192 



FIG-TREE FILANGIERI. 



of food in many places. The stem is from fifteen to 

 twenty-five feet high, with a trunk sometimes two 

 feet in diameter, giving out a great number of long, 

 twisted, pliant branches, which are grayish and 

 rough when young' ; the leaves are deciduous, of the 

 siae of the hand, having three to five rounded lobes; 

 the flowers are very small, unisexual, contained in 

 great numbers in a common receptacle, which is 

 fleshy and connivent at the summit, where it is almost 

 closed by a series of little teeth; the male flowers oc- 

 cupy the superior part of this receptacle, and the 

 female, which are the most numerous, the bottom, 

 and all the remaining part of the cavity; each ovary 

 becomes a seed, surrounded with a pulp, which, to- 

 gether with the receptacle, forms the fruit. The 

 Fruit is solitary, generally of a purplish colour, has a 

 soft, sweet, fragrant pulp, and is much esteemed, 

 being constantly brought upon the table, during five 

 months of the year, in the south of Europe. The 

 process of increasing and ripening the fruit is an art 

 which requires much attention. This, as it is prac- 

 tised in the Levant, is called caprification, and is a 

 very interesting process. It is thus described by 

 Tournefort, and other travellers in the East. The 

 operation is rendered necessary by the two following 

 facts, viz., that the cultivated fig bears, for the most 

 part, female flowers only, while the male flowers are 

 abundant upon the wild fig-tree ; and, secondly, that 

 the flower of the fig is upon the inside of the recep- 

 tacle, which constitutes the fruit. It is hence found 

 necessary to surround the plantations and gardens, 

 containing the figs, with branches and limbs, bearing 

 male flowers from the wild fig-tree ; thus preparing 

 the way for the fertilizing the female flowers in the 

 garden. And from these wild flowers, the fertilizing 

 pollen is borne to the other figs upon the wings and 

 legs of small insects, which are found to inhabit the 

 fruit of the wild fig. It requires, therefore, a very 

 particular observation and careful study of the wild 

 fruit to know the precise time when the insects will 

 be ready to take wing, or they might be lost. When 

 it is found they are just ready to leave the fig, the 

 boughs are placed as above described, and an abund- 

 ant crop is the result. The fig-tree, in its wild state, 

 is a low, distorted shrub, bearing fruit destitute of 

 any agreeable flavour. Dried figs are easier of di- 

 gestion and more nourishing than the fresh fruit, and 

 form a considerable article of commerce. The best 

 come from Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Provence; those 

 of the Archipelago are inferior in quality. Dried 

 figs, with barley bread, are now the ordinary food of 

 the lower classes in Greece and the Archipelago. 

 The ancients procured a sort of wine from figs by a 

 method which is still in use in the Archipelago. Se- 

 veral hundred varieties are cultivated in Europe, some 

 of which are excellent. 



There are five principal methods of reproducing 

 this valuable tree : 1. By seeds, which is but little 

 employed, on account of the length of time requisite 

 for bearing, and the fruit is not always of as good 

 quality; but it is the only method by which new 

 varieties can be produced. The figs should be first 

 washed in water, and those seeds rejected which float 

 upon the surface. 2. The easiest mode is by suckers, 

 which may be separated from the roots of the old 

 trees. 3. In the month of March or April, branches 

 are passed through pots containing earth, which is 

 occasionally watered to keep it moist ; roots are pro- 

 duced with facility, and the branches may be separ- 

 ated in the autumn. 4. A method which requires 

 less trouble, and is most in use, is the following : in 

 March or April, a bough about two feet long and two 

 vears old is selected ; the largest of its branches is 

 reserved for the future stem, and the others are ex- 

 tended in the earth, and give out roots-, care should 



be taken to cover at least two-thirds of tlie bough 

 with earth, otherwise the terminal shoot is not deve- 

 loped. 5. Grafting has been neglected, on account 

 of the facility with "which the fig may be reproduced 

 by these two last methods. When used, a mixture 

 of wax and turpentine is employed to prevent the 

 flowing of the sap. This tree does not bear trans- 

 plantation well, and, consequently, this is not often 

 attempted. Almost every variety bears fruit twice 

 iu the season. 



The species officus are shrubs or trees, with alter- 

 nate leaves and branches, and having a milky and 

 more or less acrid juice, inhabiting the intertropical 

 regions of the globe, a few species excepted, which 

 are found in warm climates, though without the tro- 

 pics. More than 100 species are known, the most 

 remarkable of which are the following : F. sycomor- 

 us, a large tree, the fruit of which is eaten in Egypt 

 and the Levant. The wood is said to be incorrupti- 

 ble, which would seem to be proved, as the cases 

 containing the Egyptian mummies are made of this 

 tree. F. Indica (Indian fig or banyan tree) has been 

 celebrated from antiquity, from its letting its branches 

 drop and take root in the earth, which, in their turn, 

 become trunks, and give out other branches, a single 

 tree thus forming a little forest. F. elastica, the 

 juice of which yields caoutchouc, or gum elastic, has 

 not been long known, and is a native of the moun- 

 tains of Nepaul. 



FIGURAL or FIGURATE NUMBERS; an 

 arithmetical amusement, much in vogue at the be- 

 ginning of the seventeenth century. Jac. Bernouilli, 

 and particularly Wallis, in his Arith. Itiftnit., and 

 L'Huilier, in his Algebra, have made it a subject of 

 investigation. These numbers are formed by the 

 terms of arithmetical series, of all sorts, in which the 

 first member is always unity. For example : 

 I. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. 



II. I, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, &c. 

 III.L, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, &C. 



IV. 1, 5, 12, 22, 35, 51, &c. 

 Those in the second row are called triangular nun^ 

 bers, because their units may be arranged in pure 

 equilateral triangles ; the members of the third row 

 are called square numbers ; those of the fourth, pen- 

 tagonal, &c.; and so there are also hexagonal, hepta- 

 gonal, and, in general, polygonal numbers. If the 

 terms of the polygonal series are again added, in suc- 

 cession, we obtain other orders, as the members of 

 each of the rows are called ; thus, 



a. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, &c. 



b. 1, 4, 10, 20, 35, 56, &c. 



c. 1, 5, 14, 30, 55, 91, &c. 



d. 1, 6, 18, 40, 75, 126, &c. 

 are pyramidal numbers, because, by placing over one 

 another the polygonal numbers in the order in which 

 they are added, so that the smaller come over the 

 next larger of the same sort, regular pyramids are 

 formed. Thus the members of the row a form trian- 

 gular, of the row b, quadrangular, and of the row c 

 pentagonal pyramids. 



FIGURANTES ; those dancers of a ballet who 1<> 

 not dance singly, but many together, and serve to fill 

 up the background during the exhibition of indivi- 

 dual performers. They correspond to the chorus in 

 the opera. In the drama, people are called figur- 

 antes, who figure without having to say any tiling. 



FILANGIERI, GAETANO, one of the most cele- 

 brated political writers of the eighteenth century, 

 who contributed much to the progress of legislation, 

 was born at Naples, Aug. 18, 1752. He was a son 

 of Ceesar, prince of Araniello, and Marianna Montal- 

 to, daughter of the duke of Fragnito. His family 

 was of Norman origin, and one of the most ancient 

 in the kingdom. Filangieri was the third son and, 



