FFESTINIOG GROUP 



3134 



FIBROLITE 



Ffestiniog Group. Series of 

 grey flagstones belonging to the 

 Cambrian system of sedimentary 

 rocks, developed in Merioneth. It 

 is characterised by abundant fossil 

 remains of a small brachiopod (Lin- 

 gulella davisi), and has persistent 

 upper beds crowded with remains 

 of Lingula. It was deposited under 

 shallow water. 



Fiacre (Fr.). Name of a saint 

 and of a hackney carriage. The 

 saint, also known as S. Fiachrach, 

 a native of Ireland, died at Breuil, 

 near Paris, about 670, and is com- 

 memorated on Aug. 30. Outside 

 the Hotel de S. Fiacre, in Paris, in 

 the 17th century, was the first 

 stand for hackney carriages, and 

 hence, it is supposed, is derived 

 the application of the name fiacre 

 to the vehicle. See, Cab. 



Fians OR FIANNA. In Celtic 

 tradition, the band of warriors led 

 at the height of their power by 

 Finn (q.v. ). Opinions differ widely 

 as to their original nature, but 

 they are generally believed to 

 have flourished about the middle 

 of the 3rd century. They existed in 

 the time of Finn's father, Cumhal, 

 and formed a militia force of speci- 

 ally chosen fighting men to expel 

 foreign invaders from Ireland. The 

 Gaelic legends of Ireland and Scot- 

 land have much to tell of their 

 exploits in war and love and hunt- 

 ing, and in some, the Fians appear 

 as a knightly order similar to that 

 of the Round Table. Numerous 

 cairns, standing-stones, etc., all 

 over Ireland and in some parts of 

 the Scottish highlands are asso- 

 ciated with them. 



Their strength, however, grew 

 dangerous, and in their last great 

 battle at Gabra (283) they were 

 broken by Coirpre, son of Cormac. 

 The anglicised form, Fenians, gave 

 title to the Fenian Brotherhood. 

 See Fenianism; consult also The 

 Dean of Lismore's Book, ed. with 

 trans. T. MacLauchlan, 1862; 

 Leabhar na Feiune, J. F. Camp- 

 bell, 1872; The Fians, ed. J. 

 G. Campbell, 1891 ; Bards of the 

 Gael and Gall, G. Sigerson, 1897 ; 

 Ossian and the Ossianic Litera- 

 ture, A. Nutt, 1899; Myths and 

 Legends of the Celtic Race, T. W. 

 H. Rolleston, 1911. 



Fiar. In Scots law, name given 

 to the ultimate owner of an estate, 

 the one in whom the ownership is 

 really vested. The fiar is, therefore, 

 the opposite of the tenant for life. 



Fiars Price. Price of grain in 

 Scotland as fixed by the sheriff of 

 the county, sometimes with the 

 aid of a jury. It is done for each 

 county each year, the object being 

 to set up a standard in order that 

 the cash value of certain payments, 

 formerly made in kind, can be 



calculated. Among these are cer- 

 tain clerical and other incomes 

 derived from tenants, and in some 

 cases rents. The practice, which is 

 very old, was regularised by an 

 Act of 1723. 



Fiat (Lat., let it be done). Term 

 used in English law for an order 

 that does not need to be drawn up 

 formally. Fiats are issued by 

 judges and other high officials 

 under certain conditions and ac- 

 cording to certain rules. 



Fibre (Lat. fibra, filament). 

 Term used for threadlike construc- 

 tion or appearance of many sub- 

 stances. Hair, wool, silk threads of 

 the cocoons of silkworms, parts of 

 leaves, bark of certain trees, 

 grasses, etc., are all fibres. Though 

 under certain conditions some 

 metals exhibit a fibrous construc- 

 tion, it is difficult to separate the 

 fibres, but occasionally metals spun 

 into fine threads are spoken of as 

 metal fibres, as also is spun glass. 

 With the exception of asbestos, 

 the fibres of which are woven 

 into a kind of cloth, the fibres of 

 commerce can be conveniently 

 divided into two classes, animal 

 and vegetable. 



