling the policy of the executive, which was nominated by the ministers in London (see Grattan, Henry). Though the great majority of the people were Roman Catholics, no person of that faith could either enter parliament or exercise the franchise; the penal code, which made it almost impossible for a Roman Catholic to hold property, to follow a learned profession, or even to educate his children, and which in numerous particulars pressed severely on the Roman Catholics and subjected them to degrading conditions, was as yet unrepealed, though in practice largely obsolete; the industry and commerce of Ireland were throttled by restrictions imposed, in accordance with the economic theories of the period, in the interest of the rival trade of Great Britain. Men like Anthony Malone and Hely-Hutchison fully realized the necessity for far-reaching reforms, and it only needed the ability and eloquence of Flood in the Irish House of Commons to raise up an independent party in parliament, and to create in the country a public opinion with definite intelligible aims.

The chief objects for which Flood strove were the shortening of the duration of parliament—which had then no legal limit in Ireland except that of the reigning sovereign’s life,—the reduction of the scandalously heavy pension list, the establishment of a national militia, and, above all, the complete legislative independence of the Irish parliament. For some years little was accomplished; but in 1768 the English ministry, which had special reasons at the moment for avoiding unpopularity in Ireland, allowed an octennial bill to pass, which was the first step towards making the Irish House of Commons in some measure representative of public opinion. It had become the practice to allow crown patronage in Ireland to be exercised by the owners of parliamentary boroughs in return for their undertaking to manage the House in the government interest. But during the viceroyalty of Lord Townsend the aristocracy, and more particularly these “undertakers” as they were called, were made to understand that for the future their privileges in this respect would be curtailed. When, therefore, an opportunity was taken by the government in 1768 for reasserting the constitutional subordination of the Irish parliament, these powerful classes were thrown into temporary alliance with Flood. In the following year, in accordance with the established procedure, a money bill was sent over by the privy council in London for acceptance by the Irish House of Commons. Not only was it rejected, but contrary to custom a reason for this course was assigned, namely, that the bill had not originated in the Irish House. In consequence parliament was peremptorily prorogued, and a recess of fourteen months was employed by the government in securing a majority by the most extensive corruption.1 Nevertheless when parliament met in February 1771 another money bill was thrown out on the motion of Flood; and the next year Lord Townsend, the lord lieutenant whose policy had provoked this conflict, was recalled. The struggle was the occasion of a publication, famous in its day, called Baratariana, to which Flood contributed a series of powerful letters after the manner of Junius, one of his collaborators being Henry Grattan.

The success which had thus far attended Flood’s efforts had placed him in a position such as no Irish politician had previously attained. He had, as an eminent historian of Ireland observes, “proved himself beyond all comparison the greatest popular orator that his country had yet produced, and also a consummate master of parliamentary tactics. Under parliamentary conditions that were exceedingly unfavourable, and in an atmosphere charged with corruption, venality and subserviency, he had created a party before which ministers had begun to quail, and had inoculated the Protestant constituencies with a genuine spirit of liberty and self-reliance.”2 Lord Harcourt, who succeeded Townsend as viceroy, saw that Flood must be conciliated at any price “rather than risk the opposition of so formidable a leader.” Accordingly, in 1775, Flood was offered and accepted a seat in the privy council and the office of vice-treasurer with a salary of £3500 a year. For this step he has been severely criticized. The suggestion that he acted corruptly in the matter is groundless; and although it is true that he lost influence from the moment he became a minister of the crown, Flood may reasonably have held that he had a better prospect of advancing his policy by the leverage of a ministerial position than by means of any opposition party he could hope to muster in an unreformed House of Commons.3 The result, however, was that the leadership of the national party passed from Flood to Grattan, who entered the Irish parliament in the same session that Flood became a minister.

Flood continued in office for nearly seven years. During this long period he necessarily remained silent on the subject of the independence of the Irish parliament, and had to be content with advocating minor reforms as occasion offered. He was thus instrumental in obtaining bounties on the export of Irish corn to foreign countries and some other trifling commercial concessions. On the other hand he failed to procure the passing of a Habeas Corpus bill and a bill for making the judges irremovable, while his support of Lord North’s American policy still more gravely injured his popularity and reputation. But an important event in 1778 led indirectly to his recovering to some extent his former position in the country; this event was the alliance of France with the revolted American colonies. Ireland was thereby placed in peril of a French invasion, while the English government could provide no troops to defend the island. The celebrated volunteer movement was then set on foot to meet the emergency; in a few weeks more than 40,000 men, disciplined and equipped, were under arms, officered by the country gentry, and controlled by the wisdom and patriotism of Lord Charlemont. This volunteer force, in which Flood was a colonel, while vigilant for the defence of the island, soon made itself felt in politics. A Volunteer Convention, formed with all the regular organization of a representative assembly, but wielding the power of an army, began menacingly to demand the removal of the commercial restrictions which were destroying Irish prosperity. Under this pressure the government gave way; the whole colonial trade was in 1779 thrown open to Ireland for the first time, and other concessions were also extorted. Flood, who had taken an active though not a leading part in this movement, now at last resigned his office to rejoin his old party. He found to his chagrin that his former services had been to a great extent forgotten, and that he was eclipsed by Grattan. When in a debate on the constitutional question in 1779 Flood complained of the small consideration shown him in relation to a subject which he had been the first to agitate, he was reminded that by the civil law “if a man should separate from his wife, and abandon her for seven years, another might then take her and give her his protection.” But though Flood had lost control of the movement for independence of the Irish parliament, the agitation, backed as it now was by the Volunteer Convention and by increasing signs of popular disaffection, led at last in 1782 to the concession of the demand, together with a number of other important reforms (see Grattan, Henry).

No sooner, however, was this great success gained than a question arose—known as the Simple Repeal controversy—as to whether England, in addition to the repeal of the Acts on which the subordination of the Irish parliament had been based, should not be required expressly to renounce for the future all claim to control Irish legislation. The chief historical importance of this dispute is that it led to the memorable rupture of friendship between Flood and Grattan, each of whom assailed the other with unmeasured but magnificently eloquent invective in the House of Commons. Flood’s view prevailed—for a Renunciation Act such as he advocated was ungrudgingly passed by the English parliament in 1783—and for a time he regained popularity at the expense of his rival. Flood next (28th of November 1783) introduced a reform bill, after first submitting it to the Volunteer Convention. The bill, which contained no provision for giving the franchise to Roman Catholics—a proposal which Flood always opposed—was rejected, ostensibly on the ground that the attitude of the volunteers threatened the freedom of parliament. The volunteers were perfectly loyal to the crown and the connexion with England. They carried an address to the king, moved by Flood, expressing the hope that their support of parliamentary reform might be imputed to nothing but “a sober and laudable desire to uphold the constitution ... and to perpetuate the cordial union of both kingdoms.” The convention then dissolved, though Flood had desired, in opposition to Grattan, to continue it as a means of putting pressure on parliament for the purpose of obtaining reform.

In 1776 Flood had made an attempt to enter the English House of Commons. In 1783 he tried again, this time with success. He purchased a seat for Winchester from the duke of Chandos, and for the next seven years he was a member at the same time of both the English and Irish parliaments. He reintroduced, but without success, his reform bill in the Irish House in 1784; supported the movement for protecting Irish industries; but short-sightedly opposed Pitt’s commercial propositions in 1785. He remained a firm opponent of Roman Catholic emancipation, even defending the penal laws on the ground that after the Revolution they “were not laws of persecution but of political necessity”; but after 1786 he does not appear to have attended the parliament in Dublin. In the House at Westminster, where he refused to enrol himself as a member of either political party, he was not successful. His first speech, in opposition to Fox’s India Bill on the 3rd of December 1783, disappointed the expectations aroused by his celebrity. His speech in opposition to the commercial treaty with France in 1787 was, however, most able; and in 1790 he introduced a reform bill which Fox declared to be the best scheme of reform that had yet been proposed, and which in Burke’s opinion retrieved Flood’s reputation. But at the dissolution in the same year he lost his seat in both parliaments, and he then retired to Farmley, his residence in county Kilkenny, where he died on the 2nd of December 1791.

When Peter Burrowes, notwithstanding his close personal friendship with Grattan, declared that Flood was “perhaps the ablest man Ireland ever produced, indisputably the ablest man of his own times,” he expressed what was probably the general opinion of Flood’s contemporaries. Lord Charlemont, who knew him intimately though not always in agreement with his policy, pronounced him to be “a man of consummate ability.” He also declared that avarice made no part of Flood’s character. Lord Mountmorres, a critic by no means partial to Flood, described him as a pre-eminently truthful man, and one who detested flattery. Grattan, who even after the famous quarrel never lost his respect for Flood, said of him that he was the best tempered and the most sensible man in the world. In his youth he was genial, frank, sociable and witty; but in later years disappointment made him gloomy and taciturn. As an orator he was less polished, less epigrammatic than Grattan; but a closer reasoner and a greater master of sarcasm and invective. Personal ambition often governed his actions, but his political judgment was usually sound; and it was the opinion of Bentham that Flood would have succeeded in carrying a reform bill which might have preserved Irish parliamentary independence, if he had been supported by Grattan and the rest of his party in keeping alive the Volunteer Convention in 1783. Though he never wavered in loyalty to the British crown and empire, Ireland never produced a more sincere patriot than Henry Flood.

See Warden Flood, Memoirs of Henry Flood (London, 1838); Henry Grattan, Memoirs of the Life and Times of the Right Hon. H. Grattan (5 vols., London, 1839-1846); Charles Phillips, Recollections of Curran and some of his Contemporaries (London, 1822); The Irish Parliament 1775, from an official and contemporary manuscript, edited by William Hunt (London, 1907); W.J. O’Neill Daunt, Ireland and her Agitators; Lord Mountmorres, History of the Irish Parliament (2 vols., London, 1792); W.E.H. Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century (8 vols., London, 1878-1890); and Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland (enlarged edition, 2 vols., London, 1903); J.A. Froude, The English in Ireland, vols. ii. and iii. (London, 1881); Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III. (4 vols., London, 1845, 1894); Sir Jonah Barrington, Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation (London, 1833); Francis Plowden, Historical Review of the State of Ireland (London, 1803); Alfred Webb, Compendium of Irish Biography (Dublin, 1878); F. Hardy, Memoirs of Lord Charlemont (London, 1812), especially for the volunteer movement, on which see also Proceedings of the Volunteer Delegates of Ireland 1784 (Anon. Pamphlet, Brit. Mus.); also The Charlemont Papers, and Irish Parl. Debates, (vols. i.-iv.).

(R. J. M.)

1 Walpole’s George III., iv. 348.

2 W.E.H. Lecky, Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland (enlarged edition, 2 vols., 1903), i. 48.

3 See Hardy’s Life of Charlemont, i. 356.

FLOOD (in O. Eng. flód, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Flut, Dutch vloed, from the same root as is seen in “flow,” “float”), an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge, hence “the flood,” specifically, the Noachian deluge of Genesis, but also any other catastrophic submersion recorded in the mythology of other nations than the Hebrew (see Deluge, The). In the sense of “flowing water,” the word is applied to the inflow of the tide, as opposed to “ebb.”

FLOOD PLAIN, the term in physical geography for a plain formed of sediment dropped by a river. When the slope down which a river runs has become very slight, it is unable to carry the sediment brought from higher regions nearer its source, and consequently the lower portion of the river valley becomes filled with alluvial deposits; and since in times of flood the rush of water in the high regions tears off and carries down a greater quantity of sediment than usual, the river spreads this also over the lower valley where the plain is flooded, because the rush of water is checked, and the stream in consequence drops its extra load. These flood plains are sometimes of great extent. That of the Mississippi below Ohio has a width of from 20 to 80 m., and its whole extent has been estimated at 50,000 sq. m. Flood plains may be the result of planation, with aggradation, that is, they may be due to a graded river working in meanders from side to side, widening its valley by this process and covering the widened valley with sediment. Or the stream by cutting into another stream (piracy), by cutting through a barrier near its head waters, by entering a region of looser or softer rock, and by glacial drainage, may form a flood plain simply by filling up its valley (alluviation only). Any obstruction across a river’s course, such as a band of hard rock, may form a flood plain behind it, and indeed anything which checks a river’s course and causes it to drop its load will tend to form a flood plain; but it is most commonly found near the mouth of a large river, such as the Rhine, the Nile, or the Mississippi, where there are occasional floods and the river usually carries a large amount of sediment. “Levees” are formed, inside which the river usually flows, gradually raising its bed above the surrounding plain. Occasional breaches during floods cause the overloaded stream to spread in a great lake over the surrounding country, where the silt covers the ground in consequence. Sections of the Missouri flood plain made by the United States geological survey show a great variety of material of varying coarseness, the stream bed being scoured at one place, and filled at another by currents and floods of varying swiftness, so that sometimes the deposits are of coarse gravel, sometimes of fine sand, or of fine silt, and it is probable that any section of such an alluvial plain would show deposits of a similar character. The flood plain during its formation is marked by meandering, or anastomosing streams, ox-bow lakes and bayous, marshes or stagnant pools, and is occasionally completely covered with water. When the drainage system has ceased to act or is entirely diverted owing to any cause, the flood plain may become a level area of great fertility, similar in appearance to the floor of an old lake. The flood plain differs, however, inasmuch as it is not altogether flat. It has a gentle slope down-stream, and often for a distance from the sides towards the centre.

FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine), generally the lower horizontal surface of a room, but specially employed for one covered with boarding or parquetry. The various levels of rooms in a house are designated as “ground-floor,” “first-floor,” “mezzanine-floor,” &c. The principal floor is the storey which contains the chief apartments whether on the ground- or first-floor; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the “piano nobile.” The storey below the ground-floor is called the “basement-floor,” even if only a little below the level of the pavement outside; the storey in a roof is known as the “attic-floor.” The expressions one pair, two pair, &c., apply to the storeys above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also Carpentry).

FLOORCLOTH, a rough flannel cloth used for domestic cleaning; also a generic term applied to a variety of materials used in place of carpets for covering floors, and known by such trade names as kamptulicon, oil-cloth, linoleum, corticine, cork-carpet, &c. Kamptulicon (καμπτός, flexible, οὐλος, thick) was patented in 1844 by E. Galloway, but did not attract much attention till about 1862. It was essentially a preparation of india-rubber masticated up with ground cork, and rolled out into sheets between heavy steam-heated rollers, sometimes over a backing of canvas. Owing to its expensiveness, it has given place to cheaper materials serving the same purpose. Oil-cloth is a coarse canvas which has received a number of coats of thick oil paint, each coat being rubbed smooth with pumice stone before the application of the next. Its surface is ornamented with patterns printed in oil colours by means of wooden blocks. Linoleum (linum, flax, oleum, oil), patented by F. Walton in 1860 and 1863, consists of oxidized linseed oil and ground cork. These ingredients, thoroughly incorporated with the addition of certain gummy and resinous matters, and of pigments such as ochre and oxide of iron as required, are pressed on to a rough canvas backing between steam-heated rollers. Patterns may be printed on its surface with oil paint, or by an improved method may be inlaid with coloured composition so that the colours are continuous through the thickness of the linoleum, instead of being on the surface only, and thus do not disappear with wear. Lincrusta-Walton is a similar material to linoleum, also having oxidized linseed oil as its base, which is stamped out in embossed patterns and used as a covering for walls.

FLOQUET, CHARLES THOMAS (1828-1896), French statesman, was born at St Jean-Pied-de-Port (Basses-Pyrénées) on the 2nd of October 1828. He studied law in Paris, and was called to the bar in 1851. The coup d’état of that year aroused the strenuous opposition of Floquet, who had, while yet a student, given proof of his republican sympathies by taking part in the fighting of 1848. He made his name by his brilliant and fearless attacks on the government in a series of political trials, and at the same time contributed to the Temps and other influential journals. When the tsar Alexander II. visited the Palais de Justice in 1867, Floquet was said to have confronted him with the cry “Vive la Pologne, monsieur!” He delivered a scathing indictment of the Empire at the trial of Pierre Bonaparte for killing Victor Noir in 1870, and took a part in the revolution of the 4th of September, as well as in the subsequent defence of Paris. In 1871 he was elected to the National Assembly by the department of the Seine. During the Commune he formed the Ligue d’union républicaine des droits de Paris to attempt a reconciliation with the government of Versailles. When his efforts failed, he left Paris, and was imprisoned by order of Thiers, but soon released. He became editor of the République Française, was chosen president of the municipal council, and in 1876 was elected deputy for the eleventh arrondissement. He took a prominent place among the extreme radicals, and became president of the group of the “Union républicaine.” In 1882 he held for a short time the post of prefect of the Seine. In 1885 he succeeded M. Brisson as president of the chamber. This difficult position he filled with such tact and impartiality that he was re-elected the two following years. Having approached the Russian ambassador in such a way as to remove the prejudice existing against him in Russia since the incident of 1867, he rendered himself eligible for office; and on the fall of the Tirard cabinet in 1888 he became president of the council and minister of the interior in a radical ministry, which pledged itself to the revision of the constitution, but was forced to combat the proposals of General Boulanger. Heated debates in the chamber culminated on the 13th of July in a duel between Floquet and Boulanger in which the latter was wounded. In the following February the government fell on the question of revision, and in the new chamber of November Floquet was re-elected to the presidential chair. The Panama scandals, in which he was compelled to admit his implication, dealt a fatal blow to his career: he lost the presidency of the chamber in 1892, and his seat in the house in 1893, but in 1894 was elected to the senate. He died in Paris on the 18th of January 1896.

See Discours et opinions de M. Charles Floquet, edited by Albert Faivre (1885).

FLOR, ROGER DI, a military adventurer of the 13th-14th century, was the second son of a falconer in the service of the emperor Frederick II., who fell at Tagliacozzo (1268), and when eight years old was sent to sea in a galley belonging to the Knights Templars. He entered the order and became commander of a galley. At the siege of Acre by the Saracens in 1291 he was accused and denounced to the pope as a thief and an apostate, was degraded from his rank, and fled to Genoa, where he began to play the pirate. The struggle between the kings of Aragon and the French kings of Naples for the possession of Sicily was at this time going on; and Roger entered the service of Frederick, king of Sicily, who gave him the rank of vice-admiral. At the close of the war, in 1302, as Frederick was anxious to free the island from his mercenary troops (called Almúgavares), whom he had no longer the means of paying, Roger induced them under his leadership to seek new adventures in the East, in fighting against the Turks, who were ravaging the empire. The emperor Andronicus II. accepted his offer of service; and in September 1303 Roger with his fleet and army arrived at Constantinople. He was adopted into the imperial family, was married to a grand-daughter of the emperor, and was made grand duke and commander-in-chief of the army and the fleet. After some weeks lost in dissipation, intrigues and bloody quarrels, Roger and his men were sent into Asia, and after some successful encounters with the Turks they went into winter quarters at Cyzicus. In May 1304 they again took the field, and rendered the important service of relieving Philadelphia, then invested and reduced to extremities by the Turks. But Roger, bent on advancing his own interests rather than those of the emperor, determined to found in the East a principality for himself. He sent his treasures to Magnesia, but the people slew his Catalans and seized the treasures. He then formed the siege of the town, but his attacks were repulsed, and he was compelled to retire. Being recalled to Europe, he settled his troops in Gallipoli and other towns, and visited Constantinople to demand pay for the Almúgavares. Dissatisfied with the small sum granted by the emperor, he plundered the country and carried on intrigues both with and against the emperor, receiving reinforcements all the while from all parts of southern Europe. Roger was now created Caesar, but shortly afterwards the young emperor Michael Palaeologus, not daring to attack the fierce and now augmented bands of adventurers, invited Roger to Adrianople, and there contrived his assassination and the massacre of his Catalan cavalry (April 4, 1306). His death was avenged by his men in a fierce and prolonged war against the Greeks.

See Moncada, Expedicion de los Catalanes y Aragoneses contre Turcos y Griegos (Paris, 1840).

FLORA, in Roman mythology, goddess of spring-time and flowers, later identified with the Greek Chloris. Her festival at Rome, the Floralia, instituted 238 B.C. by order of the Sibylline books and at first held irregularly, became annual after 173. It lasted six days (April 28-May 3), the first day being the anniversary of the foundation of her temple. It included theatrical performances and animal hunts in the circus, and vegetables were distributed to the people. The proceedings were characterized by excessive merriment and licentiousness. According to the legend, her worship was instituted by Titus Tatius, and her priest, the flamen Floralis, by Numa. In art Flora was represented as a beautiful maiden, bedecked with flowers (Ovid, Fasti, v. 183 ff.; Tacitus, Annals, ii. 49).

The term “flora” is used in botany collectively for the plant-growth of a district; similarly “fauna” is used collectively for the animals.

FLORE AND BLANCHEFLEUR, a 13th-century romance. This tale, generally supposed to be of oriental origin, relates the passionate devotion of two children, and their success in overcoming all the obstacles put in the way of their love. The romance appears in differing versions in French, English, German, Swedish, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, Greek and Hungarian. The various forms of the tale receive a detailed notice in E. Hausknecht’s version of the 13th-century Middle English poem of “Floris and Blauncheflur” (Samml. eng. Denkmäler, vol. v. Berlin, 1885). Nothing definite can be stated of the origin of the story, but France was in the 12th and 13th centuries the chief market of romance, and the French version of the tale, Floire et Blanchefleur, is the most widespread. Floire, the son of a Saracen king of Spain, is brought up in constant companionship with Blanchefleur, the daughter of a Christian slave of noble birth. Floire’s parents, hoping to destroy this attachment, send the boy away at fifteen and sell Blanchefleur to foreign slave-merchants. When Floire returns a few days later he is told that his companion is dead, but when he threatens to kill himself, his parents tell him the truth. He traces her to the tower of the maidens destined for the harem of the emir of Babylon, into which he penetrates concealed in a basket of flowers. The lovers are discovered, but their constancy touches the hearts of their judges. They are married, and Floire returns to his kingdom, when he and all his people adopt Christianity. Of the two 12th-century French poems (ed. Édélestand du Méril, Paris, 1856), the one contains the love story with few additions, the other is a romance of chivalry, containing the usual battles, single combats, &c. Two lyrics based on episodes of the story are printed by Paulin Paris in his Romancero français (Paris, 1883). The English poem renders the French version without amplifications, such as are found in other adaptations. Its author has less sentiment than his original, and less taste for detailed description. Among the other forms of the story must be noted the prose romance (c. 1340) of Boccaccio, Il Filocolo, and the 14th-century Leggenda della reina Rosana e di Rosana sua figliuola (pr. Leghorn, 1871). The similarity between the story of Floire and Blanchefleur and Chante-fable of Aucassin et Nicolete1 has been repeatedly pointed out, and they have even been credited with a common source.

See also editions by I. Bekker (Berlin, 1844) and E. Hausknecht (Berlin, 1885); also H. Sundmacher, Die altfr. und mittelhochdeutsche Bearbeitung der Sage von Flore et Blanscheflur (Göttingen, 1872); H. Herzog, Die beiden Sagenkreise von Flore und Blanscheflur (Vienna, 1884); Zeitschrift für deut. Altertum (vol. xxi.) contains a Rhenish version; the Scandinavian Flores Saga ok Blankiflùr, ed. E. Kölbing (Halle, 1896); the 13th-century version of Konrad Fleck, Flore und Blanscheflur, ed. E. Sommer (Leipzig, 1846); the Swedish by G.E. Klemming (Stockholm, 1844). The English poem was also edited by Hartschorne (English Metrical Tales, 1829), by Laing (Abbotsford Club, 1829), and by Lumly (Early Eng. Text Soc., 1866, re-edited G.H. McKnight, 1901). J. Reinhold (Floire et Blanchefleur, Paris, 1906) suggests a parallelism with the story of Cupid and Psyche as told by Apuleius; also that the oriental setting does not necessarily imply a connexion with Arab tales, as the circumstances might with small alteration have been taken from the Vulgate version of the book of Esther.

1 Ed. H. Suchier (Paderborn, 1878, 5th ed. 1903); modern French by G. Michaut, with preface by J. Bédier (Tours, 1901); English by Andrew Lang (1887), by F.W. Bourdillon (Oxford, 1896), and by Laurence Housman (1902).

FLORENCE, WILLIAM JERMYN (1831-1891), American actor, of Irish descent, whose real name was Bernard Conlin, was born on the 26th of July 1831 at Albany, N.Y., and first attracted attention as an actor at Brougham’s Lyceum in 1851. Two years later he married Mrs Malvina Pray Littell (d. 1906), in association with whom, until her retirement in 1889, he won all his successes, notably in Benjamin Woolf’s The Mighty Dollar, said to have been presented more than 2500 times. In 1856 they had a successful London season, Mrs Florence being one of the first American actresses to appear on the English stage. In 1889 Florence entered into partnership with Joseph Jefferson, playing Sir Lucius O’Trigger to his Bob Acres and Mrs John Drew’s Mrs Malaprop on a very successful tour. His last appearance was with Jefferson on the 14th of November 1891, as Ezekiel Homespun in The Heir-at-law, and he died on the 18th of November in Philadelphia.

FLORENCE OF WORCESTER (d. 1118), English chronicler, was a monk of Worcester, who died, as we learn from his continuator, on the 7th of July 1118. Beyond this fact nothing is known of his life. He compiled a chronicle called Chronicon ex chronicis which begins with the creation and ends in 1117. The basis of his work was a chronicle compiled by Marianus Scotus, an Irish recluse, who lived first at Fulda, afterwards at Mainz. Marianus, who began his work after 1069, carried it up to 1082. Florence supplements Marianus from a lost version of the English Chronicle, and from Asser. He is always worth comparing with the extant English Chronicles; and from 1106 he is an independent annalist, dry but accurate. Either Florence or a later editor of his work made considerable borrowings from the first four books of Eadmer’s Historia novorum. Florence’s work is continued, up to 1141, by a certain John of Worcester, who wrote about 1150. John is valuable for the latter years of Henry I. and the early years of Stephen. He is friendly to Stephen, but not an indiscriminate partisan.

The first edition of these two writers is that of 1592 (by William Howard). The most accessible is that of B. Thorpe (Eng. Hist. Soc., 2 vols., 1848-1849); but Thorpe’s text of John’s continuation needs revision. Thorpe gives, without explanations, the insertions of an ill-informed Gloucester monk who has obscured the accurate chronology of the original. Thorpe also prints a continuation by John Taxter (died c. 1295), a 13th-century writer and a monk of Bury St Edmunds. Florence and John of Worcester are translated by J. Stevenson in his Church Historians of England, vol. ii. pt. i. (London, 1853); T. Forester’s translation in Bohn’s Antiquarian Library (London, 1854) gives the work of Taxter also.

(H. W. C. D.)

FLORENCE, the county-seat of Lauderdale county, Alabama, U.S.A., on the N. bank of the Tennessee river, at the foot of Muscle Shoals Canal, and about 560 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1880) 1359; (1890) 6012; (1900) 6478 (1952 negroes); (1910) 6689. It is served by the Southern, the Northern Alabama (controlled by the Southern), and the Louisville & Nashville railways, and by electric railway to Sheffield and Tuscumbia, and the Tennessee river is here navigable. Florence is situated in the fertile agricultural lands of the Tennessee river valley on the edge of the coal and iron districts of Alabama, and has various manufactures, including pig-iron, cotton goods, wagons, stoves, fertilizers, staves and mercantile supplies. At Florence are the state Normal College, the Florence University for Women, and the Burrell Normal School (for negroes; founded in 1903 by the American Missionary Association). Florence was founded in 1818, Andrew Jackson, afterwards president of the United States, and ex-president James Madison being among the early property holders. For several years Florence and Nashville, Tennessee, were commercial rivals, being situated respectively at the head of navigation on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. The first invasion of Alabama by Federal troops in the Civil War was by a gunboat raid up the Tennessee to Florence on the 8th of February 1862. On the 11th of April 1863 another Federal gunboat raid was attempted, but the vessels were repulsed by a force under Gen. S.A. Wood. On the 26th of May following, Federal troops entered Florence, and destroyed cotton mills and public and private property; but they were driven back by Gen. Philip D. Roddy (1820-1897). On the 11th of December 1863 the town was again raided, but the Federals did not secure permanent possession. Florence was chartered as a city in 1889.

FLORENCE (Ital. Firenze, Lat. Florentia), formerly the capital of Tuscany, now the capital of a province of the kingdom of Italy, and the sixth largest city in the country. It is situated 43° 46′ N., 11° 14′ E., on both banks of the river Arno, which at this point flows through a broad fertile valley enclosed between spurs of the Apennines. The city is 165 ft. above sea-level, and occupies an area of 3 sq. m. (area of the commune, 16½ sq. m.). The geological formation of the soil belongs to the Quaternary and Pliocene period in its upper strata, and to the Eocene and Cretaceous in the lower. Pietra forte of the Cretaceous period is quarried north and south of the city, and has been used for centuries as paving stone and for the buildings. Pietra serena or macigno, a stone of a firm texture also used for building purposes, is quarried at Monte Ceceri below Fiesole. The soil is very fertile; wheat, Indian corn, olives, vines, fruit trees of many kinds cover both the plain and the surrounding hills; the chief non-fruit-bearing trees are the stone pine, the cypress, the ilex and the poplar, while many other varieties are represented. The gardens and fields produce an abundance of flowers, which justify the city’s title of la città dei fiori.

Climate and Sanitary Conditions.—The climate of Florence is very variable, ranging from severe cold accompanied by high winds from the north in winter to great heat in the summer, while in spring-time sudden and rapid changes of temperature are frequent. At the same time the climate is usually very agreeable from the end of February to the beginning of July, and from the end of September to the middle of November. The average temperature throughout the year is about 57° Fahr.; the maximum heat is about 96.8°, and the minimum 36.5°, sometimes sinking to 21°. The longest day is 15 hours and 33 minutes, the shortest 8 hours and 50 minutes. The average rainfall is about 37½ inches. Epidemic diseases are rare and children’s diseases mild; cholera has visited Florence several times, but the city has been free from it for many years. Diphtheria first appeared in 1868 and continued as a severe epidemic until 1872, since when it has only occurred at rare intervals and in isolated cases. Typhoid, pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles and scarlatina, and influenza are the commonest illnesses. The drainage system is still somewhat imperfect, but the water brought from the hills or from the Arno in pipes is fairly good, and the general sanitary conditions are satisfactory.

Public Buildings.—Of the very numerous Florentine churches the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) is the largest and most important, founded in 1298 on the plans of Arnolfo di Cambio, completed by Brunelleschi, and consecrated Churches. in 1436; the façade, however, was not finished until the 19th century—it was begun in 1875 on the designs of de Fabris and unveiled in 1888. Close by the Duomo is the no less famous Campanile built by Giotto, begun in 1332, and adorned with exquisite bas-reliefs. Opposite is the Baptistery built by Arnolfo di Cambio in the 13th century on the site of an earlier church, and adorned with beautiful bronze doors by Ghiberti in the 15th century. The Badia, Santo Spirito, Santa Maria Novella, are a few among the many famous and beautiful churches of Florence. The existence of these works of art attracts students from all countries, and a German art school subsidized by the imperial government has been instituted.

The streets and piazze of the city are celebrated for their splendid palaces, formerly, and in many cases even to-day the residences of the noble families of Florence. Among others we may mention the Palazzo Vecchio, formerly the seat of the government of the Republic and now the town hall, the Palazzo Riccardi, the residence of the Medici and now the prefecture, the palaces of the Strozzi, Antinori (one of the most perfect specimens of Florentine quattrocento architecture), Corsini, Davanzati, Pitti (the royal palace), &c. The palace of the Arte della Lana or gild of wool merchants, tastefully and intelligently restored, is the headquarters of the Dante Society. The centre of Florence, which was becoming a danger from a hygienic point of view, was pulled down in 1880-1890, but, unfortunately, sufficient care was not taken to avoid destroying certain buildings of historic and artistic value which might have been spared without impairing the work of sanitation, while the new structures erected in their place, especially those in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, are almost uniformly ugly and quite out of keeping with Florentine architecture. The question aroused many polemics at the time both in Italy and abroad. After the new centre was built, a society called the Società per la difesa di Firenze antica was formed by many prominent citizens to safeguard the ancient buildings and prevent them from destruction, and a spirit of intelligent conservatism seems now to prevail in this connexion. The city is growing in all directions, and a number of new quarters have sprung up where the houses are more sanitary than in the older parts, but unfortunately few of them evince much aesthetic feeling. The viali or boulevards form pleasant residential streets with gardens, and the system of building separate houses for each family (villini) instead of large blocks of flats is becoming more and more general.

