FIFE 



3141 



FIGHTING FISH 



Princess Arthur of 



Connaught, 

 Duchess of Fife 



Corbett 



Fife, ALEXANDRA, DUCHESS OF 

 (b. 1891). British princess. The 

 elder daughter of the duke of Fife 

 and Louise, 

 I daughter o f 

 Edward VII, 

 she was born 

 May 17, 1891. 

 In 1912, on the 

 death of her 

 father, she suc- 

 ceeded by 

 special remain- 

 der to his 

 dukedom and 

 some of his 

 other titles, 

 and on Oct. 15, 1913, she was mar- 

 ried to her cousin, Prince Arthur 

 of Connaught. A son, the earl of 

 Macduff, was born Aug. 9, 1914. 



Fifteenth. In English history, a 

 tax usually associated with a tenth. 

 Taxation of property other than 

 land began in the time of Henry II, 

 and in 1193 one-fourth of their 

 incomes was demanded from laity 

 and clergy alike. Succeeding taxes 

 of this kind were levied, but the 

 amount varied from a fourth to a 

 fourteenth. Officials from the ex- 

 chequer arranged for a fixed 

 amount from each shire, leaving it 

 to the sheriff to collect it from 

 individuals. After 1290 it was a 

 grant voted by Parliament, each 

 estate voting its own share to the 

 king. Tenths and fifteenths became 

 the regular amount of the votes, 

 townsfolk, i.e. the owners of per- 

 sonal property, paying one-tenth 

 of their incomes and those in the 

 country one-fifteenth. 



The next charge was to make the 

 amount voted a fixed sum, done by 

 taking the assessment of 1332, 

 which produced 39,000. Hence- 

 forward 39,000 represented a 

 tenth and fifteenth, and if more 

 money was needed Parliament 

 voted two tenths and fifteenths. In 

 later votes certain towns were some- 

 times excepted, and the assess- 

 ment became antiquated and un- 

 fair as conditions changed. The 

 last vote of this kind was in 1624 ; 

 its place being taken by the subsidy 

 (q.v.). See Taxation ; Tenth. 



Fifth. Musical interval. A fifth 

 includes five scale names in order, 

 as C, D, E, F, G. Therefore C to G 

 is a fifth, and as G occurs in the 

 major scale of C, this fifth is called 

 perfect, or by some major. See 

 Consecutive : Interval. 



Fifth Monarchy Men. Sect of 

 the Puritan period in England who 

 believed that a millennium or king- 

 dom of Christ upon the earth was 

 at hand. This was to be the fifth 



monarchy of the world, the earlier 

 ones being the empires of the 

 Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, 

 and the Romans. The Fifth 

 Monarchy men were to be found 

 in considerable numbers in Crom- 

 well's army. In 1661, shortly after 

 the Restoration, they took part in 

 a revolt in which many were killed. 

 Fig (Ficu-s carica). Tree of the 

 natural order Urticaceae, native of 

 the Mediterranean region. It at- 

 tains a height of 20 ft. to 30 ft., 

 and has large, lobed, alternate 

 leaves, rough above and downy 

 beneath. The sexes are in separate 

 flowers, but on the same tree. The 

 minute blossoms are contained in- 

 side a hollow, pear-shaped flower- 

 stalk. Externally nothing indi- 

 cates the presence of flowers, and 

 but for the ministrations of a small 

 wasp (BlaMophaga grossorum), it 

 would be impossible for the pollen 

 of the males to reach the female 

 flowers. In the same receptacle as 

 the male flowers are some aborted 

 females, and these are attacked by 

 the female wasp, which lays its 

 eggs in them. 



Fig. Tree of Ficus carica and, right, 

 branch with leaves and fruit 



The wasp-grubs feed upon their 

 cradles, and in due time become 

 wasps. In seeking the external air 

 they have to pass among the male 

 flowers, and get dusted with their 

 pollen. Then they are attracted by 

 the odours emanating from a 

 cavernous stalk containing female 

 flowers, and enter it, shaking off 

 much of the pollen that covers 

 their bodies ; and thus the female 

 flowers are pollinated and the 

 flower-stalks become swollen and 

 juicy. Numerous other species of 

 the genus Ficus in other parts of 

 the world bear edible fruit, such as 

 F. roxburghii (India), which has 

 them in clusters from the bare 

 trunk, quite near the ground. 



Figaro, as presented 

 by Coquelin aine 



Figaro. Cen- 

 tral character, 

 the barber 

 himself, in 

 Beaumarchais' 

 comedy, The 

 Barber of Se- 

 ville. Valet, 

 poet, dramat- 

 ist, etc., he is 

 the personifi- 

 cation of the 

 easy gaiety 

 which has come 

 to be accepted 

 as a type of the 

 witty social 

 philosopher. 

 Encouraged by 

 the success of 

 The Barber of 

 Seville, 1775, 

 Beaumarchais 

 wrote TheMar- 

 riage of Figaro, 

 which, how- 

 ever, was not acted until 1784, and 

 he also introduced Figaro into La 

 Mere Coupable, 1792. Mozart wrote 

 an opera on The Marriage of Figaro, 

 and Rossini one on The Barber of 

 Seville. See Beaumarchais. 



Figaro, LE. Satirical journal 

 founded in Paris, 1826. It was 

 named after the hero of two of 

 Beaumarchais' comedies, and con- 

 tributed to by Jules Janin, Alphonse 

 Karr, and George Sand. It ran till 

 1833. The title was revived for a 

 weekly started by J. H. deVillemes- 

 sant, April 22, 1854. This became 

 a morning daily devoted to politics 

 and literature in 1866, its writers 

 including Edmund About, Gabriel 

 Hanotaux, Pierre Loti, Edmund 

 Rostand, and Ernest Daudet. 

 Under the control (1901-14) of 

 Gaston Calmette, who was shot by 

 Mme. Caillaux, wife of the French 

 finance minister, March 16, 1914, 

 it enjoyed a great vogue as a 

 society as well as a literary organ. 

 It publishes a literary supplement, 

 and a monthly, Le Figaro Illustre. 

 Fighting Fish. Name given to 

 a small fresh -water fish, Betta 

 pugnax, found in Asia and Africa. 

 The Siamese breed it for fighting 

 contests, as it fights furiously when 

 matched with an opponent. It 

 assumes vivid colours under ex- 

 citement. 



Fighting Fish, the Japanese Betta 

 splendens 