Animal fibres are the wool and 

 hair of animals, and the silk of 

 insect cocoons. Though compara- 

 tively few animals prodiice com- 

 mercial fibre, these few are of great 

 importance. Sheep's wool, mohair 

 from the Angora goat, the hair of 

 the llama and alpaca, and those of 

 the cow, camel, and rabbit the 

 latter for felts and horsehair are 

 the chief commercial animal fibres, 

 and their uses are dealt with under 

 their respective headings. 



Vegetable fibres constitute a 

 large and important class, and are 

 put to a greater variety of uses 

 than animal fibres. Flax, China 

 grass or ramie, hemp, jute, cotton, 

 raffia, sisal hemp, tampico, coco- 

 nut, esparto grass, and Mexican 

 whisk or broom root are among the 

 chief vegetable fibres. 



The grasses or fibres of S. 

 America and Africa are collected 

 and sent over to importers in the 

 British Isles, who sell them to the 

 dressers, who in turn cut the fibre 

 to different lengths for various 

 uses and sell it to brush-makers. 

 Brush-making is an important 

 industry, and an enormous amount 

 of fibre is used, so that some brush- 

 makers dress and clean their own 

 raw material. The fibre is cleaned 

 of all dirt, cut, and hackled to 

 make it clean and strong ; then cut 

 again, dyed if necessary, steamed 

 and so made straight, and then it 

 is left to dry hard. 



Palmyra fibre, commonly known 

 as bassin in the brush trade, is a 

 strong, medium-sized fibre, and is 



very often dyed to look like Bahia 

 piassava, which is the best fibre for 

 street brushes, etc. Mexican fibre, 

 of which there are two kinds tula, 

 which is short, and jumava, a 

 longer variety is a white fibre 

 which, when dressed, is used for 

 toilet hair brushes, nail brushes, 

 etc. Coco fibre from the husk of 

 the coconut is used for making 

 mats, and also for the large brushes 

 and brooms which are used for 

 domestic purposes. 



The principal use of coir yarn is 

 for thatching, though it is some- 

 times used for large mats. Pias- 

 sava, the most important fibre in 

 the brush trade, is used for all 

 kinds of brushes and brooms, and 

 is found chiefly in Brazil and W. 

 Africa. It is also largely used in S. 

 America for rope-making. Kitool, 

 from Ceylon, is the aristocrat of 

 fibres, being polished and treated 

 with oil, making it very expensive. 

 It is used for making fine brushes 

 and also for the manufacture of 

 ropes of good quality in India. 



Such brushes as dandy brushes 

 for horses are generally made from 

 Mexican fibre. Animal fibre, as 

 horsehair, badger's hair, sable, and 

 camel's hair, are also extensively 

 used in brush-making. Fibres, 

 chiefly of the cheap kinds, which 

 pulp easily, are used for paper- 

 making. Among them are esparto 

 grass, the paper mulberry the 

 bark of which is converted into 

 paper extensively used in Japan 

 cotton grass, and Deccan hemp. 

 From the leaves of Carludovica 

 palmata is obtained the fibre from 

 which Panama hats are manu- 

 factured ; from Gibotium barometz, 

 a fern growing in the Sandwich 

 Islands, comes a variety of vege- 

 table silk used for stuffing uphol- 

 stery work, especially in the U.S. ; 

 and from Eriodendron anfractuosum 

 comes kapok, a soft, silky, elastic 

 fibre used in upholstery, for the 

 stuffing of cushions, seats, etc. 

 See Asbestos; Cotton; Flax; 

 Hemp ; Jute ; Paper ; Rope ; Silk. 



Fibrin (Lat. fibra, filament). 

 Threads of solid proteid formed in 

 the process of coagulation of blood. 

 The fine threads entangle the 

 corpuscles of the blood and, gradu- 

 ally shrinking, squeeze out the 

 fluid part of the blood or plasma, the 

 solid mass of fibrin and corpuscles 

 forming the clot. See Blood. 



Fibroid. Tumour composed 

 mainly of fibrous tissue, more 

 correctly called fibroma (q.v.). A 

 common tumour of the uterus is 

 spoken of as a fibroid, but is really 

 developed from the muscular tissue. 

 See Uterus. 



Fibrolite. Variety of mineral 

 sillimanite (q.v.), one of the anda- 

 lusite group. Chemically a silicate 