Florence possesses four important libraries besides a number of smaller collections. The Biblioteca Nazionale, originally founded by Antonio Magliabecchi in 1747, enjoys the right, shared by the Vittorio Emanuele library of Libraries. Rome, of receiving a copy of every work printed in Italy, since 1870 (since 1848 it had enjoyed a similar privilege with regard to works printed in Tuscany). It contains some 500,000 printed volumes, 700,000 pamphlets, over 9000 prints and drawings (including 284 by Albert Dürer), nearly 20,000 MSS., and 40,000 letters. The number of readers in 1904 was over 50,000. Unfortunately, however, the confusion engendered by a defective organization has long been a byword among the people; there is no printed catalogue, quantities of books are buried in packing-cases and unavailable, the collection of foreign books is very poor, hardly any new works being purchased, and the building itself is quite inadequate and far from safe; but the site of a new one has now been purchased and the plans are agreed upon, so that eventually the whole collection will be transferred to more suitable quarters. The Biblioteca Marucelliana, founded in 1752, contains 150,000 books, including 620 incunabula, 17,000 engravings and 1500 MSS.; it is well managed and chiefly remarkable for its collection of illustrated works and art publications. The Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, founded in 1571, has its origin in the library of Cosimo de’ Medici the Elder, and was enlarged by Piero, Giovanni and above all by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Various princes and private persons presented it with valuable gifts and legacies, among the most important of which was the collection of editiones principes given by Count d’Elci, in 1841, and the Ashburnham collection of MSS. purchased by the Italian Government in 1885. It contains nearly 10,000 MSS., including many magnificent illuminated missals and Bibles and a number of valuable Greek and Latin texts, 242 incunabula and 11,000 printed books, chiefly dealing with palaeography; it is in some ways the most important of the Florentine libraries. The Biblioteca Riccardiana, founded in the 16th century by Romolo Riccardi, contains nearly 4000 MSS., over 32,000 books and 650 incunabula, chiefly relating to Florentine history. The state archives are among the most complete in Italy, and contain over 450,000 filze and registri and 126,000 charters, covering the period from 726 to 1856.

Few cities are as rich as Florence in collections of works of artistic and historic interest, although the great majority of them belong to a comparatively limited period—from the 13th to the 16th century. The chief art galleries Galleries of Fine Arts and Museums. are the Uffizi, the Pitti and Accademia. The two former are among the finest in the world, and are filled with masterpieces by Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, the Lippi, and many other Florentine, Umbrian, Venetian, Dutch and Flemish artists, as well as numerous admirable examples of antique, medieval and Renaissance sculpture. The Pitti collection is in the royal palace (formerly the residence of the grand dukes), and a fine new stairway and vestibule have been constructed by royal munificence. In the Uffizi the pictures are arranged in strict chronological order. In the Accademia, which is rich in early Tuscan masters, the Botticelli and Perugino rooms deserve special mention. Other pictures are scattered about in the churches, monasteries and private palaces. Of the monasteries, that of St Mark should be mentioned, as containing many works of Fra Angelico, besides relics of Savonarola, while of the private collections the only one of importance is that of Prince Corsini. There is a splendid museum of medieval and Renaissance antiquities in the Bargello, the ancient palace of the Podestà, itself one of the finest buildings in the city; among its many treasures are works of Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrochio and other sculptors, and large collections of ivory, enamel and bronze ware. The Opera del Duomo contains models and pieces of sculpture connected with the cathedral; the Etruscan and Egyptian museum, the gallery of tapestries, the Michelangelo museum, the museum of natural history and other collections are all important in different ways.

The total population of Florence in 1905, comprising foreigners and a garrison of 5500 men, was 220,879. In 1861 it was 114,363; it increased largely when the capital of Italy was in Florence (1865-1872), but decreased or increased very Population. slightly after the removal of the capital to Rome, and increased at a greater rate from 1881 onwards. At present the rate of increase is about 22 per 1000, but it is due to immigration, as the birth rate was actually below the death rate down to 1903, since when there has been a slight increase of the former and a decrease of the latter.

Florence is the capital of a province of the same name, and the central government is represented by a prefect (prefetto), while Administration. local government is carried on by a mayor (sindaco) and an elective town council (consiglio comunale). The city is the seat of a court of cassation (for civil cases only), of a court of appeal, besides minor tribunals. It is the headquarters of an army corps, and an archiepiscopal see.

There are 22 public elementary schools for boys and 18 for girls (education being compulsory and gratuitous), with about 20,000 pupils, and 56 private schools with 5700 pupils. Secondary education is provided by one higher and four lower Education. technical schools with 1375 pupils, three ginnasii or lower classical schools, and three licei or higher classical schools, with 1000 pupils, and three training colleges with over 700 pupils. Higher education is imparted at the university (Istituto di studii superiori e di perfezionamento), with 600 to 650 students; although only comprising the faculties of literature, medicine and natural science, it is, as regards the first-named faculty, one of the most important institutions in Italy. The original Studio Fiorentino was founded in the 14th century, and acquired considerable fame as a centre of learning under the Medici, enhanced by the presence in Florence of many learned Greeks who had fled from Constantinople after its capture by the Turks (1453). Although in 1472 some of the faculties and several of the professors were transferred to Pisa, it still retained importance, and in the 17th and 18th centuries it originated a number of learned academies. In 1859 after the annexation of Tuscany to the Italian kingdom it was revived and reorganized; since then it has become to some extent a national centre of learning and culture, attracting students from other parts of Italy, partly on account of the fact that it is in Florence that the purest Italian is spoken. The revival of classical studies on scientific principles in modern Italy may be said to have begun in Florence, and great activity has also been displayed in reviving the study of Dante; Dante lectures being given regularly by scholars and men of letters from all parts of the country, above the church of Or San Michele as in the middle ages, under the auspices of the Società Dantesca. Palaeography, history and Romance languages are among the other subjects to which especial importance is given. Besides the Istituto di studii superiori there is the Istituto di scienze sociali “Cesare Alfieri,” founded by the marchese Alfieri di Sostegno for the education of aspirants to the diplomatic and consular services, and for students of economics and social sciences (about 50 students); an academy of fine arts, a conservatoire of music, a higher female training-college with 150 students, a number of professional and trade schools, and an academy of recitation. There are also many academies and learned societies of different kinds, of which one of the most important is the Accademia della Crusca for the study of the Italian language, which undertook the publication of a monumental dictionary.

Several of the Florence hospitals are of great antiquity, the most important being that of Santa Maria Nuova, which, founded by Folco Portinari, the father of Dante’s Beatrice, has been thoroughly renovated according to modern scientific Charities, etc. principles. There are numerous other hospitals both general and special, a foundling hospital dating from the 13th century (Santa Maria degli Innocenti), an institute for the blind, one for the deaf and dumb, &c. Most of the hospitals and other charitable institutions are endowed, but the endowments are supplemented by private contributions.

Florence is the centre of a large and fertile agricultural district, and does considerable business in wine, oil and grain, and supplies the neighbouring peasantry with goods of all kinds. There are no important industries, except a few flour-mills, some Commerce and Industry. glass works, iron foundries, a motor car factory, straw hat factories, and power-houses supplying electricity for lighting and for the numerous tramcars. There are, however, some artistic industries in and around the city, of which the most important is the Ginori-Richard porcelain works, and the Cantagalli majolica works. There are many other smaller establishments, and the Florentine artificer seems to possess an exceptional skill in all kinds of work in which art is combined with technical ability. Another very important source of revenue is the so-called “tourist industry,” which in late years has assumed immense proportions; the city contains a large number of hotels and boarding-houses which every year are filled to overflowing with strangers from all parts of the world.

(L. V.*)

History

Florentia was founded considerably later than Faesulae (Fiesole), which lies on the hill above it; indeed, as its name indicates, it was built only in Roman times and probably in connexion with the construction by C. Flaminius in 187 B.C. of a road from Bononia to Arretium (which later on formed part of the Via Cassia) at the point where this road crossed the river Arnus. We hear very little of it in ancient times; it appears to have suffered at the end of the war between Marius and Sulla, and in A.D. 15 (by which period it seems to have been already a colony) it successfully opposed the project of diverting part of the waters of the Clanis into the Arno (see Chiana). Tacitus mentions it, and Florus describes it as one of the municipia splendidissima. A bishop of Florence is mentioned in A.D. 313. A group of Italic cremation tombs a pozzo of the Villanova period were found under the pavement of the medieval Vicolo del Campidoglio. This took its name from the Capitolium of Roman times, the remains of which were found under the Piazza Luna; the three cellae were clearly traceable. The capitals of the columns were Corinthian, about 4 ft. in diameter, and it became clear that this temple had supplied building materials for S. Giovanni and S. Miniato. Fragments of a fine octagonal altar, probably belonging to the temple, were found. Remains of baths have been found close by, while the ancient amphitheatre has been found near S. Croce outside the Roman town, which formed a rectangle of about 400 by 600 yds., with four gates, the Decumanus being represented by the Via Strozzi and Via del Corso, and the Cardo by the Via Calcinara, while the Mercato Vecchio occupied the site of the Forum.

See L.A. Milani, “Reliquie di Firenze antica,” in Monumenti dei Lincei, vi. (1896), 5 seq.

(T. As.)

The first event of importance recorded is the siege of the city by the Goths, A.D. 405, and its deliverance by the Roman general Stilicho. Totila besieged Florence in 542, but was repulsed by the imperial garrison under Justin, and later it was occupied by the Goths. We find the Longobards in Tuscany in 570, and mention is made of one Gudibrandus Dux civitatis Florentinorum, which suggests that Florence was the capital of a duchy (one of the regular divisions of the Longobard empire). Charlemagne was in Florence in 786 and conferred many favours on the city, which continued to grow in importance owing to its situation on the road from northern Italy to Rome. At the time of the agitation against simony and the corruption of the clergy, the head of the movement in Florence was San Giovanni Gualberto, of the monastery of San Salvi. The simoniacal election of Pietro Mezzabarba as bishop of Florence (1068) caused serious disturbances and a long controversy with Rome, which ended in the triumph, after a trial by fire, of the monk Petrus Igneus, champion of the popular reform movement; this event indicates the beginnings of a popular conscience among the Florentines. Under the Carolingian emperors Tuscany was a March or margraviate, and the marquises became so powerful as to be even a danger to the Empire. Under the emperor Otto I. one Ugo (d, 1001) was marquis, and the emperor Conrad II. (elected in 1024) appointed Boniface of Canossa marquis of Tuscany, a territory then extending from the Po to the borders of the Roman state. Boniface died in 1052, and in the following year The countess Matilda. Guelphs and Ghibellines. the margraviate passed to his daughter, the famous countess Matilda, who ruled for forty years and played a prominent part in the history of Italy in that period. In the Wars of the Investitures Matilda was ever on the papal (afterwards called Guelph) side against the emperor and the faction afterwards known as Ghibelline, and she herself often led armies to battle. It is at this time that the people of Florence first began to acquire influence, and while the countess presided at the courts of justice in the name of the Empire, she was assisted by a group of great feudal nobles, judges, lawyers, &c., who formed, as elsewhere in Tuscany, the boni homines or sapientes. As the countess was frequently absent these boni homines gave judgment without her, thus paving the way for a free commune. The citizens found themselves in opposition to the nobility of the hills around the city, Teutonic feudatories of Ghibelline sympathies, who interfered with their commerce. Florence frequently waged war with these nobles and with other cities on its own account, although in the name of the countess, and the citizens began to form themselves into groups and associations which were the germs of the arti or gilds. After the death of Beginnings of the commune. Countess Matilda in 1115 the grandi or boni homines continued to rule and administer justice, but in the name of the people—a change hardly noticed at first, but which marks the foundation of the commune. After 1138 the boni homines began to be called consules, while the population was divided into the grandi or delle torri, i.e. the noble families who had towers, and the arti or trade and merchant gilds. At first the consules, of whom there seem to have been twelve, two for each sestiere or ward, were chosen by the men of the towers, and assisted by a council of 100 boni homines, in which the arti were predominant; the government thus came to be in the hands of a few powerful families. The republic now proceeded to extend its power. In 1125 Fiesole was sacked and destroyed, but the feudal nobles of the contado (surrounding country), protected by the imperial margraves, were still powerful. The early margraves had permitted the Florentines to wage war against the Alberti family, whose castles they destroyed. The emperor Lothair when in Italy forced Florence to submit to his authority, but at his death in 1137 things returned to their former state and the Florentines fought successfully against the powerful counts Guidi. Frederick Barbarossa, however, elected emperor in 1152, made his authority felt in Tuscany, and appointed one Welf of Bavaria as margrave. Florence and other cities were forced to supply troops to the emperor for his Lombard campaigns, and he began to establish a centralized imperial bureaucracy in Tuscany, appointing a potestas, who resided at San Miniato (whence the name of “San Miniato al Tedesco”), to represent him and exercise authority in the contado; this double authority of the consoli in the town and the potestas or podestà outside generated confusion. By 1176 the Florentines were masters of all the territory comprised in the dioceses of War with the nobles. Florence and Fiesole; but civil commotion within the city broke out between the consoli and the greater nobles, headed by the Alberti and strengthened by the many feudal families who had been forced to leave their castles and dwell in the city (1177-1180). In the end the Alberti, though not victorious, succeeded in getting occasionally admitted to the consulship. Florence now formed a league with the chief cities of Tuscany, made peace with the Guidi, and humbled the Alberti whose castle of Semifonte was destroyed (1202). Later The potestas. we find a potestas within the city, elected for a year and assisted by seven councillors and seven rectores super capitibus artium. This represented the triumph of the feudal party, which had gained the support of the arti minori or minor gilds. The potestates subsequently were foreigners, and in 1207 the dignity was conferred on Gualfredotto of Milan; a new council was formed, the consiglio del comune, while the older senate still survived. The Florentines now undertook to open the highways of commerce towards Rome, for their city was already an important industrial and banking centre.

Discord among the great families broke out again, and the attempt to put an end to it by a marriage between Buondelmonte de’ Buondelmonti and a daughter of the Amidei, only led to further strife (1215), although the causes of these broils were deeper and wider, being derived from the general division between Guelphs and Ghibellines all over Italy. But the work of crushing the nobles of the contado and of asserting the city’s position among rival communes continued. In 1222 Florence waged war successfully on Pisa, Lucca and Pistoia, and during the next few years against the Sienese with varying results; although the emperor supported the latter as Ghibellines, on his departure for Germany in 1235 they were forced to accept peace on onerous terms. During the interregnum (1241-1243) following on the death of Pope Gregory IX. the Ghibelline cause revived in Tuscany and imperial authority was re-established. The tumults against the Paterine heretics (1244-1245), among whom were many Ghibelline nobles favoured by the podestà Pace di Pesamigola, indicate a successful Guelphic reaction; but Frederick II., having defeated his enemies both in Lombardy and in the Two Sicilies, appointed his natural son, Frederick of Antioch, imperial vicar in Tuscany, who, when civil war broke out, entered the city with 1600 German knights. The Ghibellines now triumphed completely, and in 1249 the Guelph leaders were driven into exile—the first of many instances in Florentine history of exile en masse of a defeated party. The attempt to seize Montevarchi and other castles where the Guelph exiles were congregated failed, and in 1250 the burghers elected thirty-six caporali di popolo, who formed the basis of the primo popolo or body of citizens independent of the nobles, headed by the capitano del popolo. The Ghibellines being unable to maintain their Comune and popolo. supremacy, the city came to be divided into two almost autonomous republics, the comune headed by the podestà, and the popolo headed by the capitano and militarily organized into twenty companies; the central power was represented by twelve anziani or elders. The podestà, who was always a foreigner, usually commanded the army, represented the city before foreign powers, and signed treaties. He was assisted by the consiglio speciale of 90 and the consiglio generale e speciale of 300, composed of nobles, while the capitano del popolo had also two councils composed of burghers, heads of the gilds, gonfalonieri of the companies, &c. The anziani had a council of 36 burghers, and then there was the parlamento or general assembly of the people, which met only on great occasions. At this time the podestà’s palace (the Bargello) was built, and the gold florin was first coined and soon came to be accepted as the standard gold piece throughout Europe. But, although greatly strengthened, the Guelphs, who now may be called the democrats as opposed to the Ghibelline aristocrats, were by no means wholly victorious, and in 1251 they had to defend themselves against a league of Ghibelline cities (Siena, Pisa and Pistoia) assisted by Florentine Ghibellines; the Florentine Uberti, who had been driven into exile after their plot of 1258, took refuge in Siena and encouraged that city in its hostility to Florence. Fresh disputes about the possession of Montepulciano and other places having arisen, the Florentines declared war once more. A Florentine army assisted by Guelphs of other towns was cunningly induced to believe that Siena would surrender at the first summons; but it was met by a Sienese army reinforced by Florentine exiles, including Farinata degli Uberti and other Ghibellines, and by the cavalry of Manfred Battle of Montaperti (1260). (q.v.) of Sicily, led by Count Giordano and the count of Arras, with the result that the Florentines were totally routed at Montaperti on the 4th of September 1260. Count Giordano entered Florence, appointed Count Guido Novello podestà, and began a series of persecutions against the Guelphs. The Ghibellines even proposed to raze the walls of the city, but Farinata degli Uberti strongly opposed the idea, saying that “he had fought to regain and not to ruin his fatherland.”

During this new Ghibelline predominance (1260-1266) the old liberties were abolished, and the popolo was deprived of all share in the administration. But when Charles I. (q.v.) of Anjou descended into Italy as champion of New constitution. the papacy, and Manfred was defeated and killed (1266), the popolo, who had acquired wealth in trade and industry, was ready to rise. After some disturbances Guido Novello and the Ghibellines were expelled, but it was not the popolo who triumphed; the pope and Charles were the real masters of the situation, and the Florentines found they had exchanged a foreign and Ghibelline protector for one who was foreign and Guelph. Nevertheless much of the old order was restored; the podestà who represented King Charles was assisted by 12 buoni uomini, and by the council of the 100 buoni uomini del popolo, “without the deliberation of whom,” says Villani, “no great matter nor expenditure could be undertaken.” Other bodies and magistrates were maintained, and the capitano del popolo, now called capitano della massa di parte Guelfa, tended to become a very important person. The property of the Ghibellines was confiscated, and a commission of six capitani di parte Guelfa appointed to administer it and in general to expend it for the persecution of the Ghibellines. The whole constitution of the republic, although of very democratic tendencies, seemed designed to promote civil strife and weaken the central power.

While the constitution was evolving in a manner which seemed to argue small political ability and no stability in the Florentines, the people had built up a wonderful commercial organization. Each of the seven arti maggiori or Florentine trade and the gilds. greater gilds was organized like a small state with its councils, statutes, assemblies, magistrates, &c., and in times of trouble constituted a citizen militia. Florentine cloth especially was known and sold all over Europe, and the Florentines were regarded as the first merchants of the age. If the life of the city went on uninterruptedly even during the many changes of government and the almost endemic civil war, it was owing to the solidity of the gilds, who could carry on the administration without a government.

After Charles’s victory over Conradin in 1268 the Florentines defeated the Sienese (1269) and made frequent raids into Pisan territory. As Charles perpetually interfered in their affairs, always favouring the grandi or Guelph nobles, Cardinal Latino. some of the Ghibellines were recalled as a counterpoise, which, however, only led to further civil strife. Rudolph of Habsburg, elected king of the Romans in 1273, having come to terms with Pope Nicholas III., Charles was obliged in 1278 to give up his title of imperial vicar in Tuscany, which he had held during the interregnum following on the death of Frederick II. In 1279 Pope Nicholas sent his nephew, the friar preacher Latino Frangipani Malabranca, whom he had created cardinal bishop of Ostia the same year, to reconcile the parties in Florence once more. Cardinal Latino to some extent succeeded, and was granted a kind of temporary dictatorship. He raised the 12 buoni uomini to 14 (8 Guelphs and 6 Ghibellines), to be changed every two months; and they were assisted by a council of 100. A force of 1000 men was placed at the disposal of the podestà and capitano (now both elected by the people) to keep order and oblige the grandi to respect the law. The Sicilian Vespers (q.v.) by weakening Charles strengthened the commune, which aimed at complete independence of emperors, kings and popes. After 1282 the signoria was composed of the 3 (afterwards 6) priori of the gilds, who ended by ousting the buoni uomini, while a defensor artificum et artium takes the place of the capitano; thus the republic became an essentially trading community, governed by the popolani grassi or rich merchants.

The republic now turned to the task of breaking the power of the Ghibelline cities of Pisa and Arezzo. In 1289 the Aretini were completely defeated by the Florentines at Campaldino, a battle made famous by the fact that Dante took part in it. War against the Pisans, who had been defeated by the Genoese Battle of Campaldino (1289). in the naval battle of La Meloria in 1284, was carried on in a desultory fashion, and in 1293 peace was made. But the grandi, who had largely contributed to the victory of Campaldino, especially men like Corso Donati and Vieri de’ Cerchi, were becoming more powerful, and Charles had increased their number by creating a great many knights; but their attempts to interfere with the administration of justice were severely repressed, and new laws were passed to reduce their influence. Among other internal reforms the abolition of the last traces of servitude in 1289, and the increase in the number of arti, first to 12 and then to 21 (7 maggiori and 14 minori) must be mentioned. This, however, was not enough for the Florentine democracy, who viewed with alarm the increasing power and arrogance of the grandi, who in spite of their exclusion from many offices were still influential and constituted independent clans within the state. The law obliged each member of the clan (consorteria) to sodare for all the other members, i.e. to give a pecuniary guarantee to ensure payment of fines for offences committed by any one of their number, a provision made necessary by the fact that the whole clan acted collectively. But as the laws were not always enforced new and severe ones Ordinamenti della Giustizia (1293). were enacted. These were the famous Ordinamenti della Giustizia of 1293, by which all who were not of the arti were definitely excluded from the signory. The priori were to remain in office two months and elected the gonfaloniere, also for two months; there were the capitudini or councils of the gilds, and two savi for each sestiere, with 1000 soldiers at their disposal; the number of the grandi families was fixed at 38 (later 72). Judgment in matters concerning the Ordinamenti was delivered in a summary fashion without appeal. The leading spirit of this reform was Giano della Bella, a noble who by engaging in trade had become a popolano; the grandi now tried to make him unpopular with the popolani grassi, hoping that without him the Ordinamenti would not be executed, and opened negotiations with Pope Boniface VIII. (elected 1294), who aimed at extending his authority in Tuscany. A signory adverse to Giano having been elected, he was driven into exile in 1295. The grandi regained some of their power by corrupting the podestà and by the favour of the popolo minuto or unorganized populace; but their quarrels among themselves prevented them from completely succeeding, while the arti were solid.

In 1295 a signory favourable to the grandi enacted a law attenuating the Ordinamenti, but now the grandi split into two factions, one headed by the Donati, which hoped to abolish the Ordinamenti, and the other by the Cerchi, The Bianchi and the Neri. which had given up all hope of their abolition; afterwards these parties came to be called Neri (Blacks) and Bianchi (Whites). A plot of the Donati to establish their influence over Florence with the help of Boniface VIII. having been discovered (May 1300), serious riots broke out between the Neri and the Bianchi. The pope’s attempt to unite the grandi having failed, he summoned Charles of Valois to come to his assistance, promising him the imperial crown; in 1301 Charles entered Italy, and was created by the pope paciaro or peacemaker of Tuscany, with instructions to crush the Bianchi and the popolo and exalt the Neri. On the 1st of November Charles reached Florence, promising to respect its laws; but he permitted Corso Donati and his friends to attack the Bianchi, and the new podestà, Cante dei Gabrielli of Gubbio, who had come with Charles, punished many of that faction; among those whom he exiled was the poet Dante (1302). Corso Donati, who for some time was the most powerful man in Florence, made himself many enemies by his arrogance, and was obliged to rely on the popolo grasso, the irritation against him resulting in a rising in which he was killed (1308). In this same year Henry of Luxemburg was elected king of the Romans and with the pope’s favour he came to Italy in 1310; the Florentine exiles and all the Ghibellines of Italy regarded him as a saviour and regenerator of the country, while the Guelphs of Florence on the contrary opposed both him and the pope as dangerous to their own liberties and accepted the protection of King Robert of Naples, disregarding Henry’s summons to submission. In 1312 Henry was crowned emperor as Henry VII. in Rome, but instead of the universal ruler and pacifier which he tried to be, he was forced by circumstances into being merely a German kaiser who tried to subjugate free Italian communes. He besieged Florence without success, and died of disease in 1313.

The Pisans, fearing the vengeance of the Guelphs now that Henry was dead, had accepted the lordship of Uguccione della Fagginola, imperial vicar in Genoa. A brave general and an ambitious man, he captured Lucca and defeated Uguccione della Fagginola and Castruccio Castracani. the Florentines and their allies from Naples at Montecatini in 1315, but the following year he lost both Pisa and Lucca and had to fly from Tuscany. A new danger now threatened Florence in the person of Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli (q.v.), who made himself lord of Lucca and secured help from Matteo Visconti, lord of Milan, and other Ghibellines of northern Italy. Between 1320 and 1323 he harried the Florentines and defeated them several times, captured Pistoia, devastated their territory up to the walls of the city in spite of assistance from Naples under Raymundo de Cardona and the duke of Calabria (King Robert’s son); never before had Florence been so humiliated, but while Castruccio was preparing to attack Florence he died in 1328. Two months later the duke of Calabria, who had been appointed protector of the city in 1325, died, and further constitutional reforms were made. The former councils were replaced by the consiglio del popolo, consisting of 300 popolani and presided over by the capitano, and the consiglio del comune of 250 members, half of them nobles and half popolani, presided over by the podestà. The priori and other officers were drawn by lot from among the Guelphs over thirty years old who were declared fit for public office by a special board of 98 citizens (1329). The system worked well at first, but abuses soon crept in, and many persons were unjustly excluded from office; trouble being expected in 1335 a captain of the guard was created. But the first one appointed, Jacopo dei Gabrielli of Gubbio, used his dictatorial powers so ruthlessly that at the end of his year of office no successor was chosen.

The Florentines now turned their eyes towards Lucca; they might have acquired the city immediately after Castruccio’s death for 80,000 florins, but failed to do so owing to differences of opinion in the signory; Martino della Attempt to capture Lucca. Scala, lord of Verona, promised it to them in 1335, but broke his word, and although their finances were not then very flourishing they allied themselves with Venice to make war on him. They were successful at first, but Venice made a truce with the Scala independently of the Florentines, and by the peace of 1339 they only obtained a part of Lucchese territory. At the same time they purchased from the Tarlati the protectorate over Arezzo for ten years. But misfortunes fell on the city: Edward III. of England repudiated the heavy debts contracted for his wars in France with the Florentine banking houses of Bardi and Peruzzi (1339), which eventually led to their failure and to that of many smaller firms, and shook Florentine credit all over the world; Philip VI. of France extorted large sums from the Florentine merchants and bankers in his dominions by accusing them of usury; in 1340 plague and famine wrought terrible havoc in Florence, and riots again broke out between the grandi and the popolo, partly on account of the late unsuccessful wars and the unsatisfactory state of the finances. To put an The duke of Athens (1342-43). end to these disorders, Walter of Brienne, duke of Athens, was elected “conservator” and captain of the guard in 1342. An astute, dissolute and ambitious man, half French and half Levantine, he began his government by a policy of conciliation and impartial justice which won him great popularity. But as soon as he thought the ground was secure he succeeded in getting himself acclaimed by the populace lord of Florence for life, and on the 8th of September was carried in triumph to the Palazzo della Signoria. The podestà and the capitano assenting to this treachery, he dismissed the gonfaloniere, reduced the priori to a position of impotence, disarmed the citizens, and soon afterwards accepted the lordship of Arezzo, Volterra, Colle, San Gimignano and Pistoia. He increased his bodyguard to 800 men, all Frenchmen, who behaved with the greatest licence and brutality; by his oppressive taxes, and his ferocious cruelty towards all who opposed him, and the unsatisfactory treaties he concluded with Pisa, he accumulated bitter hatred against his rule. The grandi were disappointed because he had not crushed the popolo, and the latter because he had destroyed their liberties and interfered with the organization of the arti. Many unsuccessful plots against him were hatched, and having discovered one that was conducted by Antonio degli Adimari, the duke summoned the latter to the palace and detained him a prisoner. He also summoned 300 leading citizens on the pretext of wishing to consult them, but fearing treachery they refused to come. On the 26th of July 1343, the citizens rose in arms, demanded the duke’s abdication, and besieged him in the palace. Help came to the Florentines from neighbouring cities, the podestà was expelled, and a balìa or provisional government of 14 was elected. The duke was forced to set Adimari and his other prisoners free, and several of his men-at-arms were killed by the populace; three of his chief henchmen, whom he was obliged to surrender, were literally torn to pieces, and finally on the 1st of August he had to resign his lordship. He departed from Florence under a strong guard a few days later, and the Fourteen cancelled all his enactments.

The expulsion of the duke of Athens was followed by several measures to humble the grandi still further, while the popolo minuto or artisans began to show signs of discontent at the rule of the merchants, and the populace destroyed New constitution. the houses of many nobles. As soon as order was restored a balìa was appointed to reform the government, in which task it was assisted by the Sienese and Perugian ambassadors and by Simone da Battifolle. The priori were reduced to 8 (2 popolani grassi, 3 mediani and 3 artifici minuti), while the gonfaloniere was to be chosen in turn from each of those classes; the grandi were excluded from the administration, but they were still admitted to the consiglio del comune, the cinque di mercanzia, and other offices pertaining to the commune; the Ordinamenti were maintained but in a somewhat attenuated form, and certain grandi as a favour were declared to be of the popolo. Florence was now a thoroughly democratic and commercial republic, and its whole policy was mainly dominated by commercial considerations: its rivalry with Pisa was due to an ambition to gain secure access to the sea; its strong Guelphism was the outcome of its determination to secure the bank-business of the papacy; and its desire to extend its territory in Tuscany to the necessity for keeping open the land trade routes. Florentine democracy, however, was limited to the walls of the city, for no one of the contado nor any citizen of the subject towns enjoyed political rights, which were reserved for the inhabitants of Florence alone and not by any means for all of them.

Florence was in the 14th century a city of about 100,000 inhabitants, of whom 25,000 could bear arms; there were 110 churches, 39 religious houses; the shops of the arte della lana numbered over 200, producing cloth worth Statistics. 1,200,000 florins; Florentine bankers and merchants were found all over the world, often occupying responsible positions in the service of foreign governments; the revenues of the republic, derived chiefly from the city customs, amounted to some 300,000 florins, whereas its ordinary expenses, exclusive of military matters and public buildings, were barely 40,000. It was already a centre of art and letters and full of fine buildings, pictures and libraries. But now that the grandi were suppressed politically, the lowest classes came into prominence, “adventurers without sense or virtue and of no authority for the most part, who had usurped public offices by illicit and dishonest practices” (Matteo Villani, iv. 69); this paved the way for tyranny.

In 1347 Florence was again stricken with famine, followed the next year by the most terrible plague it had ever experienced, which carried off three-fifths of the population (according to Villani). Yet in spite of these disasters the republic was The Great Plague (1348). by no means crushed; it soon regained the suzerainty of many cities which had broken off all connexion with it after the expulsion of the duke of Athens, and purchased the overlordship of Prato from Queen Joanna of Naples, who had inherited it from the duke of Calabria. In 1351 Giovanni Visconti, lord and archbishop of Milan, having purchased Bologna and allied himself with sundry Ghibelline houses of Tuscany with a view to War with Milan (1351). dominating Florence, the city made war on him, and in violation of its Guelph traditions placed itself under the protection of the emperor Charles IV. (1355) for his lifetime. This move, however, was not popular, and it enabled the grandi, who, although excluded from the chief offices, still dominated the parte Guelfa, to reassert themselves. They had in 1347 succeeded in enacting a very stringent law against all who were in any way tainted with Ghibellinism, which, they themselves being above suspicion in that connexion, enabled them to drive from office many members of the popolo minuto. In 1358 the parte Guelfa made these enactments still more stringent, punishing with death or heavy fines all who being Ghibellines held office, and provided that if trustworthy witnesses were forthcoming condemnations might be passed for this offence without hearing the accused; even a non-proved charge or an ammonizione (warning not to accept office) might entail disfranchisement. Thus the parte, represented by its 6 (afterwards 9) captains, came to exercise a veritable reign of terror, and no one knew when an accusation might fall on him. The leader of the parte was Piero degli Albizzi, whose chief rivals were the Ricci family.

