FLO 



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FLO 



cows. The cutting edge a is placed upon 

 * vein, and driven in with a small wooden 

 mallet. 



FLEECE, ORDER or THE GOLDEN, one of 

 the most distinguished among European 

 orders of knighthood. 



FLECHE. In fortification, a simple redan, 

 usually constructed at the foot of a glacis. 



FLEET, &a.-\._flota,Jliet. A squadron of 

 ships, more particularly ships of war. 

 Also, a sea term used for shortening or 

 taking up anything, after it has been 

 stretched out. 



FLE'MISH SCHOOL. In painting, the works 

 of this school are distinguished by the 

 most perfect knowledge of chiaro-scuro, 

 high finishing, an admirable union of 

 colours, and by a flowing, luxurious 

 pencil. 



FLESH-BRCSH, a brush for rubbing the 

 surface of the body, to excite the cuta- 

 neous circulation. 



FLECR-DE-LIS, 1 1n heraldry, a bear- 



FLECR-DE-LECCE. } ing representing the 

 lily, called the queen of flowers. The 

 arms of France are the fleur-de-lis or, in 

 a field of azure. 



FLEXIBILITY, l&t.flecto, I bend. That 

 property of bodies, in virtue of which, 

 when a sufficient force is applied to them, 

 they change their form and are bent : op- 

 posed to stiffness and to brittleness. 



FLEX'OR. In anatomy, & name common 

 to those muscles, the office of which is to 

 bend the joints : the flexors are the anta- 

 gonists of the extensors. 



FLEX'UOTJS, Lat. fleruosus, full of turn- 

 ings: applied to stems of plants, &c., 

 which form angles alternately from right 

 to left, or are zigzag. 



FLEX'URA. In mammalogy, the joint 

 lietween the antibrachium and carpus, 

 usually called the fore-knee in the horse, 

 corresponding to the wrist in man. 



FLEX'CRE, li&t.flexura, a bending. A 

 term used to signify that a curve is both 

 concave and convex with respect to a 

 given right line. The point of bending is 

 called the point of flexure. 



FLINT, Sax../?m<. Siliceous earth nearly 

 pure. (Silex 98, lime 0'5, alumina 0'25, 

 oxide of iron 0'25, water 1). It occurs 

 plentifully in the upper chalk, dispersed 

 in parallel beds, but as yet no plausible 

 Theory has been advanced for its presence. 

 Flint glass or crystal is a species of glass, 

 in the manufacture of which flint was 

 formerly employed. 



FLIN'TT SLVTE. This differs from the 

 common slate in containing more siliceous 

 earth. "When it ceases to have the slaty 

 fracture it becomes hornstone, or the 

 petrosilex of the French mineralogists. 



FLOAT. 1. A raft. 2. The water- 

 gauge of a steam-boiler. This is usually 

 a piece of whinstone partially suspended 

 and partly floating upon the surface of 



the water. Its use is to regulate the sup- 

 ply of water in the boiler, by operating 

 upon the valve at the top of the feed-pipe. 



FLO AT- BOARDS, the boards fixed to un- 

 dershoot water wheels, to receive the im- 

 pulse of the falling stream, and to paddle- 

 wheels, being the means whereby they 

 act. 



FLOATED LATH AND PLAISTER. In ar- 

 chitecture, plastering of three coats, of 

 which the first is termed pricking up (set 

 FIRST COAT) ; the second floating or floated 

 work, and the last fine stuff. 



FLOAT'INC.. Among plasterers, the spread- 

 ing of stucco or plaster on the surface of 

 walls, called also rendering and setting, by 

 means of a straight edge, called a float. 



FLOAT'INO BRIDGE. The military float- 

 ing bridge is a sort of double bridge, the 

 upper one projecting beyond the lower 

 one, and capable of being moved forward 

 by pulleys; used for transferring troops 

 across moats. The civil floating bridge is 

 a description of steam vessel, employed 

 for ferrying passengers and goods across 

 rivers, &c. It is a flat-bottomed vessel, 

 with drawbridges at each end, by which 

 carriages may be run on board by the 

 horses. The leaves are slightly raised 

 during the passage, and the bridge is 

 guided by chains laid across the bottom 

 of the river, and secured at each end by 

 counterbalancing weights. 



FLOAT'ING C LOUGH , a moveable machine 

 for scouring out channels or inlets. It is 

 constructed of timber, and upon being 

 floated to the required spot is sunk, and 

 the flaps connected with it, and which 

 have scrapers attached, are then let down 

 upon the banks. The force of the tide 

 pushes it along, when it clears away all 

 obstructions in its course. The re-action 

 of the tide brings it back again. 



FLOAT'ING COLLIM'ATOR, ) An instru- 



FLOAT'INO INTERSEC'TOR. / ment intend- 

 ed to supply the place of a level or plumb- 

 line, in making astronomical observa- 

 tions aboard of ships. It consists of a 

 rectangular box containing mercury, on 

 which a mass of cast-iron is floated, and 

 furnished with a small telescope having 

 cross- wires. 



FLOAT'INO LIGHT, a hollow vessel of 

 tinned-iron plate, made in the form of a 

 boat, with a reflector and lanthorn, which 

 is lighted, and the apparatus lowered to 

 the rescue of any one happening to fall 

 overboard during the night. 



FLOAT'INO SCUDS. In architecture, strips 

 of plaster arranged and nicely adjusted 

 for guiding the floating rule. See FLOATED 

 WORK. 



FLOAT'INO MEADOWS, meadow lands, the 

 surface of which is flat, adjoining a river 

 or other source of water, with which they 

 can be flooded at pleasure. 



FLOAT'STONE, a name common to the 



