FLAX-SEED. 



FLEECE. 



the cure of rheumatism ; but it is not so use- 

 ful as a dose of colchicum. 



FLAX-SEED. See LIXSEED. 



FLAX, WILD (L. Virginianum). A plant 

 growing one to two feet high, often with three 

 or four slender and angular stems from the 

 same root, bearing pale yellow flowers, is often 

 found in the old fields and open woodlands of 

 the Middle States. Authors generally describe 

 the root of the American wild flax as annual, 

 but Muhlenburg, Bigelow, and Darlington 

 think it perennial. (Flor. Cestrica.) 



FLEA (Pwfcr). The flea tribe (Pulicid^ 

 was placed among the bugs (or Heniiptera) by 

 Fabricius. These very annoying insects are 

 destitute of wings, have a mouth fitted for suc- 

 tion, and are provided with several lancet-like 

 pieces for making punctures. They undergo 

 a complete transformation ; their larvae are 

 worm-like and without feet; and their pupa? 

 have the legs free. The flea may almost be 

 considered as a wingless kind of fly. Its pro- 

 boscis seems to be intermediate in its forma- 

 tion between that of flies and bugs ; its antennae 

 are concealed in holes in the sides of its head, 

 like those of certain water-bugs, which they 

 somewhat resemble in shape ; whilst the trans- 

 formations of the flea are not very much unlike 

 those of the flies, whose maggots cast off their 

 skins on becoming pupae, (flam's.) 



Want of cleanliness contributes greatly to 

 the multiplication of fleas, and hence the pro- 

 priety of the frequent removal of straw and 

 rubbish from about houses and yards, and re- 

 course to sweeping of floors, especially when 

 carpeted. Various devices are adopted for the 

 purpose of expelling fleas. Frequent sprinkling 

 of a room with a simple decoction of worm- 

 wood, or sassafras, will soon extirpate the 

 whole breed of these troublesome vermin ; and 

 the best remedy to expel them from bed-clothes, 

 is a bag filled with dry moss, the odour of which 

 is to them extremely offensive. Others cover 

 the floors of the rooms where fleas abound 

 with the leaves of the alder tree, while the dew 

 is on the foliage, to which these insects fondly 

 adhere, and thus may be easily destroyed. Fu- 

 migation with the leaves of pennyroyal, or the 

 fresh gathered foliage of that plant, sewed up 

 in a bag, and laid in the bed, are also remedies 

 pointed out for the expulsion of fleas. Sprinkle 

 with camphorated whisky or other ardent 

 spirits. 



Dogs and cats may be effectually secured 

 from the persecutions of these vermin, by oc- 

 casionally anointing their skin with sweet oil. 

 The fleas and lice of poultry are destroyed 

 by a decoction of sassafras wood. (Domestic 

 Enryr.} 



FLEABANE (Erigeron, from er, spring; 

 and geron, an old man ; the plants become old 

 in the beginning of the season). This exten- 

 sive genus comprehends many exceedingly 

 handsome species, varying from a few inches 

 to two feet or more high, and producing a 

 great and copious display of blossom ; they 

 will grow in almost any soil, and are increased 

 with facility from either seeds or divisions. 

 The fleabane has lost its reputation both for 

 banishing fleas and insects by its smell, and 

 answering other superstitious incantations, for 



which it was celebrated in former times. There 

 are four indigenous species. The Canada 

 fleabane (E. Canadensis}, and blue fleabane (E. 

 cms), which are diuretic. The alpine flea- 

 bane (E. alpinus), and pale-rayed mountain 

 fleabane (E. uniflorus.) The first is annual, 

 the second biennial, the third and fourth 

 j perennial. 



Several species are found in the United 

 States, among which are the E. Canadensis, 

 called Horse^veed, and Butter-weed, an annual 

 common in fields and road-sides in the Middle 

 States, where it flowers in August and seeds in 

 September and October. E. strigosus, called 

 Fleabane and Daisy, a very common and worth- 

 less weed in the Middle States, where it fre- 

 quents the pastures, flowering in June and 

 July, and maturing its seed in September. It 

 is particularly injurious to the first crop of up- 

 land meadows, after a course of grain crops. 

 E. Philadelphicus. E. Pulchellus, or Handsome 

 Erigeron. E. Heterophyllus or various -leaved 

 Erigeron, together with some eight or ten addi- 

 tional species. See DAT ST. (Flor. Cestrica.) 



FLEABANE, COMMON (Inula dysenterica). 

 This plant is very abundant in clear ditches 

 and in watery places about road-sides. It is a 

 perennial, with a creeping root ; herb more or 

 less woolly or cottony, glutinous, with a pecu- 

 liar acid aromatic scent, somewhat like the 

 flavour of peaches. The stem is 12 or 18 

 inches high, branched and leafy, corymbose at 

 the summit, with many bright yellow flowers. 

 Linnaeus records, on the authority of General 

 Keith, that the use of this plant cured the Rus- 

 sian army of dysentery ; hence the specific 

 name. Its medical properties, however, are 

 simply diuretic. The small fleabane (I.pulica- 

 n'a), is an annual, and is said to banish insects 

 by its smell. It grows on moist sandy spots, 

 especially where water has stagnated during 

 winter. There is another species, the sam- 

 phire-leaved fleabane, which grows on the sea- 

 coast, in a muddy soil. (Eng. Flor. vol. iii. p. 

 440 443.) 



FLEABANE, GREAT. Ploughman's Spike- 

 nard. See SPIKENARD. 



FLEA-BEETLE (Haltica). Several of these 

 have been described among the insects de- 

 structive to the cucumber. Some others 

 known in the United States and described by 

 Dr. Harris, will be referred to under different 

 heads. See TURXIP FLY, VIXK BEETLE, &c. 



FLEAM. In farriery, an instrument used 

 for letting blood in horses or other animals. 



FLEA-WORT (Plantago). A genus, the 

 greater number of the species of which are 

 mere weeds, of the easiest culture and propa- 

 gation. See PLAWTAIJT. 



FLECKED. A provincial term used to sig- 

 nify pied, as cattle. 



FLEECE. The woolly covering shorn from 



off the body of the sheep. Mr. James Dickson 



i of Edinburgh contributed a very able prize 



! essay to the Highland Society (Trans, vol. vi. 



'p. 205), "on the treatment of sheep, with a 



view to the improvement of the fleece." The 



earliest and rudest method of obtaining the 



fleece was to drive the flocks hastily through 



a narrow passage, when by their pressure 



, against each other the greater part of the fleece 