Italy at this time began to be overrun by bands of soldiers of fortune. The first of these bands with whom Florence came The condottieri. into contact was the Great Company, commanded by the count of Lando, which twice entered Tuscany but was expelled both times by the Florentine troops (1358-1359).

In 1362 we find Florence at war with Pisa on account of commercial differences, and because the former had acquired the lordship of Volterra. The Florentines were successful until Pisa enlisted Sir John Hawkwood’s English company; the latter won several battles, but were at last defeated at Cascina, and peace was made in 1364, neither side having gained much advantage. A fresh danger threatened the republic in 1367 when Charles IV., who had allied himself with Pope Urban V., Queen Joanna of Naples, and various north Italian despots to humble the Visconti, demanded that the Florentines should join the league. This they refused to do and armed themselves for defence, but eventually satisfied the emperor with a money payment.

The tyranny of the parte Guelfa still continued unabated, and the capitani carried an enactment by which no measure affecting the parte should be even discussed by the signory unless previously approved of by them. This The parte Guelfa. infamous law, however, aroused so much opposition that some of the very men who had proposed it assembled in secret to discuss its abolition, and a quarrel between the Albizzi and the Ricci having weakened the parte, a balìa of 56 was agreed upon. Several of the Albizzi and the Ricci were excluded from office for five years, and a council called the Ten of Liberty was created to defend the laws and protect the weak against the strong. The parte Guelfa and the Albizzi still remained very influential and the attempts to abolish admonitions failed.

In 1375 Florence became involved in a war which showed how the old party divisions of Italy had been obliterated. The papal legate at Bologna, Cardinal Guillaume de Noellet (d. 1394), although the church was then allied to War with the church (1375-78). Florence, was meditating the annexation of the city to the Holy See; he refused a request of the Florentines for grain from Romagna, and authorized Hawkwood to devastate their territory. Although a large part of the people disliked the idea of a conflict with the church, an alliance with Florence’s old enemy Bernabò Visconti was made, war declared, and a balìa of 8, the Otto della guerra (afterwards called the “Eight Saints” on account of their good management) was created to carry on the campaign. Treaties with Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and Cortona were concluded, and soon no less than 80 towns, including Bologna, had thrown off the papal yoke. Pope Gregory XI. placed Florence under an interdict, ordered the expulsion of all Florentines from foreign countries, and engaged a ferocious company of Bretons to invade the republic’s territory. The Eight levied heavy toll on church property and ordered the priests to disregard the interdict. They turned the tables on the pope by engaging Hawkwood, and although the Bretons by order of Cardinal Robert of Geneva (afterwards the anti-pope Clement VII.) committed frightful atrocities in Romagna, their captains were bribed by the republic not to molest its territory. By 1378 peace was made, partly through the mediation of St Catherine of Siena, and the interdict was removed in consideration of the republic’s paying a fine of 200,000 florins to the pope.

During the war the Eight had been practically rulers of the city, but now the parte Guelfa, led by Lapo da Castiglionchio and Piero degli Albizzi, attempted to reassert itself by illicit interference in the elections and by a liberal Salvestro de’ Medici. use of “admonitions” (ammonizioni). Salvestro de’ Medici, who had always opposed the parte, having been elected gonfaloniere in spite of its intrigues, proposed a law for the abolition of the admonitions, which was eventually passed (June 18, 1378), but the people had been aroused, and desired to break the power of the parte for good. Rioting occurred on the 21st of June, and the houses of the Albizzi and other nobles were burnt. The signory meanwhile created a balìa of 80 which repealed some of the laws promoted by the parte, and partly enfranchised the ammoniti. The people were still unsatisfied, the arti minori demanded further privileges, and the workmen insisted that their grievances against the arti maggiori, especially the wool trade by whom they were employed, The riot of the ciompi (1378). be redressed. A large body of ciompi (wool carders) gathered outside the city and conspired to subvert the signory and establish a popular government. Although the plot, in which Salvestro does not seem to have played a part, was revealed, a good deal of mob violence occurred, and on the 21st of July the populace seized the podestà’s palace, which they made their headquarters. They demanded a share in the government for the popolo minuto, but as soon as this was granted Tommaso Strozzi, as spokesman of the ciompi, obliged the signory to resign their powers to the Eight. Once the people were in possession of the palace, a ciompo named Michele di Lando took the lead and put a stop to disorder and pillage. He remained master of Florence for one day, during which he reformed the constitution, probably with the help of Salvestro de’ Medici. Three new gilds were created, and nine priors appointed, three from the arti maggiori, three from the minori, and three from the new ones, while each of these classes in turn was to choose the gonfaloniere of justice; the first to hold the office was Michele di Lando. This did not satisfy the ciompi, and the disorders provoked by them resulted in a new government which reformed the two councils so as to exclude the lower orders. But to satisfy the people several of the grandi, including Piero degli Albizzi, were put to death, on charges of conspiracy, and many others were exiled. There was perpetual rioting and anarchy, and interference in the affairs of the government by the working men, while at the same time poverty and unemployment increased owing to the timidity of capital and the disorders, until at last in 1382 a reaction set in, and order was restored by the gild companies. Again a new constitution was decreed by which the gonfaloniere and half the priori were to be chosen from the arti maggiori and the other half from the minori; on several other boards the former were to be in the majority, and the three new gilds were abolished. The demagogues were executed or forced to fly, and Michele di Lando with great ingratitude was exiled. Several subsequent risings of the ciompi, largely of an economic character, were put down, and the Guelph families gradually regained much of their lost power, of which they availed themselves to exile their opponents and revive the odious system of ammonizioni.

Meanwhile in foreign affairs the republic maintained its position, and in 1383 it regained Arezzo by purchase from the lieutenant of Charles of Durazzo. In 1390 Gian Galeazzo Visconti, having made himself master of a large part of northern Italy, intrigued to gain possession of Pisa and Siena. Florence, alone in resisting him, engaged Hawkwood, who with an army of 7000 men more than held his own against the powerful lord of Milan, and in 1392 a peace was concluded which the republic strengthened by an alliance with Pisa and several north Italian states. In 1393 Maso degli Albizzi was made gonfaloniere, and for many years remained almost master of Florence owing to his influential position in the Arte della Lana. A severe persecution was initiated against the Alberti and other families, who were disfranchised and exiled. Disorders and conspiracies against the merchant oligarchy continued, and although they were unsuccessful party passion was incredibly bitter, and the exiles caused the republic much trouble by intriguing against it in foreign states. In 1397-1398 Florence had two more wars with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, who, aspiring to the conquest of Tuscany, acquired the lordship of Pisa, Siena and Perugia. Hawkwood being dead, Florence purchased aid from the emperor Rupert. The Imperialists were beaten; but just as the Milanese were about to march on Florence, Visconti died. His territories were then divided between his sons and his condottieri, and Florence, ever keeping her eye on Pisa, now ruled by Gabriele Maria Visconti, made an alliance with Pope Boniface IX., who wished to regain Perugia and Bologna. War broke out once more, and the allies were successful, but as soon as Boniface had gained his ends he made peace, leaving the Florentines unsatisfied. In Attempts to acquire Pisa (1402-6). 1404 their attempt to capture Pisa single-handed failed, and Gabriele Maria placed himself under the protection of the French king. The Florentines then made overtures to France, who had supported the anti-popes all through the great schism, and suggested that they too would support the then anti-pope, Benedict XIII., in exchange for the sale of Pisa. This was agreed to, and in 1405 the city was sold to Florence for 260,000 florins; and Gino Capponi,1 the Florentine commissioner, took possession of the citadel, but a few days later the citizens arose in arms and recaptured it from the mercenaries. There was great consternation in Florence at the news, and every man in the city “determined that he would go naked rather than not conquer Pisa” (G. Capponi). The next year that city, then ruled by Giovanni Gambacorti, was besieged by the Florentines, who blockaded the mouth of the Arno. After a six months’ siege Pisa surrendered on terms (9th October 1406), and, although it was not sacked, many of the citizens were exiled and others forced to live in Florence, a depopulation from which it never recovered. Florence now acquired a great seaport and was at last able to develop a direct maritime trade.

Except in connexion with the Pisan question the republic had taken no definite side in the great schism which had divided the church since 1378, but in 1408 she appealed both to Pope Gregory XII. and the anti-pope Benedict The council of Pisa (1408). XIII. as well as to various foreign governments in favour of a settlement, and suggested a council within her own territory. Gregory refused, but after consulting a committee of theologians who declared him to be a heretic, the council promoted by Cardinal Cossa and other independent prelates met at Pisa. This nearly led to war with King Ladislas of Naples, because he had seized Rome, which he could only hold so long as the church was divided. The council deposed both popes and elected Pietro Filargi as Alexander V. (26th of June). But Ladislas still occupied the papal states, and Florence, alarmed at his growing power and ambition, formed a league with Siena, Bologna and Louis of Anjou who laid claim to the Neapolitan throne, to drive Ladislas from Rome. Cortona, Orvieto, Viterbo and other cities were recovered for Alexander, and in January 1410 Rome itself was captured by the Florentines under Malatesta dei Malatesti. Alexander having died in May before entering the Eternal City, Cardinal Cossa was elected as John XXIII.; Florence without offending him made peace with Ladislas, who had ceased to be dangerous, and purchased Cortona of the pope. In 1413 Ladislas attacked the papal states once more, driving John from Rome, and threatened Florence; but like Henry VII., Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and other enemies of the republic, he too died most opportunely (6th of August 1414). John having lost all authority after leaving Rome, a new council was held at Constance, which put an end to the schism in 1417 with the election of Martin V. The new pope came to Florence in 1419 as he had not yet regained Rome, which was held by Francesco Sforza for Queen Joanna II. of Naples, and remained there until the following year.

No important changes in the constitution took place during this period except the appointment of two new councils in 1411 to decide on questions of peace and war. The aristocratic faction headed by Maso degli Albizzi, a wise and popular statesman, had remained predominant, and at Maso’s death in 1417 he was succeeded in the leadership of the party by Niccolò da Uzzano. In 1421 Giovanni de’ Medici was elected gonfaloniere of justice, an event which marks the beginning of that wealthy family’s power. The same year the republic purchased Leghorn from the Genoese for 100,000 florins, and established a body of “Consuls of the Sea” to superintend maritime trade. Although 11,000,000 florins had been spent on recent wars Florence continued prosperous and its trade increased.

In 1421 Filippo Maria Visconti, who had succeeded in reconquering most of Lombardy, seized Forlì; this induced the Florentines to declare war on him, as they regarded his approach as a menace to their territory in spite of the New war with the Visconti (1421-27). opposition of the peace party led by Giovanni de’ Medici. The campaign was anything but successful, and the Florentines were defeated several times, with the result that their credit was shaken and several important firms failed. The pope too was against them, but when they induced the Venetians to intervene the tide of fortune changed, and Visconti was finally defeated and forced to accept peace on onerous terms (1427).

The old systems of raising revenue no longer corresponded to the needs of the republic, and as early as 1336 the various loans made to the state were consolidated into one national debt (monte). Subsequently all extraordinary Fiscal reforms (1427). expenditure was met by forced loans (prestanze), but the method of distribution aroused discontent among the lower classes, and in 1427 a general catasto or assessment of all the wealth of the citizens was formed, and measures were devised to distribute the obligations according to each man’s capacity, so as to avoid pressing too hardly on the poor. The catasto was largely the work of Giovanni de’ Medici, who greatly increased his popularity thereby. He died in 1429.

An attempt to capture Lucca led Florence, in alliance with Venice, into another costly war with Milan (1432-1433). The mismanagement of the campaign brought about a quarrel between the aristocratic party, led by Rinaldo Exile and return of Cosimo de’ Medici (1433-34). degli Albizzi, and the popular party, led by Giovanni de’ Medici’s son Cosimo (1389-1464), although both had agreed to the war before it began. Rinaldo was determined to break the Medici party, and succeeded in getting Cosimo exiled. The Albizzi tried to strengthen their position by conferring exceptional powers on the capitano del popolo and by juggling with the election bags, but the Medici still had a great hold on the populace. Rinaldo’s proposal for a coup d’état met with no response from his own party, and he failed to prevent the election of a pro-Medici signory in 1434. He and other leaders of the party were summoned to the palace to answer a charge of plotting against the state, to which he replied by collecting 800 armed followers. A revolution was only averted through the intervention of Pope Eugenius IV., who was then in Florence. A parlamento was summoned, and the balìa appointed decreed the return of Cosimo and the exile of Rinaldo degli Albizzi, Rodolfo Peruzzi, Niccolò Barbadori, and others, in spite of the feeble attempt of Eugenius to protect them. On the 6th of October 1434 Cosimo returned to Florence, and for the next three centuries the history of the city is identified with that of the house of Medici.2

Cosimo succeeded in dominating the republic while remaining nominally a private citizen. He exiled those who opposed him, and governed by means of the balìe, which, re-elected every five years, appointed all the magistrates and Cosimo’s rule. acted according to his orders. In 1437 Florence and Venice were again at war with the Visconti, whose chief captain, Niccolò Piccinino (q.v.), on entering Tuscany with many Florentine exiles in his train, was signally defeated at Anghiari by the Florentines under Francesco Sforza (1440); peace was made the following year. The system of the catasto, which led to abuses, was abolished, and a progressive income-tax (decima scalata) was introduced with the object of lightening the burdens of the poor, who were as a rule Medicean, at the expense of the rich; but as it was frequently increased the whole community came to be oppressed by it in the end. Cosimo increased his own authority and that of the republic by aiding Francesco Sforza to become duke of Milan (1450), and he sided with him in the war against Venice (1452-1454). In 1452 the emperor Frederick III. passed through Florence on his way to be crowned in Rome, and was received as a friend. During the last years of Cosimo’s life, affairs were less under his control, and the gonfaloniere Luca Pitti, a vain and ambitious man, introduced many changes, such as the abasement of the authority of the podestà and of the capitano, which Cosimo desired but was glad to attribute to others.

In 1464 Cosimo died and was succeeded, not without some opposition, by his son Piero, who was very infirm and gouty. Various plots against him were hatched, the anti-Medicean faction being called the Del Poggio party Piero de’ Medici (the Gouty). because the house of its leader Luca Pitti was on a hill, while the Mediceans were called the Del Piano party because Piero’s house was in the town below; the other opposition leaders were Dietisalvi Neroni and Agnolo Acciaiuoli. But Piero’s unexpected energy upset the schemes of his enemies. The death of Sforza led to a war for the succession of Milan, and the Venetians, instigated by Florentine exiles, invaded Tuscany. The war ended, after many indecisive engagements, in 1468, through the intervention of Pope Paul II. Piero died Lorenzo the Magnificent. in 1469, leaving two sons, Lorenzo (1449-1492) and Giuliano (1453-1478). The former at once assumed the reins of government and became ruler of Florence in a way neither Cosimo nor Piero had ever attempted; he established his domination by means of balìe consisting of the signory, the accoppiatori, and 240 other members, all Mediceans, to be renewed every five years (1471). In 1472 a quarrel having arisen with Volterra on account of a dispute concerning the alum mines, Lorenzo sent an expedition against the city, which was sacked and many of the inhabitants massacred. Owing to a variety of causes an enmity arose between Lorenzo and Pope Sixtus IV., and the latter, if not an accomplice, at all events had knowledge of the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici (1478). The result of the plot was that, although Giuliano was murdered, Lorenzo strengthened his position, and put to death or exiled numbers of his enemies. He was excommunicated by Sixtus, who, together with King Ferdinand of Naples, waged war against him; no great successes were registered on either side at first, but eventually the Florentines were defeated at Poggio Imperiale (near Poggibonsi) and the city itself was in danger. Lorenzo’s position was critical, but by his boldness in going to Naples he succeeded in concluding a peace with the king, which led to a reconciliation with the pope (1479-1480). He was received with enthusiasm on returning to Florence and became absolute master of the situation. In April 1480 a balìa was formed, and its most important act was the creation at Lorenzo’s instance of the Council of Seventy; it was constituted for five years, but it became permanent, and all its members were Lorenzo’s friends. From that time until his death the city was free from party strife under a de facto despotism, but after the Rinuccini conspiracy of that year the Council of Seventy passed a law declaring attempts on Lorenzo’s life to be high treason. Owing to his political activity Lorenzo had neglected the business interests of his firm, and in order to make good certain heavy losses he seems to have appropriated public funds. His foreign policy, which was magnificent but expensive, rendered further forced loans necessary, and he also laid hands on the Monte delle Doti, an insurance institution to provide dowries for girls.

An attempt by the Venetians to seize Ferrara led to a general Italian war, in which Florence also took part on the side hostile to Venice, and when peace was made in 1484 the republic gained some advantages. The following year a revolt of the Neapolitan barons against King Ferdinand broke out, actively supported by Pope Innocent VIII.; Lorenzo remained neutral at first, but true to his policy of maintaining the balance of power and not wishing to see Ferdinand completely crushed, he ended by giving him assistance in spite of the king’s unpopularity in Florence. Peace was made when the pope agreed to come to terms in 1486, and in 1487 Lorenzo regained Sarzana, which Genoa had taken from Florence nine years previously. The general disorders and ceaseless intrigues all over Italy required Lorenzo’s constant attention, and he succeeded in making Florence “the Savonarola. needle of the balance of power in Italy.” At this time the Dominican Fra Girolamo Savonarola (q.v.) was in Florence and aroused the whole city by his denunciations of ecclesiastical corruption and also of that of the Florentines. He opposed Lorenzo’s government as the source of the immorality of the people, and to some extent influenced public opinion against him. Ill-health now gained on Lorenzo, and Savonarola, whom he had summoned to his bedside, refused to give absolution to the destroyer of Florentine liberties. Lorenzo, during whose rule Florence had become one of the greatest centres of art and literature in Europe, died in 1492.

He was succeeded by his son Piero, who had none of his father’s capacity and made a number of political blunders. When Charles VIII. of France came to Italy to conquer Naples Piero decided to assist the latter kingdom, although the Piero de’ Medici. traditional sympathies of the people were for the French king, and when Charles entered Florentine territory and captured Sarzana, Piero went to his camp and asked pardon for opposing him. The king demanded the cession of Pisa, Leghorn and other towns, which Piero granted, but on returning to Florence on the 8th of November 1494 he found the opposition greatly strengthened and his popularity forfeited, especially when the news of his disgraceful cessions to Charles became known. He was refused admittance to the palace, and the people began to shout “Popolo e libertà!” in opposition to the Medicean cry of “Palle, Palle!” (from the Medici arms). With a small escort he fled from the city, followed soon after by his brother Giovanni. Expulsion of the Medici (1494). Charles VIII. in Florence. That same day Pisa rose in revolt against the Florentines, and was occupied by Charles. The expulsion of the Medici produced some disorder, but Piero Capponi (q.v.) and other prominent citizens succeeded in keeping the peace. Ambassadors, one of whom was Savonarola, were sent to treat with the French king, but no agreement was arrived at until Charles entered Florence on the 17th of November at the head of 12,000 men. In spite of their French sympathies the citizens were indignant at the seizure of Sarzana, and while they gave the king a splendid welcome, they did not like his attitude of conqueror. Charles was impressed with the wealth and refinement of the citizens, and above all with the solid fortress-like appearance of their palaces. The signory appointed Piero Capponi, a man of great ability and patriotism, and experienced in diplomacy, the gonfaloniere Francesco Valori, the Dominican Giorgio Vespucci, and the jurisconsult and diplomatist Domenico Bonsi, syndics to conduct the negotiations with the French king. Charles’s demands by no means pleased the citizens, and the arrogance and violence of his soldiers led to riots in which they were assailed with stones in the narrow streets. When the king began to hint at the recall of Piero de’ Medici, whose envoys had gained his ear, the signory ordered the citizens to be ready to fly to arms. The proposal was dropped, but Charles demanded an immense sum of money before he would leave the city; long discussions followed, and when at last he presented an insolent ultimatum the syndics refused to accept it. The king said in Piero Capponi. a threatening tone, “Then we shall sound our trumpets,” whereupon Capponi tore up the document in his face and replied, “And we shall ring our bells.” The king, realizing what street fighting in Florence would mean, at once came to terms; he contented himself with 120,000 florins, agreeing to assume the title of “Protector and Restorer of the liberty of Florence,” and to give up the fortresses he had taken within two years, unless his expedition to Naples should be concluded sooner; the Medici were to remain banished, but the price on their heads was withdrawn. But Charles would not depart, a fact which caused perpetual disturbance in the city, and it was not until the 28th of November, after an exhortation by Savonarola whom he greatly respected, that he left Florence.

It was now intended to re-establish the government on the basis of the old republican institutions, but it was found that sixty years of Medici rule had reduced them to mere shadows, and the condition of the government, largely The revived republic. Savonarola as a statesman. controlled by a balìa of 20 accoppiatori and frequently disturbed by the summoning of the parlamento, was utterly chaotic. Consequently men talked of nothing save of changing the constitution, but unfortunately there was no longer an upper class accustomed to public affairs, while the lower class was thoroughly demoralized. Many proposals were made, none of them of practical value, until Savonarola, who had already made a reputation as a moral reformer, began his famous series of political sermons. In the prevailing confusion the people turned to him as their only hope, and gradually a new government was evolved, each law being enacted as the result of his exhortations. A Greater Council empowered to appoint magistrates and pass laws was formed, to which all citizens netti di specchio (who had paid their taxes) and beneficiati (i.e. who had sat in one of the higher magistracies or whose fathers, grandfathers, or great-grandfathers had done so) were eligible together with certain others. There were 3200 such citizens, and they sat one-third at a time for six months. The Greater Council was to elect another council of 80 citizens over forty years old, also to be changed every six months; this body, which the signory must consult once a week, together with the colleges and the signory itself, was to appoint ambassadors and commissaries of war, and deal with other confidential matters. The system of forced loans was abolished and a 10% tax on real property introduced in its stead, and a law of amnesty for political offenders enacted. Savonarola also proposed a court of appeal for criminal and political crimes tried by the Otto di guardia e balìa; this too was agreed to, but the right of appeal was to be, not to a court as Savonarola suggested, but to the Greater Council, a fact which led to grave abuses, as judicial appeals became subject to party passions. The parlamenti were abolished and a monte di pietà to advance money at reasonable interest was created. But in spite of Savonarola’s popularity there was a party called the Bigi (greys) who intrigued secretly in favour of the return of the Medici, while the men of wealth, called the Arrabbiati, although they hated the Medici, were even more openly opposed to the actual régime and desired to set up an aristocratic oligarchy. The adherents of Savonarola were called the Piagnoni, or snivellers, while the Neutrali changed sides frequently.

A league between the pope, the emperor, Venice and Spain having been made against Charles VIII., the latter was forced to return to France. On his way back he passed through Florence, and; although the republic had refused to join the League against Charles VIII. league, it believed itself in danger, as Piero de’ Medici was in the king’s train. Savonarola was again sent to the French camp, and his eloquence turned the king from any idea he may have had of reinstating the Medici. At the same time Charles violated his promise by giving aid to the Pisans in their revolt against Florence, and did not restore the other fortresses. After the French had abandoned Italy, Piero de’ Medici, encouraged by the league, enlisted a number of mercenaries and marched on Florence, but the citizens, fired by Savonarola’s enthusiasm, flew to arms and prepared for an energetic resistance; owing to Piero’s incapacity and the exhaustion of his funds the expedition came to nothing. At the same time the conditions of the city were not prosperous; its resources were strained by the sums paid to Charles and by the war; its credit was shaken, its trade paralysed, famine and plague visited the city, and the war to subjugate Pisa was proceeding unsatisfactorily. Worse still was the death in 1496 of one of its ablest and most disinterested statesmen, Piero Capponi. The league now attacked Florence, for Pope Alexander VI. Alexander VI. against Florence. hated Savonarola and was determined to destroy the republic, so as to reinstate the Medici temporarily and prepare the way for his own sons; the Venetians and Imperialists besieged Leghorn, and there was great misery in Florence. All this decreased Savonarola’s popularity to some extent, but the enemy having been beaten at Leghorn and the league being apparently on the point of breaking up, the Florentines took courage and the friar’s party was once more in the ascendant. Numerous processions were held, Savonarola’s sermons against corruption and vice seemed to have temporarily transformed the citizens, and the carnival of 1497 remained famous for the burning of the “vanities” (i.e. indecent books and pictures and carnival masks and costumes). The friar’s sermons against ecclesiastical corruption, and especially against the pope, resulted in his excommunication by the latter, in consequence of which he lost much of his influence and immorality spread once more. That same year Piero made another unsuccessful attempt on Florence. New Medici plots having been discovered, Bernardo del Nero and other prominent citizens were tried and put to death; but the party hostile to Savonarola gained ground and had the support of the Franciscans, who were hostile to the Dominican order. Pulpit warfare was waged between Savonarola and his opponents, and the matter ended in his being forbidden to preach and in a proposed ordeal by fire, which, however, never came off. The pope again and again demanded that the friar be surrendered to him, but without success, in spite of his threats of an interdict against the city. The Piagnoni were out of power, and a signory of Arrabbiati having been elected in 1498, a mob of Savonarola’s opponents attacked the convent of St Mark where he resided, and he himself was arrested and imprisoned. The commission appointed to try him on charges of heresy and treason was composed Trial and execution of Savonarola (1498). of his enemies, including Doffo Spini, who had previously attempted to murder him; many irregularities were committed during the three trials, and the prisoner was repeatedly tortured. The outgoing signory secured the election of another which was of their way of thinking, and on the 22nd of May 1498 Savonarola was condemned to death and executed the following day.

The pope having been satisfied, the situation in Florence was less critical for the moment. The war against Pisa was renewed, and in 1499 the city might have been taken but for the dilatory tactics of the Florentine commander Paolo Vitelli, who was consequently arrested on a charge of treason and put to death. Louis XII. of France, who now sent an army into Italy to conquer the Milanese, obtained the support of the Florentines. Cesare Borgia, who had seized many cities in Romagna, suddenly demanded the reinstatement of the Medici in Florence, and the danger was only warded off by appointing him captain-general of the Florentine forces at a large salary (1501). The weakness of the government becoming every day more apparent, several constitutional changes were made, and many old institutions, such as that of the podestà and capitano del popolo, were abolished; finally in 1502, in order to give more stability to the government, the office of gonfaloniere, with the right of proposing laws to the signory, was made a life appointment. The election fell on Piero Soderini (1448-1522), Piero Soderini. an honest public-spirited man of no particular party, but lacking in strength of character. One useful measure which he took was the institution of a national militia at the suggestion of Niccolò Machiavelli (1505). In the meanwhile the Pisan war dragged on without much headway being made. In 1503 both Piero de’ Medici and Alexander VI. had died, eliminating two dangers to the republic. Spain, who was at war with France over the partition of Naples, helped the Pisans as the enemies of Florence, France’s ally (1501-1504), but when the war was over the Florentines were able to lay siege to Pisa (1507), and in 1509 the city was driven by famine to surrender and became a dependency of Florence once more.

Pope Julius II., after having formed the league of Cambrai with France and Spain against Venice, retired from it in 1510, and raised the cry of “Fuori i Barbari” (out with the barbarians), with a view to expelling the French from Schismatic council of Pisa (1510). Italy. King Louis thereupon proposed an oecumenical council so as to create a schism in the Church, and demanded that it be held in Florentine territory. After some hesitation the republic agreed to the demand, and the council was opened at Pisa, whereupon the pope immediately placed Florence under an interdict. At the request of the Florentines the council removed to Milan, but this did not save them from the pope’s wrath. A Spanish army under Raymundo de Cardona and accompanied by Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici and his brother Giuliano entered the republic’s territory and demanded 100,000 florins, the dismissal of Soderini, and the readmission of the Medici. Soderini offered to resign, but the Greater Council supported him and preparations for defence were made. In August the Spaniards took Prato by storm and committed hideous atrocities on the inhabitants; Florence was in a panic, a group of the Ottimati, or nobles, forced Soderini to resign and leave the city, and Cardona’s new terms were accepted, viz. the readmission of the Medici, a fine of 150,000 florins, and an Return of the Medici (1512). alliance with Spain. On the 1st of September 1512 Giuliano and Giovanni de’ Medici, and their nephew Lorenzo, entered Florence with the Spanish troops; a parlamento was summoned, and a packed balìa formed which abolished the Greater Council and created a constitution similar to that of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Giuliano became de facto head of the government, but he did not pursue the usual vindictive policy of his house, although he resorted to the Laurentian method of amusing the citizens with splendid festivities. In 1513, on the death of Julius II., Giovanni de’ Medici was elected pope as Leo X., an event which greatly enhanced the importance of the house. In March 1514 Giuliano died, and was succeeded by Lorenzo, who was also created duke of Urbino. At his death in 1519 Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (son of the Giuliano murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy) took charge of the government; he met with some opposition and had to play off the Ottimati against the Piagnoni, but he did not rule badly and maintained at all events the outward forms of freedom. In 1523 he was created pope as Clement VII. and sent his relatives Ippolito and Alessandro, both minors and bastards, to Florence under the tutorship of Cardinal Silvio Passerini. Ippolito was styled the Magnifico and destined to be ruler of the republic, but Cardinal Passerini’s regency proved most unpopular, and the city was soon seething with discontent. Revolts broke out and Passerini showed himself quite unequal to coping with the situation. The Ottimati were mostly anti-Medicean, and by 1527 the position was untenable. When Filippo Strozzi, and above Second expulsion of the Medici (1527). all his wife, threw their influence in the scales against the Medici, and the magistrates declared for their expulsion from power, Passerini, Ippolito and Alessandro left Florence (17th of May 1527). A Consiglio degli Scelti was summoned, and a constitution similar to that of Savonarola’s time was established. The Greater Council was revived and Niccolò Capponi created gonfaloniere for a year. But Florence was torn by factions—the Ottimati who desired an oligarchy, the Palleschi or Mediceans who generally supported them, the Adirati who opposed Capponi for his moderation, the Arrabbiati who were strongly anti-Medicean, and the Popolani who opposed the Ottimati. “It is almost impossible that a state so disorganized and corrupt as Florence then was should produce men of parts and character, but if by chance any such should arise they would be hated and persecuted, their dispositions would be soured by indignation, or they would be hunted from their country or die of grief” (Benedette Varchi). Capponi did his best to reform the city and save the situation, and while adopting Savonarola’s tone in internal affairs, he saw the dangers in the foreign situation, realizing that a reconciliation between the pope and the emperor Charles V. would prove disastrous for Florence, for Clement would certainly seize the opportunity to reinstate his family in power. Having been re-elected gonfaloniere in spite of much opposition in 1528, Capponi tried to make peace with the pope, but his correspondence with the Vatican resulted in a quite unjustified charge of high treason, and although acquitted he had to resign office and leave the city for six months. Francesco Carducci was elected gonfaloniere in his place, and on the 29th of June 1529 the pope and the emperor concluded a treaty by which the latter agreed to re-establish the Medici in Florence. Carducci made preparations for a siege, but a large part of the people were against him, either from Medicean sympathies or fear, although the Frateschi, as the believers in Savonarola’s views were called, supported him strongly. A body called the Nove della Milizia, of whom Michelangelo Buonarroti was a member, was charged with the defence of the city, and Michelangelo (q.v.) himself superintended the strengthening of the fortifications. A most unfortunate choice for the chief command of the army was the appointment of Malatesta Baglioni. In August an imperial army under Philibert, prince of Orange, advanced on the city. In September Malatesta surrendered Perugia, and other cities fell before the Imperialists. All attempts to come to terms with the pope were The siege of Florence. unsuccessful, and by October the siege had begun. Although alone against papacy and empire, the citizens showed the greatest spirit and devotion, and were successful in many sorties. The finest figure produced by these events was that of Francesco Ferruccio (q.v.); by his defence of Empoli he showed himself a first-class soldier, and was appointed commissioner-general. He executed many rapid marches and counter-marches, assaulting isolated bodies of the enemy unexpectedly, and harassing them continually. But Malatesta was a traitor at heart and hindered the defence of the city in every way. Ferruccio, who had recaptured Volterra, marched to Gavinana above Pistoia to attack the Imperialists in the rear. A battle took place at that spot on the 3rd of August, but in spite of Ferruccio’s heroism he was defeated and killed; the prince of Orange also fell in that desperate engagement. Malatesta contributed to the defeat by preventing a simultaneous attack by the besieged. The sufferings from famine within the city were now very great, and an increasingly large part of the people favoured surrender. The signory, at last realizing that Malatesta was a traitor, dismissed him; but it was too late, and he now behaved as though he were governor of Florence; when the troops attempted to enforce the dismissal he turned his guns on them. On the 9th of August the signory saw that Surrender of Florence (1530). all hope was lost and entered into negotiations with Don Ferrante Gonzaga, the new imperial commander. On the 12th the capitulation was signed: Florence was to pay an indemnity of 80,000 florins, the Medici were to be recalled, the emperor was to establish the new government, “it being understood that liberty is to be preserved.” Baccio Valori, a Medicean who had been in the imperialist camp, now took charge, and the city was occupied by foreign troops. A parlamento was summoned, the usual packed balìa created, and all opposition silenced. The city was given over to Pope Clement, who, disregarding the terms of the capitulation, had Carducci and Girolami (the last gonfaloniere) hanged, and established Alessandro de’ Medici, the natural son of Lorenzo, duke of Urbino, as head of the republic on the 5th of July 1531. The next year the signory was abolished, Alessandro created gonfaloniere for life, and his lordship made hereditary in his family by imperial patent. Thus Florence lost her liberty, and came to be the capital of the duchy (afterwards grand-duchy) of Tuscany (see Tuscany).

