FLOWERS OF ANTIMONY FLUE. 



language. Whoever has seen a lively Italian girl 

 make an appointment with her lover, by describing 

 a circle with her finger to represent the sun, and then 

 making the sign of two, or any other number, to in- 

 dicate a particular hour after sunset, or before sun- 

 rise, according as the figure is made on one or the 

 other side of the circle, will not be surprised that the 

 ladies of the East can carry on a correspondence by 

 means of flowers. It is true they can only convey 

 general notions, such as "thy grief pains me," &c.; 

 but their life is so unvaried, that they have little else 

 to convey. The bouquet, which is used as a letter, 

 is called selam. The language of flowers is, of course, 

 arbitrary, and a bouquet which a Persian girl would 

 understand, would be unintelligible to an Egyptian 

 inmate of the harem. The charm of novelty has 

 sometimes attracted attention in the West to this 

 tender language, and dictionaries have been com- 

 posed to explain its mysteries. But the European 

 races are too much matter-of-fact people to find plea- 

 sure in the habitual use of these emblems, which are, 

 moreover, incapable of expressing the complicated 

 ideas springing up in active and intellectual society. 

 Madden, in the work already mentioned, says, "A 

 Turkish lady of fashion is wooed by an invisible lover. 

 In the progress of the courtship, a hyacinth is occa- 

 sionally dropped in her path by an unknown hand, 

 and the female attendant at the bath does the office 

 of a Mercury, and talks of a certain effendi seeking 

 a lady's love, as a nightingale aspiring to the affec- 

 tions of a rose." In the Oriental language of flowers, 

 the same plant, under different circumstances, re- 

 ceives different senses ; for instance, a rose without 

 thorns means we may hope every thing; whilst a rose 

 without leaves means there is no hope. In the works 

 on this subject, published principally in Germany and 

 France, there is less delicacy of shading in the ex- 

 pression. The Germans have a very old proverb 

 Durch die Blume sprechen (to speak through flowers), 

 which means to speak indirectly and darkly. The 

 English plirase to speak under the rose means, to 

 speak under condition of secrecy. 



FLOWERS OF ANTIMONY. See Antimony. 



FLOWERS OF SULPHUR. See Sulphur. 



FLOWERS, PAINTING OF, in the art of paint- 

 ing ; the representation of flowers, which forms a de- 

 partment of the art by itself. The highest perfection 

 of such productions is accuracy, and they belong, 

 therefore, to a subordinate branch of the art. The 

 most celebrated flower-painters are Huysum, Rachel 

 Ruysch, Segher, Verendael, Mignon, llcepel, Dress- 

 ier. See Painting. 



FLOWER TRADE in Holland. Haarlem was 

 formerly the centre of this trade. In 1636 and 1637, 

 a real tulip mania prevailed in Holland. Bulbs, 

 which the seller did not possess, were sold at enor- 

 mous prices, on condition that they should be de- 

 livered to the purchaser at a given time. 13,000 

 florins were paid for a single semper-Augustus ; for 

 three of them together, 30,000 fl.; for 148 grains 

 weight, 4500 fl.; for 296 grains of admiral-Liefken- 

 shoek, more than 4000 fl.; for admiral-Enkhuizen, 

 more than 5000, &c. For a viceroy, on one occasion, 

 was paid 4 tons of wheat, 8 tons of rye, 4 fat oxen, 

 8 pigs, 12 sheep, 2 hhds. of wine, 4 bis. of beer, 

 2 bis. of butter, 1000 Ibs. of cheese, a bundle of 

 clothes, and a silver pitcher. At an auction in 

 Alcmaer, some bulbs were sold for more than 90,000 fl. 

