FLO 



Tr^t* and grey porous varieties of rhom 

 bohedral quartz, which, in consequence 

 of their porosity, float on the surface of 

 water. 



FLOC'CI. Inbotany, the woolly filaments 

 found mixed with the sporules of many 

 (iantromyci. Applied also to the external 

 filaments of Eyssacea. 



FLOCCILA'TIOX, from floccus ; picking of 

 the bed-clothes. A symptom of great 

 danger in acute diseases. 



FLOC'CCS. In mammalogy, the tuft of long 

 flaccid hairs -which terminate the tail. 



FLOETZ, Germ.flotz. A name given by 

 Werner to certain rocks, because they are 

 flat, horizontal, and parallel to each other. 

 The floetz formations lie immediately 

 over the transition rocks, and contain 

 fossils. The term is not now technical. 



FLOOD-GATE OR SLUICE. A gate or sluice 

 that may be opened or shut for the admis- 

 sion or exclusion of water : used in rivers, 

 canals, docks, and reservoirs. 



FLOOD-MARK. The mark which the sea 

 makes on the shore at high tide: the 

 hisrh -water mark. 



FLOCKING. In mining, a shifting of a 

 lode by a cross vein. 



FLOOR, folded or folding. In architec- 

 ture, one in which the floor-boards are so 

 laid that their joints do not appear conti- 

 nuous throughout the length of the floor, 

 but in bays or folds of three, four, or more 

 boards each. Straight-joint floor, on the 

 contrary, has its seams continuous 

 throughout. 



FLOOK-CLOTH. A useful substitute for 

 carpet, consisting of canvas saturated 

 with seven coats of oil, and painted with 

 a great variety of patterns. 



FLOOR-TIMBERS (of a ship), are those 

 timbers placed immediately across the 

 keel, and upon which the bottom of the 

 ship is framed. 



FLO'RA, Lat. from flos, a flower. The 

 plants peculiar to a country constitute its 

 flora, as the animals do its fauna. 



FLORA'LIA, a festival observed by the 

 Komans, in honour of Flora, the goddess 

 of flowers. 



FLOR'ID, Lat. floridus, from floreo, to 

 flower, embellished with flowers. The 

 florid Oothicis an elaborate kind of Gothic 

 architecture, filled with points, ramifica- 

 tions, mullions, &c. The term florid is 

 also applied to a composition, either lite- 

 rary or musical, when too much embel- 

 lished with figures and flowers of the 

 literary and musical sorts. 



FLOR'IN, a coin originally made in Flo- 

 rence. The name is given to different 

 coins of gold or silver, and of different va- 

 lues in different countries. It is also used 

 as a money of account. 



Fi/>e'cuLAR, ) Lat. flosculosus, having 



Fu>s'ciou8.-> Little florets. A floscu- 



tLt*t,LLue. ) to&e no ;ver is one com- 



W FLU 



posed of florets, with funnel-shaped 

 petals, as in burdock, thistle, and arti- 

 choke. Linnaeus applies the word tu- 

 bulose. 



FI.OS'CULE, ~La.t.flosculus, a floret. One 

 of the flowers of a compound or floscular 

 flower. 



FLOS FER'RI (Lat.), flower of iron. A 

 mineral substance, coralloidalarragonite, 

 which occurs in little cylinders, some- 

 times branched like coral. It has a silky 

 lustre, fibrous structure, and is often very 

 white. It takes its name from being often 

 found in cavities of veins of sparry iron 

 ore, but contains no iron. 



FLOSS, Lat.^Zos, a flower. 1. A downy 

 substance, found in the husks of certain 



plants. 2. A fluid glass floating upon 



the iron of a puddling furnace, resulting 

 from the vitrification of the oxides and 

 earths which are present. 



FLOSS SILK, the ravelled silk broken off 

 in the filature of the cocoons. It is carded 

 like cotton or wool, and spun into a soft 

 coarse yarn or thread, for making bands, 

 shawls, socks, &c. 



FLOT'SAM. In law, a term for goods lost 

 by shipwreck, but which are floating in 

 the sea. See JETSAM and LAGAN. 



FLOUR'ISH. In music, a prelude played 

 with bold and irregular notes, without 

 attention to rule. 



FLOW'ER, ~L&t.flos, floris. The flower 

 comprehends all the organs of a plant 

 which are preparatory and necessary to 

 the impregnation and perfection of the 

 fruit and seed. These organs are the 

 calyx, corolla, nectary, stamen, and pistil ; 

 but the essential parts are the anther and 

 stigma, which are sufficient to form a 

 flower, either together, in hermaphrodite 

 flowers, or separate, in male and female 

 flowers. 



FLOW'ERS, an appellation given by the 

 old chemists to substances obtained in a 

 minutely crystalline form by sublimation. 

 Thus there were flowers of benzoin, of 

 sulphur, &c. 



F. L. S., abbreviation of Frateniitatis 

 Linncence Socius, Fellow of the Linnacan 

 Society. 



FLC'CAN, a name chiefly used by the 

 Cornish miners for a fault or dam. 



FLU'ENT. In fluxions, the flowing quart, 

 tity, or that which is continually increas 

 ing or decreasing. 



FLt:'iD,Lat..#Mtdtt*,from./Zwo,to flow. A 

 term applied, 1. objectively, to express that 

 state of matter in which its particles are 

 freely movcable in all directions with re- 

 spect to each other, as opposed to the 

 solid state, in which the particles more 

 firmly cohere, and require more or lesg 



force to separate them. 2. substantively, 



to designate a body in the fluid state. 

 Fluids are divided into liquids, the par- 

 ticles of which, though moveable on e&cb. 





