FILE 363 



mixed librous residua, under somewhat difficult conditions, of unquestionably useful 

 products.' 



FICHTElilTE. A resinous hydrocarbon occurring in fossil pine-wood from the 

 Fichtelgobirgo in Bavaria. 



FICTILE MAWUFACTTTRE. See POTTERY, &C. 



FZCUS. Tho fig. The species of this genus are of considerable number, and all 

 of them are inhabitants of warm countries. Most of the species yield a milky juice 

 containing caoutchouc. The Ficus clastica is the India-rubber bearing tree ; the 

 Ficus indica, the banyan tree ; the Ficus religiosa, the pippul tree or sacred fig of India ; 

 the Fiqus sycamoris, an Egyptian tree, probably the sycamore of the Bible ; and the 

 Ficus carica, the common fig. 



FID. A tapered wooden pin used by seamen in splicing large ropes. It is also 

 the name of an iron support passed through a hole in the heel of a mast. 



FIDDLE BLOCK. A block shaped like a fiddle. It has two sheaves, one over 

 the other ; the lower one smaller than the upper. 



FIDDLE STRINGS. The catgut cords stretched across a violin ; fastened at the 

 ends and raised by the bridge. See CATGUT. 



FIDDLE WOOD. A West-Indian timber tree, the Citharexylon melanocardium, 

 much used for mills, carriage-wheels, &c. 



FIG-WORT. The fig-wort family (Scrophulariacea) form a natural order of 

 dicotyledonous plants, the species belonging to which are herbs, abounding most in 

 temperate climates, but also found both in tropical and arctic regions. The leaves are 

 generally exstipulate, or the stipules are very small. The juice of these plants pos- 

 sesses very varied properties. In some it is watery. In others, as Verbasctim, it is 

 mucilaginous. In the Veronica it is bitter, as it is also in Scrophularia and some 

 others. In the Pedieulariee and Gratiolts it is astringent ; and in Digitalis it is highly 

 narcotic. The genus Scrophularia is the type, and contains numerous species, which 

 are principally natives of temperate climates, more especially in the Mediterranean 

 region. 



The common fig-wort, 8. nodosa, may be taken as the type : a common plant on 

 ditch-sides, woods, and moist places. Its root is swollen and knotty, and it was sup- 

 posed to resemble scrofulous tumours of the neck. As in former times it was pretty 

 generally believed that Nature thus pointed out the proper remedies for different 

 diseases, this plant was immediately supposed to possess great virtues in cases of 

 scrofula, and was largely used for that purpose externally. Hence the name for the 

 plant, which was afterwards adopted for that of the genus. At the present day it is 

 said to be used on the Continent, in form of an infusion as a wash, in cases of itch. S. 

 canina, a native of Italy, is used in like manner as a cure for the mange in dogs. The 

 flowers of 8. nodosa contain generally a quantity of honey, and are remarkably 

 attractive in consequence to wasps and bees. ' Flores vesparum dcliciae,' says 

 Linnaeus. 



FIGURE STOWS. A stone used by the Chinese for carving small figures. 

 Some of it is the mineral called agalmatolite, and some merely steatite, or soap- 

 stone. 



FILBERTS. The nuts of a variety of the Hazel, or Corylus Avellana. 



FILE (Lime, Fr. f ; Feile, Ger.) is a well-known steel instrument, having teeth upon 

 the surface for cutting and abrading metal, ivory, wood, &c. 



When the teeth of these instruments are formed by a straight sharp-edged chisel, 

 extending across the surface, they are properly called files ; but when "by a sharp- 

 pointed tool, in the form of a triangular pyramid, they are termed rasps. The former 

 are used for all the metals, as well as ivory, bone, horn, and wood ; the latter for wood 

 and horn. 



Files are divided into two varieties, from the form of their teeth. When the teeth 

 are a series of sharp edges, raised by the flat chisel, appearing like parallel furrows, 

 either at right angles to the length of the file, or in an oblique direction, they are 

 termed single cut. But when these teeth are crossed by a second series of similar 

 teeth, they are said to be double cut. The first are fitted for brass and copper, and 

 are found to answer better when the teeth run in an oblique direction. The latter 

 are suited for the harder metals, such as cast and wrought iron and steel. Such teeth 

 present sharp angles to the substance, which penetrate it, while single-cut files 

 would slip over the surface of these metals. The double cut file is less fit for filing 

 brass and copper, because its teeth would be very liable to become clogged with the 

 filings. 



Files are also called by different names according to their various degrees of 

 fineness. Those of extreme roughness are called rough ; the next to this is the 

 bastard cut ; the third is the second cut ; the fourth, the smooth ; and the finest 

 of all, the dead smooth. The very heavy square files used for heavy smith-work 