The Medici dynasty ruled in Tuscany until the death of Gian Gastone in 1737, when the grand-duchy was assigned to Francis, duke of Lorraine. But it was governed by a regency until 1753, when it was conferred by the empress The Grand-Duchy of Tuscany. Maria Theresa on his son Peter Leopold. During the Napoleonic wars the grand-duke Ferdinand III. of Habsburg-Lorraine was driven from the throne, and Tuscany was annexed to the French empire in 1808. In 1809 Florence was made capital of the kingdom of Etruria, but after the fall of Napoleon in 1814 Ferdinand was reinstated. He died in 1833, and was succeeded by Leopold II. In 1848 there was a liberal revolutionary movement in Florence, and Leopold granted a constitution. But civil disorders followed, and in 1849 the grand-duke returned under an Austrian escort. In 1859, after the Franco-Italian victories over the Austrians in Lombardy, by a bloodless revolution in Florence Leopold was expelled and Tuscany annexed to the Sardinian kingdom.

In 1865 Florence became the capital of the kingdom of Italy, but after the occupation of Rome in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war, the capital was transferred to the Eternal City (1871).

Bibliography.—The best complete history of Florence is Gino Capponi’s Storia della Repubblica di Firenze (2 vols., Florence, 1875), which although defective as regards the earliest times is a standard work based on original authorities; also F.T. Perrens, Histoire de Florence (9 vols., Paris, 1877-1890). For the early period see Pasquale Villari’s I Primi Due Secoli della storia di Firenze (Eng. ed., London, 1894), and R. Davidsohn’s Geschichte der Stadt Florenz (Berlin, 1896); P. Villari’s Savonarola (English ed., London, 1896) is invaluable for the period during which the friar’s personality dominated Florence, and his Machiavelli (English ed., London, 1892) must be also consulted, especially for the development of political theories. Among the English histories of Florence, Napier’s Florentine History (6 vols., London, 1846-1847) and A. Trollope’s History of the Commonwealth of Florence (4 vols., London, 1865) are not without value although out of date. Francis Hyett’s Florence (London, 1903) is more recent and compendious; the author is somewhat Medicean in his views, and frequently inaccurate. For the later history, A. von Reumont’s Geschichte von Toscana (Gotha, 1876-1877) is one of the best works. There is a large number of small treatises and compendia of Florentine history of the guide-book description. See also the bibliographies in Medici, Machiavelli, Savonarola, Tuscany, &c.

(L. V.*)

1 The historian, not to be confounded with the modern historian and statesman of the same name (q.v.).

2 The history of Florence from 1434 to 1737 will be found in greater detail in the article Medici, save for the periods from 1494 to 1512 and from 1527 to 1530, during which the republic was restored. For the period from 1530 to 1860 see also under Tuscany.

FLORES, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal, and forming part of the Azores archipelago. Pop. (1900) 8137; area, 57 sq. m. Flores and the adjacent island of Corvo (pop. 806; area, 7 sq. m.) constitute the westernmost group of the Azores, and seem but imperfectly to belong to the archipelago, from the rest of which they are widely severed. They lie also out of the usual track of navigators; but to those who, missing their course, are led thither, Flores affords good shelter in its numerous bays. Its poultry is excellent; and the cattle are numerous, but small. It derives its name from the abundance of the flowers that find shelter in its deep ravines. Its capital is Santa Cruz das Flores (2247). In 1591 Flores was the station of the English fleet before the famous sea fight between Sir R. Grenville’s ship “Revenge” and a Spanish fleet of 53 vessels. See Azores.

FLORES, an island of the Dutch East Indies, a member of the chain extending east of Java. Its length is 224 m., its greatest breadth 37 m., and its area 5850 sq. m. The existence of slate, chalk, and sandstone, eruptive rock, volcanoes and heights stretching west and east, indicates a similar structure to that of the other islands of the chain. Several volcanoes are active. Among the loftier summits are, on the south coast, Gunong Rokka (7940 ft.) and Keo (6560 ft.); with the lesser but constantly active Gunong Api, forming a peninsula; and at the south-east, Lobetobi (7120 ft.). The thickly wooded interior is little explored. The coasts have deep bays and extensive rounded gulfs, where are situated the principal villages (kampongs). On the north coast are Bari, Reo, Maumer and Geliting; on the east, Larantuka; and on the south, Sikka and Endeh. The rivers, known only at their mouths, seem to be unnavigable. The mean temperature is 77° to 80° F., and the yearly rainfall 43 to 47 in. For administrative purposes the island is divided into West Flores (Mangerai), attached to the government of Celebes, and Middle and East Flores (Larantuka and dependencies), attached to the residency of Timor. The population is estimated at 250,000. The people live by trade, fishing, salt-making, shipbuilding, and the cultivation of rice, maize, and palms in the plain, but there is little industry or commerce. Some edible birds’ nests, rice, sandalwood and cinnamon are exported to Celebes and elsewhere. The inhabitants of the coast-districts are mainly of Malay origin. The aborigines, who occupy the interior, are of Papuan stock. They are tall and well-built, with dark or black skins. The hair is frizzly. They are pure savages; their only religion is a kind of nature-worship. They consider the earth holy and inviolable; thus in severe droughts they only dig the river-beds for water as a last resource. Portugal claimed certain portions of the island until 1859.

FLOREZ, ENRIQUE (1701-1773), Spanish historian, was born at Valladolid on the 14th of February 1701. In his fifteenth year he entered the order of St Augustine, was afterwards professor of theology at the university of Alcala, and published a Cursus theologiae in five volumes (1732-1738). He afterwards devoted himself to historical studies. Of these the first-fruit was his Clave Historial, a work of the same class as the French Art de vérifier les dates, and preceding it by several years. It appeared in 1743, and passed through many editions. In 1747 was published the first volume of España Sagrada, teatro geografico-historico de la Iglesia de España, a vast compilation of Spanish ecclesiastical history which obtained a European reputation, and of which twenty-nine volumes appeared in the author’s lifetime. It was continued after his death by Manuel Risco and others, and further additions have been made at the expense of the Spanish government. The whole work in fifty-one volumes was published at Madrid (1747-1886). Its value is considerably increased by the insertion of ancient chronicles and documents not easily accessible elsewhere. Florez was a good numismatist, and published Medallas de las Colonias in 2 vols. (1757-1758), of which a third volume appeared in 1773. His last work was the Memorias de las reynas Catolicas, 2 vols. (1770). Florez led a retired, studious and unambitious life, and died at Madrid on the 20th of August 1773.

See F. Mendez, Noticia de la vida y escritos de Henrique Florez (Madrid, 1780).

FLORIAN, SAINT, a martyr honoured in Upper Austria. In the 8th century Puoche was mentioned as the place of his tomb, and on the site was built the celebrated monastery of canons regular, St Florian, which still exists. His Acta are of considerable antiquity, but devoid of historical value. Their substance is borrowed from the Acta of St Irenaeus of Sirmium. The cult of St Florian was introduced into Poland, together with the relics of the saint, which were brought thither in 1183 by Giles, bishop of Modena. Casimir, duke of Poland, dedicated a church at Cracow to him. He is represented in various ways, especially as a warrior holding in his hand a vessel from which he pours out flames. His protection is often sought against fire. His day in the calendar is the 4th of May.

See Acta Sanctorum, May, i. 461-467; B. Krusch, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, iii. 65-68; C. Cahier, Caractéristiques des saints, p. 490 (Paris, 1867).

(H. De.)

FLORIAN, JEAN PIERRE CLARIS DE (1755-1794), French poet and romance writer, was born on the 6th of March 1755 at the château of Florian, near Sauve, in the department of Gard. His mother, a Spanish lady named Gilette de Salgues, died when he was quite a child. His uncle and guardian, the marquis of Florian, who had married a niece of Voltaire, introduced him at Ferney and in 1768 he became page at Anet in the household of the duke of Penthièvre, who remained his friend throughout his life. Having studied for some time at the artillery school at Bapaume he obtained from his patron a captain’s commission in a dragoon regiment, and in this capacity it is said he displayed a boisterous behaviour quite incongruous with the gentle, meditative character of his works. On the outbreak of the French Revolution he retired to Sceaux, but he was soon discovered and imprisoned; and though his imprisonment was short he survived his release only a few months, dying on the 13th of September 1794.

Florian’s first literary efforts were comedies; his verse epistle Voltaire et le serf du Mont Jura and an eclogue Ruth were crowned by the French Academy in 1782 and 1784 respectively. In 1782 also he produced a one-act prose comedy, Le Bon Ménage, and in the next year Galatée, a romantic tale in imitation of the Galatea of Cervantes. Other short tales and comedies followed, and in 1786 appeared Numa Pompilius, an undisguised imitation of Fénelon’s Télémaque. In 1788 he became a member of the French Academy, and published Estelle, a pastoral of the same class as Galatée. Another romance, Gonzalve de Cordoue, preceded by an historical notice of the Moors, appeared in 1791, and his famous collection of Fables in 1792. Among his posthumous works are La Jeunesse de Florian, ou Mémoires d’un jeune Espagnol (1807), and an abridgment (1799) of Don Quixote, which, though far from being a correct representation of the original, had great and merited success.

Florian imitated Salomon Gessner, the Swiss idyllist, and his style has all the artificial delicacy and sentimentality of the Gessnerian school. Perhaps the nearest example of the class in English literature is afforded by John Wilson’s (Christopher North’s) Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life. Among the best of his fables are reckoned “The Monkey showing the Magic Lantern,” “The Blind Man and the Paralytic,” and “The Monkeys and the Leopard.”

The best edition of Florian’s Œuvres complètes appeared in Paris in 16 volumes, 1820; his Œuvres inédites in 4 volumes, 1824.

See “Vie de Florian,” by L.F. Jauffret, prefixed to his Œuvres posthumes (1802); A.J.N. de Rosny, Vie de Florian (Paris, An V.); Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi, t. iii.; A. de Montvaillant, Florian, sa vie, ses œuvres (1879); and Lettres de Florian à Mme de la Briche, published, with a notice by the baron de Barante in Mélanges published (1903) by the Société des bibliophiles français.

FLORIANOPOLIS (formerly Desterro, Nossa Senhora do Desterro and Santa Catharina, and still popularly known under the last designation), a city and port of Brazil and the capital of the state of Santa Catharina, on the western or inside shore of a large island of the same name, 485 m. S.S.W. of Rio de Janeiro, in 27° 30′ S., 48° 30′ W. Pop. (1890) 11,400, including many Germans; (1902, estimate) 16,000; of the municipality, including a large rural district and several villages (1890), 30,687. The harbour is formed by the widening of the strait separating the island from the mainland, which is nearly 2 m. wide at this point. It is approached by narrow entrances from the N. and S., which are defended by small forts. The island is mountainous and wooded, and completely shelters the harbour from easterly storms. The surroundings are highly picturesque and tropical in character, but the town itself is poorly built and unattractive. Its public buildings include the president’s official residence, arsenal, lyceum, hospital and some old churches. The climate is warm for the latitude, but the higher elevations of the vicinity are noted for their mild climate and healthfulness. There are some German colonies farther up the coast whose products find a market here, and a number of small settlements along the mainland coast add something to the trade of the town. The more distant inland towns are partly supplied from this point, but difficult mountain roads tend to restrict the trade greatly. There is a considerable trade in market produce with Rio de Janeiro, but the exports are inconsiderable. Santa Catharina was formerly one of the well-known whaling stations of the South Atlantic, and is now a secondary military and naval station.

The island of Santa Catharina was originally settled by the Spanish; Cabeza de Vaca landed here in 1542 and marched hence across country to Asuncion, Paraguay. The Spanish failed to establish a permanent colony, however, and the Portuguese took possession. The island was captured by a Spanish expedition under Viceroy Zeballos in 1777. A boundary treaty of that same year restored it to Portugal. In 1894 Santa Catharina fell into the possession of revolutionists against the government of President Floriano Peixoto. With the collapse of the revolution the city was occupied by the government forces, and its name was then changed to Florianopolis in honour of the president of the republic.

FLORIDA, the most southern of the United States of America, situated between 24° 30′ and 31° N. lat. and 79° 48′ and 87° 38′ W. long. It is bounded N. by Georgia and Alabama, E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. by the Strait of Florida, which separates it from Cuba, and by the Gulf of Mexico, and W. by Alabama and the Gulf. The Florida Keys, a chain of islands extending in a general south-westerly direction from Biscayne Bay, are included in the state boundaries, and the city of Key West, on an island of the same name, is the seat of justice of Monroe county. The total area of the state is 58,666 sq. m., of which 3805 sq. m. are water surface. The coast line is greater than that of any other state, extending 472 m. on the Atlantic and 674 m. on the Gulf Coast.

The peculiar outline of Florida gives it the name of “Peninsula State.” The average elevation of the surface of the state above the sea-level is less than that of any other state except Louisiana, but there is not the monotony of unbroken level which descriptions and maps often suggest. The N.W. portion of the state is, topographically, similar to south-eastern Alabama, being a rolling, hilly country; the eastern section is a part of the Atlantic coastal plain; the western coast line is less regular than the eastern, being indented by a number of bays and harbours, the largest of which are Charlotte Harbour, Tampa Bay and Pensacola Bay. Along much of the western coast and along nearly the whole of the eastern coast extends a line of sand reefs and narrow islands, enclosing shallow and narrow bodies of water, such as Indian river and Lake Worth—called rivers, lakes, lagoons, bays and harbours. In the central part of the state there is a ridge, extending N. and S. and forming a divide, separating the streams of the east coast from those of the west. Its highest elevation above sea-level is about 300 ft. The central region is remarkable for its large number of lakes, approximately 30,000 between Gainesville in Alachua county, and Lake Okeechobee. They are due largely to sinkholes or depressions caused by solution of the limestone of the region. Many of the lakes are connected by subterranean channels, and a change in the surface of one lake is often accompanied by a change in the surface of another. By far the largest of these lakes, nearly all of them shallow, is Lake Okeechobee, a body of water about 1250 sq. m. in area and almost uniformly shallow, its depth seldom being greater than 15 ft. Caloosahatchee river, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico near Charlotte Harbour, is its principal outlet. Among the other lakes are Orange, Crescent, George, Weir, Harris, Eustis, Apopka, Tohopekaliga, Kissimmee and Istokpoga. The chief feature of the southern portion of the state is the Everglades (q.v.), the term “Everglade State” being popularly applied to Florida. Within the state there are many swamps, the largest of which are the Big Cypress Swamp in the S. adjoining the Everglades on the W., and Okefinokee Swamp, extending from Georgia into the N.E. part of the state.

A peculiar feature of the drainage of the state is the large number of subterranean streams and of springs, always found to a greater or less extent in limestone regions. Some of them are of great size. Silver Spring and Blue Spring in Marion county, Blue Spring and Orange City Mineral Spring in Volusia county, Chipola Spring near Marianna in Jackson county, Espiritu Santo Spring near Tampa in Hillsboro county, Magnolia Springs in Clay county, Suwanee Springs in Suwanee county, White Sulphur Springs in Hamilton county, the Wekiva Springs in Orange county, and Wakulla Spring, Newport Sulphur Spring and Panacea Mineral Spring in Wakulla county are the most noteworthy. Many of the springs have curative properties, one of them, the Green Cove Spring in Clay county, discharging about 3000 gallons of sulphuretted water per minute. Not far from St Augustine a spring bursts through the sea itself with such force that the ocean breakers roll back from it as from a sunken reef. The springs often merge into lakes, and lake systems are usually the sources of the rivers, Lake George being the principal source of the St Johns, and Lake Kissimmee of the Kissimmee, while a number of smaller lakes are the source of the Oklawaha, one of the most beautiful of the Floridian rivers.

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Of the rivers the most important are the St Johns, which flows N. from about the middle of the peninsula, empties into the Atlantic a short distance below Jacksonville, and is navigable for about 250 m. from its mouth, the Withlacoochee, flowing in a general north-westerly direction from its source in the N.E. part of Polk county, and forming near its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico the boundary between Levy and Citrus counties, and four rivers, the Escambia, the Choctawatchee, the Apalachicola, and the Suwanee, having their sources in other states and traversing the north-western part of Florida. On account of its sand reefs, the east coast has not so many harbours as the west coast. The most important harbours are at Fernandina, St Augustine, and Miami on the E. coast, and at Tampa, Key West and Pensacola on the W. coast.

The soils of Florida have sand as a common ingredient.1 They may be divided into three classes: the pine lands, which often have a surface of dark vegetable mould, under which is a sandy loam resting on a substratum of clay, marl or limestone—areas of such soil are found throughout the state; the “hammocks,” which have soil of similar ingredients and are interspersed with the pine lands—large areas of this soil occur in Levy, Alachua, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Gadsden, Leon, Madison, Jefferson and Jackson counties; and the alluvial swamp lands, chiefly in E. and S. Florida, the richest class, which require drainage to fit them for cultivation.

As regards climate Florida may be divided into three more or less distinct zones. North and west of a line passing through Cedar Keys and Fernandina the climate is distinctly “southern,” similar to that of the Gulf states; from this line to another extending from the mouth of the Caloosahatchee to Indian river inlet the climate is semi-tropical, and is well suited to the cultivation of oranges; S. of this the climate is sub-tropical, well adapted to the cultivation of pineapples. Since the semi-tropical and sub-tropical zones are nearer the course of the Gulf Stream, and are swept by the trade winds, their temperatures are more uniform than those of the zones of southern climate; indeed, the extremes of heat (103° F.) and cold (13° F.) are felt in the region of southern climate. The mean annual temperature of the state is 70.8° F., greater in the sub-tropical than in the other climate zones, and the Atlantic coast is in general warmer than the Gulf Coast. The rainfall averages 52.09 in. per annum. On account of its warm climate, Florida has many resorts for health and pleasure, which are especially popular in the season from January to April; the more important are St Augustine, Ormond, Daytona, Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa, White Springs, Hampton Springs, Worthington Springs and Orange Springs.

No metals have ever been discovered in Florida. The principal minerals are rock phosphate and (recently more important) land and river pebble phosphate, found in scattered deposits in a belt on the “west coast” about 30 m. wide and extending from Tallahassee to Lake Okeechobee. The centre of the quarries is Dunnellon in Marion county, and pebble phosphate is found in Hillsboro, Polk, De Soto, Osceola, Citrus and Hernando counties. Although the economic value of the phosphate deposits was first realized about 1889, between 1894 and 1907 Florida produced, each year, more than half of all the phosphate rock produced in the whole United States, the yield of Florida (1,357,365 long tons) in 1907 being valued at $6,577,757; that of the whole country at $10,653,558. Florida is also the principal source in the United States for fuller’s earth, a deposit of which, near Quincy, was first discovered in 1893; and clay (including kaolin) is also mined to some extent. Other minerals that have been discovered but have not been industrially developed are gypsum, lignite and cement rock. The lack of a thorough geological survey has perhaps prevented the discovery of other minerals—certainly it is responsible for a late recognition of the economic value of the known mineral resources.

The flora of N. Florida is similar to that of south-eastern North America; that of S. Florida seems to be a link between the vegetation of North America and that of South America and the West Indies, for out of 247 species of S. Florida that have been examined, 187 are common to the West Indies, Mexico and South America. The forests cover approximately 37,700 sq. m., chiefly in the northern part of the state, including about half of the peninsula, yellow pine being predominant, except in the coastal marsh lands, where cypress, found throughout the state, particularly abounds. About half of the varieties of forest trees in the United States are found, and among the peculiar species are the red bay or “Florida Mahogany,” satinwood and cachibou, and the Florida yew and savin, both almost extinct. The lumber industry is important: in 1905 the total factory product of lumber and timber was valued at $10,901,650, and lumber and planing mill products were valued at $1,690,455. In 1900 this was the most valuable industry in the state; in 1905 it was second to the manufacture of tobacco. The fauna is similar in general to that of the southern United States. Among the animals are the puma, manatee (sea cow), alligator and crocodile, but the number of these has been greatly diminished by hunting. Ducks, wild turkeys, bears and wild cats (lynx) are found, but in decreasing numbers.

The fisheries are very valuable; the total number of species of fish in Florida waters is about 600, and many species found on one coast are not found on the other. The king fish and tarpon are hunted for sport, while mullet, shad, redsnappers, pompano, trout, sheepshead and Spanish mackerel are of great economic value. The sponge and oyster fisheries are also important. The total product of the fisheries in 1902 was valued at about $2,000,000.

Industry and Commerce.—The principal occupation is agriculture, in which 44% of the labouring population was engaged in 1900, but only 12.6% of the total land surface was enclosed in farms, of which only 34.6% was improved, and the total agricultural product for 1899 was valued at $18,309,104. As the number of farms increased faster than the cultivated area from 1850 to 1900, the average size of farms declined from 444 acres in 1860 to 140 in 1880 and to 106.9 in 1900, the largest class of farms being those with an acreage varying from 20 to 50 acres. Nearly three-fourths of the farms, in 1900, were cultivated by their owners, but the cash tenantry system showed an increase of 100% since 1890, being most extensively used in the cotton counties. One-third of the farms were operated by negroes, but one-half of these farms were rented, and the value of negro farm property was only one-eighth that of the entire farm property of the state. According to the state census of 1905 only 1,621,362 acres were improved; of 45,984 farms, 31,233 were worked by whites.

Fruits normally form the principal crop; the total value for 1907-8 of the fruit crops of the state (including oranges, lemons, limes, grape-fruit, bananas, guavas, pears, peaches, grapes, figs, pecans, &c.) was $6,160,299, according to the report of the State Department of Agriculture. The discovery of Florida’s adaptability to the culture of oranges about 1875 may be taken as the beginning of the state’s modern industrial development. But the unusual severity of the winters of 1887, 1894 and 1899 (the report of the Twelfth Census which gives the figures for this year being therefore misleading) destroyed three-fourths of the orange trees, and caused an increased attention to stock-raising, and to various agricultural products. Orange culture has recovered much of its importance, but it is carried on in the more southern counties of the state. The cultivation of pineapples, in sub-tropical Florida, is proving successful, the product far surpassing that of California, the only other state in the Union in which pineapples are grown. Grape-fruit, guavas and lemons are also successfully produced in this part of the state. The cultivation of strawberries and vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, beets, beans, tomatoes, egg-plant, cucumbers, water-melons, celery, &c.) for northern markets, and of orchard fruits, especially plums, pears and prunes, has likewise proved successful. In 1907-8, according to the State Department of Agriculture, the total value of vegetable and garden products was $3,928,657. In 1903, according to the statistics of the United States Department of Agriculture, Indian corn ranked next to fruits (as given in the state reports), but its product as compared with that of various other states is unimportant—in 1907 it amounted to 7,017,000 bushels only; rice is the only other cereal whose yield in 1899 was greater than that of 1889, but the Florida product was surpassed (in 1899) by that of the Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas; in 1907 the product of rice in Florida (69,000 bushels) was less than that of Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia severally. Tobacco culture, which declined after 1860 on account of the competition of Cuba and Sumatra, has revived since 1885 through the introduction of Cuban and Sumatran seed; the product of 1907 (6,937,500 ℔) was more than six times that of 1899, the product in 1899 (1,125,600 ℔) being more than twice that of 1889 (470,443 ℔), which in turn was more than twenty times that for 1880 (21,182 ℔)—the smallest production recorded for many decades. In 1907 the average farm price of tobacco was 45 cents per ℔ higher than that of any other state. In 1899, 84% of the product was raised in Gadsden county. The sweet potato and pea-nut crops have also become very valuable; on the other hand the Census of 1900 showed a decline in acreage and production of cotton. In 1907 the acreage (265,000 acres) was less than in any cotton-growing state except Missouri and Virginia; the crop for 1907-1908 was 49,794 bales. Sea-island cotton of very high grade is grown in Alachua county. The production of sugar, begun by the early Spanish settlers, declined, but that of syrup increased. Pecan nuts are a promising crop, and many groves were planted after 1905. In 1900 there were more than 1,900,000 acres of land in the state unoccupied. The low lands of the South are being drained partly by the state and partly by private companies. Irrigation, introduced in 1888 by the orange growers, has been adopted by other farmers, especially the tobacco-growers of Gadsden county, and so the evil effects of the droughts, so common from February to June, are avoided. The value of farm property in the southern counties, which have been developed very recently, shows a steady increase, that of Hillsboro county surpassing the other counties of the state. In 1907-8, according to the state Department of Agriculture, the total value of all field crops (cotton, cereals, sugar-cane, hay and forage, sweet potatoes, &c.) was $11,856,340, and the total value of all farm products (including live stock, $20,817,804, poultry and products, $1,688,433, and dairy products, $1,728,642) was $46,371,320.

The manufactures of Florida, as compared with those of other states, are unimportant. Their product in 1900 was more than twice the product in 1890, and the product in 1905 (from establishments under the factory system only) was $50,298,290, i.e. 47.1% greater than in 1900. The most important industries were those that depended upon the forests, their product amounting to nearly 45% of the entire manufactured product of the state. The lumber and timber products were valued in 1905 at $10,901,650, almost twice their valuation in 1890, and an increase of 1.2% over the product of 1900. The manufacture of turpentine and rosin, material for which is obtained from the pine forests, had increased greatly in importance between 1890 and 1900, the product in 1890 being valued at only $191,859, that of 1900 at $6,469,605, and from the latter sum it increased in 1905 to $9,901,905, an increase of more than one-half. In 1900 the state ranked second and in 1905 first of all the states of the country in the value of this product; in 1905 the state’s product amounted to 41.4% of that of the entire country. The manufacture of cigars and cigarettes (almost entirely of cigars, few cigarettes being manufactured), carried on chiefly by Cubans at Key West and Tampa, also increased in importance between 1890 and 1900, the products in the latter year being valued at $10,735,826, or more than one-quarter more than in 1890, and in 1905 there was a further increase of 56.2%, the gross value being $16,764,276, or nearly one-third of the total factory product of the state. In 1900 Florida ranked fourth in the manufacture of tobacco among the states of the Union, being surpassed by New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio; in 1905 it ranked third (after New York and Pennsylvania). Most of the tobacco used is imported from Cuba, though, as has been indicated, the production of the state has greatly increased since 1880. In the manufacture of fertilizers, the raw material for which is derived from the phosphate beds, Florida’s aggregate product in 1900 was valued at $500,239, and in 1905 at $1,590,371, an increase of 217.9% in five years.

Florida’s industrial progress has been mainly since the Civil War, for before that conflict a large part of the state was practically undeveloped. An important influence has been the railways. In 1880 the total railway mileage was 518 m.; in 1890 it was 2489 m.; in 1900, 3255 m., and in January 1909, 4,004.92 m. The largest system is the Atlantic Coast Line, the lines of which in Florida were built or consolidated by H.B. Plant (1819-1899) and once formed a part of the so-called “Plant System” of railways. The Florida East Coast Railway is also the product of one man’s faith in the country, that of Henry M. Flagler (b. 1830). The Seaboard Air Line, the Louisville & Nashville, and the Georgia Southern & Florida are the other important railways. The Southern railway penetrates the state as far as Jacksonville, over the tracks of the Atlantic Coast Line. A state railway commission, whose members are elected by the people, has power to enforce its schedule of freight rates except when such rates would not pay the operating expenses of the railway. In 1882 the Florida East Coast Line Canal and Transportation Co. was organized to develop a waterway from Jacksonville to Biscayne Bay by connecting with canals the St Johns, Matanzas, and Halifax rivers, Mosquito Lagoon, Indian river, Lake Worth, Hillsboro river, New river, and Snake Creek; in 1908 this vast undertaking was completed. The development of marine commerce has been retarded by unimproved harbours, but Fernandina and Pensacola harbours have always been good. Since 1890 much has been done by the national Government, aided in many cases by the local authorities and by private enterprise, to improve the harbours and to extend the limits of river navigation. With the increase of trade between the United States and the West Indies following the Spanish-American War (1898), the business of the principal ports, notably of Fernandina, Tampa and Pensacola, greatly increased.

Population.—The population of Florida in 1880 was 269,493; in 1890, 391,422, an increase of 45.2%; and in 1900, 528,542, or a further increase of 35%; and in 1905, by a state census, 614,845; and in 1910, 752,619. In 1900, 95.5% were native born, 43.7% were coloured (including 479 Chinese, Japanese and Indians), and in 1905 the percentages were little altered. The Seminole Indians, whose number is not definitely known, live in and near the Everglades. The urban population on the basis of places having a population of 4000 or more was 16.6% of the total in 1900 and 22.7% in 1905, the percentage for Florida, as for other Southern States, being small as compared with the percentage for most of the other states of the Union. In 1900 there were 92, and, in 1905, 125 incorporated cities, towns and villages; but only 14 (in 1905, 22) of these had a population of over 2000, and only 4 (in 1905, 8) a population of more than 5000. The four in 1900 were: Jacksonville (28,429); Pensacola (17,747); Key West (17,114); and Tampa (15,839). The eight in 1905 were Jacksonville (35,301), Tampa (22,823), Pensacola (21,505), Key West (20,498), Live Oak (7200), Lake City (6409), Gainesville (5413), and St Augustine (5121). Tallahassee is the capital of the state. In 1906 the Baptists were the strongest religious denomination; the Methodists ranked second, while the Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Protestant Episcopal churches were of relatively minor importance.

Government.—The present constitution was framed in 1885 and was ratified by the people in 1886. Its most important feature, when compared with the previous constitution of 1868, is its provision for the choice of state officials other than the governor (who was previously chosen by election) by elections instead of by the governor’s appointment, but the governor, who serves for four years and is not eligible for the next succeeding term, still appoints the circuit judges, the state attorneys for each judicial circuit and the county commissioners; he may fill certain vacancies and may suspend, and with the Senate remove officers not liable to impeachment. The governor is a member of the Board of Pardons, the other members being the attorney-general, the secretary of state, the comptroller and the commissioner of agriculture; he and the secretary of state, attorney-general, comptroller, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, and commissioner of agriculture comprise a Board of Commissioners of State Institutions; he is also a member of the Board of Education. The office of lieutenant-governor was abolished by the present constitution. The legislature meets biennially, the senators being chosen for four, the representatives for two years. By an amendment of 1896 the Senate consists of not more than 32, and the House of Representatives of not more than 68 members; by a two-thirds vote of members present the legislature may pass a bill over the governor’s veto. The three judges of the Supreme Court and the seven of the circuit court serve for six years, those of the county courts for four years, and justices of the peace (one for each justice district, of which the county commissioners must form at least two in each county) hold office for four years. The constitutional qualifications for suffrage are: the age of twenty-one years, citizenship in the United States or presentation of naturalization certificates at registration centres, residence in the state one year and in the county six months, and registration. To these requirements the payment of a poll-tax has been added by legislative enactment, such an enactment having been authorized by the constitution. Insane persons and persons under guardianship are excluded by the constitution, and “all persons convicted of bribery, perjury, larceny or of infamous crime, or who shall make or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager the result of which shall depend upon any election,” or who shall participate as principal, second or challenger in any duel, are excluded by legislative enactment.

