FUUNESS 



Frits 



41 



FliriM'SS, a di-irid iii the north-west of Lan- 

 ca-hue, torming H peninsula Ixetween Moreearabfl 

 ,iid tin- Irish Sea. The chief town in Barrow- 

 in 1'iiiiH-s (<i.v.). The ruin of Fume** Abbey, 

 _' mill-- Horn Barrow, in one of tin- linc-.t example-, 

 of tin- transition Norniun and Early English arehi- 

 teciuro in tin 1 country. Founded in 1 1'27 for the j 

 Kencdidiiiex, ii afterwards became a ('Mercian 

 hou>e. ll \\;is long one of tlic wealthiest alil-\-> 

 in tin 1 kingdom. The civil jurisdiction of the 

 princely abbots of Furnoss extended beyond the 

 disi rid' of F uniess. See Richardson's I-'iirnesa( 1880), 

 and Harbor's Funirss itntt Cttrtitirl Notes (189;">). 



I iirnhall. FREDERICK JAMES, a lalM>rious and 

 enthusiastic student of early English, was l>orn at 

 E_;ham in Surrey, February 4, 1M'2">, and educated 

 at private schools, University College, London, 

 and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where lie graduated 

 I! \. in 1846, M.A. in 1849. He was called to the 

 liar in 1849. In early life lie associated himself 

 in philanthropic work with Frederick Maurice, 

 \-c.. taught in the Working Men's College every 

 term for ten years, and was for the same period a 

 captain in its riHe corps. He has devoted himself 

 to English philology, and with characteristic energy 

 has succeeded in founding, for the publication of 

 texts, 'The Early English Text Society,' 1864 (with 

 the 'Extra Series.' IM>7); 'The Chaucer Society ' 

 (1808); 'The Ballad Society' (1868); the 'New 

 Shakspere Society' ( 1874 ) ; ' The Browning Society ' 

 (issi, with Miss Hickey); 'The Wyclif Society' 

 (1882); and 'The Shelley Society' (1886). He 

 has been honorary secretary of the Philological 

 Society since 1854, while he edited for some 

 years the Society's great English Dictionary, the 

 lirs t part of which saw the light under the super- 

 vision of l)r Murray in 1884. Through these 

 societies he has raised and expended upwards 

 of 30,000 in printing early MSS. and rare books, 

 and has thus placed in the hands of thousands 

 of students cheap and accurate texts, some score 

 of these well edited by himself. His Robert 

 of Brunne's Handlyng Synne and ( 7//v////<7c were 

 edited for the Roxburghe Club and Rolls Series. 

 His most valuable work, however, has been his 

 splendid edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: 

 'A Six text Print of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales' 

 (7 parts, 1868-75), being an exact print (with 

 the Tales in their proper order and groups) of six 

 of the seven most important MSS. ; the seventh 

 he has since printed by itself, besides all the MSS. 

 of Chaucer's Minor Poems. This work has 

 given a new impulse to early English scholarship, 

 and will always remain a monument of the noble 

 and patient enthusiasm of its editor. For the 

 New Shakspere Society he has edited several books 

 of worth in its ' Shakspere's England Series,' speci- 

 ally Harrison's Description of England (1577-87) 

 and Stubhes's A initnini/ of Abuses in England 

 (1583). Of his introduction to the Leopold Shak- 

 tf/w/r, describing the plays and poems in chrono- 

 logical order, over 100,000 copies have been sold. 

 !! and a friend built the first narrow wagerboat 

 in Kngland in 1845, and he first introduced sculling 

 fours and eights in 1884 and 1885, and was in the 

 winning crews of the first races ever sculled in 

 these boats. Furnivall was granted in 1884 a 

 < 'i\ il List pension of 150. ( )n his sixtieth birthday 

 the university of Berlin conferred on him its I'h. I>. 

 degree, honoris causa. In 1881 he prepared a care- 

 ful bibliography of Browning. In 1888 he edited, 

 with his medical son Percy (a champion cyclist), 

 the first English l>ook on anatomy, which was 

 written by Thomas Vicary in 1548. The series 

 of forty-three fac-similes of the quartos of Shak- 

 spere's Plays was edited by Dr Furnivall and a 

 number of other scholars under his superintend- 



Furiilvnl'H Inn. See INNS OP COCRT. 

