PIL 



329 



FIN 



FIFTH SHARP. In music, an interval 

 comprising eight semitones. 



FIGS, the fruit of the fig-tree, ficiw J- 

 rica, a native of Asia, but now natural- 

 ised in the milder countries of Europe, 

 Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, &c. 



FIO'URAI, or FIO'URATE NUMBERS, are 

 such as do or may represent some geome- 

 trical figure, in relation to which they are 

 always considered as trm/i^Miar numbers, 

 pentagonal numbers, &c. 



FIGU'RATE. In music, that counterpoint 

 wherein there is a mixture of discords 

 with concords is called figurate ; and a 

 descant is figurate when the discords are 

 less concerned than the concords. 



FIQ'URE, Lat. figura, from figo, to set ; 

 the form of anything as expressed by the 

 terminal lines; form or shape. In geo- 

 metry, there are rectilinear, curvilinear, 

 and mixed figures, just as the extremities 

 are bounded by straight lines, curved 

 lines, or both. A. rhetorical figure is a com- 

 bination of words deflected from their 

 ordinary meaning, to express a passion, or 

 an idea, with more force and beauty than 

 by the ordinary way. In a painting, the 

 figures are the animals, more particularly 

 the human personages, represented in it. 

 An astrological figure is a description of 

 the disposition of the heavens at a certain 

 hour, when the places of the planets and 

 other stars are marked in a figure of 

 twelve triangles or houses. The arith- 

 metical figures are the nine digits and 

 cipher. In optics, the apparent figure is 

 the figure under which an object presents 

 itself to our view. 



FIG' u RE- HEAD, the figure, statue, or 

 bust on the projecting part of a snip's 

 head. 



FIG'URE-STONE, agalmatolite, a variety 

 of talc-mica, of many colours. The best 

 is brought from China, where it is exten- 

 sively used for carvings, toys, &c. 



FIL'ACEB, Lat. Jilazarius. An officer in 

 the Common Pleas, so called from his filing 

 the writs on which he makes out pro- 

 cesses. 



Fi I/BERT, the fruit of the hazel. See 



CoRTLCS. 



FILE. In mechanics, an instrument of 

 forged steel, having teeth made by fur- 

 rowing the surface with a chisel ; used for 

 cutting and abrading metals, ivory, wood, 

 &c. When the teeth are a series of sharp 

 edges, raised by the flat chisel, and ap- 

 pearing in parallel furrows, the tool is 

 said to be single-cut ; but when these teeth 

 are crossed by a second series of similar 

 teeth, the file is double-tut. "When the 

 teeth are made by a sharp-pointed tool, in 

 the form of a triangular pyramid, the file 

 is called a rasp. 



FIL'ICES (Lat. pi. otJUtf), ferns. The 

 first of Cryptogaxnia ; tho first tribe of 

 acotyledonoua plant*. Tht-y bear their 



flowers and fruit on the back of the leaf 

 or stalk, which is called front. 



FIL'IFORM, from filum, a thread, and 

 forma, form ; thread-like. Applied, in 

 botany, (1.) To peduncles when very tine. 

 (2.) To the tube of monopetalous flowers, 

 when of a thread-like form. (3.J To 

 aments. 



FILL, the sea term for bracing a yard 

 which had been laid aback, so that the 

 wind may act on the after side of the sail. 



FILL'AGREE, > from filum, a thread, and 



FIL'AGRANE, ) granum, grain. A term in 

 the arts for a sort of enrichment on gold 

 and silver, wrought delicately in the 

 manner of little threads or grains, or both 

 intermixed. The tillagree- work of Su- 

 matra has been most esteemed, but it has 

 of late been cheaply imitated with co- 

 loured and gilt paper. 



FIL'LET. 1. In architecture, &c. a little 

 member that appears in ornaments and 



mouldings, otherwise called a listel. 2. 



In heraldry, a bordure or orle, one-third 

 part of the breadth of the common bor- 

 dure. 3. In the manege, the loins of a 



horse are called the fillets. 



FiL'rBEG, a dress reaching only to the 

 knees, worn by the Highlanders of Scot- 

 land. 



FILLING-IN-PIECES are short pieces of 

 timber, affixed to hips of roofs, groins, 

 and other frame- work. 



FILM, a thin skin or pellicle. In botany, 

 the thin skin which divides the seeds in 

 pods. 



FIL'OSE, Lat. filum. In geology, when a 

 part ends in a thread-like process. 



FIL'TER, Fr.filtre. A strainer through 

 which any liquor is passed, to separate 

 the gross particles, and render it limpid. 

 The root of the term is felt, this substance 

 being formerly used for straining liquors. 



FIL'TERING-BASINS, stones, &c. for fil- 

 tering water, are either natural or arti- 

 ficial. Insoluble, porous material, of any 

 sort, serves the purpose. 



FIL'TER-PAFER, a sort of thick bibulous 

 paper, without size, used for filtering 

 liquids. 



FIM'BRIA, a fringe. Applied, in ana- 

 tomy, to any fringe-like body ; and in bo- 

 triny, to deutated rings of the operculuni 

 of mosses. 'Epithet fimbriate, fringed. 



FINAL CAUSE. In ethics, the end for 

 which anything is done. It is the first 

 object in the intention of a person who 

 does a thing, and the last in the execution. 



FINA'LE. 1. The Lwt note of a musical 



composition. 2. The last piece of an . 



opera, &c. 



FINANCE', primarily, revenue arising 

 from fines. The term is now used in the 

 plural, finances, for the revenue accruing 

 to the public treasury. The word is 

 Xorman. 



FIM.H, a bird. The word is generallf 