Amendments to the constitution may be made by a three-fifths vote of each house of the legislature, ratified by a majority vote of the people. A revision of the Constitution may be made upon a two-thirds vote of all members of both Houses of the legislature, if ratified by a majority vote of the people; a Constitutional Convention is then to be provided for by the legislature, such convention to meet within six months of the passage of the law therefor, and to consist of a number equal to the membership of the House of Representatives, apportioned among the counties, as are the members of this House.

A homestead of 160 acres, or of one-half of an acre in an incorporated town or city, owned by the head of a family residing in the state, with personal property to the value of $1000 and the improvements on the real estate, is exempt from enforced sale except for delinquent taxes, purchase money, mortgage or improvements on the property. The wife holds in her own name property acquired before or after marriage; the intermarriage of whites and negroes (or persons of negro descent to the fourth generation) is prohibited. All these are constitutional provisions. By legislative enactment whites and blacks living in adultery are to be punished by imprisonment or fine; divorces may be secured only after two years’ residence in the state and on the ground of physical incapacity, adultery, extreme cruelty, habitual indulgence in violent temper, habitual drunkenness, desertion for one year, previous marriage still existing, or such relationship of the parties as is within the degrees for which marriage is prohibited by law. Legitimacy of natural children can be established by subsequent marriage of the parents, and the age of consent is sixteen years.

The bonded debt was incurred during the Reconstruction Period (1865-1875). In 1871 7% 30 year bonds to the extent of $350,000 were issued and in 1873 another issue of 6% 30 year bonds to the value of $925,000 was made. Most of these were held by the Educational Fund at the time of their maturity. By 1901 all but $267,700 of the issue of 1871 had been retired and this amount was then refunded with 3% 50 year bonds which were taken by the Educational Fund. In 1903 $616,800 of the 1873 issue was held by the Educational Fund and $148,000 by individuals. The first part of this claim was refunded by a new bond issue, also taken by the Educational Fund, the second was paid from an Indian war claim of $692,946, received from the United States government in 1902, when $132,000 bonds of 1857, held by the United States government, were also extinguished. The bonded debt was thus reduced to $884,500; and on the 1st of January 1909 the debt, consisting of refunding bonds held as educational funds, amounted to $601,567.

Penal System.—There is no penitentiary; the convicts are hired to the one highest bidder who contracts for their labour, and who undertakes, moreover, to lease all other persons convicted during the term of the lease, and sub-leases the prisoners. In 1889 the convicts were placed under the care of a supervisor of convicts, and in 1905 the law was amended so that one or more supervisors could be appointed at the will of the governors. In 1908 there were four supervisors and one state prison physician, and there are special laws designed to prevent abuses in the system. In 1908 the state received $208,148 from the lease of convicts. Decrepit prisoners were formerly leased, but in 1906 the lease excluded such as were thought unfit by the state prison physician. Women convicts were still leased with the men in 1908; of the 446 convicts committed in that year, there were 15 negro females, 356 negro males and 75 white males. In the same year 54 escaped, and 27 were recaptured. The leased convicts are employed in the turpentine and lumber industries and in the phosphate works. The 1232 convicts “on hand” at the close of 1908 were held in 38 camps, 4 being the minimum, and 160 the maximum number, at a camp. In 1908 two central hospitals for the prisoners were maintained by the lessee company. County prison camps are under the supervision of the governor and the supervisors of convicts. The state supervisors must inspect each state prison camp and each county prison camp every thirty days.

Education.—As early as 1831 an unsuccessful attempt was made to form an adequate public school fund; the first real effort to establish a common school system for the territory was made after 1835; in 1840 there were altogether 18 academies and 51 common schools, and in 1849 the state legislature made an appropriation in the interest of the public instruction of white pupils, and this was supplemented by the proceeds of land granted by the United States government for the same purpose. In 1852 Tallahassee established a public school; and in 1860 there were, according to a report of the United States census, 2032 pupils in the public schools of the state, and 4486 in “academies and other schools.” The Civil War, however, interrupted the early progress, and the present system of common schools dates from the constitution of 1868 and the school law of 1869. The school revenue derived from the interest of a permanent school fund, special state and county taxes, and a poll-tax, in 1907-1908 amounted to $1,716,161; the per capita cost for each child of school age was $6.11 (white, $9.08; negro, $2.24), and the average school term was 108 days (112 for whites, 99 for negroes). The state constitution prescribes that “white and colored children shall not be taught in the same school, but impartial provision shall be made for both.” The percentage of enrolment in 1907-1908 was 60 (whites, 66; negroes, 52). The percentage of attendance to enrolment was 70%,—68% for white and 74% for negro schools. Before 1905 the state provided for higher education by the Florida State College, at Tallahassee, formerly the West Florida Seminary (founded in 1857); the University of Florida, at Lake City, which was organized in 1903 by enlarging the work of the Florida Agricultural College (founded in 1884); the East Florida Seminary, at Gainesville (founded 1848 at Ocala); the normal school (for whites) at De Funiak Springs; and the South Florida Military Institute at Bartow; but in 1905 the legislature passed the Buckman bill abolishing all these state institutions for higher education and establishing in their place the university of the state of Florida and a state Agricultural Experiment Station, both now at Gainesville, and the Florida Female College at Tallahassee, which has the same standards for entrance and for graduation as the state university for men. Private educational institutions in Florida are John B. Stetson University at De Land (Baptist); Rollins College (1885) at Winter Park (non-sectarian), with a collegiate department, an academy, a school of music, a school of expression, a school of fine arts, a school of domestic and industrial arts, and a business school; Southern College (1901), at Sutherland (Methodist Episcopal, South); the Presbyterian College of Florida (1905), at Eustis; Jasper Normal Institute (1890), at Jasper, and the Florida Normal Institute at Madison. The negroes have facilities for advanced instruction in the Florida Baptist Academy, and Cookman Institute (Methodist Episcopal, South), both at Jacksonville, and in the Normal and Manual Training School (Congregational), at Orange Park. There are a school for the Blind, Deaf, and Dumb (1885) at St. Augustine, a hospital for the insane at Chattahoochee and a reform school at Marianna, all wholly supported by the state, and a Confederate soldiers’ and sailors’ home at Tallahassee, which is partially supported by the state.

History.—The earliest explorations and attempts at colonization of Florida by Europeans were made by the Spanish. The Council of the Indies claimed that since 1510 fleets and ships had gone to Florida, and Florida is shown on the Cantino map of 1502. In 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon (c. 1460-1521), who had been with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and had later been governor of Porto Rico, obtained a royal grant authorizing him to discover and settle “Bimini,”—a fabulous island believed to contain a marvellous fountain or spring whose waters would restore to old men their youth or at least had wonderful curative powers. Soon after Easter Day he came in sight of the coast of Florida, probably near the mouth of the St Johns river. From the name of the day in the calendar, Pascua Florida, or from the fact that many flowers were found on the coast, the country was named Florida. De León seems to have explored the coast, to some degree, on both sides of the peninsula, and to have turned homeward fully convinced that he had discovered an immense island. He returned to Spain in 1514, and obtained from the king a grant to colonize “the island of Bimini and the island of Florida,” of which he was appointed adelantado, and in 1521 he made another expedition, this one for colonization as well as for discovery. He seems to have touched at the island of Tortugas, so named on account of the large number of turtles found there, and to have landed at several places, but many of his men succumbed to disease and he himself was wounded in an Indian attack, dying soon afterward in Cuba. Meanwhile, in 1516, another Spaniard, Diego Miruelo, seems to have sailed for some distance along the west coast of the peninsula. The next important exploration of Florida was that of Panfilo de Narvaez. In 1527 he sailed from Cuba with about 600 men (soon reduced to less than 400), landed (early in 1528) probably at the present site of Pensacola, and for six months remained in the country, he and his men suffering terribly from exposure, hunger and fierce Indian attacks. In September, his ships being lost and his force greatly reduced in number, he hastily constructed a crazy fleet, re-embarked probably at Apalachee Bay, and lost his life in a storm probably near Pensacola Bay. Only four of his men, including Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, succeeded after eight years of Indian captivity and of long and weary wanderings, in finding their way to Spanish settlements in Mexico. Florida was also partially explored by Ferdinando de Soto (q.v.) in 1539-1540. In the summer of 1559 another attempt at colonization was made by Tristan de Luna, who sailed from Vera Cruz, landed at Pensacola Bay, and explored a part of Florida and (possibly) Southern Alabama. Somewhere in that region he desired to make a permanent settlement, but he was abandoned by most of his followers and gave up his attempt in 1561.

In the following year, Jean Ribaut (1520-1565), with a band of French Huguenots, landed first near St Augustine and then at the mouth of the St Johns river, which he called the river of May, and on behalf of France claimed the country, which he described as “the fairest, fruitfullest and pleasantest of all the world”; but he made his settlement on an island near what is now Beaufort, South Carolina. In 1564 René de Laudonnière (? -c. 1586), with another party of Huguenots, established Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St Johns, but the colony did not prosper, and in 1565 Laudonnière was about to return to France when (on the 28th of August) he was reinforced by Ribaut and about 300 men from France. On the same day that Ribaut landed, a Spanish expedition arrived in the bay of St Augustine. It was commanded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1523-1574), one of whose aims was to destroy the Huguenot settlement. This he did, putting to death almost the entire garrison at Fort Caroline “not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans,” on the 20th of September 1565. The ships of Ribaut were soon afterwards wrecked near Matanzas Inlet; he and most of his followers surrendered to Menéndez and were executed. Menéndez then turned his attention to the founding of a settlement which he named St Augustine (q.v.); he also explored the Atlantic coast from Cape Florida to St Helena, and established forts at San Mateo (Fort Caroline), Avista, Guale and St Helena. In 1567 he returned to Spain in the interest of his colony.

The news of the destruction of Fort Caroline, and the execution of Ribaut and his followers, was received with indifference at the French court; but Dominique de Gourgues (c. 1530-1593), a friend of Ribaut but probably a Catholic, organized an expedition of vengeance, not informing his men of his destination until his three ships were near the Florida coast. With the co-operation of the Indians under their chief Saturiba he captured Fort San Mateo in the spring of 1568, and on the spot where the garrison of Fort Caroline had been executed, he hanged his Spanish prisoners, inscribing on a tablet of pine the words, “I do this not as unto Spaniards but as to traitors, robbers and murderers.” Feeling unable to attack St Augustine, de Gourgues returned to France.

The Spanish settlements experienced many vicissitudes. The Indians were hostile and the missionary efforts among them failed. In 1586 St Augustine was almost destroyed by Sir Francis Drake and it also suffered severely by an attack of Captain John Davis in 1665. Not until the last decade of the 17th century did the Spanish authorities attempt to extend the settlements beyond the east coast. Then, jealous of the French explorations along the Gulf of Mexico, they turned their attention to the west coast, and in 1696 founded Pensacola. When the English colonies of the Carolinas and Georgia were founded, there was constant friction with Florida. The Spanish were accused of inciting the Indians to make depredations on the English settlements and of interfering with English commerce and the Spanish were in constant fear of the encroachments of the British. In 1702, when Great Britain and Spain were contending in Europe, on opposite sides, in the war of the Spanish Succession, a force from South Carolina captured St Augustine and laid siege to the fort, but being unable to reduce it for lack of necessary artillery, burned the town and withdrew at the approach of Spanish reinforcements. In 1706 a Spanish and French expedition against Charleston, South Carolina, failed, and the Carolinians retaliated by invading middle Florida in 1708 and again in 1722. In 1740 General James Edward Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, supported by a naval force, made an unsuccessful attack upon St Augustine; two years later a Spanish expedition against Savannah by way of St Simon’s Island failed, and in 1745 Oglethorpe again appeared before the walls of St Augustine, but the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 prevented further hostilities. Pensacola, the other centre of Spanish settlement, though captured and occupied (1719-1723) by the French from Louisiana, had a more peaceful history.

By the treaty of Paris in 1763 Florida was ceded to England in return for Havana. The provinces of East Florida and West Florida were now formed, the boundaries of West Florida being 31° N. lat. (when civil government was organized in 1767, the N. line was made 32° 28′), the Chattahoochee, and the Apalachicola rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi Sound, Lakes Borgne, Pontchartrain and Maurepas, and the Mississippi river. A period of prosperity now set in. Civil in place of military government was instituted; immigration began; and Andrew Turnbull, an Englishman, brought over a band of about 1500 Minorcans (1769), whom he engaged in the cultivation of indigo at New Smyrna. Roads were laid out, some of which yet remain; and in the last three years of English occupation the government spent $580,000 on the two provinces. Consequently, the people of Florida were for the most part loyal to Great Britain during the War of American Independence. In 1776, the Minorcans of New Smyrna refused to work longer on the indigo plantations; and many of them removed to St Augustine, where they were protected by the authorities. Several plans were made to invade South Carolina and Georgia, but none matured until 1778, when an expedition was organized which co-operated with British forces from New York in the siege of Savannah, Georgia. In the following year, Spain having declared war against Great Britain, Don Bernardo de Galvez (1756-1794), the Spanish governor at New Orleans, seized most of the English forts in West Florida, and in 1781 captured Pensacola.

By the treaty of Paris (1783) Florida reverted to Spain, and, no religious liberty being promised, many of the English inhabitants left East and West Florida. A dispute with the United States concerning the northern boundary was settled by the treaty of 1795, the line 31° N. lat. being established.

The westward expansion of the United States made necessary American ports on the Gulf of Mexico; consequently the acquisition of West Florida as well as of New Orleans was one of the aims of the negotiations which resulted in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. After the cession of Louisiana to the United States, the people of West Florida feared that that province would be seized by Bonaparte. They, therefore, through a convention at Buhler’s Plains (July 17, 1810), formulated plans for a more effective government. When it was found that the Spanish governor did not accept these plans in good faith, another convention was held on the 26th of September which declared West Florida to be an independent state, organized a government and petitioned for admission to the American Union. On the 27th of October President James Madison, acting on a theory of Robert R. Livingston that West Florida was ceded by Spain to France in 1800 along with Louisiana, and was therefore included by France in the sale of Louisiana to the United States in 1803, declared West Florida to be under the jurisdiction of the United States. Two years later the American Congress annexed the portion of West Florida between the Pearl and the Mississippi rivers to Louisiana (hence the so-called Florida parishes of Louisiana), and that between the Pearl and the Perdido to the Mississippi Territory.

In the meantime war between Great Britain and the United States was imminent. The American government asked the Spanish authorities of East Florida to permit an American occupation of the country in order that it might not be seized by Great Britain and made a base of military operations. When the request was refused, American forces seized Fernandina in the spring of 1812, an action that was repudiated by the American government after protest from Spain, although it was authorized in official instructions. About the same time an attempt to organize a government at St Mary’s was made by American sympathizers, and a petty civil war began between the Americans, who called themselves “Patriots,” and the Indians, who were encouraged by the Spanish. In 1814 British troops landed at Pensacola to begin operations against the United States. In retaliation General Andrew Jackson captured the place, but in a few days withdrew to New Orleans. The British then built a fort on the Apalachicola river, and there directed expeditions of Indians and runaway negroes against the American settlements, which continued long after peace was concluded in 1814. In 1818 General Jackson, believing that the Spanish were aiding the Seminole Indians and inciting them to attack the Americans, again captured Pensacola. By the treaty of 1819 Spain formally ceded East and West Florida to the United States; the treaty was ratified in 1821, when the United States took formal possession, but civil government was not established until 1822.

Indian affairs furnished the most serious problems of the new Territory of Florida. The aborigines, who seemed to have reached a stage of civilization somewhat similar to that of the Aztecs, were conquered and exterminated or absorbed by Creeks about the middle of the 18th century. There was a strong demand for the removal of these Creek Indians, known as Seminoles, and by treaties at Payne’s Landing in 1832 and Fort Gibson in 1833 the Indian chiefs agreed to exchange their Florida lands for equal territory in the western part of the United States. But a strong sentiment against removal suddenly developed, and the efforts of the United States to enforce the treaty brought on the Seminole War (1836-42), which resulted in the removal of all but a few hundred Seminoles whose descendants still live in southern Florida.

In 1845 Florida became a state of the American Union. On the 10th of January 1861 an ordinance of secession, which declared Florida to be a “sovereign and independent nation,” was adopted by a state convention, and Florida became one of the Confederate States of America. The important coast towns were readily captured by Union forces; Fernandina, Pensacola and St Augustine in 1862, and Jacksonville in 1863; but an invasion of the interior in 1864 failed, the Union forces being repulsed in a battle at Olustee (on the 20th of February 1864). In 1865 a provisional governor was appointed by President Andrew Johnson, and a new state government was organized. The legislature of 1866 rejected the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, and soon afterwards Florida was made a part of the Third Military District, according to the Reconstruction Act of 1867. Negroes were now registered as voters by the military authorities, and another Constitutional Convention met in January and February 1868. A factional strife in the dominant party, the Republican, now began; fifteen delegates withdrew from the convention; the others framed a constitution, and then resolved themselves into a political convention. The seceding members with nine others then returned and organized; but the factions were reconciled by General George M. Meade. A new constitution was framed and was ratified by the electors, and Florida passed from under a quasi-military to a full civil government on the 4th of July 1868.

The factional strife in the Republican party continued, a number of efforts being made to impeach Governor Harrison Reed (1813-1899). The decisive year of the Reconstruction Period was 1876. The Canvassing Board, which published the election returns, cast out some votes, did not wait for the returns from Dade county, and declared the Republican ticket elected. George F. Drew (1827-1900), the Democratic candidate for governor, then secured a mandamus from the circuit court restraining the board from going behind the face of the election returns; this was not obeyed and a similar mandamus was therefore obtained from the supreme court of Florida, which declared that the board had no right to determine the legality of a particular vote. According to the new count thus ordered, the Democratic state ticket was elected. By a similar process the board’s decision in favour of the election of Republican presidential electors was nullified, and the Democratic electors were declared the successful candidates; but the electoral commission, appointed by Congress, reversed this decision. (See Electoral Commission.)

Since 1876 Florida has been uniformly Democratic in politics.

American Governors of Florida.

Territorial Governors.

Andrew Jackson

1821-1822

William P. Duval

1822-1834

John H. Eaton

1834-1835

Richard K. Call

1835-1840

Robert R. Reid

1840-1841

Richard K. Call

1841-1844

John Branch

1844-1845

State Governors.

William D. Moseley

1845-1849

Democrat

Thomas Brown

1849-1853

Whig

James E. Broome

1853-1857

Democrat

Madison S. Perry

1857-1861

  ”

John Milton

1861-1865

  ”

William Marvin

1865

Provisional

David S. Walker

1865-1868

Democrat

Harrison Reed

1868-1872

Republican

Ossian B. Hart

1873-1874

  ”

Marcellus L. Stearns

1874-1877

  ”

George F. Drew

1877-1881

Democrat

William D. Bloxham

1881-1885

  ”

Edward A. Perry

1885-1889

  ”

Francis P. Fleming

1889-1893

  ”

Henry L. Mitchell

1893-1897

  ”

William D. Bloxham

1897-1901

  ”

William S. Jennings

1901-1905

  ”

Napoleon B. Broward

1905-1909

  ”

Albert W. Gilchrist

1909-

  ”

Bibliography.—Physical and economic conditions are discussed in a pamphlet (591 pp.) published by the State Department of Agriculture, Florida, a Pamphlet Descriptive of its History, Topography, Climate, Soil, &c. (Tallahassee, 1904); in Climate, Soil and Resources of Florida (United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1882); A Preliminary Report on the Soils of Florida (United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Soils, Bulletin 13, 1898); C.L. Norton’s Handbook of Florida (2nd edition, New York, 1892); the volumes of the Twelfth Census of the United States (for 1900) which treat of Agriculture and Manufactures, and the Special Report on Mines and Quarries for 1902. J.N. MacGonigle’s “Geography of Florida” (National Geographic Magazine, vol. 7), T.D.A. Cockerell’s “West Indian Fauna in Florida” (Nature, vol. 46), L.F. Pourtales’s “Flora and Fauna of the Florida Keys” (American Naturalist, vol. 11), and C.F. Millspaugh’s Flora of the Sand Keys of Florida (Chicago, 1907), a Field Columbian Museum publication, are of value. To sportsmen, C.B. Cory’s Hunting and Fishing in Florida (Boston, 1896) and A.W. and J.A. Dimock’s Florida Enchantments (New York, 1908) are of interest. For administration, see Wilbur F. Yocum’s Civil Government of Florida (De Land, Florida, 1904); and the Revised Statutes of Florida (1892). The standard history is that by G.R. Fairbanks, History of Florida (Philadelphia, 1871). This should be supplemented by D.G. Brinton’s Notes on the Floridian Peninsula, its Literary History, Indian Tribes and Antiquities (Philadelphia, 1859), which has an excellent descriptive bibliography of the early explorations; Woodbury Lowery, The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States (New York, vol. i., 1901; vol. ii., sub-title Florida, 1905); R.L. Campbell’s Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida (Cleveland, 1892), which treats at length of the history of Pensacola; H.E. Chambers’s West Florida and its Relation to the Historical Cartography of the United States (Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science, Series 16, No. 5); and Herbert B. Fuller’s The Purchase of Florida; its History and Diplomacy (Cleveland, O., 1906). The only published collections of documents relating to the state are Buckingham Smith’s Colleccion de varios documentos para la historia de la Florida y tierras adyacentes (London, 1857), and Benjamin F. French’s Historical Collections of Louisiana (New York, 1846-1875).

1 Almost everywhere limestone is the underlying rock, but siliceous sands, brought out by the Atlantic rivers to the N.E., are carried the whole length of the Florida coast by marine action.

FLORIDABLANCA, DON JOSE MOÑINO Y REDONDO, Count of (1728-1808), Spanish statesman, was born at Murcia in 1728. He was the son of a retired army officer, and received a good education, which he completed at the university of Salamanca, especially applying himself to the study of law. For a time he followed the profession of an advocate, and acquired a high reputation. A more public career was opened to him by the marquis of Esquilache, then chief minister of state, who sent him ambassador to Pope Clement XIV. Successful in his mission, he was soon after appointed by Charles III. successor to his patron, and his administration was one of the most brilliant Spain had ever seen. He regulated the police of Madrid, reformed many abuses, projected canals, established many societies of agriculture and economy and many philanthropical institutions, and gave encouragement to learning, science and the fine arts. Commerce flourished anew under his rule, and the long-standing disputes with Portugal about the South American colonies were settled. He sought to strengthen the alliance of Spain with Portugal by a double marriage between the members of the royal houses, designing by this arrangement to place ultimately a Spanish prince on the throne of Portugal. But in this he failed. Floridablanca was the right-hand man of King Charles III. in his policy of domestic reform, and was much under the influence of French philosophes and economic writers. Like other reformers of that school he was a strong supporter of the royal authority and a convinced partisan of benevolent despotism. The French Revolution frightened him into reaction, and he advocated the support of the first coalition against France. He retained his office for three years under Charles IV.; but in 1792, through the influence of the favourite Godoy, he was dismissed and imprisoned in the castle of Pampeluna. Here he was saved from starvation only by the intervention of his brother. He was afterwards allowed to retire to his estates, and remained in seclusion till the French invasion of 1808. He was then called by his countrymen to take the presidency of the central junta. But his strength failed him, and he died at Seville on the 20th of November of the same year. He left several short treatises on jurisprudence.

See Obras originales del Conde de Floridablanca, edited, with biographical introduction, by A. Ferrer del Rio; in the Biblioteca de Rivadeneyra, vol. lix.

FLORIDOR [Josias de Soulas, Sieur de Prinefosse] (d. c. 1671), French actor, was born in Brie early in the 17th century, the son of a gentleman of German family who had moved to France, married there, and become a Roman Catholic. The son entered the French army, but after being promoted ensign, quitted the army for the theatre, where he took the name of Floridor. His first Paris appearance was in 1640. Three years later he was called to the company at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, where he played all the leading parts in tragedy and comedy and became the head of his profession. He was a man of superb physique and excellent carriage, with a flexible and sonorous voice, and manners of rare distinction and elegance. He was much liked at court, and Louis XIV. held him in particular esteem. He died in 1671 or 1672.

FLORIN, the name applied to several coins of the continent of Europe and to two coins struck in England at different times. The word comes through the Fr. florin from the Ital. fiorino, flower, Lat. flos, florem. Fiorino was the Italian name of a gold coin issued at Florence in 1252, weighing about fifty-four grains. This coin bore on the obverse a lily, from which it took its name of “the flower,” on the reverse the Latin name of the city Florentia, from which it was also known as a “florence.” “Florin” and “florence” seem to have been used in English indiscriminately as the name of this coin. The Florentine florin was held in great commercial repute throughout Europe, and similar coins were struck in Germany, other parts of Italy, France, &c. The English gold florin was introduced by Edward III. in 1343, half and quarter florins being struck at the same time. This gold florin weighed 108 grains and was to be current for six shillings. It was found, however, to be overvalued in proportion to the silver currency and was demonetized the following year. The florin did not again appear in the English coinage until 1849, when silver coins with this name, having a nominal value of two shillings (one-tenth of a pound), were struck. When first issued the “Dei gratia” was omitted from the inscription, and they were frequently referred to as the “Godless” or “graceless” florins. The D.G. was added in 1852. In 1887 a double florin or four shilling piece was issued, but its coinage was discontinued in 1890. The total value of double florins issued during these years amounted to £533,125. (See also Numismatics.)

FLORIO, GIOVANNI (1553?-1625), English writer, was born in London about 1553. He was of Tuscan origin, his parents being Waldenses who had fled from persecution in the Valtelline and taken refuge in England. His father, Michael Angelo Florio, was pastor of an Italian Protestant congregation in London in 1550. He was attached to the household of Sir William Cecil, but dismissed on a charge of immorality. He dedicated a book on the Italian language to Henry Herbert, and may have been a tutor in the family of William Herbert, earl of Pembroke. Anthony à Wood says that the Florios left England on the accession of Queen Mary, but returned after her death. The son resided for a time at Oxford, and was appointed, about 1576 tutor to the son of Richard Barnes, bishop of Durham, then studying at Magdalen College. In 1578 Florio published a work entitled First Fruits, which yield Familiar Speech, Merry Proverbs, Witty Sentences, and Golden Sayings (4to). This was accompanied by A Perfect Induction to the Italian and English Tongues. The work was dedicated to the earl of Leicester. Three years later Florio was admitted a member of Magdalen College, and became a teacher of French and Italian in the university. In 1591 appeared his Second Fruits, to be gathered of Twelve Trees, of divers but delightsome Tastes to the Tongues of Italian and English men; to which was annexed the Garden of Recreation, yielding six thousand Italian Proverbs (4to). These manuals contained an outline of the grammar, a selection of dialogues in parallel columns of Italian and English, and longer extracts from classical Italian writers in prose and verse. Florio had many patrons; he says that he “lived some years” with the earl of Southampton, and the earl of Pembroke also befriended him. His Italian and English dictionary, entitled A World of Words, was published in folio in 1598. After the accession of James I., Florio was named French and Italian tutor to Prince Henry, and afterwards became a gentleman of the privy chamber and clerk of the closet to the queen, whom he also instructed in languages. His magnum opus is the admirable translation of the Essayes on Morall, Politike, and Millitarie Discourses of Lo. Michaell de Montaigne, published in folio in 1603 in three books, each dedicated to two noble ladies. A second edition in 1613 was dedicated to the queen. Special interest attaches to the first edition from the circumstance that of the several copies in the British Museum library one bears the autograph of Shakespeare—long received as genuine but now supposed to be by an 18th-century hand—and another that of Ben Jonson. It was suggested by Warburton that Florio is satirized by Shakespeare under the character of Holofernes, the pompous pedant of Love’s Labour’s Lost, but it is much more likely, especially as he was one of the earl of Southampton’s protégés, that he was among the personal friends of the dramatist, who may well have gained his knowledge of Italian and French from him. He had married the sister of the poet Daniel, and had friendly relations with many writers of his day. Ben Jonson sent him a copy of Volpone with the inscription, “To his loving father and worthy friend Master John Florio, Ben Jonson seals this testimony of his friendship and love.” He is characterized by Wood, in Athenae Oxonienses, as a very useful man in his profession, zealous for his religion, and deeply attached to his adopted country. He died at Fulham, London, in the autumn of 1625.

FLORIS, FRANS, or more correctly Frans de Vriendt, called Floris (1520-1570), Flemish painter, was one of a large family trained to the study of art in Flanders. Son of a stonecutter, Cornelis de Vriendt, who died at Antwerp in 1538, he began life as a student of sculpture, but afterwards gave up carving for painting. At the age of twenty he went to Liége and took lessons from Lambert Lombard, a pupil of Mabuse, whose travels in Italy had transformed a style truly Flemish into that of a mongrel Leonardesque. Following in the footsteps of Mabuse, Lambert Lombard had visited Florence, and caught the manner of Salviati and other pupils of Michelangelo and Del Sarto. It was about the time when Schoreel, Coxcie and Heemskerk, after migrating to Rome and imitating the masterpieces of Raphael and Buonarroti, came home to execute Dutch-Italian works beneath the level of those produced in the peninsula itself by Leonardo da Pistoia, Nanaccio and Rinaldo of Mantua. Fired by these examples, Floris in his turn wandered across the Alps, and appropriated without assimilation the various mannerisms of the schools of Lombardy, Florence and Rome. Bold, quick and resolute, he saw how easy it would be to earn a livelihood and acquire a name by drawing for engravers and painting on a large scale after the fashion of Vasari. He came home, joined the gild of Antwerp in 1540, and quickly opened a school from which 120 disciples are stated to have issued. Floris painted strings of large pictures for the country houses of Spanish nobles and the villas of Antwerp patricians. He is known to have illustrated the fable of Hercules in ten compositions, and the liberal arts in seven, for Claes Jongeling, a merchant of Antwerp, and adorned the duke of Arschot’s palace of Beaumont with fourteen colossal panels. Comparatively few of his works have descended to us, partly because they came to be contemned for their inherent defects, and so were suffered to perish, partly because they were soon judged by a different standard from that of the Flemings of the 16th century. The earliest extant canvas by Floris is the “Mars and Venus ensnared by Vulcan” in the Berlin Museum (1547), the latest a “Last Judgment” (1566) in the Brussels gallery. Neither these nor any of the intermediate works at Alost, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Dresden, Florence, Léau, Madrid, St Petersburg and Vienna display any charm of originality in composition or in form. Whatever boldness and force they may possess, or whatever principles they may embody, they are mere appropriations of Italian models spoiled in translation or adaptation. Their technical execution reveals a rapid hand, but none of the lustre of bright colouring; and Floris owed much of his repute to the cleverness with which his works were transferred to copper by Jerome Cock and Theodore de Galle. Whilst Floris was engaged on a Crucifixion of 27 ft., and a Resurrection of equal size, for the grand prior of Spain, he was seized with illness, and died on the 1st of October 1570 at Antwerp.

FLORUS, Roman historian, flourished in the time of Trajan and Hadrian. He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus (25 B.C.). The work, which is called Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum omnium annorum DCC Libri duo, is written in a bombastic and rhetorical style, and is rather a panegyric of the greatness of Rome, whose life is divided into the four periods of infancy, youth, manhood and old age. It is often wrong in geographical and chronological details; but, in spite of its faults, the book was much used in the middle ages. In the MSS. the writer is variously given as Julius Florus, Lucius Anneus Florus, or simply Annaeus Florus. From certain similarities of style he has been identified with Publius Annius Florus, poet, rhetorician and friend of Hadrian, author of a dialogue on the question whether Virgil was an orator or poet, of which the introduction has been preserved.

The best editions are by O. Jahn (1852), C. Halm (1854), which contain the fragments of the Virgilian dialogue. There is an English translation in Bohn’s Classical Library.

