FLAMBOROUGH HEAD 



3187 



FLAMINGO 



he became bishop of Lisieux. He 

 returned to England in 1106, after 

 the battle of Tinchebrai. 



Flam borough Head. Promon- 

 tory on the E. coast of Yorkshire, 

 England. It lies to the N. of 

 Bridlington Bay. The limestone 

 rocks, which rise to a height of 

 450 ft., are pierced by a number of 

 caverns, and the action of the sea 

 has fashioned the rocks into fan- 

 tastic shapes. The lighthouse is 

 214 ft. above sea level, and its 

 flashing light is visible for 21 m. 



Flamboyant (Fr., naming). In 

 architecture, a development of late 

 French Gothic. It owes its name 

 to the flame-shaped openings in 

 tracery which were its chief char- 

 acteristic. The period of Flamboy- 

 ant was the late 15th and early 

 16th centuries. The style hardly 

 penetrated to Great Britain, though 

 some of the flowing tracery in 

 Chester Cathedral approximates to 

 it. Among French examples are 

 the church of S. Maclou at Rouen, 

 and part of Tours Cathedral. See 

 Architecture. 



Flame. Gaseous matter raised 

 to a temperature at which it be- 

 comes self-luminous, as a result of 



Flame. Types oi flame. Left to right. 



Bunsen burner ; ordinary burner for 



lighting purposes ; wax candle 



combustion. Some gases inflame 

 spontaneously because the ignition 

 temperature is as low as the ordi- 

 nary temperature of the air. Ex- 

 amples are cacodyl, phosphorus 

 dihydride, and zinc ethyl. As a 

 rule, however, the temperature of 

 the gas must be raised before the 

 chemical reaction with the oxygen 

 of the atmosphere takes place. An 

 agency which lowers the tempera- 

 ture below ignition point puts out 

 the flame; a copper helix placed in a 

 candle flame extracts heat so rapidly 

 that the flame is extinguished. 



This cooling action is employed 

 in the Davy miners' safety lamp, 

 where the wire gauze prevents the 

 flame being communicated to the 

 inflammable fire-damp in the mine. 

 It has long been known that ordi 

 nary flames are hollow and that 

 there are " solid " flames in cases 

 where the complex molecule of a 

 gas is by combustion broken up 

 into simpler forms, e.g. in burning 

 nitrogen trichloride. Berzelius 

 pointed out that a candle or hy- 

 drocarbon flame shows four dis- 

 tinct regions: (1) the dark central 

 region, (2) the yellow region, (3) 

 the blue region, and (4) the faintly 

 luminous portion. The dark por- 

 tion consists of unburnt gases, 

 whilst the yellow portion occupy- 

 ing the greatest part of the flame 

 is the luminous portion. 



The temperature of a flame de- 

 pends upon the heats of combina- 

 tion of the constituents and the 

 specific heats of the products of the 

 combination. The temperature of 

 sulphur burning in air is compara- 

 tively low, whereas an oxy-acety- 

 Jene flame reaches 2,500 C. The 

 colour of a flame is not as a rule in- 

 dicative of the calorific power. The 

 yellow gas flame is converted into 

 a hotter non-luminous flame by the 

 admixture of air, such burners, 

 known as Bunsen burners, being 

 used for heating operations in the 

 laboratory and the kitchen. 



A sensitive flame is a gas flame 

 produced by a pin-hole burner in 

 which the pressure of the gas has 

 been increased till it is on the point 

 of flaring. This long, thin flame is a 

 very sensitive detector of sound 

 waves, particularly of those of high 

 pitch and tiny amplitude. When a 

 train of these sound waves im- 

 pinges on the sensitive flame it 

 flares and suddenly shortens. See 

 Fire; Heat. 



Flame-flower OR REDHOT PO- 

 KER (Kniphqfia aloides). Perennial 

 herb of the natural order Liliaceae. 

 It is a native 

 of S. Africa. 

 The leaves, 

 which grow in 

 a compact tuft 

 from the root, 

 are long, nar- 

 row, and of 

 tough consist- 

 ence ; they are 

 channelled 

 above and 

 keeled below, 

 the keel and 

 the edges 

 finely toothed. 

 The brilliant 

 red, tubular 

 flowers are 



disposed in a F i ame . n ower. Speei- 

 close oval mens in bloom 



spike, at the summit of a stem 3 ft. 

 or 4 ft. high. The aspect of the 

 flowers gives the herb its descrip- 

 tive name. 



Flamen. In ancient Rome, a 

 priest devoted to the service of a 

 particular god. The chief of these 

 priests, who had to belong to the 

 patrician order, was the flamen 

 Dialis or priest of Jupiter. Not 

 only the flamen Dialis himself, but 

 his wife, who was called Flaminica, 

 and the whole household were re- 

 garded as consecrated to the god. 



Flamingo (Phoenicopterus). Or- 

 der of large birds, nearly related to 

 the ducks. They have extremely 





Flamingo. Adult specimens oi the 

 European flamingo 



long legs and necks, rosy or scarlet 

 plumage with black on the wings, 

 and beaks sharply bent down at an 

 angle. Adult specimens sometimes 

 exceed 6 ft. in height. One Euro- 

 pean species, four or five American, 

 and one African are known. 



Flamingoes are wading birds, as 

 their long legs and necks suggest, 

 and are found in great flocks by the 

 margin of lakes and rivers, feeding 

 on molluscs and aquatic vegeta- 

 tion. When feeding, the flamingo's 

 head is turned upside down and 

 the curved beak acts as a scoop 

 for picking up food. The birds are 

 fairly strong in flight, and can 

 swim well. The nests are made of 

 mud, and when built on land 

 rather resemble large soup plates. 

 When constructed in the water, 

 they are tall and conical. The Eu- 

 ropean flamingo is common in the 

 S. of France and in Spain during 

 the nesting season, and it ranges 

 through many parts of Africa. It 

 is very rarely met with in Great 

 Britain. The French name is flam- 

 ant, Span, flamenco, ultimately 

 from Lat. flamma, flame, in refer- 

 ence to the bird's colour. 



