F E L 



C 



* ] See Feldspar. 



of blue, green, yellow, red, and 

 grey colour. 



5. Pyramidal feldspar, or scapo- 

 lite. Meionite. Pyramidaler feld- 

 spath of Mohs. Of this species of 

 feldspar there are many varieties, 

 namely, Meionite, Scapolite, Par- 

 anthine, "Wernerite, Dipyre, and 

 Schmelzstein. These will be all 

 described under their several heads. 

 FE'LDSPARITE. | Names assigned by 

 FE'LSPAR ROCK, j Dr. Boase to a 

 genus of primary rocks found in 

 Cornwall. "All the varieties of 

 this genus, have, in common, a 

 basis of compact felspar, (i.e. a 

 compound of felspar and quartz) 

 which assumes various characters, 

 passing gradually from crystalline 

 felspar into hornstone, and even 

 into quartz, according as one or 

 other of its constituents predomi- 

 nates. 



FE'LDSPATH. 

 FE'LSPATH. 

 FELSPA'THIC. ) Any mineral in which 

 FELSPA'THOSE. j feldspar greatly pre- 

 dominates ; of the nature of feld- 

 spar. 



FE'LDSTEIN. \ The names assigned to 

 FE'LSTONE. ) a feldspathic granite 

 rock. A compact, smooth, hard 

 flinty looking rock. It is probably 

 a mixture of a feldspar with silica, 

 in a state of paste. It has two 

 principal varieties. 



FE'LIS. (Lat.) A genus of quadru- 

 peds belonging to the order of 

 Ferse, the characters of which are 

 these : The fore-teeth are equal ; 

 the molares, or grinders, have three 

 points; the tongue is furnished 

 with rough sharp prickles, pointing 

 backward ; the claws are sheathed 

 and retractile, and being raised 

 perpendicularly, and hidden be- 

 tween the toes when at rest, by 

 the action of an elastic ligament, 

 lose neither point nor edge. The 

 species of this genus are very 

 numerous, and various with regard 



1 ] FEE 



to size and colour, though they are 

 all similar with respect to form. 



FE'MORAL, (femoralis, Lat.) Belong- 

 ing to the thigh. 



FE'MUR. (Lat.) The thigh bone; 

 the thigh. 



FENESTE'LLA. The name given by- 

 Hugh Miller to a genus of fossil 

 corals of the Dudley rocks and 

 mountain limestone. The fenes- 

 tella is a stony coral, fixed at the 

 base, and composed of branches, 

 which unite by growth and form a 

 cup. " Externally the branches 

 anastomose, or regularly bifurcate ; 

 internally they form a net-work, 

 the intervals being generally oval. 

 One row of pores on each of the 

 branches externally, the openings 

 being circular, and projecting 

 when perfect." Mr. Lonsdale has 

 distinguished four species, namely, 

 F. antiqua ; F. Milleri ; F. prisca ; 

 and F. reticulata, all of which are 

 figured and described in Sir E. 

 Murchison's splendid work, the 

 Silurian System. 



FE'RGTTSONITE. A brownish-black ore, 

 occurring in quartz ; thus named 

 after Mr. Ferguson of Eaith. 



FERN. (Sax. fearn.} Ferns are dis- 

 tinguishable from all other vegeta- 

 bles by the peculiar division and 

 distribution of the veins of the 

 leaves ; and in arborescent species 

 by their cylindrical stems without 

 branches, and by the regular dis- 

 position and shape of the scars 

 left upon the stem, at the point 

 from which the petioles, or leaf- 

 stalks, have fallen off. The brake, 

 or fern, of our commons and waste 

 lands, is a familiar example of this 

 remarkable and numerous family 

 of plants, distinguished by the 

 peculiar distribution of the seed- 

 vessels. The family of ferns, both 

 in the living and fossil flora, is the 

 most numerous of vascular crypto- 

 gamous plants. The total number 

 of living species of ferns is about 

 1500. The large tree ferns are 



