FOGO 



Foghorn installed on the Bass Rock 



usually produced in reeds with 

 metal tongues like organ -pipes, 

 which may be manual or engine- 

 driven. The more powerful horn 

 installations used on steam vessels, 

 and some coast stations, are tech- 

 nically called sirens. 



Fogo (Port., fire). Volcanic 

 island of the Cape Verde archipel- 

 ago. Circular in shape, and moun- 

 tainous in character, it has an area 

 of about 190 sq. m. The loftiest 

 point, the Pico do Lano, nearly 

 10,000 ft., has often been in erup- 

 tion, notably in 1847, when it 

 caused immense damage. Fertile 

 in the N., where coffee, sugar, 

 maize, and fruit are produced, it is 

 almost barren in the S. The chief 

 town and port is Sao Filippe, or 

 Nostra Senhora da Luz our Lady 

 of Light. Pop. 16,500. 



There is another island of this 

 name off the N.E. coast of New- 

 foundland in lat. 49 40' N. and 

 long. 54 10' W. 



Fohn (Ger.). Warm, dry wind 

 experienced in Alpine valleys. In 

 the circulation of the atmosphere 

 air is caused to descend mountain 

 slopes. During its descent it is 

 heated by compression, and being 

 thus enabled to hold more mois- 

 ture, it descends as a warm, drying 

 wind, which in a few hours clears 

 away more snow than many dajw of 

 bright sunshine, and uncovers the 

 upland pastures. 



In some valleys the early 

 sowings are entirely dependent 

 upon this wind, whilst in others it 

 is relied upon to ripen the grapes 

 in autumn. Strictly the term 

 should not be used of a wind, but 

 merely of the effect of descent upon 

 a wind. The fohn effect may be 

 recognized in most mountainous 

 areas in temperate latitudes. 



Fdhr. Island in the North Sea, 

 one of the N. Frisian group, belong- 

 ing to Germany. It lies off the W. 

 coast of Slesvig, opposite Dagebiill 

 on the mainland, and has an area 

 of 32 sq. m. Largely marshland, 

 protected in the N. by dykes, it is 

 elsewhere elevated and timbered, 

 with fertile soil. The inhabitants 



3225 



live by wild-fowling, fishing, and 

 sea-faring. The chief town is Wyk, 

 which is a resort on the E. coast. 

 Pop. 4,500. 



Foie-gras (Fr.,fat liver). Livers 

 of geese enlarged abnormally by 

 keeping the birds in a heated com- 

 partment, and made into the paste 

 known as pate de foie-gras. The 

 Strasbourg variety is well known. 

 See Goose. 



Foil. Weapon used in fencing, 

 [t is a very slender, four-sided 

 steel blade, with a handguard to 

 the hilt, and ^E^nSH 

 a button on f 

 the tip, the ob- | 

 j e c t of the 

 fencer being to 

 touch some f 

 part of his op- 

 ponent's body 

 with that 

 button. See 

 Fencing. 



Foil. I n 

 metallurgy, a 

 thin form of 

 metal, which 

 may be said to 

 occupy a posi- 

 tion interme- 

 diate between I ^^K^ f 

 a leaf, as gold I 

 leaf, and sheet j |/ ! 

 metal. A very | f. 

 thin tinfoil is |i . 

 made for ! F oii, fencing weapon,' 

 chemical and showing method of 

 electrical uses, holding 

 and for backing mirrors ; tinsel is 

 a rather thicker foil much used for 

 theatrical purposes; Dutch foil is 

 specially prepared for the backing 

 of artificial gems, being made very 

 thin, and coloured by means of 

 Prussian blue and other pigments. 

 Gold foil is used by dentists for 

 stopping teeth. 



Ordinary commercial tinfoil, 

 largely used for wrapping tobacco, 

 chocolates and other sweets, and 

 toilet articles, is made of lead 

 coated on one or both sides with 

 tin, the two metals being rolled to- 

 gether so that they become quite 

 inseparable. The tin surface may 

 have merely an infinitesimal thick- 

 ness, yet it is sufficient to prevent 

 contact with lead. The latter 

 metal contributes the substance 

 and the flexibility to the foil ; the 

 tin, which is much the more ex- 

 pensive metal, provides the non- 

 poisonous surface. 



Attempts have been made to 

 substitute aluminium in the manu- 

 facture of foil, on account of its 

 light weight, but so far without 

 much success. A beautiful varie- 

 gated foil, which we owe to the 

 Japanese, is made by soldering to- 

 gether by their edges 30 or 40 thin 

 sheets of gold, silver, copper, and 



FOIX 



various alloys ; punching or cutting 

 a pattern through these sheets, tho 

 holes going to varying depths, then 

 rolling down the " book " of sheets 

 to the desired thinness. The holes 

 entirely disappear in the finished 

 product. 



Foix. Town of France, capital 

 of the dept. of Ariege. It stands 

 between the rivers Ariege and 

 Arget, 46 m. S. of Toulouse. Its 

 interest is mainly historical. The 

 capital of the county of Foix, the 

 powerful counts of Foix lived in its 

 castle, of which there are some 

 remains on the rock, round which 

 the older part of the town clusters. 

 The church of S. Volusien dates 

 from the 14th century. There are 

 some small industries, and the 

 town is the commercial and ad- 

 ministrative centre for a large 

 district. The county of Foix varied 

 in extent from time to time. It was 

 ruled by its counts, vassals of the 

 king of France, and was one of the 

 pro vs. into which France was di- 

 vided before the depts. were created. 

 Pop. 6,806. Pron. Fwah. 



Foix. French family, rulers of 

 the county of Foix, between about 

 1000 and 1500. A Roger, a de- 

 scendant of the count of Carcas- 

 sonne, first assumed this title 

 when he inherited the lordship of 

 the town and the surrounding 

 lands. A succession of counts fol- 

 lowed, who, like other nobles of the 

 time, went on crusades ; fought 

 with neighbouring rulers ; at times 

 defied the king ; frequently quar- 

 relled with the Church; and had 

 their own special feud with the 

 family of Armagnac. 



About 1300 one count married 

 the daughter of Gaston, viscount 

 of Beam, and this union brought 

 to the family the name of Gaston, 

 and also the district of Beam. The 

 counts were now much more power- 

 ful than formerly, and this culmi- 

 nated in the career of Gaston 

 Phoebus, whose splendid court is 

 so vividly described by his guest, 

 Froissart. For forty years he was 

 almost constantly at war, but he 

 found time for the things of the 

 mind. He died in 1391, leaving to 

 Charles VI his possessions of Foix 

 and Beam. 



Charles gave these to a descend- 

 ant of one of the earlier counts, and 

 a second ruling family arose, to 

 play the part of great French nobles 

 for another century. They married 

 into the royal families of France 

 and Navarre, and in 1479 one of 

 them, Francis Phoebus, became 

 king of Navarre. He left no sons, 

 so the county passed to his sister, 

 the wife of Jean d'Albret, and 

 thence to the family of Bourbon 

 (g.v. ). Henry IV, on becoming king 

 of France in 1589, added Foix to 