 An individual in Amsterdam gained more than 

 68,000 florins, by this trade, in four months. In one 

 city of Holland, it is said, more than 10,000,000 tulip 

 bulbs were sold. But when, on account of the pur- 

 chasers refusing to pay the sums agreed upon, the 

 states-general (April 27, 1637) ordered that such 

 sums should be exacted; like other debts, in the com- 



mon way, the extravagant prices fell at once, and a 

 semper-Augustus could be had for 50 florins : yet the 

 profits of raising rare tulips were afterwards consid- 

 erable ; and, even at present, we find 25150 fl. the 

 price of a single rare tulip, in the catalogues of the 

 Haarlem florists. Until the time of the French revo- 

 lution, the florists of Haarlem obtained their bulbs 

 principally from Lisle, and other towns in Flanders, 

 where the clergy were engaged in raising them. 

 They afterwards carried on the business themselves ; 

 but the whole trade is now of little importance. Even 

 after the decline of this trade, Alcmaer, did not lose 

 its reputation for possessing the first amateurs and 

 connoisseurs in flowers. Persons in independent cir- 

 cumstances engaged in cultivating flowers, particu- 

 larly hyacinths. Florists obtain their supplies, not only 

 of hyacinths, but also of ranunculuses, auriculas, 

 pinks, anemones, &c., the demand for which has been 

 gradually increasing, partly from that source, and 

 partly from foreign countries. Haarlem still con- 

 tinues to be the emporium for the most beautiful of 

 these articles. Hyacinths first began to rise in esti- 

 mation in 1730. In that year, 1850 fl. were paid for 

 passe-non-plus-ultra, and in the same proportion for 

 others. Between Alcmaer and Leyden there are 

 more than twenty acres of land appropriated to hy- 

 acinths alone, which thrive best in a loose and sandy 

 soil. There are still twelve or thirteen great florists 

 in and around Haarlem, besides a number of less 

 importance. They send their flowers to Germany, 

 Russia, England, &c., and even to Turkey and the 

 cape of Good Hope. 



FLOWING; the position of the sheets or lower 

 corners of the principal sails, when they are loosened 

 to the wind, so as to receive it more nearly perpen- 

 dicular than when they are close-hauled, although 

 more obliquely than when going before the wind. A 

 ship is, therefore, said to have a flowing sheet, when 

 the wind crosses the line of her course nearly at right 

 angles ; that is to say, a ship steering due north, with 

 the wind at the east, or directly on her side, will have 

 a flowing sheet ; whereas, if the sheets were extended 

 close aft, she would sail two points nearer the wind, 

 viz., N. N. E. 



FLUATES, in chemistry; salts first discovered by 

 Scheele, and distinguished by the following proper- 

 ties : When sulphuric acid is poured upon them, they 

 emit acrid vapours of fluoric acid, which corrode 

 glass. When heated, several of them phosphoresce. 

 They are not decomposed by heat, nor altered by 

 combustibles. They combine with silica by means 

 of heat. Most of them are sparingly soluble in water. 



FLUE, NICHOLAS VON DER, a Swiss statesman, 

 celebrated for the purity of his life, was born in the 

 village of Saxeln, in the canton of Unterwalden. In 

 several military expeditions, he exhibited no less 

 humanity than valour ; and, as counsellor of his 

 canton, he was equally distinguished for wisdom and 

 prudence. The dignity of landamman, which was 

 offered to him, he declined. From his youth, he was 

 inclined to a contemplative life, and was abstemious 

 and austere in his habits. At the age of fifty, after 

 having faithfully fulfilled the duties of a good citizen, 

 and become the father of ten children, he determined, 

 with the consent of his wife, to quit the world, and live, 

 in future, in solitude. He chose for his residence a so- 

 litary spot, not far distant from Saxeln, which was en- 

 livened only by a waterfall. There he spent his time 

 in prayers and pious meditations. His reputation 

 was increased by the report tliat he lived without 

 food, except the Lord's supper, of which he partook 

 once a-month. All who stood in need of counsel or 

 consolation had recourse to him, as an experienced 

 and judicious adviser. He soon became the bene- 

 factor of the whole country. Jealousy and distru*t 



