208 



FLANDERS FLAX. 



lion, prepared for the press, the whole of his great 

 work, Historia Coelestis Britannica, 3 vols. folio, 

 which was published in 1725. 



FLANDERS ; an ancient and rich part of the 

 Netherlands. Charles the Bald established the 

 county of Flanders in 863, which fell, at different 

 times, under the government of Burgundy, Spain, 

 &c. Towards the oeginning of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, it was divided into French, Austrian, and Dutch 

 Flanders. French Flanders now forms the French 

 department of the North. The other two parts now 

 belong to Belgium, and are called East and West 

 Flanders. Dutch Flanders was a small territory, 

 now forming a part of the province of East Flanders. 



East Flanders is bounded north by Zealand, east 

 by Antwerp and South Brabant, south by Hainault, 

 and west by West Flanders ; population, in 1824, 

 681,489 ; square miles, 1260. Ghent is the capital. 

 The surface, in the north, is level ; in the south, 

 undulating ; the soil, a heavy loam, very fertile ; the 

 climate moist, but not unhealthy ; the productions, 

 corn, pulse, flax, madder, tobacco, with excellent 

 pasturage. 



JVest Flanders is bounded north and north-west by 

 the German ocean, east by Zealand and East Flan- 

 ders, south-east by Hainault, and south and south- 

 west by France ; population, 557,871 ; square miles, 

 1540. Bruges is the capital ; Ostend the principal 

 harbour. The surface is level ; the soil fertile ; the 

 agriculture in an improved state ; the climate humid; 

 the manufactures extensive in linen and fine lace ; 

 also cotton and leather, with extensive distilleries and 

 breweries. 



FLANK (from the French), in fortification ; that 

 part of a work which affords a lateral defence to 

 another. In a bastion, the flanks are those lines 

 which join the central wall. In tactics, flank signi- 

 fies the outer extremity of the wing of an army ; and 

 it is one of the most common manoeuvres to surround 

 this most vulnerable point. The enemy, if proper 

 precautions have not been taken, is then obliged to 

 withdraw his flank ; therefore to change his front, 

 and is thus exposed to a defeat. This manoeuvre is 

 called outflanking. A bold, but not always practi- 

 cable manoeuvre, to prevent the consequences of this 

 attempt, is that of outflanking the enemy who makes 

 it. 



FLANNEL ; a woollen stuff, composed of a woof 

 and warp, and woven after the manner of baize. 



FLANQUEURS (from the French); cavalry 

 scouts, employed partly to observe, partly to harass 

 the enemy. This name is used in many of the 

 European armies. 



FLAT; a character which, being placed before a 

 note, signifies that the note is to be sung or played 

 lialf a tone lower than its natural pitch. See Key. 



FLAT ; a level ground lying at a small depth 

 under the surface of the sea; otherwise called a 

 shoal or shallow. 



FLAT HEADS. See Choctaws. 



FLAX (linum usitatissimum) has been cultivated 

 from remote antiquity, throughout a great part of 

 Europe, Asia, and the north of Africa, for various 

 purposes. Its native country is not known with cer- 

 tainty, though, according to Olivier, it is found wild 

 in Persia. The root is annual ; the stem, slender and 

 frequently simple, from eighteen inches to two feet 

 high ; the leaves, alternate, entire, and lanceolate 

 or linear ; the flowers, blue and pedunculate, consist- 

 ing of five petals, and succeeded by capsules of ten 

 cells, each qell containing one seed. This plant is 

 cultivated principally for the fibres yielded by the 

 bark, of which linen cloth is made. The use of this 

 article is so ancient, that no tradition remains of its 

 introduction. The ancient Scandinavians and other 



barluirous nations were clothed with linen. The 

 mummies of Egypt are enveloped with it, and im- 

 mense quantities are still made in that country, espe- 

 cially about the mouths of the Nile ; and it is worn 

 almost exclusively by the inhabitants. Syria, Bar- 

 bary, Abyssinia, and other places, are supplied from 

 Egypt. Italy also receives vast quantities from the 

 same country, through the merchants of Constantin- 

 ople. The use of linen passed from Egypt into 

 Greece, and afterwards into Italy. Besides forming 

 agreeable and beautiful apparel, the rags, after being, 

 converted into paste, are made into paper. 



The seeds of the flax are mucilaginous and emolli- 

 ent, and an infusion of them is often used as a drink 

 in various inflammatory disorders : they also yield an 

 oil, well known in commerce under the name of lin- 

 seed oil, which differs, in some respects, from most 

 expressed oils, as in congealing in water, and not 

 forming a solid soap with fixed alkaline salts. This 

 oil has no remarkable taste, is used for lamps, some- 

 times in cookery, and also forms the base of all the 

 oily varnish made in imitation of China varnish. It 

 is much employed in the coarser kinds of painting, 

 especially in situations not much exposed to the 

 weather. Equal parts of lime-water and linseed oil 

 form one of the best applications for burns. The 

 cakes remaining after the oil is expressed, are used 

 for fattening cattle and sheep. Flaxseed has been 

 substituted for grain in times of scarcity, but it is 

 heavy and unwholesome. 



In Egypt, flax is sown about the middle of Decem- 

 ber, and is ripe in March. In Europe, and in Ame- 

 rica, it is generally sown in the spring, from March 

 to May ; sometimes, however, in September and 

 October. In a dry and warm country, it is better to 

 sow in autumn, as autumn and winter favour its 

 growth, and it acquires strength enough to resist the 

 drought, should there happen to be any in the spring. 

 On the other hand, in cold and moist countries, sow- 

 ing should be deferred till late in the spring, as too 

 much moisture is hurtful. A light soil is the most 

 suitable, though good crops are obtained from strong 

 and clayey grounds. As it appears to degenerate 

 when repeatedly sown without changing the seed, it 

 is usual, in some countries, to import the seed from 

 the north of Europe, particularly from Riga, which 

 affords the best. The American seed, also, bears a 

 high reputation, and, in Ireland, is preferred for the 

 lighter soils, and the Baltic for the more clayey. In 

 general, however, in order to prevent its degenerat- 

 ing, it is sufficient to change the soil frequently, by 

 sowing in the heavier lands the seeds ripened in the 

 lighter, and the reverse. 



There are three varieties of flax : the first pro- 

 duces a tall and slender stem, with very few flowers, 

 ripens late, and affords the longest and finest fibres ; 

 the second produces numerous flowers, and is the 

 most proper for cultivation, where the seed is the 

 object ; but its fibres are short and coarse ; the third 

 is the most common, and is intermediate between the 

 other two. It is important not to mix the seeds of 

 these three varieties, as they ripen at different periods, 

 and, besides, the first should be sown more closely, 

 and the second at greater intervals than the third. 

 When it is a few inches high, it should be freed from 

 weeds, particularly from the cuscuta, a parasitical 

 plant, consisting of yellowish or reddish filaments, 

 and small white flowers : all the stems which have 

 this plant attached to them should be pulled up and 

 burnt. To prevent its lying on the ground, it is 

 usual, with some, to stretch lines across the field, 

 intersecting each other, and fastened at the intersec- 

 tions. As soon as it begins to turn yellow, and the 

 leaves are falling, it is pulled, tied together in little 

 bundles, and usually left upright on the field till it 



