FLI 



FLO 



likethe rays of a fan, as descriptive of 

 the leaves of some palms. 



FLAGE'LLUM (Lat. a whip). An 

 appendage of the legs of the Crustacea, 

 resembling a whip. By the early bota- 

 nists the term flagella was applied to the 

 trailing shoots of the vine ; and the word 

 flagelliform, or whip-like, is employed to 

 characterize the long, taper, and supple 

 roots of certain plants. 



FLAKE-WHITE. Oxide of bismuth, 

 80 called from its occurring in the form 

 of small laminae or flakes. The term is 

 often applied to the purest white lead. 



FLAME. Gaseous matter heated so 

 highly as to become luminous. The 

 flame of volatile carbonaceous combus- 

 tibles, as coal gas, consists of three parts 

 — an interior cone of vaporized combus- 

 tible, an intermediate sphere of partial 

 combustion, and an exterior sphere of 

 complete combustion. 



FLAMELESS LAMP. A lamp in 

 which the combustion of inflammable 

 substances is carried on at a temperature 

 below that required for their inflamma- 

 tion. Thus, if a jet of the gaseous hydro- 

 carbons be allowed to escape into the air, 

 and a red-hot coil of platinum be intro- 

 duced into it, the wire will be maintained 

 at a red heat, and the gas will be con- 

 sumed invisibly ; but if the temperature 

 of the wire be raised to a white heat, 

 the gas will immediately burst into 

 flame. 



FLAT. A character in Music, marked 

 b, which depresses the note before which 

 it is placed a chromatic semitone. An 

 accidental flat is that which, not occur- 

 ring in the clef, aflects only the bar in 

 which it is placed. A double flat de- 

 presses a note two semitones below its 

 natural state ; thus B double flat is, in 

 fact, A natural. A flat fljth is an inter- 

 val of a fifth depressed by a flat, called 

 by the ancients semidiapente. 



FLEXIBFLITY {flecto, tohend). That 

 property of bodies by which, on the ap- 

 plication of force, they change their form 

 and bend ; it is opposed to stiffness on 

 the one hand, and to brittleness on the 

 other. 



FLE'XURE {flecto, to bend). The 

 bending of a line or surface. The point 

 of contrary flexure is that point of a 

 curve at which the curvature passes 

 from convex to concave, or vice versd, 

 with respect to the axis. 



FLINT. Silex. A mineral, consisting 

 of silicious earth, nearly pure. In Geo- 

 logy, flint is a variety of the quartzose 

 138 



rocks, of various colours, with a con- 

 choidal fracture and horny aspect. Flinty 

 slate, silicious schistu.i, or Lydian stone, 

 is another variety of the same rocks, 

 and, when polished, is used as a touch- 

 stone for ascertaining the comparative 

 purity of gold and silver. 



FLINTS, LIQUOR OF. A solution 

 of flint or silica in potash, prepared by 

 fusing together hydrate of potash and 

 powdered flint or fine sand. 



FLOATATION, STABLE. A term 

 applied to that position of a floating body 

 in which it is not capable of being upset 

 by the exertion of a small force, but in- 

 variably returns to its former position. 

 This is not the case when its position is 

 unstable, as small impulses then induce 

 a change of place, which commonly pro- 

 duces stable equilibrium. 



FLOATING CURRENT. A move- 

 able conductor, invented by De la Rive, 

 for illustrating the action of electric cur- 

 rents on each other. 



FLOATSTONE. A sub-species of the 

 indivisible quartz of Mobs. It occurs 

 incrusting flint, or in imbedded masses 

 in a secondary limestone at St. Ouen, 

 near Paris. 



FLOCCI {floccus, a lock of wool). 

 Woolly filaments found mixed with spo- 

 rules in the interior of some fungaceous 

 plants. The same name is also applied 

 to the external filaments of Byssaceae. 



FLOETZ ROCKS {fldtz, German, a 

 layer or stratum). A term applied, in 

 Germany, to the secondary strata, because 

 these rocks were supposed to occur most 

 commonly in flat horizontal layers. 



FLO'RA {flos,floris, a flower). A term 

 expressive of the botanical productions 

 of any particular country. 



FLO'RETS. Flosculi. The small 

 flowers which compose the capitulum of 

 Compositae. Those of the circumference 

 are ligulate, or strap-shaped; those 

 within the circumference are tubular; 

 the former are called florets of the ray, 

 the \aXiQX florets of the disk. 



FLOS-FERRl. A radiated variety of 

 carbonate of lime, or of calc-spar, often 

 found in veins of spathose iron-ore. 



FLOWER. In botanical language, the 

 flower is a terminal bud comprising all 

 the organs which contribute to the pro- 

 cess of fecundation, as the calyx, the 

 corolla, the stamens, and the pistil ; of 

 these, the last two only are indis- 

 pensable. 



FLOWERS (in Chemistry). A terra 

 formerly used to denote such bodies as 



