FEVER 



2159 



FEZ 



the mailed feudal horseman," writes one his- 

 torian, "and the impregnable walls of the feu- 

 dal castle that foiled the attacks of the Danes, 

 the Saracens and the Hungarians." Again, 

 tyrannical rulers like King John of England 

 were held in check by the powerful feudal 

 lords, and in this way the spirit of liberty was 

 kept alive during the Middle Ages. Feudal- 

 ism also fostered the literary tendencies of the 

 period, for in the castles of the feudal lords 

 the wandering bards of medieval times poured 

 forth their songs and romances to eager and 

 hospitable listeners. Honor and respect for 

 women were fostered by the great system of 

 chivalry, the military institution of the feudal 

 organization. 



Feudalism was conspicuously weak in that 

 it hindered the growth of strong central gov- 

 ernments. This is notably illustrated in the 

 condition of France in the tenth century, when 

 the country was divided among about one 

 hundred and fifty great lords, whose estates 

 were subdivided in turn into about 70,000 

 smaller holdings.. Each of these lords was 

 himself a petty sovereign, and the power of 

 the king was correspondingly weak. Another 

 serious defect was the separation of society 

 into distinct classes, which checked the prog- 

 ress of civilization. The great democratic 

 movements of the modern period would have 

 been impossible under the workings of the 

 medieval system of feudalism. B.M.W. 



Consult Abdy's Feudalism, Its Rise, Progress 

 and Consequences; Prutz's Age of Feudalism and 

 Theocracy. 



Related Subjects. There is an Illustration 

 connected with this subject In the article Chiv- 

 alry, page 1359. The reader is also referred to 

 the following titles in these volumes : 

 Charlemagne Crusades 



Chivalry Serfs 



FE'VER, or rise in the temperature of the 

 body, is an accompaniment of a wide range 

 of diseases; in some of these high temperature 

 is an outstanding symptom, and the word is 

 used as a part of the name in each case; thus 

 we have the terms scarlet fever, yellow fever, 

 typhoid fever, etc. Fever is always the result 

 of a disease process which is due partly to 

 chemical changes occurring in the cells, and 

 partly to disturbances of the nervous system 

 produced by toxins of the disease. In every 

 case of fever more heat is being manufactured 

 than is radiated or otherwise lost. The rise 

 above the normal (98.6 F.) may reach 105 

 or over in certain diseases, and victims of sun- 

 stroke sometimes show a temperature of 112 



or 115. The instrument used for ascertain- 

 ing body temperature is a specially-devised 

 thermometer which is placed in the patient's 

 mouth. 



The period of invasion, as the first stage of 

 fever is termed, is marked by weakness, lan- 

 guor, loss of appetite, rapid pulse and a chill; 

 then follows the period of domination, with 

 the pulse remaining rapid, the surface of the 

 body becoming hot, dry and flushed, and the 

 temperature steadily rising. Thirst, headache, 

 restlessness and rapid breathing are typical 

 symptoms of this fever stage. During the pe- 

 riod of decline the temperature falls, the 

 breathing becomes less rapid, the skin be- 

 comes moist, and the patient begins to feel 

 better. At the height of the fever the patient 

 often suffers from delirium, but during the 

 decline he usually falls into a natural sleep. 



There are several types of fever. The name 

 continued is applied to that in which the tem- 

 perature remains above normal for several 

 days; intermittent is used when the tempera- 

 ture drops to normal aad then rises again 

 after varying intervals; the fever is styled 

 remittent when the temperature falls to a 

 point above normal and then rises, such a 

 change occurring a number of times for several 

 days. A decreasing fever may reach the nor- 

 mal and the temperature may rise again after 

 an interval of a few days; such a fever is 

 known as relapsing. Treatment depends on 

 the particular ailment from which the patient 

 is suffering. W.A.E. 



See the article DISEASE for complete list of all 

 fevers discussed in these volumes. 



FE'VERFEW, a favorite plant in the gar- 

 dens of the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth, now 

 common in all waste places and in the vicin- 

 ity of hedges. The flowers, much like the 

 ox-eye daisy, are white or cream with yellow 

 centers. They grow in large clusters and are 

 sometimes double; they last long after pick- 

 ing and make a pleasing decoration. The 

 plant has a tapering root, an erect, branching 

 stem about two feet high, and grayish-green 

 compound leaves. The feverfew, meaning 

 flight to fever, was once supposed to be an 

 unfailing means of driving away fever. 



FEZ, the capital of Morocco, in Northern 

 Africa. It is beautifully situated in a deep 

 valley eighty-five .miles south of the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea and 100 miles east of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and is divided into two parts, old and 

 new Fez, by the river of the same name. The 

 streets are narrow and dirty, and though at 



