F 1 B 



[95 ] 



FIR 



ten foetus. Of viviparous animals, the 

 young in utero ; of oviparous, the young 

 in the shell : in the earliest stages of 

 utero-gestation,the young is usually called 

 the embryo, and when fully formed, or 

 after a certain period, the fetus. 



FI'BER. )(fibra, Lat. fibre, Fr. fibra, It.) 



FI'BRE. S A filament or thread, whether 

 of animal, vegetable, or mineral struc- 

 ture. 



FI'BRIL. (fibrille, Fr. petite fibre, fibrilla, 

 It.) A small fibre; the diminutive of 

 fibre. 



FI'BROUS. (fibreaux, ~Fr.fibroso, It.) Com- 

 posed of fibres ; containing fibres. 



In botany, a fibrous root consists of nu- 

 merous fibres, either simple or branched ; 

 these are the most simple of all roots, 

 conveying nourishment directly to the 

 stem, or leaves. 



FI'BROLITE. (from fibra, Lat. and \idog, 

 Gr.) A mineral of a white or grey 

 colour, occurring with corundum. Cleav- 

 age imperfect. Hardness more consi- 

 derable than that of quartz. Consists of 

 alumina 46, silica 33, oxide of iron 13. 

 It is composed of minute fibres, from 

 which circumstance it obtains its name, 

 some of which appear to be rhomboidal 

 prisms. It is found in China and in the 

 Carnatic. 



FI'BULA. (Lat.) 



1. The small bone of the leg, thus named, 

 according to some authors, from being 

 placed opposite to the part where the 

 knee-buckle, or clasp, was formerly 

 used. 



2. A fossil echinite, resembling, not a 

 buckle, but a button. By some oryctolo- 

 gists these have been termed Bufonitse 

 and Scolopendritse, and by others Pilei ; 

 and, by the English, Capstones. Parkin- 

 son. 



FI'GURE-STONE. Agalmatolite, a variety 

 of talc-mica, of a grey, green, white, red, 

 or brown colour. The finest are brought 

 from China. 



FI'LAMENT. (filamenta, Lat. filament, Fr. 

 filament o, It.) 



1. A long thread or fibre ; a slender 

 thread-like process. 



2. In botany, the long thread-like part 

 that supports the anther ; the filament is 

 not essential, being sometimes wanting ; 

 the form is various, being sometimes 

 short and thick, or long and slender, or 

 forked, one point only supporting the 

 anther ; generally smooth, sometimes 

 hairy ; the number varies from one to 

 many. Most filaments are simple, some 

 are bifid ; others tricuspidate or broad, 

 and trifid at the extremity. 



FILAMK'NTOUS. (filamenteux, Fr. fila 

 mentoso, It.) Composed of fine threads 

 or fibres. 



FILA'RIA. A genus of nematoidea, belong- 

 ing to the class Entozoa. 



FILE. A name given by the chalk-diggers 

 to the striated and prolonged cucurmerine 

 claviculse of echinites. 



FILI'CES. (filix, Lat.) Ferns, the first 

 order of Cryptogamia/in Linnseus' artifi- 

 cial system ; the first tribe of acotyle- 

 donous plants. 



FILICOIDE'^E. (from filix, Lat. and eldog, 

 ' Gr.) Fern -like plants. 



FI'LIFORM. (from filum and forma, Lat.) 

 Thread-like ; thread-shaped ; slender and 

 of equal thickness. In botany, applied 

 to peduncles when very fine, resembling 

 threads ; applied also to the tube of 

 monopetalous flowers when of a thread- 

 like form ; and also to aments. 



FIN. (Sax. ) The organ in fishes by which 

 they steady and keep upright their bo- 

 dies in the water : the caudal fin alone 

 assists in progressive motion. The fin 

 consists of a membrane supported by 

 rays, or little bony or cartilaginous os- 

 sicles. 



FIN-FOOTED. Palmipedous ; having pal- 

 mated feet, or feet with membranes be- 

 tween the toes, connecting them with 

 each other. 



FI'NLESS. Wanting fins ; destitute of fins. 



FI'NNY. Having fins. 



FIN-TOED. Palmipedous ; having mem- 

 branes between the toes. 



FI'ORITE. A siliceous incrustation depo- 

 sited by the thermal waters of Ischia, 

 first noticed by Dr. Thompson. 



FIRE-DAMP. Choke-damp. Carburetted hy- 

 drogen gas. This is sometimes very abun- 

 dantly evolved in coal mines, and is pro- 

 ductive of the most dreadful results, occa- 

 sionally nearly all employed in the mines 

 perishing from its combustion. When 

 carburetted hydrogen gas constitutes more 

 than one-thirteenth of the volume of the 

 atmosphere of pits and mines, the whole 

 become explosive whenever a flame is 

 brought into contact with it ; to prevent 

 the disastrous consequences which were 

 so frequently resulting, Sir H. Davy in- 

 vented a safety-lamp, which being formed 

 of wire-gauze, in the form of a cylinder, 

 consumes, but does not explode, the ex- 

 plosive mixture. Fire-damp, or car- 

 buretted hydrogen gas, appears to be 

 generated by the decomposition of iron 

 pyrites in coal, and may often be heard 

 issuing from the fissures in coal-beds 

 with a bubbling noise, as it forces the 

 water out along with it. 



FIRE-STONE. An arenaceo - argillaceous 

 deposit of a greyish green colour, com- 

 posed of marl and grains of silicate of 

 iron ; in some places, in a state of sand ; 



