FLYING DUTCHMAN 



3221 



FOAL 



German Fokkers. The corps was 

 greatly expanded until April, 1918, 

 when it was merged into the Royal 

 Air Force, the officers being 

 granted the option of remaining in 

 the army. The badge of the corps 

 was R.F.C. as a monogram within 

 a wreath surmounted by a crown. 

 See Air Force, Royal. 



Flying Dutchman, THE. Spec 

 tral ship traditionally haunting 

 various seas. It is generally associ- 

 ated with the latitude of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, about which it was 

 said to be ever moving under 

 crowded canvas, unable to reach 

 port. The vessel was supposed to 

 be thus doomed owing to the 

 abominable acts of her crew headed 

 by their captain, Vanderdecken. 

 Her appearance is deemed a por- 

 tent of disaster. The legend was 

 dramatised in The Flying Dutch- 

 man by Douglas Jerrold, 1829, and 

 later by Edward Fitzball ; Captain 

 Marryat founded his story, The 

 Phantom Ship, on it, 1839; and it 

 inspired Richard Wagner's opera, 

 The Flying Dutchman, 1844. 



Flying Fish (Exocoetus). One 

 of a group of tropical fishes. It 

 includes over forty species which 

 have the pectoral fins so lengthened 

 as to resemble wings. They are in 

 the habit of leaping out of the water 

 to escape their enemies, and taking 

 long skimming flights above the 

 surface, supported by their dis- 

 tended fins, which are not used as 

 propelling instruments. 



Flying Fox. Erroneous name 

 for the fruit bat, of the genus 

 Pteropiis. It is due to the fact that 

 its head slight- 

 ly resembles 

 that of a fox. 

 Unlike other 

 bats, which it- 

 great ly sur- 

 passes in size, 

 it feeds entirely 

 on flowers and 

 fruit. It is 

 ij found in S. 

 A Asia, the E. 



H I Indies, Mada- 

 gascar, Aus- 

 tralia, and 

 some of the 

 Pacific islands. 

 The largest 

 species, that of 

 Malaya, Ptero- 

 piis edulis, 

 measures over 

 5 ft. between 

 the tips of the 

 wings, and is considered a great deli- 

 cacy. The fruit growers of Aus- 

 tralia suffer much from its depre- 

 dations, and in 1920 the Queensland 

 dept. of agriculture made the ex- 

 periment of employing flame pro- 

 jectors against it. See Bat. 



Flying Fox. The 



Malayan flying fox, 



the largest bat 



Flying Lemur (Galeopithecus). 

 Popular name for the colugo of 

 Malaya. The loose skin along the 



Flying Lemur, Galeopithecus, with 

 skin distended for gliding 



sides of the body and neck spreads 

 into a kind of parachute when the 

 animal launches itself into the air, 

 enabling it to cover at one boiind 

 as much as 70 yds. from tree to tree. 

 It feeds chiefly on leaves. 



Flying Machine. Any heavier- 

 than-air machine designed for 

 mechanical flight. The term is 

 now usually applied to an aeroplane 

 in contradistinction to an airship. 

 See Aeroplane. 



Flying Officer. Royal Air 

 Force title for officers, other than 

 those who have specialised as 

 observers. Officers of equal rank 

 who are employed as observers, 

 having specialised in this branch, 

 are known as observer officers. 



Flying Phalanger (Petaurus). 

 Small squirrel-like opossum, of 

 which there are three species, found 



Flying Phalanger, a squirrel-like 

 marsupial 



only in Australia and New Guinea. 

 It is able to take long gliding leaps 

 through the trees, partly supported 

 by a membranous extension of 

 skin. It feeds upon insects, fruit, 

 and blossoms. 



Flying Speed. Normal speed 

 which an aeroplane must maintain 

 in order to remain in the air, or the 

 actual air speed of a machine neces- 

 sary for its support in the air. This 

 must not be confused with the ap- 

 parent or ground speed of the 

 machine. See Air Speed. 



Flying Squid (Ommastrephes 

 sagittatus). Species of squid or 

 cuttle fish. 

 Long and nar- 

 row in shape, 

 it is common 

 in the open 

 seas, and 

 forms an im- 

 portant part 

 of the food of 

 the sperm 

 whale. It is 

 often called 

 the sea arrow, 

 from its habit 

 of darting 

 backwards out 

 of the water 

 for a consider- 

 able height. 



Flying Squirrel (Pteromys). 

 Squirrel found in N. America, Asia, 

 and E. Europe. Members of this 

 group are able to simulate flying 



Flying Squid, a 



cuttle fish which 



springs oat of 



the water 



Flying Squirrel of North America 

 by the extension of the loose, lateral 

 folds of their skin. There are a large 

 number of species, varying consider- 

 ably in size and colour, and all are 

 nocturnal in habit. See Squirrel. 



Flysch. Geological formation. 

 It consists of enormously thick 

 series of sandstones and shales, 

 occurring in the Alps, Apennines, 

 Carpathians, Istria, Dalmatia, Bos- 

 nia, Greece, Asia Minor, Caucasus, 

 stretching through S. Asia and 

 still further East. Their exact age 

 is uncertain, but varies from lower 

 Cretaceous to middle Tertiary. 

 They represent a phase of de- 

 position of sediments of long dura- 

 tion and great geographical extent. 



Fly-wheel. Large, heavy -rim- 

 med wheel mounted on a shaft 

 which is subjected to, or has to 

 exert, a turning effort more or less 

 intermittently. By virtue of its 

 inertia it acts as a reservoir of 

 energy and has a powerful steady- 

 ing effect. A fly-wheel is essential 

 on any crankshaft driven by reci- 

 procating engines which by them- 

 selves would not keep the shaft in 

 continuous motion, to help the 

 crank or cranks over their dead 

 centres (q.v.), and, even where 

 there is continuous motion, to 

 prevent it being spasmodic through 

 sudden fluctuations of load, or, in 

 the case of the internal-combustion 

 engine especially, of turning forc<j. 

 See Steam Engine. 



Foal. Young of the horse and 

 of the ass, of either sex. The term 

 colt has come to be appropriated 

 to the young male animal ; filly, a 