 Fiirruckubad. Bee FAKUKIIAIS.U>. 



l-'urs. I ndei the name of im- may be included 

 the skins of almost all those animalK which, for the 

 sake of protection against cold, have for a covering 

 an under layer of a soft, woolly or downy texture, 

 through which grows in most instances an upper 

 one ni' a more bristly or hairy nature; some by 

 nature possess more of the under coat, and others 

 more of the upper, the proj>ortion varying consider- 

 ably in dillerent animals and countries. In winter 

 the fur becomes thicker in its growth, thereby im 

 proving the quality and value for commercial pur- 

 poses ; young animals too possess thicker coats 

 than full-grown ones. In some instances the under- 

 fur alone is used in manufacturing, whilst the 

 upper hairs are removed e.g. in the tur seal. 



The more general use or furs in all civilised 

 countries has made the fur-trade of the present day 

 of even greater importance than in those flourishing 

 days when the fur-traders were the chief pioneers 

 of the North American continent : the quantities 

 of many fur-bearing animals have vastly increased, 

 especially of those rather small mammals which 

 seem to thrive and breed quickly in the proximity 

 of settlements ; the larger ones, on the other hand, 

 such as bears, beavers, tfcc. , will in course of time, 

 if not protected, become generally reduced in 

 numbers, a fate which seems to have overtaken the 

 bufl'alo or North American bison. 



The chief supply of furs is obtained from Siberia 

 and the northern parts of North America, and, as 

 these tracts are for the greater part of the year 

 frostbound, the fur-bearing animals enjoy a com 

 paratively unmolested life ; the fur, therefore, 

 grows thickly during the winter season, and is 

 in its best condition when the animal is trapped in 

 the spring ; large quantities also of the smaller 

 sorts are found in the United States ; Europe pro- 

 duces immense numbers of common furs, such as 

 rabbits, hares, foxes, &c., besides the more valu- 

 able stone and baum (tree) martens, though the 

 larger animals have almost disappeared as the 

 countries have become more and more cleared and 

 inhabited ; South America yields nutrias and chin- 

 chillas ; whilst Australia exports rabbits, opossums, 

 and kangaroos, and Africa monkey and leopard 

 skins. Nearly all fur-skins are brought to the 

 market in the raw or undressed state. . 



The two leading companies are the Hudson Bay 

 Company (Q.V. ), established in 1670, and the North 

 American Fur-sealing Company since 1890; the 

 Fur Company of New York, the North-west Com- 

 pany, and the Russo-American Company of Mos- 

 cow once held important positions, but they have 

 long since been broken up or amalgamated. The 

 Skinners' Company of London, one of the city com- 

 panies or guilds, formerly possessed many ancient 

 privileges and rights in connection with the fur- 

 trade, but these are now in abeyance. The collec- 

 tions of furs of the two first-named companies, 

 together with large quantities consigned from 

 numerous private trailers, are annually offered in 

 London for public auction in January and March, 

 with a smaller sale in June ; periodical sales during 

 the year are held besides of Australian, African, 

 and other fur-skins. Many important fairs take 

 place on the Continent and in Asia, of which the 

 chief are at Leipzig in Germany (at Easter and 

 Michaelmas), Nijni Novgorod and Irbit in Russia, 

 and smaller ones at Frankfort ((JermanyK Ishim 

 and Kiakhta (both in Siberia). 



Following is a list of the principal fur producing 

 animals, with a few of the most interesting and 

 important facts in connection with them with 

 regard to the fur-trade ; the values are those for 

 the raw skins in the years 1890-95 : 