FLORUS, JULIUS, poet, orator, and jurist of the Augustan age. His name has been immortalized by Horace, who dedicated to him two of his Epistles (i. 3; ii. 2), from which it would appear that he composed lyrics of a light, agreeable kind. The statement of Porphyrion, the old commentator on Horace, that Florus himself wrote satires, is probably erroneous, but he may have edited selections from the earlier satirists (Ennius, Lucilius, Varro). Nothing is definitely known of his personality, except that he was one of the young men who accompanied Tiberius on his mission to settle the affairs of Armenia. He has been variously identified with Julius Florus, a distinguished orator and uncle of Julius Secundus, an intimate friend of Quintilian (Instit. x. 3, 13); with the leader of an insurrection of the Treviri (Tacitus, Ann. iii. 40); with the Postumus of Horace (Odes, ii. 14) and even with the historian Florus.

FLORUS, PUBLIUS ANNIUS, Roman poet and rhetorician, identified by some authorities with the historian Florus (q.v.). The introduction to a dialogue called Virgilius orator an poëta is extant, in which the author (whose name is given as Publius Annius Florus) states that he was born in Africa, and at an early age took part in the literary contests on the Capitol instituted by Domitian. Having been refused a prize owing to the prejudice against African provincials, he left Rome in disgust, and after travelling for some time set up at Tarraco as a teacher of rhetoric. Here he was persuaded by an acquaintance to return to Rome, for it is generally agreed that he is the Florus who wrote the well-known lines quoted together with Hadrian’s answer by Aelius Spartianus (Hadrian 16). Twenty-six trochaic tetrameters, De qualitate vitae, and five graceful hexameters, De rosis, are also attributed to him. Florus is important as being the first in order of a number of 2nd-century African writers who exercised a considerable influence on Latin literature, and also the first of the poëtae neoterici or novelli (new-fashioned poets) of Hadrian’s reign, whose special characteristic was the use of lighter and graceful metres (anapaestic and iambic dimeters), which had hitherto found little favour.

The little poems will be found in E. Bährens, Poëtae Latini minores (1879-1883); for an unlikely identification of Florus with the author of the Pervigilium Veneris (q.v.) see E.H.O. Müller, De P. Annio Floro poëta et de Pervigilio Veneris (1855), and, for the poet’s relations with Hadrian, F. Eyssenhardt, Hadrian und Florus (1882); see also F. Marx in Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencyclopädie, i. pt. 2 (1894).

FLOTOW, FRIEDRICH FERDINAND ADOLF VON, Freiherr (1812-1883), German composer, was born on his father’s estate at Teutendorf, in Mecklenburg, on the 27th of April 1812. Destined originally for the diplomatic profession, his passion for music induced his father to send him to Paris to study under Reicha. But the outbreak of the revolution in 1830 caused his return home, where he busied himself writing chamber-music and operetta until he was able to return to Paris. There he produced Pierre et Cathérine, Rob Roy, La Duchesse de Guise, but made his first real success with Le Naufrage de la Méduse at the Renaissance Théâtre in 1838. Greater, however, was the success which attended Stradella (1844) and Martha (1847), which made the tour of the world. In 1848 Flotow was again driven home by the Revolution, and in the course of a few years he produced Die Grossfürstin (1850), Indra (1853), Rübezahl (1854), Hilda (1855) and Albin (1856). From 1856 to 1863 he was director (Intendant) of the Schwerin opera, but in the latter year he returned to Paris, where in 1869 he produced L’Ombre. From that time to the date of his death he lived in Paris or on his estate near Vienna. He died on the 24th of January 1883. Of his concert-music only the Jubelouvertüre is now ever heard. His strength lay in the facility of his melodies.

FLOTSAM, JETSAM and LIGAN, in English law, goods lost at sea, as distinguished from goods which come to land, which are technically designated wreck. Jetsam (the same word as jettison, from Lat. jactare, to throw) is when goods are cast into the sea, and there sink and remain under water; flotsam (floatson, from float, Lat. flottare) is where they continue floating on the surface of the waves; ligan (or lagan, from lay or lie) is where they are sunk in the sea, but tied to a cork or buoy in order to be found again. Flotsam, jetsam and ligan belong to the sovereign in the absence only of the true owner. Wreck, on the other hand (i.e. goods cast on shore), was by the common law adjudged to the sovereign in any case, because it was said by the loss of the ship all property was gone out of the original owner. This singular distinction which treated goods washed ashore as lost, and goods on and in the sea as not lost, is no doubt to be explained by the primitive practice of plundering wrecked ships. (See Wreck.)

FLOUNDER, a common term for flat-fish. The name is also more specially given to certain varieties, according to local usage. Thus the Pleuronectes flesus is the common flounder of English terminology, found along the coasts of northern Europe from the Bristol Channel to Iceland. It is particularly partial to fresh water, ascending the Rhine as far as Cologne. It rarely exceeds a length of 12 in. or a weight of 1½ ℔ In American terminology the principal fish of the name are the “summer flounders” or “deep-sea flounders,” also known in America as “plaice” (Paralichthys dentatus), as long as 3 ft. and as heavy as 15 ℔; the “four-spotted flounders” (Paralichthys oblongus); the “common” or “winter” flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus); the “diamond flounder” (Hysopsetta guttulata); and the “pole flounder” (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus).

FLOUR and FLOUR MANUFACTURE. The term “flour” (Fr. fleur, flower, i.e. the best part) is usually applied to the triturated farinaceous constituents of the wheat berry (see Wheat); it is, however, also used of other cereals and even of leguminoids when ground into a fine powder, and of many other substances in a pulverulent state, though in these cases it is usual to speak of rye flour, bean flour, &c. The flour obtained from oats is generally termed oatmeal. In Great Britain wheaten flour was commonly known in the 16th and 17th centuries as meal, and up to the beginning of the 19th century, or perhaps later, the term mealing trade was not infrequently used of the milling trade.

The ancestor of the millstone was apparently a rounded stone about the size of a man’s fist, with which grain or nuts were pounded and crushed into a rude meal. These stones are generally of hard sandstone and were evidently Primitive grinding. used against another stone, which by dint of continual hammering was broken into hollows. Sometimes the crusher was used on the surface of rocks. St Bridget’s stone, on the shore of Lough Macnean, is supposed to have been a primitive Irish mill; there are many depressions in the face of the table-like rock, and it is probable that round this stone several women (for in early civilization the preparation of flour was peculiarly the duty of the women) would stand and grind, or rather pound, meal. Many such stones, known as Bullan stones, still exist in Ireland. Similar remains are found in the Orkneys and Shetlands, and it is on record that some of these stones have been used for flour-making within historic times. Richard Bennett in his History of Corn Milling remarks that the Seneca Indians to this day boil maize and crush it into a paste between loose stones. In the same way the Omahas pound this cereal in holes in the rocks, while the Oregon Indians parch and pound the capsules of the yellow lily, much after the fashion described by Herodotus in his account of the ancient Egyptians. In California the Indian squaws make a sort of paste by crushing acorns between a round stone or “muller,” and a cuplike hollow in the surface of a rock. Crushing stones are of different shapes, ranging from the primitive ball-like implement to an elongated shape resembling the pestle of a mortar. Mullers of the latter type are not infrequent among prehistoric remains in America, while Dr Schliemann discovered several specimens of the globular form on the reputed site of the city of Troy, and also among the ruins of Mycenae. As a matter of fact stone mullers survived in highly civilized countries into modern days, if indeed they are now altogether extinct.

The saddle-stone is the connecting link between the primitive pounder, or muller, and the quern, which was itself the direct ancestor of the millstones still used to some extent in the manufacture of flour. The saddle-stone, the Saddle-stone. first true grinding implement, consisted of a stone with a more or less concave face on which the grain was spread, and in and along this hollow surface it was rubbed and ground into coarse meal. Saddle-stones have been discovered in the sand caves of Italy, among the lake dwellings of Switzerland, in the dolmens of France, in the pit dwellings of the British Isles, and among the remains of primitive folk all the world over. The Romans of the classical period seem to have distinguished the saddle-stone from the quern. We find allusions to the mola trusatilis, which may be translated “the thrusting mill”; this would fairly describe a backwards and forwards motion. The mola versatilis evidently referred to the revolving millstone or quern. In primitive parts of the world the saddle-stone is not yet extinct, as for instance in Mexico. It is known as the metata, and is used both for grinding maize and for making the maize cakes known as tortillas. The same implement is apparently still in use in some parts of South America, notably in Chile.

According to Richard Bennett, the quern, the first complete milling machine, originated in Italy and is in all probability not older than the 2nd century B.C. This is, however, a controverted point. Querns are still used in most Quern. primitive countries, nor is it certain that they have altogether disappeared from remoter districts of Scotland and Ireland. Whatever was their origin, they revolutionized flour milling. The rotary motion of millstones became the essential principle of the trituration of grain, and exists to-day in the rolls of the roller mill. The early quern appears to have differed from its descendants in that it was somewhat globular in shape, the lower stone being made conical, possibly with the idea that the ground flour should be provided with a downward flow to enable it to fall from the stones. This type did not, however, persist. Gradually the convexity disappeared and the surface of the two stones became flat or very nearly so. In the upper stone was a species of funnel, through which the grain passed as through a hopper, making its way thence, as the stone revolved, into the space between the running and the bed stone. The ground meal was discharged at the periphery. The runner, or upper stone, was provided with a wooden handle by which the stone was revolved. The typical Roman mill of the Augustan age may be seen at Pompeii. Here, in what is believed to have been a public pistrinum or mill, were found four pairs of millstones. The circular base of these mills is 5 ft. in diameter and 1 ft. high, and upon it was fastened the meta, a blunt cone about 2 ft. high, on which fitted the upper millstone or catillus, also conical. These mills were evidently rotated by slave labour, as there was no room for the perambulation of a horse or donkey, while the side-lugs in which the handle-bars were inserted are plainly visible. Slave labour was generally used up to the introduction of Christianity, but was finally abolished by the emperor Constantine, though even after his edict mills continued to be driven by criminals.

The Romans are credited by some authorities with having first applied power to the driving of millstones, which they connected with water-wheels by a horizontal spindle through the intervention of bevel gearing. But long Use of power. after millstones had been harnessed to water power slave labour was largely employed as a motive force. The watermill of the Romans was introduced at a relatively early period into Britain. Domesday Book shows that England was covered by mills of a kind at the time of the Norman conquest, and mentions some 500 mills in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk alone. No doubt the mola of Domesday Book consisted of one pair of stones connected by rude gearing with a water-wheel. Windmills are said to have been introduced by the Crusaders, who brought them from the East. Steam power is believed to have been first used in a British flour mill towards the close of the 18th century, when Boulton & Watt installed a steam engine in the Albion Flour Mills in London, erected under the care of John Rennie. Another great engineer, Sir William Fairbairn, in the early days of the 19th century, left the impress of his genius on the mill and all its accessories. He was followed by other clever engineers, and in the days immediately preceding the roller period many improvements were introduced as regards the balancing and driving of millstones. The introduction of the blast and exhaust to keep the stones cool was a great step in advance, while the substitution of silk gauze for woollen or linen bolting cloth, about the middle of the 19th century, marked another era in British milling. Millstones, as used just before the introduction of roller milling, were from 4 to 4½ ft. in diameter by some 12 in. in thickness, and were usually made of a siliceous stone, known as buhr-stone, much of which came from the quarry of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, in France.

Nine-tenths, or perhaps ninety-nine hundredths, of all the flour consumed in Great Britain is made in roller mills, that is, mills in which the wheat is broken and floured by means of rollers, some grooved in varying degrees Roller milling. of fineness, some smooth, their work being preceded and supplemented by a wide range of other machinery. All roller mills worthy of the name are completely automatic, that is to say, from the time the raw material enters the mill warehouse till it is sacked, either in the shape of finished flour or of offals, it is touched by no human hand.

The history of roller milling extends back to the first half of the 19th century. Roller mills, that is to say, machines fitted with rolls set either horizontally, or vertically, or obliquely, for the grinding of corn, are said to have been used as far back as the 17th century, but if this be so it is certain that they were only used in a tentative manner. Towards the middle of the 19th century the firm of E.R. & F. Turner, of Ipswich, began to build roller mills for breaking wheat as a preliminary to the conversion of the resultant middlings on millstones. The rolls were made of chilled iron and were provided with serrated edges, which must have exercised a tearing action on the integuments of the berry. These mills were built to the design of a German engineer, of the name of G.A. Buchholz, and were exhibited at the London exhibition of 1862, but they never came into general use. It has also been stated that as early as 1823 a French engineer, named Collier, of Paris, patented a roller mill, while five years later a certain Malar took out another French patent, the specification of which speaks of grooves and differential speeds. But the direct ancestors of the roller mills of the present day were brought out some time in the third decade of the 19th century by a Swiss engineer named Sulzberger. His apparatus was rather cumbrous, and the chilled iron rolls with which it was fitted consumed a large amount of power relatively to the work effected. But the Pester Walz-Mühle, founded in 1839 by Count Szechenyi, a Hungarian nobleman, which took its name from the roller mills with which it was equipped by Sulzberger, was for many years a great success; some of its roller mills are said to have been kept at work for upwards of forty years, and one at least is preserved in the museum at Budapest.

It may be noted that Hungarian wheat is hard and flinty and well adapted for treatment by rolls. Moreover, gradual reduction, as now understood, was more or less practised in Hungary, even before the introduction of roller Hungarian practice. milling. Though millstones, and not rolls, were used, yet the wheat was not floured at one operation, as in typical low or flat grinding, but was reduced to flour in several successive operations. In the first break the stones would be placed just wide enough apart to “end” the wheat, and in each succeeding operation the stones were brought closer together. But Hungarian milling was not then automatic in the sense in which British millers understand the word. For a long time a great deal of hand labour was employed in the merchant mills of Budapest in carrying about products from one machine to another for further treatment. This practice may have been partly due to the cheap labour available, but it was also the deliberate policy of Hungarian millers to handle in this way the middlings and fine “dunst,” because it was maintained that only thus could certain products be delivered to the machine by which they were to be treated in the perfection of condition. The results were good so far as the finished products were concerned, but in the light of modern automatic milling the system appears uneconomical. Not only did it postulate an inordinately large staff, but it further increased the labour bill by the demand it made on the number of sub-foremen who were occupied in classifying, largely by touch, the various products, and directing the labourers under them. Hungarian milling still differs widely from milling as practised in Great Britain in being a longer system. This is due to the more minute subdivision of products, a necessary consequence of the large number of grades of flour and offals made in Hungary, where there are many intermediate varieties of middlings and “dunst” for which no corresponding terms are available in an English miller’s vocabulary.

It will be convenient here to explain the meaning of three terms constantly used by millers, namely, semolina, middlings and dunst. These three products of roller mills are practically identical in composition, but represent Semolina, middlings, dunst. different stages in the process of reducing the endosperm of the wheat to flour. A wheat berry is covered by several layers of skin, while under these layers is the floury kernel or endosperm. This the break or grooved rolls tend to tear and break up. The largest of these more or less cubical particles are known as semolina, whilst the medium-sized are called middlings and the smallest sized termed dunst. The last is a German word, with several meanings, but is used in this particular sense by German and Austrian millers, from whom it was doubtless borrowed by the pioneers of roller milling in England. If we were to lay a sample of fairly granular flour beside a sample of small dunst the two would be easy to distinguish, but place a magnifying glass over the flour and it would look very like the dunst. If we were to repeat this experiment on dunst and fine middlings, the former would under the glass present a strong resemblance to the middlings. The same effect would be produced by the putting side by side of large middlings and small semolina. This is a broad description of semolina, middlings and dunst. Semolina and middlings are more apt to vary in appearance than dunst, because the latter is the product of the later stages of the milling process and represents small particles of the floury kernel tolerably free from such impurities as bran or fluff. The flour producing middlings must not be confounded with the variety of wheat offal which is also known to many English millers as middlings. This consists of husk or bran, more or less comminuted, and with a certain proportion of floury particles adherent. It is only fit for feeding beasts.

The spread of roller milling on the continent of Europe was undoubtedly accelerated by the invention of porcelain rolls, by Friedrich Wegmann, a Swiss miller, which were brought into general use in the seventh decade of the Porcelain rolls. 19th century, and are still widely employed. They are admirably fitted for the reduction of semolina, middlings and dunst into flour; and for reducing pure middlings, that is, middlings containing no bran or wheat husk, there is perhaps nothing that quite equals them. They were introduced into Great Britain in 1877, or thereabouts, and were used for several years, but ultimately they almost disappeared from British mills. This was partly due to the fact that as made at that date they were rather difficult to work, as it was not easy to keep the rolls perfectly parallel. Another drawback was their inadaptability to over-heavy feeds, to which the British, and perhaps still more the American, miller is frequently obliged to resort. However, since the beginning of the 20th century some of the most advanced flour mills in England have again taken to using porcelain rolls for some part of their reduction process.

The birth of roller milling in Great Britain may be said to date from 1872, when Oscar Oexle, a German milling engineer, erected a set of roller mills in the Tradeston Mills, in Glasgow. This was long before the introduction of Roller milling in England. automatic roller mills. But the foundations of the millstone system were not seriously disturbed till 1877, when a party of leading British and Irish millers visited Vienna and Budapest with the object of studying roller milling in its native home. In 1878 J.H. Carter installed in the mill of J. Boland, of Dublin, what was probably the first complete automatic roller plant erected in the United Kingdom, and in 1881 a milling exhibition held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, London, showed the automatic roller system in complete operation. From that time the roller system made great progress. By 1885 many of the leading British millers had installed full roller plants, and in the succeeding ten years small roller plants were installed in many country mills. For a time there was a transition stage in which there was in operation a number of so-called “combined” plants, that is to say, mills in which the wheat was broken on millstones or disk mills, while the middlings were reduced by smooth rolls; but these gradually dropped out of being.

Well-found British flour mills at the present time are probably the best fitted in the world, and as a whole have nothing to fear from comparison with their American competitors. It is true that American millers were rather quicker to copy Hungarian milling methods so far as gradual reduction was concerned. But from about 1880 the British miller was quite awake to his position and was straining every nerve to provide himself with a plant capable of dealing with every kind of wheat. It has often been said that he commands the wheat of the whole world. This is true in a sense, but it is not true that he can always command the exact kind of wheat he requires at the price required to meet foreign competition. Therein he is at a disadvantage. But engineers have done their best to meet this weak point, and by their assistance he is able to compete under almost all conditions with the millers of the whole world.

Processes of Milling.—Fully to appreciate the various processes of modern milling, it must be remembered not only that the wheat as delivered at the mill is dusty and mixed with sand and even more objectionable refuse, but also that it contains many light grains and seeds of other plants. It is not therefore sufficient for the miller to be able to reduce the grain to flour on the most approved principles; he must also have at command the means of freeing it from foreign substances, and further of “conditioning” it, should it be damp or over dry and harsh. Again, his operations must be conducted with reference to the structure of the wheat grain. The wheat berry is a fruit, not a seed, the actual seed being the germ or embryo, a kidney-shaped body which is found at the base of the berry and is connected with the plumule or root. The germ is tough in texture and is in roller milling easily separated from the rest of the berry, being flattened instead of crushed by the rolls and thus readily sifted from the stock. The germ contains a good deal of fatty matter, which, if allowed to remain, would not increase the keeping qualities of the flour. Botanists distinguish five skins on the berry—epidermis, epicarp, endicarp, episperm and embryous membrane—but for practical purposes the number of integuments may be taken as three. The inner skin is often as thick as the outer and second skins together, which are largely composed of woody fibre; it contains the cerealin or aleurone cells, but although these are made up of a certain proportion of proteids, on account of the discolouring and diastasic action of the cerealin in flour they are best eliminated. The endosperm, or floury kernel, coming next to the inner skin, consists of starch granules which are caught as it were in the minute meshes of a net. This network is the gluten, and it may be noted that these meshes are not of equal consistency throughout the berry, but are usually finer and more dense near the husk than in the interior of the kernel. This glutinous portion is of great importance to the baker because on its quantity and quality depends the “strength” or rising power of the flour, and the aim of modern roller milling is to retain it as completely as possible, a matter of some difficulty owing to its close adherence to the husk, especially in the richest wheats. Another organ of the wheat berry which has a most important bearing on the work of the miller is the placenta, which is in effect a cord connecting the berry with its stalk or straw. The placenta serves to filter the food which the plant sucks up from the ground; it passes up the crease of the berry, and is enfolded in the middle skin, being protected on the outer side by the first and having the third or inner skin on its other side. A good deal of the matters filtered by the placenta are mineral in their nature, and such portions as are not digested remain in the crease. This is the matter which millers call “crease dirt.” It is highly discolouring to flour, and must be carefully eliminated. The fuzzy end of the berry known as the beard also has a distinct function; its hairs are in reality tubes which serve to carry off superfluous moisture. They have, in common with the bran, no nutritive value. (See also Wheat.)

In the old “flat” or “low” milling the object was to grind as perfectly as possible, at one operation, the central substance of the grain, constituting the flour, and to separate it from the embryo and outer skins constituting the bran. In “high” milling, on the other hand, the grinding is effected in a series of operations, the aim being to get as much semolina and middlings as possible from the wheat, and to make as little flour as possible during the earlier or “breaking” part of the process. It is impossible altogether to avoid the production of flour at this stage, but properly set and worked break-rolls will make as little as 15% of “break-flour,” which is of less value, being contaminated with crease dirt, and also because it is weak owing to the absence of the gluten cells which adhere more readily to the middlings. Whole wheaten flour, sometimes called Graham flour, consists of the entire grain ground up to a uniform mass.

Wheat cleaning has been well called the foundation of all good milling. In the screen house, as the wheat-cleaning department of the mill is termed, will be found an array of machinery almost equal in range and variety to that in the mill Dry cleaning. itself. The wheat, drawn by an elevator from the barge, or hoisted in sacks, is first treated by a machine known as a warehouse separator. This apparatus accomplishes its work by means of flat sieves, some of which will be of much coarser mesh than others, and of air currents, the adjustment of which is a more delicate task than might appear. The warehouse separator serves to free dirty wheat of such impurities as lumps of earth, stones, straws and sand, not to mention small seeds, also some maize, oats and barley. Great care has to be exercised in all operations of the screen house lest wheat should pass away with the screenings. Besides the warehouse separator, which is made in different types and sizes, grading and sorting cylinders, and what are known as cockle and barley cylinders, are much used in the screen house. These cylinders are provided with indents so shaped and of such size as to catch seeds which are smaller than wheat, and reject grains, as of barley or oats, which are longer than wheat. Sorting cylinders should be followed by machines known as scourers, the function of which is to free the wheat from adherent impurities. These machines are of different types, but all depend on percussive action. A vertical scourer consists of a number of steel or iron beaters attached to a vertical spindle which revolves inside a metallic woven or perforated casing, the whole being fitted with an effectual exhaust. Scourers with horizontal spindles are also in great favour. Not every wheat is suitable for scouring, but some wheats are so mingled with impurities that a severe action between the beaters and the perforated case is absolutely necessary. The most efficient scourer is that which frees the wheat from the greatest amount of impurity with a minimum of abrasion. The beaters should be adjustable to suit different kinds of wheat. Scourers are followed by brush machines which are similar to the last and are of three distinct types: solid, divided and cone brushes. In the solid variety the brush surface is continuous around the circumference of a revolving cylinder; in divided brushes there is often a set of beaters or bars covered with brush but leaving intermediate spaces; while the cone brush consists of beaters covered with fibre arranged like cones around a vertical spindle. The object of all these brushes, the cylinder containing them being fitted with an exhaust fan, is to polish the wheat and remove adhering impurities which the percussive action of the scourer may have failed to eliminate, also to remove the beard or fuzzy end and any loose portions of the outer husk. But the miller must be careful not to overdo the scouring action and unnecessarily abrade the berry, else he will have trouble with his flour, the triturated bran breaking under the rolls and producing powder which will discolour the break flour. To remove such metallic fragments as nails, pieces of wire, &c., magnets are used. These may either be of horseshoe shape, in which case they are usually set at the head of the wheat spouts, or they may consist of magnetized plates set at angles over which the wheat will slide. It is not a bad plan to place the magnets just before the first set of break-rolls, where they should ensure the arrest of steel and iron particles, which might otherwise get between the rolls and spoil the edges of their grooves, and also do damage to the sifting machines. Mention must also be made of the automatic scales which are used to check the milling value of the wheat. In principle these machines are all the same, though details of construction may vary. Each weigher is set for a given weight of grain. As soon as the receiving hopper has poured through a valve into the recipient or skip, which is hung at one end of a beam scale, a load of grain sufficient to overcome the weight hung at the other end of the beam, the inlet of grain is automatically cut off and the skip is discharged, automatically returning to take another charge. Each weighing is automatically recorded on a dial. In this way a record can be kept of the gross weight of the uncleaned wheat entering the warehouse and of the net weight of the cleaned wheat. The difference between the two weighings will, of course, represent the loss by cleaning. The percentage of flour obtained from a given wheat can be ascertained in the mill itself. In practice the second weigher is placed just before the first break.

The cleansing of wheat by washing only became a fine art at the close of the 19th century, though it was practised in the north of England some twenty years earlier. Briefly it may be said that certain wheats are washed to free them from extraneous Wet cleaning and conditioning. matters such as adherent earth and similar impurities which could not be removed by dry cleaning without undue abrasion. Such wheats are Indians, Persians and hard Russians, and these require not only washing but also conditioning, by which is meant mellowing, before going to the rolls. With another class of wheats, such as the softer Russians and Indians, spring Americans and Canadians, hard American winters, Californians and the harder River Plates, washing and conditioning by heat is also desirable, though care must be exercised not to let the moisture penetrate into the endosperm or floury portion of the kernel. In a third and distinct class fall soft wheats, such as many kinds of Plates, soft Russians and English wheat. It is generally admitted that while wheat of the first two divisions will benefit from the application of both moisture and heat, wheat of the third class must be washed with great circumspection. The object of washing machines is to agitate the wheat in water till the adherent foreign matters are washed off and any dirt balls broken up and drained off in the waste water. To this end some washers are fitted with Archimedean worm conveyors set either at an inclined angle or horizontally or vertically; or the washer may consist of a barrel revolving in a tank partly filled with water. Another function of washing machines is to separate stones of the same size which are found in several varieties of wheat. This separation is effected by utilizing a current of water as a balance strong enough to carry wheat but not strong enough to carry stones or bodies of greater specific gravity than wheat. This current may be led up an inclined worm or may flow horizontally over a revolving tray. The washer is followed by a whizzer, which is an apparatus intended to free the berry by purely mechanical means from superfluous moisture. The typical whizzer is a vertical column fed at the bottom and delivering at the top. The wet wheat ascends by centrifugal force in a spiral direction round the column to the top, and by the time it is discharged from the spout at the top it has thrown off from its outer skin almost all its moisture, the water escaping through the perforated cover of the machine. But there still remains a certain amount of water which has penetrated the integuments more or less deeply, and to condition the berry it is treated by a combination of hot and cold air. The wheat is passed between perforated metal plates and subjected to a draught first of hot and then of cold air. The perforated plates are usually built in the shape of a column, or leg as it is often called, and this is provided with two air chambers, an upper one serving as a reservoir for hot, and the lower for cold air. The air from both chambers is discharged by pressure through the descending layers of wheat, which should not be more than an inch thick; the air is drawn in by a steel-plate fan, which is often provided with a divided casing, one side being used for cold, and the other for hot air. Coupled with the hot air side is a heater consisting of a series of circulating steam-heated pipes. The temperature of the heated air can be regulated by the supply of steam to the heater. This process of washing and conditioning, one of the most important in a flour mill, is characteristically British; millers have to deal with wheats of the most varied nature, and one object of conditioning is to bring hard and harsh, soft and weak wheats as nearly as possible to a common standard of condition before being milled. Wheat is sometimes washed to toughen the bran, an end which can also be attained by damping it from a spraying pipe as it passes along an inclined worm. Another way of toughening bran is to pass wheat through a heated cylinder, while again another process known as steaming consists of injecting steam into wheat as it passes through a metal hopper. Here the object is to cleanse to some extent, and to warm and soften (by the condensation of moisture on the grain), but these processes are imperfect substitutes for a full washing and conditioning plant. Hard wheats will not be injured by a fairly long immersion in water, always provided the subsequent whizzing and drying are efficiently carried out. The second class of semi-hard wheats already mentioned must be run more quickly through the washer and freed from the water as rapidly as possible. Still more is this necessary with really soft wheats, such as soft River Plates and the softer English varieties. Here an immersion of only a few seconds is desirable, while the moisture left by the water must be immediately and energetically thrown off by the whizzer before the grain enters the drier. Treated thus, soft wheats may be improved by washing. It is claimed that hard wheats, like some varieties of Indians, are positively improved in flavour by conditioning, and this is probably true; certain it is that English country millers, in seasons when native wheat was scarce and dear, and Indian wheat was abundant and cheap, have found the latter, mellowed by conditioning, to be an excellent substitute.

Wheats which have been exposed to the action of water during harvest do not necessarily yield unsound flour; the matter is a question of the amount of moisture absorbed. But it must be remembered that it is not so much the water Effect of damp. itself which degrades the constituents of the wheat (starch and gluten) as the chemical changes which the dampness produces. Hence perhaps the best remedy which can be found for damp wheat is to dry it as soon as it has been harvested, either by kiln or steam drier at a heat not exceeding 120° F., until the moisture has been reduced to 10% of the whole grain. The flour made from wheat so treated may be weak, but will not usually be unsound. The practice of drying damp flour has also good results. Long before the roller milling period it was found that only flour which had been dried (in a kiln) could safely be taken on long sea voyages, especially when the vessel had to navigate warm latitudes. It may be noted that in the days of millstone milling it was far more difficult to produce good keeping flour. The wheat berry being broken up and triturated in one operation, the flour necessarily contained a large proportion of branny particles in which cerealin, an active diastasic constituent, was present in very sensible proportions. Again, the elimination of the germ by the roller process is favourable to the production of a sounder flour, because the germ contains a large amount of oleaginous matter and has a strong diastasic action on imperfectly matured starches. The tendency of flours containing germ to become rancid is well marked. During the South African War of 1899-1902 the British army supply department had a practical proof of the diastasic action of branny particles in flour. Soldiers’ bread is not usually of white colour, and the military authorities not unnaturally believed that comparatively low-grade flour, if sound, was eminently suitable for use in the field bakeries. But in the climate of South Africa flour of this description soon developed considerable acidity. Ultimately the supply department gave up buying any but the driest patent flours, and it is understood that the most suitable flour proved to be certain patents milled in Minneapolis, U.S.A., from hard spring wheat. Not only did they contain a minimum of branny and fibrous matters, but they were also the driest that could be found.

After being cleaned the wheat berry is split and broken up into increasingly fine pieces by fluted rolls or “breaks.” In the earlier years of roller milling it was usual to employ more breaks than is now the case. The first pair of break-rolls used Break-rolls. to be called the splitting rolls, because their function was supposed to be to split the berry longitudinally down its crease, so as to give the miller an opportunity of removing the dirt between the two lobes of the berry by means of a brush machine. The dirt was in many cases no more than the placenta already described, which shrivelling up took, like all vegetable fibre, a dark tint. The neat split along the crease was not, however, achieved in more than 10% of the berries so treated. Where such rolls are still in use they are really serving as a sort of adjunct to the wheat-cleaning system. Four or five breaks are now thought sufficient, but three breaks are not recommended, except in very short systems for small country mills. Rolls are now used up to 60 in. in length, though in one of the most approved systems they never exceed 40 in.; they are made of chilled iron, and for the breaking of wheat are provided with grooving cut at a slight twist, the spiral averaging ¼ in. to the foot length, though for the last set of break-rolls, which clean up the bran, the spiral is sometimes increased to ½ in. per foot. The grooves should have sharp edges because they do better work than when blunt, giving larger semolina and middlings, with bran adherent in big flakes; small middlings, that is, little pieces of the endosperm torn away by blunt grooves, and comminuted bran, make the production of good class flour almost impossible; cut bran, moreover, brings less money. The break-rolls should never work by pressure, but nip the material fed between them at a given point; to cut or shear, not to flatten and crush, is their function. Rolls may be set either horizontally or vertically; an oblique setting has also come into favour. The feed is of the utmost importance to the correct working of a roller mill. The material should be fed in an even stream, not too thick, and leaving no part of the roll uncovered. The two rolls of each pair are run at unequal speeds, 2½ to 1 being the usual ratio on the three first breaks, while the last break is often speeded at 3 to 1 or 3½ to 1; in one of the oblique mills the difference is obtained by making the diameter of one roll 13 and of the other 10 in. and running them at equal speed. For break-rolls up to 36 in. in length 9 in. is the usual diameter; for longer rolls 10 in. is the standard. To do good work rolls must run in perfect parallelism; otherwise some parts of the material will pass untouched, while others will be treated too severely.

