F I S 



[ 175] 



F L I 



Inclusa, class Acephala, division 

 Mollusca. Nearly all of the family 

 Inclusa live buried in sand, stones, 

 ooze, or wood. The external tube 

 of fistulana is entirely closed at its 

 larger end, and is more or less like 

 a bottle or club. The fistulanae 

 are sometimes found buried in sub- 

 merged fragments of wood, or in 

 fruits, and the animal like the 

 teredo, has two small valves, and 

 as many palettes. Recent speci- 

 mens are only obtained from the 

 Indian ocean, but flstulance are 

 found fossil in the Shanklin sand, 

 where, in some instances, the wood 

 is studded with the remains of a 

 small species of fistulana, of a pyri- 

 form shape, about one-third of an 

 inch long, to which the name of 

 Fistulana pyriformis has been given. 

 Fistulanae personate are found in 

 the chalk formation, and in the 

 arenaceous limestone, or sandstone, 

 of Bognor ; and Fistulana pyri- 

 formis, at the junction of the Gait 

 and Shanklin sand, imbedded in 

 wood. 



FI'STTTLIFOEM. (horn fistula and forma, 

 Lat.) In round hollow columns. 



FI'STTJLOTJS. (fistuleux, Fr. infatoUto, 

 It.) Hollow; tube-like. 



FI'XITY. (fixite, Fr. propriete qu'ont 

 quefyues corps de n'etre point dissipes 

 par V action du feu.) Coherence of 

 parts: that property which some 

 bodies possess of resisting dissipa- 

 tion by heat. 



FLAGSTONE. "When sandstones are 

 very thin-bedded, or the beds are 

 easily split along the lines of lami- 

 nation, they are called flagstones. 

 Flagstones are not exclusively 

 areaaceous, but may be argilla- 

 ceous, or even calcareous. Jukes. 



FLAMMI'VOMOUS. (from flamma and 

 vomo, Lat.) That vomits forth 

 flames; volcanoes areflammivomous. 



FLE'XIBLE. (flexibilis, Lat. flexibile, 

 Fr. flessilile, It.) That can be 

 bent; not brittle; pliable. That 

 substance is said to be flexible 



which, being bent, does not itself 

 resume its former shape ; but con- 

 tinues in the form forcibly given 

 to it. Substances which, being 

 bent forcibly, spring back to their 

 former position, are termed elastic. 

 FLINT. (Sax.) Siliceous earth, nearly 

 pure. Flint is the commonest form 

 in which quartz exhibits itself; it 

 is rather harder than quartz, and 

 contains a minute portion of alu- 

 mine, lime, and oxide of iron ; 98 

 per cent, being pure silex. A 

 remarkable circumstance attending 

 flint is, that it is found in masses, 

 dispersed in regular parallel beds, 

 in chalk-rocks. This is elucidated, 

 and partly explained, in a beautiful 

 manner in the manufacturing of 

 porcelain. Porcelain is made of 

 flint and clay, pounded extremely 

 fine, and mingled together with 

 water so perfectly, as to form a 

 smooth fluid, of the consistence and 

 colour of cream; if this fluid be 

 left a long time tranquil, the flint 

 separates from the clay, and collects 

 in small masses, in a manner anala- 

 gous to that in which the natural 

 masses occur in the chalk. "When 

 flint is first extracted from the 

 quarry it is much more brittle, 

 and requires a much lighter blow 

 to break it, than flint that has been 

 long exposed. This may perhaps 

 be owing to the moisture or water 

 belonging to the flint in its natural 

 state, but which it loses in great 

 measure by the joint action of the 

 sun and air. It has a conchoidal 

 fracture, and feeble lustre; thin 

 fragments are translucent. Specific 

 gravity 2-594. According to Klap- 

 roth's analysis, it consists of silex 

 98, lime 0-5, alumine 0-25, oxide 

 of iron 0-25, water 1. Before the 

 blow-pipe, flint per se is infusible, 

 but it whitens and becoms opaque. 

 "When two pieces of flint are rubbed 

 together, they emit a peculiar smell, 

 and phosphorise greatly. The con- 

 stant occurence of flint in the upper 



