FIBROMA 



of aluminium, it occurs in crystal- 

 line schists in form of lenticular 

 lumps consisting of finely fibrous 

 aggregates. 



Fibroma. Tumour composed 

 mainly of fibrous tissue. Soft 

 fibromata most frequently develop 

 from the connective tissue of the 

 skin, and may form pedunculated 

 outgrowths. Hard fibromata are 

 found in connexion with the perios- 

 teum or tissue covering the surface 

 bones, the ear, and other parts. 



Fibrositis. Disease of an in- 

 flammatory nature affecting the 

 fibrous tissue or fascia which ^ sur- 

 rounds muscles and extends be- 

 tween the muscular fibres. Pain is 

 the most prominent symptom. The 

 causes of the disorder are exposure 

 to cold and wet, sudden chilling 

 after heavy labour, and some- 

 times a blow. Persons of gouty 

 tendency are most likely to be 

 affected. See Lumbago; Pleuro- 

 dynia; Stiff Neck. 



Fibrous Tissue. Tissue com- 

 posed chiefly of bundlesof fine white 

 fibres. It is found in tendons, liga- 

 ments, fascia, and the deeper 

 layers of the skin. 



Fibula (Lat., buckle). Outer of 

 the two bones which form the 

 skeleton of the lower leg. It is a 

 long, slender bone, firmly attached 

 to the tibia by ligaments at its 

 upper and lower extremities. The 

 lower extremity forms the external 

 malleolus or bony protuberance on 

 the outer side of the ankle, and 

 helps to form the socket in which 

 the foot articulates with the bones 

 of the leg. See Leg. 



Fibula (Lat. ). Brooch or clasp, 

 especially of the early metallic ages. 

 The neolithic bone pin, often made 

 from the splint bone or fibula of a 

 vertebrate animal, was imitated 

 in bronze ; when bent over until 

 the looped head clasped the point 

 the safety - pin resulted. Com- 

 mon in Italian pile-dwellings, 

 and the early Aegean, it de- 

 veloped at Hallstatt a bolder 

 bow, often much decorated. Under 

 n La Tene influ- 

 >| ence three fur- 

 ther stages are 

 traced, the 

 catchplate be- 

 ing bent back so 

 as to (i) ap- 

 proach, (ii) 

 clasp, (iii) unite 

 with the bow. 

 This sequence 

 serves to date 

 iron-age anti- 

 quities wherever 

 these types are 

 found. Unlike 

 Fibula. Merovingian these late-Celtic 



7th cent. 



was in two pieces. Anglo-Saxon 

 types, sometimes betraying con- 

 tinental influence, mostly dis- 

 play native developments, espe- 

 cially in cloisonne. The choicest 

 Gaelic examples came from Hun- 

 terston, Tara, and Aesica. They are 

 now in Edinburgh, Dublin, and 

 Newcastle respectively. See Brooch. 

 Fichte, JOHAKN GOTTLIEB (1762- 

 1814). German philosopher. Born 

 at Rammenau, Lusatia, May 19, 

 1762, he left Germany owing to 

 poverty, for Switzerland, where he 

 became acquainted with Kant's 

 philosophy. The attention at- 

 tracted by his A Critique of All 

 Revelation, written while he was 

 n tutor at Koniesbenr. helped him 



Fibula. Diagram illustrating rela- 

 tive positions of tibia and fibula in 

 tbe human leg. 



to obtain the professorship of phil- 

 osophy at Jena. In 1799, having 

 been accused of atheism, he re- 

 signed his post and retired to Ber- 

 lin, where he was allowed to lecture 

 on philosophy. In 1807, when the 

 French invaded Prussia, Fichte 

 showed his ardent patriotism in his 

 Addresses to the German Nation. 

 He died at 

 Berlin, Jan. 

 27, 1814, from 

 a fever con- 

 I tracted during 

 g the war of 

 independence. 



Fichte's sys- 

 tem has been 



Roman fibula 



After Bury 



called practical idealism, according 

 to which the power of the will in the 

 Ego is supreme. The Ego or self is 

 a purely active being, which derives 

 from itself the entirety of know- 

 ledge. It is to the Ego that we have 

 to look for the explanation of every- 

 thing. The Ego, feeling itself limited, 



" posits itself " as determining the 

 non-Ego. The counterpart of what- 

 ever belongs to the Ego belongs to 

 the non-Ego. The Ego created the 

 non-Ego; it creates nature and 

 God. But God is not merely a 

 creation of the Ego, but the abso- 

 lute Ego, the infinite will of the 

 universe, the 'source of the finite 

 Ego, to which we must ever strive 

 to become united. Fichte's most 

 important work is The Founda- 

 tion of the Whole Doctrine of 

 Knowledge, 1795. 



Fichtelgebirge. Mountain sys- 

 tem of Germany. Its central nu- 

 cleus is situated hi N.E. Bavaria 

 between the basins of the Regnitz 

 and the Naad. The name is de- 

 rived from the pine trees (Fichte), 

 with which it was formerly covered. 

 It forms a watershed between the 

 sources of the Elbe, Rhine, and 

 Danube. The principal summits 

 are Sckneeberg (3,461 ft.) and 

 Ochsenkopf (3,334 ft. ). It has con- 

 nections with or ramifications into 

 the Erzgebirge and the Thuringian 

 Forest, and stretches in a south- 

 westerly direction to the banks of 

 the Altmiihl, near Eichstadt. 



Fiction (Lat. fictio, feigning). 

 Term now applied almost wholly to 

 prose romances or novels, although 

 strictly it means anything that is 

 feigned, and is applicable to any 

 literary productions of the imagi- 

 nation. See Literature ; Novel : 

 Romance. 



Fiction, LEGAL. Legal phrase 

 denoting an assumption of fact 

 without question of its truth, for 

 the purpose of evading technical 

 difficulties. Fictions occur in every 

 system of jurisprudence. They 

 have been invented to enable 

 changes to be effected in the sub- 

 stance of the law while deferring to 

 the wholesome imaginative rever- 

 ence for its old symbols and form- 

 alities. Fictions of law are not al- 

 lowed to be denied, their proper 

 operation, according to Blackstone, 

 being " to prevent a mischief, or 

 remedy an inconvenience, that 

 might result from the general rule 

 of law," while further the maxim 

 is invariably observed that no fic- 

 tion shall extend to work an injury. 



In England it was through fic- 

 tions that the courts of king's 

 bench, exchequer, and common 

 pleas encroached on the previously 

 distinct jurisdiction of one another. 

 By the common law no mere civil 

 action could be prosecuted in the 

 king's bench, but plea of any civil 

 action could be held there, other 

 than actions real, if the defendant 

 was an officer of the court, or in 

 the custody of the marshal of the 

 court, for a breach of the peace 

 or any other offence ; hence the 

 fiction was introduced into the 