The products of the break-rolls are treated by what are known as scalpers, which are simply machines for sorting out these products for further treatment. Scalpers may either be revolving reels or flat sieves. The sieve is the favourite form of Scalpers. scalper on account of its gentle action. Scalping requires a separating and sifting, not a scouring action. The break products are usually separated on a sieve covered with wire or perforated zinc plates. Generally speaking, two sieves are in one frame and are run at a slight incline. The throughs of the top sieve fall on the sieve below, while the rejections or overtails of the first sieve are fed to the next break. The “throughs,” or what has passed this sieve, are graded by the next sieve, the tailings going to a purifier, while the throughs may be freed from what flour adheres to them by a centrifugal dressing machine and then treated by another purifier. A form of scalper which has come into general use on the continent of Europe, and to a lesser extent in Great Britain and America, is known as the plansifter. This machine, of Hungarian origin, is simply a collection of superimposed flat sieves in one box, and will scalp or sort out any kind of break stock very efficiently. A system of grading the tailings, that is, the rejections of the scalpers, introduced by James Harrison Carter (Carter-Zimmer patent), was known as pneumatic sorting. Its object was to supplement the work of the scalpers by classifying the tailings by means of air-currents. To this end each scalper was followed by a machine arranged somewhat like a gravity purifier; that is to say, a current of air drawn through the casing of the sorter allowed the heaviest and best material to drop down straight, while the lighter stuff was deposited in one or other of further compartments formed by obliquely placed adjustable cant boards. So searching was this grading, that from the first sorter of a four-break plant four separations would be obtained, the first going to the second break, the second joining the first separation from the second sorter and being fed to the third break, while the third went with the best separation of the third sorter to the fourth break, and the last separation from all the sorters went straight into the bran sack. The work of the break-rolls was greatly simplified and reduced by this sorting process, as each particle of broken wheat went exactly to that pair of break-rollers for which it was suitable, instead of all the material being run indiscriminately through all the break-rollers and thereby being cut up with the necessary result of increasing the production of small bran.

The object of the purifier, a machine on which milling engineers have lavished much thought and labour, is to get away from the semolina and middlings as much impure matter as possible, that those products may be pure, as millers say, for Purifiers. reduction to flour by the smooth rolls. The purifiers used in British mills take advantage of the fact that the more valuable portions of the wheat berry are heavier than the less valuable particles, such as bran and fibrous bodies, and a current of air is employed to weigh these fragments of the wheat berry as in a balance and to separate them while they pass over a silk-covered sieve. To this end the semolina or middlings are fed on a sieve vibrated by an eccentric and set at a slight downward angle. This sieve is installed in an air-tight longitudinal wooden chamber with glass windows on either side, through which the process of purifying can be watched. Upwards through this sieve a fan constantly draws a current of air, which, raising the stock upwards, allows the heavier and better material to remain below while the lighter particles are lifted off and fall on side platforms or channels, whence they are carried forward and delivered separately. The good material drops through the meshes of the silk, and is collected by a worm. It is usual to clothe the sieve in sections with several different meshes of silk so that stock of almost identical value, but differing size, may be treated with uniform accuracy. In good purifiers the strength of the current can be regulated at will in each section. The tailings of a purifier do not usually exceed 10 to 15% of the feed. The clothing of purifier sheets must be nicely graduated to the clothing of the preceding machines. Repurification and even tertiary purification may be necessary under certain conditions. In Hungary and other parts of Europe, gravity purifiers are much in use. Here the material is guided along an open sieve set at a slight angle, while an air-current is drawn up at an acute angle. Under the sieve may be arranged a series of inclined boards, the position of which can be varied as required. The heaviest and most valuable products resist the current and drop straight down, while lighter material is carried off to further divisions.

From the purifier all the stock except the tailings, which may require other treatment, should go to the smooth rollers to be made into flour, but here the rollerman will have to exercise great care and discretion. Many of the remarks already Smooth rolls. made in regard to break-rolls apply to smooth rolls, notably in respect of parallelism. But instead of a cutting action, the smooth rolls press the material fed to them into flour. This pressure, however, must be applied with great discrimination, large semolina with impurities attached requiring quite different treatment from that called for by small pure middlings. The pressure on the stock must be just sufficient and no more. Reduction rolls are usually run at a differential speed of about 2 to 3. The feed must be carefully graded, because to pass stock of varying size through a pair of smooth rolls would be fatal to good work. Scratch rolls very finely grooved are used for cracking impure semolina or for reducing the tailings of purifiers. The latter often hold fragments of bran, which are best detached by rolls grooved about 36 to the inch and run at a differential of 3 to 1. The reduction requires even more roll surface than the break system. To do first-class work a mill should have at least 35 to 40 in. on the breaks and 50 in. on the reduction for each sack of 280 ℔ of flour per hour. Many engineers consider 100 to 110 in. on the break, scratch and smooth rolls not too much.

The dressing out of the flour from the stock reduced on smooth rolls is generally effected by centrifugal machines, which consist of a slowly revolving cylinder provided with an internal shaft on which are keyed a number of iron beaters that Dressing. run at a speed of about 200 revolutions a minute, and fling the feed against the silk clothing of the cylinder. What goes through the silk is collected by a worm conveyor at the bottom of the machine. Most centrifugals have so-called “cut-off” sheets, with internal divisions in the tail end; these are intended to separate some intermediate products, which, having been freed from floury particles, are treated on some other machine, such as a pair of rolls either direct or after a purifier. The centrifugal is undoubtedly an efficient flour separator, but the plansifters already mentioned are also good flour-dressers, especially in dry climates. A plansifter mill will have no centrifugals, except one or two at the tail end where the material gets more sticky and requires more severe treatment.

The yield of flour obtained in a British roller mill averages 70 to 73% of the wheat berry. The residue, with the exception of a very small proportion of waste, is offal, which is divided into various grades and sold. Profitable markets for British-made bran have been found in Scandinavia, and especially in Denmark. In millstone milling the yield of flour probably averaged 75 to 80%, but a certain proportion of this was little more than offal. The length of the flour yield taken by British millers varies in different parts of the kingdom, because demand varies. In one locality high-class patents may be at a premium; in another the call is for a straight grade, i.e. a flour containing as much of the farinaceous substance as can be won from the wheat berry. In one district there is a sale for rich offals, that is, offals with plenty of flour adhering; in another there may be no demand for such offals. Hence, though the general principles of roller milling as given above hold good all over the country, yet in practice the work of each mill is varied more or less to suit the peculiarities of the local trade.

Early in the 19th century a French chemist, J.J.E. Poutet, discovered that nitrous acid and oxides of nitrogen act on some fluid and semi-fluid vegetable oils, removing their yellow tinge and converting a considerable portion of their substance Bleaching of flour. into a white solid. The importance of this discovery, when the physical constitution of wheat is considered, is obvious, but it was years before any attempt was made to bleach flour. The first attempts at bleaching seem to have been made on the wheat itself rather than on the flour. In 1879 a process was patented for bleaching grain by means of chlorine gas, and about 1891 a suggestion was made for bleaching grain by means of electrolysed sea-water. In 1895 a scheme was put forward for treating grain with sulphurous acid, and about two years later it was proposed to subject both grain and flour to the influence of electric currents. In 1893 a patent was granted for the purification of flour by means of fresh air or oxygen, and three years later another inventor proposed to employ the Röntgen rays for the same purpose. In 1898 Emile Frichot took out a patent for using ozone and ozonized air for flour-bleaching. The patent (No. 1661 of 1901) taken out by J. & S. Andrews of Belfast recited that flour is known to improve greatly if kept for some time after grinding, and the purpose of the invention it covered was to bring about this improvement or conditioning not only immediately after grinding, but also to a greater extent than can be effected by keeping. The process consisted in subjecting the flour to the action of a suitable gaseous oxidizing medium; the inventors preferred air carrying a minute quantity of nitric acid or peroxide of nitrogen, but they did not confine themselves to those compounds, having found that chlorine, bromine and other substances capable of liberating oxygen were also more or less efficacious. They claimed that while exercising no deleterious action their treatment made the flour whiter, improved its baking qualities, and rendered it less liable to be attacked by mites or other organisms. Under the patent, No. 14006 of 1903, granted to J.N. Alsop of Kentucky the flour was treated with atmospheric air which had been subjected to the action of an arc or flaming discharge of electricity, with the purpose of purifying it and improving its nutritious properties. The Andrews and Alsop patents became the objects of extended litigation in the English courts, and it was held that the gaseous medium employed by Alsop was substantially the same as that employed by Andrews, though produced electrically instead of chemically, and therefore that the Alsop process was an infringement of the Andrews patent. Various other patents for more or less similar processes have also been taken out.

(G. F. Z.)

FLOURENS, GUSTAVE (1838-1871), French revolutionist and writer, a son of J.P. Flourens (1794-1867), the physiologist, was born at Paris on the 4th of August 1838. In 1863 he undertook for his father a course of lectures at the Collège de France, the subject of which was the history of mankind. His theories as to the manifold origin of the human race, however, gave offence to the clergy, and he was precluded from delivering a second course. He then went to Brussels, where he published his lectures under the title of Histoire de l’homme (1863); he next visited Constantinople and Athens, took part in the Cretan insurrection of 1866, spent some time in Italy, where an article of his in the Popolo d’Italia caused his arrest and imprisonment, and finally, having returned to France, nearly lost his life in a duel with Paul de Cassagnac, editor of the Pays. In Paris he devoted his pen to the cause of republicanism, and at length, having failed in an attempt to organize a revolution at Belleville on the 7th of February 1870, found himself compelled to flee from France. Returning to Paris on the downfall of Napoleon, he soon placed himself at the head of a body of 500 tirailleurs. On account of his insurrectionary proceedings he was taken prisoner at Créteil, near Vincennes, by the provisional government, and confined at Mazas on the 7th of December 1870, but was released by his men on the night of January 21-22. On the 18th of March he joined the Communists. He was elected a member of the commune by the 20th arrondissement, and was named colonel. He was one of the most active leaders of the insurrection, and in a sortie against the Versailles troops in the morning of the 3rd of April was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict at Rueil, near Malmaison. Besides his Science de l’homme (Paris, 1869), Gustave Flourens was the author of numerous fugitive pamphlets.

See C. Prolès, Les Hommes de la révolution de 1871 (Paris, 1898).

FLOURENS, MARIE JEAN PIERRE (1794-1867), French physiologist, was born at Maureilhan, near Béziers, in the department of Hérault, on the 15th of April 1794. At the age of fifteen he began the study of medicine at Montpellier, where in 1823 he received the degree of doctor. In the following year he repaired to Paris, provided with an introduction from A.P. de Candolle, the botanist, to Baron Cuvier, who received him kindly, and interested himself in his welfare. At Paris Flourens engaged in physiological research, occasionally contributing to literary publications; and in 1821, at the Athénée there, he gave a course of lectures on the physiological theory of the sensations, which attracted much attention amongst men of science. His paper entitled Recherches expérimentales sur les propriétés et les fonctions du système nerveux dans les animaux vertébrés, in which he, from experimental evidence, sought to assign their special functions to the cerebrum, corpora quadrigemina and cerebellum, was the subject of a highly commendatory report by Cuvier, adopted by the French Academy of Sciences in 1822. He was chosen by Cuvier in 1828 to deliver for him a course of lectures on natural history at the Collège de France, and in the same year became, in succession to L.A.G. Bosc, a member of the Institute, in the division “Économie rurale.” In 1830 he became Cuvier’s substitute as lecturer on human anatomy at the Jardin du Roi, and in 1832 was elected to the post of titular professor, which he vacated for the professorship of comparative anatomy created for him at the museum of the Jardin the same year. In 1833 Flourens, in accordance with the dying request of Cuvier, was appointed a perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences; and in 1838 he was returned as a deputy for the arrondissement of Béziers. In 1840 he was elected, in preference to Victor Hugo, to succeed J.F. Michaud at the French Academy; and in 1845 he was created a commander of the legion of honour, and in the next year a peer of France. In March 1847 Flourens directed the attention of the Academy of Sciences to the anaesthetic effect of chloroform on animals. On the revolution of 1848 he withdrew completely from political life; and in 1855 he accepted the professorship of natural history at the Collège de France. He died at Montgeron, near Paris, on the 6th of December 1867.

Besides numerous shorter scientific memoirs, Flourens published—Essai sur quelques points de la doctrine de la révulsion et de la dérivation (Montpellier, 1813); Expériences sur le système nerveux (Paris, 1825); Cours sur la génération, l’ovologie, et l’embryologie (1836); Analyse raisonnée des travaux de G. Cuvier (1841); Recherches sur le développement des os et des dents (1842); Anatomie générale de la peau et des membranes muqueuses (1843); Buffon, histoire de ses travaux et de ses idées (1844); Fontenelle, ou de la philosophie moderne relativement aux sciences physiques (1847); Théorie expérimentale de la formation des os (1847); Œuvres complètes de Buffon (1853); De la longévité humaine et de la quantité de vie sur le globe (1854), numerous editions; Histoire de la découverte de la circulation du sang (1854); Cours de physiologie comparée (1856); Recueil des éloges historiques (1856); De la vie et de l’intelligence (1858); De la raison, du génie, et de la folie (1861); Ontologie naturelle (1861); Examen du livre de M. Darwin sur l’Origine des Espèces (1864). For a list of his papers see the Royal Society’s Catalogue of Scientific Papers.

FLOWER, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1831-1899), English biologist, was born at Stratford-on-Avon on the 30th of November 1831. Choosing medicine as his profession, he began his studies at University College, London, where he showed special aptitude for physiology and comparative anatomy and took his M.B. degree in 1851. He then joined the Army Medical Service, and went out to the Crimea as assistant-surgeon, receiving the medal with four clasps. On his return to England he became a member of the surgical staff of the Middlesex hospital, London, and in 1861 succeeded J.T. Quekett as curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 1870 he also became Hunterian professor, and in 1884, on the death of Sir Richard Owen, was appointed to the directorship of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. He died in London on the 1st of July 1899. He made valuable contributions to structural anthropology, publishing, for example, complete and accurate measurements of no less than 1300 human skulls, and as a comparative anatomist he ranked high, devoting himself especially to the study of the mammalia. He was also a leading authority on the arrangement of museums. The greater part of his life was spent in their administration, and in consequence he held very decided views as to the principles upon which their specimens should be set out. He insisted on the importance of distinguishing between collections intended for the use of specialists and those designed for the instruction of the general public, pointing out that it was as futile to present to the former a number of merely typical forms as to provide the latter with a long series of specimens differing only in the most minute details. His ideas, which were largely and successfully applied to the museums of which he had charge, gained wide approval, and their influence entitles him to be looked upon as a reformer who did much to improve the methods of museum arrangement and management. In addition to numerous original papers, he was the author of An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia (1870); Fashion in Deformity (1881); The Horse: a Study in Natural History (1890); Introduction to the Study of Mammals, Living and Extinct (1891); Essays on Museums and other Subjects (1898). He also wrote many articles for the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

FLOWER (Lat. flos, floris; Fr. fleur), a term popularly used for the bloom or blossom of a plant, and so by analogy for the fairest, choicest or finest part or aspect of anything, and in various technical senses. Here we shall deal only with its botanical interest. It is impossible to give a rigid botanical definition of the term “flower.” The flower is a characteristic feature of the highest group of the plant kingdom—the flowering plants (Phanerogams)—and is the name given to the association of organs, more or less leaf-like in form, which are concerned with the production of the fruit or seed. In modern botanical works the group is often known as the seed-plants (Spermatophyta). As the seed develops from the ovule which has been fertilized by the pollen, the essential structures for seed-production are two, viz. the pollen-bearer or stamen and the ovule-bearer or carpel. These are with few exceptions foliar structures, known in comparative morphology as sporophylls, because they bear the spores, namely, the microspores or pollen-grains which are developed in the microsporangia or pollen-sacs, and the megaspore, which is contained in the ovule or megasporangium.

In Gymnosperms (q.v.), which represent the more primitive type of seed-plants, the micro- or macro-sporophylls are generally associated, often in large numbers, in separate cones, to which the term “flower” has been applied. But there is considerable difference of opinion as to the relation between these cones and the more definite and elaborate structure known as the flower in the higher group of seed-plants—the Angiosperms (q.v.)—and it is to this more definite structure that we generally refer in using the term “flower.”

Fig. 1.

—Proliferous Rose.

s, Sepals transformed into leaves.

p, Petals multiplied at the expense of the stamens, which are reduced in number.

c, Coloured leaves representing abortive carpels.

a, Axis prolonged, bearing an imperfect flower at its apex.

Flowers are produced from flower-buds, just as leaf-shoots arise from leaf-buds. These two kinds of buds have a resemblance to each other as regards the arrangement and the development of their parts; and it sometimes happens, from injury and other causes, that the part of the axis which, in ordinary cases, would produce a leaf-bud, gives origin to a flower-bud. A flower-bud has not in ordinary circumstances any power of extension by the continuous development of its apex. In this respect it differs from a leaf-bud. In some cases, however, of monstrosity, especially seen in the rose (fig. 1), the central part is prolonged, and bears leaves or flowers. In such cases the flowers, so far as their functional capabilities are concerned, are usually abortive. This phenomenon is known as proliferation of the floral axis.

Flower-buds, like leaf-buds, are produced in the axil of leaves, which are called bracts.

The term bract is properly applied to the leaf from which the primary floral axis, whether simple or branched, arises, while the leaves which arise on the axis between the bract and the outer envelope of the flower Bracts. are bracteoles or bractlets. Bracts sometimes do not differ from the ordinary leaves, as in Veronica hederifolia, Vinca, Anagallis and Ajuga. In general as regards their form and appearance they differ from ordinary leaves, the difference being greater in the upper than in the lower branches of an inflorescence. They are distinguished by their position at the base of the flower or flower-stalk. Their arrangement is similar to that of the leaves. When the flower is sessile the bracts are often applied closely to the calyx, and may thus be confounded with it, as in the order Malvaceae and species of Dianthus and winter aconite (Eranthis), where they have received the name of epicalyx or calyculus. In some Rosaceous plants an epicalyx is present, due to the formation of stipulary structures by the sepals. In many cases bracts act as protective organs, within or beneath which the young flowers are concealed in their earliest stage of growth.

When bracts become coloured, as in Amherstia nobilis, Euphorbia splendens, Erica elegans and Salvia splendens, they may be mistaken for parts of the corolla. They are sometimes mere scales or threads, and at other times are undeveloped, giving rise to the ebracteate inflorescence of Cruciferae and some Boraginaceae. Sometimes they are empty, no flower-buds being produced in their axil. A series of empty coloured bracts terminates the inflorescence of Salvia Horminum. The smaller bracts or bracteoles, which occur among the subdivisions of a branching inflorescence, often produce no flower-buds, and thus anomalies occur in the floral arrangements. Bracts are occasionally persistent, remaining long attached to the base of the peduncles, but more usually they are deciduous, falling off early by an articulation. In some instances they form part of the fruit, becoming incorporated with other organs. Thus, the cones of firs and the stroboli of the hop are composed of a series of spirally arranged bracts covering fertile flowers; and the scales on the fruit of the pine-apple are of the same nature. At the base of the general umbel in umbelliferous plants a whorl of bracts often exists, called a general involucre, and at the base of the smaller umbels or umbellules there is a similar leafy whorl called an involucel or partial involucre. In some instances, as in fool’s-parsley, there is no general involucre, but simply an involucel; while in other cases, as in fennel or dill (fig. 15), neither involucre nor involucel is developed. In Compositae the name involucre is applied to the bracts surrounding the head of flowers (fig. 2, i), as in marigold, dandelion, daisy, artichoke. This involucre is frequently composed of several rows of leaflets, which are either of the same or of different forms and lengths, and often lie over each other in an imbricated manner. The leaves of the involucre are spiny in thistles and in teazel (Dipsacus), and hooked in burdock. Such whorled or verticillate bracts generally remain separate (polyphyllous), but may be united by cohesion (gamophyllous), as in many species of Bupleurum and in Lavatera. In Compositae besides the involucre there are frequently chaffy and setose bracts at the base of each flower, and in Dipsacaceae a membranous tube surrounds each flower. These structures are of the nature of an epicalyx. In the acorn the cupule or cup (fig. 3) is formed by a growing upwards of the flower-stalk immediately beneath the flower, upon which scaly or spiny protuberances appear; it is of the nature of bracts. Bracts also compose the husky covering of the hazel-nut.

Fig. 2.

—Head (capitulum) of Marigold (

Calendula

), showing a congeries of flowers, enclosed by rows of bracts,

i

, at the base, which are collectively called an involucre.

From Strasburger’s

Lehrbuch der Botanik

, by permission of Gustav Fischer.

Fig. 3.

—Cupule of

Quercus Aegilops

.

cp

, Cupule;

gl

, fruit. (After Duchartre.)

When bracts become united, and overlie each other in several rows, it often happens that the outer ones do not produce flowers, that is, are empty or sterile. In the artichoke the outer imbricated scales or bracts are in this condition, and it is from the membranous white scales or bracts (paleae) forming the choke attached to the edible receptacle that the flowers are produced. The sterile bracts of the daisy occasionally produce capitula, and give rise to the hen-and-chickens daisy. In place of developing flower-buds, bracts may, in certain circumstances, as in proliferous or viviparous plants, produce leaf-buds.

Fig. 4.

—Flowers of Narcissus (

Narcissus Tazetta

) bursting from a sheathing bract

b

.

Fig. 5.

—Spikelet of Oat (

Avena sativa

) laid open, showing the sterile bracts

gl, gl

, or empty glumes;

g

, the fertile or floral glume, with a dorsal awn

a

;

p

, the pale;

fs

, an abortive flower.

Fig. 6.

—Peduncle of Fig (

Ficus Carica

), ending in a hollow receptacle, enclosing numerous male and female flowers.

A sheathing bract enclosing one or several flowers is called a spathe. It is common among Monocotyledons, as Narcissus (fig. 4), snow-flake, Arum and palms. In some palms it is 20 ft. long, and encloses 200,000 flowers. It is often associated with that form of inflorescence termed the spadix, and may be coloured, as in Anthurium, or white, as in arum lily (Richardia aethiopica). When the spadix is compound or branching, as in palms, there are smaller spathes, surrounding separate parts of the inflorescence. The spathe protects the flowers in their young state, and often falls off after they are developed, or hangs down in a withered form, as in some palms, Typha and Pothos. In grasses the outer scales or glumes of the spikelets are sterile bracts (fig. 5, gl); and in Cyperaceae bracts enclose the organs of reproduction. Bracts are frequently changed into complete leaves. This change is called phyllody of bracts, and is seen in species of Plantago, especially in the variety of Plantago media, called the rose-plantain in gardens, where the bracts become leafy and form a rosette round the flowering axis. Similar changes occur in Plantago major, P. lanceolata, Ajuga reptans, dandelion, daisy, dahlia and in umbelliferous plants. The conversion of bracts into stamens (staminody of bracts) has been observed in the case of Abies excelsa. A lengthening of the axis of the female strobilus of Coniferae is not of infrequent occurrence in Cryptomeria japonica, larch (Larix europaea), &c., and this is usually associated with a leaf-like condition of the bracts, and sometimes even with the development of leaf-bearing shoots in place of the scales.

The arrangement of the flowers on the axis, or the ramification of the floral axis, is called the inflorescence. The primary axis of the inflorescence is sometimes called the rachis; its branches, whether terminal or lateral, which form the stalks supporting flowers or clusters of flowers, are peduncles, and if small branches are given off by it, they are called pedicels. A flower having a stalk is called pedunculate or pedicellate; one having no stalk is sessile. In describing a branching inflorescence, it is common to speak of the rachis as the primary floral axis, its branches as the secondary floral axes, their divisions as the tertiary floral axes, and so on; thus avoiding any confusion that might arise from the use of the terms rachis, peduncle and pedicel.

The peduncle is simple, bearing a single flower, as in primrose; or branched, as in London-pride. It is sometimes succulent, as in the cashew, in which it forms the large coloured expansion supporting the nut; spiral, as in Cyclamen and Vallisneria; or spiny, as in Alyssum spinosum. When the peduncle proceeds from radical leaves, that is, from an axis which is so shortened as to bring the leaves close together in the form of a cluster, as in the primrose, auricula or hyacinth, it is termed a scape. The floral axis may be shortened, assuming a flattened, convex or concave form, and bearing numerous flowers, as in the artichoke, daisy and fig (fig. 6). The floral axis sometimes appears as if formed by several peduncles united together, constituting a fasciated axis, as in the cockscomb, in which the flowers form a peculiar crest at the apex of the flattened peduncles. Adhesions occasionally take place between the peduncle and the bracts or leaves of the plant, as in the lime-tree (fig. 7). The adhesion of the peduncles to the stem accounts for the extra-axillary position of flowers, as in many Solanaceae. When this union extends for a considerable length along the stem, several leaves may be interposed between the part where the peduncle becomes free and the leaf whence it originated, and it may be difficult to trace the connexion. The peduncle occasionally becomes abortive, and in place of bearing a flower, is transformed into a tendril; at other times it is hollowed at the apex, so as apparently to form the lower part of the outer whorl of floral leaves as in Eschscholtzia. The termination of the peduncle, or the part on which the whorls of the flower are arranged, is called the thalamus, torus or receptacle.

(From Vines’

Students’ Text-Book of Botany

, by permission of Swan Sonnenschein & Co.)

(From Strasburger’s

Lehrbuch der Botanik

, by permission of Gustav Fischer.)

Fig. 7.

—Inflorescence of the Lime (

Tilia platyphyllos

) (nat. size).

Fig. 8.

—Raceme of

Linaria striata

.

d

, bract.

a, Branch.

b, Petiole with axillary bud. Attached to the peduncle is the bract (h).

k, Calyx.

c, Corolla.

s, Stamens.

f, Ovary.

kn, Flower-bud.

 

Fig. 9.

—Head of flowers (capitulum) of

Scabiosa atropurpurea

. The inflorescence is simple and indeterminate, and the expansion of the flowers centripetal, those at the circumference opening first.

There are two distinct types of inflorescence—one in which the flowers arise as lateral shoots from a primary axis, which goes on elongating, and the lateral shoots never exceed in their development the length of the Inflorescence. primary axis beyond their point of origin. The flowers are thus always axillary. Exceptions, such as in cruciferous plants, are due to the non-appearance of the bracts. In the other type the primary axis terminates in a single flower, but lateral axes are given off from the axils of the bracts, which again repeat the primary axis; the development of each lateral axis is stronger than that of the primary axis beyond its point of origin. The flowers produced in this inflorescence are thus terminal. The first kind of inflorescence is indeterminate, indefinite or axillary. Here the axis is either elongated, producing flower-buds as it grows, the lower expanding first (fig. 8), or it is shortened and depressed, and the outer flowers expand first (fig. 9). The expansion of the flowers is thus centripetal, that is, from base to apex, or from circumference to centre.

Fig. 10.

—Plant of

Ranunculus bulbosus

, showing determinate inflorescence.

The second kind of inflorescence is determinate, definite or terminal. In this the axis is either elongated and ends in a solitary flower, which thus terminates the axis, and if other flowers are produced, they belong to secondary axes farther from the centre; or the axis is shortened and flattened, producing a number of separate floral axes, the central one expanding first, while the others are developed in succession farther from the centre. The expansion of the flowers is in this case centrifugal, that is, from apex to base, or from centre to circumference. It is illustrated in fig. 10, Ranunculus bulbosus; a′ is the primary axis swollen at the base in a bulb-like manner b, and with roots proceeding from it. From the leaves which are radical proceeds the axis ending in a solitary terminal flower f′. About the middle of this axis there is a leaf or bract, from which a secondary floral axis a″ is produced, ending in a single flower f″, less advanced than the flower f′. This secondary axis bears a leaf also, from which a tertiary floral axis a″′ is produced, bearing an unexpanded solitary flower f″′. From this tertiary axis a fourth is in progress of formation. Here f′ is the termination of the primary axis, and this flower expands first, while the other flowers are developed centrifugally on separate axes.

A third series of inflorescences, termed mixed, may be recognized. In them the primary axis has an arrangement belonging to the opposite type from that of the branches, or vice versa. According to the mode and degree of development of the lateral shoots and also of the bracts, various forms of both inflorescences result.

Amongst indefinite forms the simplest occurs when a lateral shoot produced in the axil of a large single foliage leaf of the plant ends in a single flower, the axis of the plant elongating beyond, as in Veronica hederifolia, Vinca minor and Lysimachia nemorum. The flower in this case is solitary, and the ordinary leaves become bracts by producing flower-buds in place of leaf-buds; their number, like that of the leaves of this main axis, is indefinite, varying with the vigour of the plant. Usually, however, the floral axis, arising from a more or less altered leaf or bract, instead of ending in a solitary flower, is prolonged, and bears numerous bracteoles, from which smaller peduncles are produced, and those again in their turn may be branched in a similar way. Thus the flowers are arranged in groups, and frequently very complicated forms of inflorescence result. When the primary peduncle or floral axis, as in fig. 8, is elongated, and gives off pedicels, ending in single flowers, a raceme is produced, as in currant, hyacinth and barberry. If the secondary floral axes give rise to tertiary ones, the raceme is branching, and forms a panicle, as in Yucca gloriosa. If in a raceme the lower flower-stalks are developed more strongly than the upper, and thus all the flowers are nearly on a level, a corymb is formed, which may be simple, as in fig. 11, where the primary axis a′ gives off secondary axes a″, a″, which end in single flowers; or branching, where the secondary axes again subdivide. If the pedicels are very short or wanting, so that the flowers are sessile, a spike is produced, as in Plantago and vervain (Verbena officinalis) (fig. 12). If the spike bears unisexual flowers, as in willow or hazel (fig. 13), it is an amentum or catkin, hence such trees are called amentiferous; at other times it becomes succulent, bearing numerous flowers, surrounded by a sheathing bract or spathe, and then it constitutes a spadix, which may be simple, as in Arum maculatum (fig. 14), or branching as in palms. A spike bearing female flowers only, and covered with scales, is a strobilus, as in the hop. In grasses there are usually numerous sessile flowers arranged in small spikes, called locustae or spikelets, which are either set closely along a central axis, or produced on secondary axes formed by the branching of the central one; to the latter form the term panicle is applied.

Fig. 11.—Corymb of Cerasus Mahaleb, terminating an abortive branch, at the base of which are modified leaves in the form of scales, e. a′, Primary axis; a″, secondary axes bearing flowers; b, bract in the axils of which the secondary axes arise.

Fig. 12.—Spike of Vervain (Verbena officinalis), showing sessile flowers on a common rachis. The flowers at the lower part of the spike have passed into fruit, those towards the middle are in full bloom, and those at the top are only in bud.

Fig. 13.—Amentum or catkin of Hazel (Corylus Avellana), consisting of an axis or rachis covered with bracts in the form of scales, each of which covers a male flower, the stamens of which are seen projecting beyond the scale. The catkin falls off in a mass, separating from the branch by an articulation.

(From Strasburger’s

Lehrbuch der Botanik

, by permission of Gustav Fischer.)

Fig. 14.

—Spadix of

Arum maculatum

. (After Wossidlo.)

a

, Female flowers;

b

, male flowers;

c

, hairs representing sterile flowers.

Fig. 15.

—Compound umbel of Common Dill (

Anethum graveolens

), having a primary umbel

a

, and secondary umbels

b

, without either involucre or involucel.

If the primary axis, in place of being elongated, is contracted, it gives rise to other forms of indefinite inflorescence. When the axis is so shortened that the secondary axes arise from a common point, and spread out as radii of nearly equal length, each ending in a single flower or dividing again in a similar radiating manner, an umbel is produced, as in fig. 15. From the primary floral axis a the secondary axes come off in a radiating or umbrella-like manner, and end in small umbels b, which are called partial umbels or umbellules. This inflorescence is seen in hemlock and other allied plants, which are hence called umbelliferous. If there are numerous flowers on a flattened, convex or slightly concave receptacle, having either very short pedicels or none, a capitulum (head) is formed, as in dandelion, daisy and other composite plants (fig. 2), also in scabious (fig. 9) and teazel. In the American button-bush the heads are globular, in some species of teazel elliptical, while in scabious and in composite plants, as sunflower, dandelion, thistle, centaury and marigold, they are somewhat hemispherical, with a flattened, slightly hollowed, or convex disk. If the margins of such a receptacle be developed upwards, the centre not developing, a concave receptacle is formed, which may partially or completely enclose a number of flowers that are generally unisexual. This gives rise to the peculiar inflorescence of Dorstenia, or to that of the fig (fig. 6), where the flowers are placed on the inner surface of the hollow receptacle, and are provided with bracteoles. This inflorescence has been called a hypanthodium.

Lastly, we have what are called compound indefinite inflorescences. In these forms the lateral shoots, developed centripetally upon the primary axis, bear numerous bracteoles, from which floral shoots arise which may have a centripetal arrangement similar to that on the mother shoot, or it may be different. Thus we may have a group of racemes, arranged in a racemose manner on a common axis, forming a raceme of racemes or compound raceme, as in Astilbe. In the same way we may have compound umbels, as in hemlock and most Umbelliferae (fig. 15), a compound spike, as in rye-grass, a compound spadix, as in some palms, and a compound capitulum, as in the hen-and-chickens daisy. Again, there may be a raceme of capitula, that is, a group of capitula disposed in a racemose manner, as in Petasites, a raceme of umbels, as in ivy, and so on, all the forms of inflorescence being indefinite in disposition. In Eryngium the shortening of the pedicels changes an umbel into a capitulum.

The simplest form of the definite type of the inflorescence is seen in Anemone nemorosa and in gentianella (Gentiana acaulis), where the axis terminates in a single flower, no other flowers being produced upon the plant. This is a solitary terminal inflorescence. If other flowers were produced, they would arise as lateral shoots from the bracts below the first-formed flower. The general name of cyme is applied to the arrangement of a group of flowers in a definite inflorescence. A cymose inflorescence is an inflorescence where the primary floral axis before terminating in a flower gives off one or more lateral unifloral axes which repeat the process—the development being only limited by the vigour of the plant. The floral axes are thus centrifugally developed. The cyme, according to its development, has been characterized as biparous or uniparous. In fig. 16 the biparous cyme is represented in the flowering branch of Cerastium. Here the primary axis t ends in a flower, which has passed into the state of fruit. At its base two leaves are produced, in each of which arise secondary axes t′ t′, ending in single flowers, and at the base of these axes a pair of opposite leaves is produced, giving rise to tertiary axes t″ t″, ending in single flowers, and so on. The term dichasium has also been applied to this form of cyme.

In the natural order Carophyllaceae (pink family) the dichasial form of inflorescence is very general. In some members of the order, as Dianthus barbatus, D. carthusianorum, &c., in which the peduncles are short, and the flowers closely approximated, with a centrifugal expansion, the inflorescence has the form of a contracted dichasium, and receives the name of fascicle. When the axes become very much shortened, the arrangement is more complicated in appearance, and the nature of the inflorescence can only be recognized by the order of opening of the flowers. In Labiate plants, as the dead-nettle (Lamium), the flowers are produced in the axil of each of the foliage leaves of the plant, and they appear as if arranged in a simple whorl of flowers. But on examination it is found that there is a central flower expanding first, and from its axis two secondary axes spring bearing solitary flowers; the expansion is thus centrifugal. The inflorescence is therefore a contracted dichasium, the flowers being sessile, or nearly so, and the clusters are called verticillasters (fig. 17). Sometimes, especially towards the summit of a dichasium, owing to the exhaustion of the growing power of the plant, only one of the bracts gives origin to a new axis, the other remaining empty; thus the inflorescence becomes unilateral, and further development is arrested. In addition to the dichasial form there are others where more than two lateral axes are produced from the primary floral axis, each of which in turn produces numerous axes. To this form the terms trichasial and polychasial cyme have been applied; but these are now usually designated cymose umbels. They are well seen in some species of Euphorbia. Another term, anthela, has been used to distinguish such forms as occur in several species of Luzula and Juncus, where numerous lateral axes arising from the primary axis grow very strongly and develop in an irregular manner.

(From Strasburger’s

Lehrbuch der Botanik

, by permission of Gustav Fischer.)

Fig.

16.—Cymose inflorescence (dichasium) of

Cerastium collinum

;

t-t″"

, successive axes. (After Duchartre.)

Fig.

17.—Flowering stalk of the White Dead-nettle (

Lamium album

). The bracts are like the ordinary leaves of the plant, and produce clusters of flowers in their axil. The clusters are called verticillasters, and consist of flowers which are produced in a centrifugal manner.

In the uniparous cyme a number of floral axes are successively developed one from the other, but the axis of each successive generation, instead of producing a pair of bracts, produces only one. The basal portion of the consecutive axes may become much thickened and arranged more or less in a straight line, and thus collectively form an apparent or false axis or sympodium, and the inflorescence thus simulates a raceme. In the true raceme, however, we find only a single axis, producing in succession a series of bracts, from which the floral peduncles arise as lateral shoots, and thus each flower is on the same side of the floral axis as the bract in the axil of which it is developed; but in the uniparous cyme the flower of each of these axes, the basal portions of which unite to form the false axis, is situated on the opposite side of the axis to the bract from which it apparently arises (fig. 18). The bract is not, however, the one from which the axis terminating in the flower arises, but is a bract produced upon it, and gives origin in its axil to a new axis, the basal portion of which, constituting the next part of the false axis, occupies the angle between this bract and its parent axis—the bract from which the axis really does arise being situated lower down upon the same side of the axis with itself. The uniparous cyme presents two forms, the scorpioid or cicinal and the helicoid or bostrychoid.

Fig. 18.—Helicoid cyme of a species of Alstroemeria. a1, a2, a3, a4, &c., separate axes successively developed in the axils of the corresponding bracts b2, b3, b4, &c., and ending in a flower f2, f3, f4, &c. The whole appears to form a simple raceme of which the axes form the internodes.

Fig. 19.—Scorpioidal or cicinal cyme of Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris).

Fig. 20.—Diagram of definite floral axes a, b, c, d, e, &c.

Fig. 21.—Flowering stalk of Ragwort (Senecio). The flowers are in heads (capitula), and open from the circumference inwards in an indefinite centripetal manner. The heads of flowers, on the other hand, taken collectively, expand centrifugally—the central one a first.

In the scorpioid cyme the flowers are arranged alternately in a double row along one side of the false axis (fig. 19), the bracts when developed forming a second double row on the opposite side; the whole inflorescence usually curves on itself like a scorpion’s tail, hence its name. In fig. 20 is shown a diagrammatic sketch of this arrangement. The false axis, a b c d, is formed by successive generations of unifloral axes, the flowers being arranged along one side alternately and in a double row; had the bracts been developed they would have formed a similar double row on the opposite side of the false axis; the whole inflorescence is represented as curved on itself. The inflorescence in the family Boraginaceae are usually regarded as true scorpioid cymes.

In the helicoid cyme there is also a false axis formed by the basal portion of the separate axes, but the flowers are not placed in a double row, but in a single row, and form a spiral or helix round the false axis. In Alstroemeria, as represented in fig. 18, the axis a1 ends in a flower (cut off in the figure) and bears a leaf. From the axil of this leaf, that is, between it and the primary axis a1 arises a secondary axis a2, ending in a flower f2, and producing a leaf about the middle. From the axil of this leaf a tertiary floral axis a3, ending in a flower f3, takes origin. In this case the axes are not arranged in two rows along one side of the false axis, but are placed at regular intervals, so as to form an elongated spiral round it.

Compound definite inflorescences are by no means common, but in Streptocarpus polyanthus and in several calceolarias we probably have examples. Here there are scorpioid cymes of pairs of flowers, each pair consisting of an older and a younger flower.

Forms of inflorescence occur, in which both the definite and indefinite types are represented—mixed inflorescences. Thus in Composite plants, such as hawk weeds (Hieracia) and ragworts (Senecio, fig. 21), the heads of flowers, Mixed inflorescence. taken as a whole, are developed centrifugally, the terminal head first, while the florets, or small flowers on the receptacle, open centripetally, those at the circumference first. So also in Labiatae, such as dead-nettle (Lamium), the different whorls of inflorescence are developed centripetally, while the florets of the verticillaster are centrifugal. This mixed character presents difficulties in such cases as Labiatae, where the leaves, in place of retaining their ordinary form, become bracts, and thus might lead to the supposition of the whole series of flowers being one inflorescence. In such cases the cymes are described as spiked, racemose, or panicled, according to circumstances. In Saxifraga umbrosa (London-pride) and in the horse-chestnut we meet with a raceme of scorpioid cymes; in sea-pink, a capitulum of contracted scorpioid cymes (often called a glomerulus); in laurustinus, a compound umbel of dichasial cymes; a scorpioid cyme of capitula in Vernonia scorpioides. The so-called catkins of the birch are, in reality, spikes of contracted dichasial cymes. In the bell-flower (Campanula) there is a racemose uniparous cyme. In the privet (Ligustrum vulgare) there are numerous racemes of dichasia arranged in a racemose manner along an axis; the whole inflorescence thus has an appearance not unlike a bunch of grapes, and has been called a thyrsus.

Tabular View of Inflorescences

A. Indefinite Centripetal Inflorescence.

 I. Flowers solitary, axillary. Vinca, Veronica hederifolia.

II. Flowers in groups, pedicellate.

1. Elongated form (Raceme), Hyacinth, Laburnum, Currant. (Corymb), Ornithogalum.

2. Contracted or shortened form (Umbel), Cowslip, Astrantia.

III. Flowers in groups, sessile.

1. Elongated form (Spike), Plantago.
   (Spikelet), Grasses.
   (Amentum, Catkin), Willow, Hazel.
   (Spadix) Arum, some Palms.
   (Strobilus), Hop.

2. Contracted or shortened form (Capitulum), Daisy, Dandelion, Scabious.

IV. Compound Indefinite Inflorescence.

a. Compound Spike, Rye-grass.

b. Compound Spadix, Palms.

c. Compound Raceme, Astilbe.

d. Compound Umbel, Hemlock and most Umbelliferae.

e. Raceme of Capitula, Petasites.

f. Raceme of Umbels, Ivy.

B. Definite Centrifugal Inflorescence.

 I. Flowers solitary, terminal. Gentianella, Tulip.

II. Flowers in Cymes.

1. Uniparous Cyme.

a. Helicoid Cyme (axes forming a spiral).
Elongated form, Alstromeria.
Contracted form, Witsenia corymbosa.

b. Scorpioid Cyme (axes unilateral, two rows).
Elongated form, Forget-me-not, Symphytum, Henbane.
Contracted form, Erodium, Alchemilla arvensis.

2. Biparous Cyme (Dichotomous), including 3-5 chotomous Cymes (Dichasium, Cymose Umbel, Anthela).

a. Elongated form, Cerastium, Stellaria.

b. Contracted form (Verticillaster), Dead-nettle, Pelargonium.

3. Compound Definite Inflorescence. Streptocarpus polyanthus, many Calceolarias.

C. Mixed Inflorescence.

  Raceme of Scorpioid Cymes, Horse-chestnut.

  Scorpioid Cyme of Capitula, Vernonia scorpioides.

  Compound Umbel of Dichotomous Cymes, Laurustinus.

  Capitulum of contracted Scorpioid Cymes (Glomerulus), Sea-pink.

Fig. 22.—Flower of Sedum rubens. s, Sepals; p, petals; a, stamens; c, carpels.

Fig. 23.—Diagram of a completely symmetrical flower, consisting of four whorls, each of five parts, s, Sepals; p, petals; a, stamens; c, carpels.

Fig. 24.—Monochlamydeous (apetalous) flower of Goosefoot (Chenopodium), consisting of a single perianth (calyx) of five parts, enclosing five stamens, which are opposite the divisions of the perianth, owing to the absence of the petals.

Fig. 25.—Stamen, consisting of a filament (stalk) f and an anther a, containing the pollen p, which is discharged through slits in the two lobes of the anther.

Fig. 26.—The pistil of Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum), consisting of the ovary o, containing ovules, the style s, and the capitate stigma g. The pistil is placed on the receptacle r, at the extremity of the peduncle.

Fig. 27.

—Calyx and pistil of Fraxinella (

Dictamnus Fraxinella

). The pistil consists of several carpels, which are elevated on a stalk or

gynophore

prolonged from the receptacle.

The flower consists of the floral axis bearing the sporophylls (stamens and carpels), usually with certain protective envelopes. The axis is usually very much contracted, no internodes being developed, and the portion bearing the floral leaves, termed The flower. the thalamus or torus, frequently expands into a conical, flattened or hollowed expansion; at other times, though rarely, the internodes are developed and it is elongated. Upon this torus the parts of the flower are arranged in a crowded manner, usually forming a series of verticils, the parts of which alternate; but they are sometimes arranged spirally especially if the floral axis be elongated. In a typical flower, as in fig. 22, we recognize four distinct whorls of leaves: an outer whorl, the calyx of sepals; within it, another whorl, the parts alternating with those of the outer whorl, the corolla of petals; next a whorl of parts alternating with the parts of the corolla, the androecium of stamens; and in the centre the gynoecium of carpels. Fig. 23 is a diagrammatic representation of the arrangement of the parts of such a flower; it is known as a floral diagram. The flower is supposed to be cut transversely, and the parts of each whorl are distinguished by a different symbol. Of these whorls the two internal, forming the sporophylls, constitute the essential organs of reproduction; the two outer whorls are the protective coverings or floral envelopes. The sepals are generally of a greenish colour; their function is mainly protective, shielding the more delicate internal organs before the flower opens. The petals are usually showy, and normally alternate with the sepals. Sometimes, as usually in monocotyledons, the calyx and corolla are similar; in such cases the term perianth, or perigone, is applied. Thus, in the tulip, crocus, lily, hyacinth, we speak of the parts of the perianth, in place of calyx and corolla, although in these plants there is an outer whorl (calyx), of three parts, and an inner (corolla), of a similar number, alternating with them. When the parts of the calyx are in appearance like petals they are said to be petaloid, as in Liliaceae. In some cases the petals have the appearance of sepals, then they are sepaloid, as in Juncaceae. In plants, as Nymphaea alba, where a spiral arrangement of the floral leaves occurs, it is not easy to say where the calyx ends and the corolla begins, as these two whorls pass insensibly into each other. When both calyx and corolla are present, the plants are dichlamydeous; when one only is present, the flower is termed monochlamydeous or apetalous, having no petals (fig. 24). Sometimes both are absent, when the flower is achlamydeous, or naked, as in willow. The outermost series of the essential organs, collectively termed the androecium, is composed of the microsporophylls known as the staminal leaves or stamens. In their most differentiated form each consists of a stalk, the filament (fig. 25, f), supporting at its summit the anther (a), consisting of the pollen-sacs which contain the powdery pollen (p), the microspores, which is ultimately discharged therefrom. The gynoecium or pistil is the central portion of the flower, terminating the floral axis. It consists of one or more carpels (megasporophylls), either separate (fig. 22, c) or combined (fig. 24). The parts distinguished in the pistil are the ovary (fig. 26, o), which is the lower portion enclosing the ovules destined to become seeds, and the stigma (g), a portion of loose cellular tissue, the receptive surface on which the pollen is deposited, which is either sessile on the apex of the ovary, as in the poppy, or is separated from it by a prolonged portion called the style (s). The androecium and gynoecium are not present in all flowers. When both are present the flower is hermaphrodite; and in descriptive botany such a flower is indicated by the symbol ☿. When only one of those organs is present the flower is unisexual or diclinous, and is either male (staminate), ♁; or female (pistillate), ♀. A flower then normally consists of the four series of leaves—calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium—and when these are all present the flower is complete. These are usually densely crowded upon the thalamus, but in some instances, after apical growth has ceased in the axis, an elongation of portions of the receptacle by intercalary growth occurs, by which changes in the position of the parts may be brought about. Thus in Lychnis an elongation of the axis betwixt the calyx and the corolla takes place, and in this way they are separated by an interval. Again, in the passion-flower (Passiflora) the stamens are separated from the corolla by an elongated portion of the axis, which has consequently been termed the androphore, and in Passiflora also, fraxinella (fig. 27), Capparidaceae, and some other plants, the ovary is raised upon a distinct stalk termed the gynophore; it is thus separated from the stamens, and is said to be stipitate. Usually the successive whorls of the flower, disposed from below upwards or from without inwards upon the floral axis, are of the same number of parts, or are a multiple of the same number of parts, those of one whorl alternating with those of the whorls next it.

In the more primitive types of flowers the torus is more or less convex, and the series of organs follow in regular succession, culminating in the carpels, in the formation of which the growth of the axis is closed (fig. 28). This arrangement is known as hypogynous, the other series (calyx, corolla and stamens) being beneath (hypo-) the gynoecium. In other cases, the apex of the growing point ceases to develop, and the parts below form a cup around it, from the rim of which the outer members of the flower are developed around (peri-) the carpels, which are formed from the apex of the growing-point at the bottom of the cup. This arrangement is known as perigynous (fig. 29). In many cases this is carried farther and a cavity is formed which is roofed over by the carpels, so that the outer members of the flower spring from the edge of the receptacle which is immediately above the ovary (epigynous), hence the term epigyny (fig. 30).

Fig.

28.        

Fig.

29.        

Fig.

30.

Figs. 28

, 29 and 30.—Diagrams illustrating hypogyny, perigyny and epigyny of the flower.

a

, Stamens;

c

, carpels;

p

, petals;

s

, sepals.

Fig. 31.

     

Fig. 32.

From Strasburger’s

Text-Book of Botany

, by permission of Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

Figs. 31

and 32.—White Water Lily. Fig. 31, flower; fig. 32, successive stages,

a-f

, in the transition from petals to stamens. (After Wossidlo.)

Fig. 33.—Diagrammatic section of a symmetrical pentamerous flower of Stone-crop (Sedum), consisting of five sepals (s), five petals (p) alternating with the sepals, ten stamens (a) in two rows, and five carpels (c) containing ovules. The dark lines (d) on the outside of the carpels are glands.

Fig. 34.—Diagram of the flower of Flax (Linum), consisting of five sepals (s), five petals (p), five stamens (a), and five carpels (c), each of which is partially divided into two. The dots represent a whorl of stamens which has disappeared. It is pentamerous, complete, symmetrical and regular.

Fig. 35.—Diagram of the flower of Heath (Erica), a regular tetramerous flower.

Fig. 36.—Diagram of the trimerous symmetrical flower of Iris.

Fig. 37.—Diagram of the symmetrical trimerous flower of Fritillary (Fritillaria).

Fig. 38.—Diagram of the flower of Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites). The calyx and corolla consist of five parts, the stamens are ten in two rows, while the pistil has only two parts developed.

When a flower consists of parts arranged in whorls it is said to be cyclic, and if all the whorls have an equal number of parts and are alternate it is eucyclic (figs. 22, 23). In contrast to the cyclic flowers are those, as in Magnoliaceae, Symmetry of the flower. where the parts are in spirals (acyclic). Flowers which are cyclic at one portion and spiral at another, as in many Ranunculaceae, are termed hemicyclic. In spiral flowers the distinction into series is by no means easy, and usually there is a gradual passage from sepaloid through petaloid to staminal parts, as in the water-lily family, Nymphaeaceae (figs. 31, 32), although in some plants there is no such distinction, the parts being all petaloid, as in Trollius. Normally, the parts of successive whorls alternate; but in some cases we find the parts of one whorl opposite or superposed to those of the next whorl. In some cases, as in the vine-family Ampelidaceae, this seems to be the ordinary mode of development, but the superposition of the stamens on the sepals in many plants, as in the pink family, Caryophyllaceae, is due to the suppression or abortion of the whorl of petals, and this idea is borne out by the development, in some plants of the order, of the suppressed whorl. As a rule, whenever we find the parts of one whorl superposed on those of another we may suspect some abnormality.

A flower is said to be symmetrical when each of its whorls consists of an equal number of parts, or when the parts of any one whorl are multiples of that preceding it. Thus, a symmetrical flower may have five sepals, five petals, five stamens and five carpels, or the number of any of these parts may be ten, twenty or some multiple of five. Fig. 23 is a diagram of a symmetrical flower, with five parts in each whorl, alternating with each other. Fig. 33 is a diagram of a symmetrical flower of stone-crop, with five sepals, five alternating petals, ten stamens and five carpels. Here the number of parts in the staminal whorl is double that in the others, and in such a case the additional five parts form a second row alternating with the others. In the staminal whorl especially it is common to find additional rows. Fig. 34 shows a symmetrical flower, with five parts in the three outer rows, and ten divisions in the inner. In this case it is the gynoecium which has an additional number of parts. Fig. 35 shows a flower of heath, with four divisions of the calyx and corolla, eight stamens in two rows, and four divisions of the pistil. In fig. 36 there are three parts in each whorl; and in fig. 37 there are three divisions of the calyx, corolla and pistil, and six stamens in two rows. In all these cases the flower is symmetrical. In Monocotyledons it is usual for the staminal whorl to be double, it rarely having more than two rows, whilst amongst dicotyledons there are often very numerous rows of stamens. The floral envelopes are rarely multiplied. Flowers in which the number of parts in each whorl is the same, are isomerous (of equal number); when the number in some of the whorls is different, the flower is anisomerous (of unequal number). The pistillate whorl is very liable to changes. It frequently happens that when it is fully formed, the number of its parts is not in conformity with that of the other whorls. In such circumstances, however, a flower has been called symmetrical, provided the parts of the other whorls are normal,—the permanent state of the pistil not being taken into account in determining symmetry. Thus fig. 38 shows a pentamerous symmetrical flower, with dimerous pistil. Symmetry, then, in botanical language, has reference to a certain definite numerical relation of parts. A flower in which the parts are arranged in twos is called dimerous; when the parts of the whorls are three, four or five, the flower is trimerous, tetramerous or pentamerous, respectively. The symmetry which is most commonly met with is trimerous and pentamerous—the former occurring generally among monocotyledons, the latter among dicotyledons. Dimerous and tetramerous symmetry occur also among dicotyledons.

The various parts of the flower have a certain definite relation to the axis. Thus, in axillary tetramerous flowers (fig. 35), one sepal is next the axis, and is called superior or posterior; another is next the bract, and is inferior or anterior, and the other two are lateral; and certain terms are used to indicate that position. A plane passing through the anterior and posterior sepal and through the floral axis is termed the median plane of the flower; a plane cutting it at right angles, and passing through the lateral sepals, is the lateral plane; whilst the planes which bisect the angles formed by the lateral and median planes are the diagonal planes, and in these flowers the petals which alternate with the sepals are cut by the diagonal planes.

Fig. 39.

—Diagram of flower of Sweet-pea (

Lathyrus

), showing five sepals (

s

), two superior, one inferior, and two lateral; five petals (

p

), one superior, two inferior, and two lateral; ten stamens in two rows (

a

); and one carpel (

c

).

Fig. 40.

—Flower of Pea (

Pisum sativum

), showing a papilionaceous corolla, with one petal superior (st) called the standard (vexillum), two inferior (car) called the keel (carina), and two lateral (

a

) called wings (alae). The calyx is marked c.

In a pentamerous flower one sepal may be superior, as in the calyx of Rosaceae and Labiatae; or it may be inferior, as in the calyx of Leguminosae (fig. 39)—the reverse, by the law of alternation, being the case with the petals. Thus, in the blossom of the pea (figs. 39, 40), the odd petal (vexillum) st is superior, while the odd sepal is inferior. In the order Scrophulariaceae one of the two carpels is posterior and the other anterior, whilst in Convolvulaceae the carpels are arranged laterally. Sometimes the twisting of a part makes a change in the position of other parts, as in Orchids, where the twisting of the ovary changes the position of the labellum.

When the different members of each whorl are like in size and shape, the flower is said to be regular; while differences in the size and shape of the parts of a whorl make the flower irregular, as in the papilionaceous flower, represented in fig. 39. When a flower can be divided by a single plane into two exactly similar parts; then it is said to be zygomorphic. Such flowers as Papilionaceae, Labiatae, are examples. In contrast with this are polysymmetrical or actinomorphic flowers, which have a radial symmetry and can be divided by several planes into several exactly similar portions; such are all regular, symmetrical flowers. When the parts of any whorl are not equal to or some multiple of the others, then the flower is asymmetrical. This want of symmetry may be brought about in various ways. Alteration in the symmetrical arrangement as well as in the completeness and regularity of flowers has been traced to suppression or the non-development of parts, degeneration or imperfect formation, cohesion or union of parts of the same whorl, adhesion or union of the parts of different whorls, multiplication of parts, and deduplication (sometimes called chorisis) or splitting of parts.

By suppression or non-appearance of a part at the place where it ought to appear if the structure was normal, the symmetry or completeness of the flower is disturbed. This suppression when confined to the parts of certain verticils makes the flower asymmetrical. Thus, in many Caryophyllaceae, as Polycarpon and Holosteum, while the calyx and corolla are pentamerous, there are only three or four stamens and three carpels; in Impatiens Noli-me-tangere the calyx is composed of three parts, while the other verticils have five; in labiate flowers there are five parts of the calyx and corolla, and only four stamens; and in Tropaeolum pentaphyllum there are five sepals, two petals, eight stamens and three carpels. In all these cases the want of symmetry is traced to the suppression of certain parts. In the last-mentioned plant the normal number is five, hence it is said that there are three petals suppressed, as shown by the position of the two remaining ones; there are two rows of stamens, in each of which one is wanting; and there are two carpels suppressed. In many instances the parts which are afterwards suppressed can be seen in the early stages of growth, and occasionally some vestiges of them remain in the fully developed flower. By the suppression of the verticil of the stamens, or of the carpels, flowers become unisexual or diclinous, and by the suppression of one or both of the floral envelopes, monochlamydeous and achlamydeous flowers are produced. The suppression of parts of the flower may be carried so far that at last a flower consists of only one part of one whorl. In the Euphorbiaceae we have an excellent example of the gradual suppression of parts, where from an apetalous, trimerous, staminal flower we pass to one where one of the stamens is suppressed, and then to forms where two of them are wanting. We next have flowers in which the calyx is suppressed, and its place occupied by one, two or three bracts (so that the flower is, properly speaking, achlamydeous), and only one or two stamens are produced. And finally, we find flowers consisting of a single stamen with a bract. There is thus traced a degradation, as it is called, from a flower with three stamens and three divisions of the calyx, to one with a single bract and a single stamen.

Degeneration, or the transformation of parts, often gives rise either to an apparent want of symmetry or to irregularity in form. In unisexual flowers it is not uncommon to find vestiges of the undeveloped stamens in the form of filiform bodies or scales. In double flowers transformations of the stamens and pistils take place, so that they appear as petals. In Canna, what are called petals are in reality metamorphosed stamens. In the capitula of Compositae we sometimes find the florets converted into green leaves. The limb of the calyx may appear as a rim, as in some Umbelliferae; or as pappus, in Compositae and Valeriana. In Scrophularia the fifth stamen appears as a scale-like body; in other Scrophulariaceae, as in Pentstemon, it assumes the form of a filament, with hairs at its apex in place of an anther.

Cohesion, or the union of parts of the same whorl, and adhesion, or the growing together of parts of different whorls, are causes of change both as regards form and symmetry. Thus in Cucurbita the stamens are originally five in number, but subsequently some cohere, so that three stamens only are seen in the mature flower. Adhesion is well seen in the gynostemium of orchids, where the stamens and stigmas adhere. In Capparidaceae the calyx and petals occupy their usual position, but the axis is prolonged in the form of a gynophore, to which the stamens are united.

Multiplication, or an increase of the number of parts, gives rise to changes. We have already alluded to the interposition of new members in a whorl. This takes place chiefly in the staminal whorl, but usually the additional parts produced form a symmetrical whorl with the others. In some instances, however, this is not the case. Thus in the horse-chestnut there is an interposition of two stamens, and thus seven stamens are formed in the flower, which is asymmetrical.

Parts of the flower are often increased by a process of deduplication, or chorisis, i.e. the splitting of a part so that two or more parts are formed out of what was originally one. Thus in Cruciferous plants the staminal whorl consists of four long stamens and two short ones (tetradynamous). The symmetry in the flower is evidently dimerous, and the abnormality in the androecium, where the four long stamens are opposite the posterior sepals, takes place by a splitting, at a very early stage of development, of a single outgrowth into two. Many cases of what was considered chorisis are in reality due to the development of stipules from the staminal leaf. Thus in Dicentra and Corydalis there are six stamens in two bundles; the central one of each bundle alone is perfect, the lateral ones have each only half an anther, and are really stipules formed from the staminal leaf. Branching of stamens also produces apparent want of symmetry; thus, in the so-called polyadelphous stamens of Hypericaceae there are really only five stamens which give off numerous branches, but the basal portion remaining short, the branches have the appearance of separate stamens, and the flower thus seems asymmetrical.

Cultivation has a great effect in causing changes in the various parts of plants. Many alterations in form, size, number and adhesion of parts are due to the art of the horticulturist. The changes in the colour and forms of flowers thus produced are endless. In the dahlia the florets are rendered quilled, and are made to assume many glowing colours. In pelargonium the flowers have been rendered larger and more showy; and such is also the case with the Ranunculus, the auricula and the carnation. Some flowers, with spurred petals in their usual state, as columbine, are changed so that the spurs disappear; and others, as Linaria, in which one petal only is usually spurred, are altered so as to have all the petals spurred, and to present what are called pelorian varieties.

Fig. 41.—Tetramerous monochlamydeous male flower of the Nettle (Urtica).

Fig. 42.—Diagram to illustrate valvular or valvate aestivation, in which the parts are placed in a circle, without overlapping or folding.

Fig. 43.—Diagram to illustrate induplicative or induplicate aestivation, in which the parts of the verticil are slightly turned inwards at the edges.

As a convenient method of expressing the arrangement of the parts of the flower, floral formulae have been devised. Several modes of expression are employed. The following is a very simple mode which has been proposed:—The several whorls are represented by the letters S (sepals), P (petals), St (stamens), C (carpels), and a figure marked after each indicates the number of parts in that whorl. Thus the formula S5P5St5C5 means that the flower is perfect, and has pentamerous symmetry, the whorls being isomerous. Such a flower as that of Sedum (fig. 33) would be represented by the formula S5P5St5+5C5, where St5+5 indicates that the staminal whorl consists of two rows of five parts each. A flower such as the male flower of the nettle (fig. 41) would be expressed S4P0St4C0. When no other mark is appended the whorls are supposed to be alternate; but if it is desired to mark the position of the whorls special symbols are employed. Thus, to express the superposition of one whorl upon another, a line is drawn between them, e.g. the symbol S5P5 | St5C5 is the formula of the flower of Primulaceae.

Fig. 44.—Diagram to illustrate reduplicative or reduplicate aestivation, in which the parts of the whorl are slightly turned outwards at the edges.

Fig. 45.—Diagram to illustrate contorted or twisted aestivation, in which the parts of the whorl are overlapped by each other in turn, and are twisted on their axis.

Fig. 46.—Diagram to illustrate the quincuncial aestivation, in which the parts of the flower are arranged in a spiral cycle, so that 1 and 2 are wholly external, 4 and 5 are internal, and 3 is partly external and partly overlapped by 1.

Fig. 47.

—Diagram to illustrate imbricated aestivation, in which the parts are arranged in a spiral cycle, following the order indicated by the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Fig. 48.

—Diagram of a papilionaceous flower, showing vexillary aestivation.

1 and 2, The alae or wings.

3, A part of the carina or keel.

4, The vexillum or standard, which, in place of being internal, as marked by the dotted line, becomes external.

5, The remaining part of the keel.

The order of the cycle is indicated by the figures.