FEM 



161 



FES 



felon upon himself), a suicide ; 

 in law, one who commits a felony 

 by suicide. 



female flower, fem'al flow'r, in 

 bot. y a flower producing pistils 

 only. 



femur, n. , fem'ur (L. f$mur, the 

 thigh, f&moris), one of the thigh- 

 bones ; one of the two largest 

 and longest bones of the body : 

 femoral, a., fem'tir-dl, pert, to 

 the thigh : femoral condyles, 

 the rounded eminences at each 

 end of the thigh-bones; f. region, 

 the thighs ' region ' simply 

 denoting any artificial division of 

 the body, as 'chest/ * abdomen,' 

 etc. 



fenestra, n.,/8n-&^r# (L.fenest- 

 ra, a window), in anat., applied 

 to two small openings in the 

 petrous portion of the temporal 

 bone : fenestra ovalis, ov-dl'-fo 

 (L. ovalis, of or belonging to an 

 egg from ovum, an egg), in the 

 ear, a reniform opening, leading 

 from the tympanum into the 

 vestibule : f. rotunda, rot-und'd 

 (L. rtitunduSy wheel - shaped 

 from rota, a wheel), an oval 

 aperture placed at the bottom of 

 a funnel-shaped depression lead- 

 ing into the cochlea : fenestrate, 

 a., fen-est'rdt (L. fenestrdtus, 

 furnished with openings or 

 windows), in hot., having open- 

 ings like a window ; having small 

 perforations. 



fennel, n. , fWr&l (L. feniculum, 

 fennel ; AS. feonel), an umbellif- 

 erous plant of various species; one 

 is cultivated as a pot herb, and 

 for its seeds and an essential oil ; 

 systematic name is Foeniculum 

 vulgare, fen-ik'ul-um vulg-dr'-8 

 (L. vulgdris, general, ordinary 

 from vulgus, the people); also 

 F. dulce, duls'8 (L. dulcis, 

 sweet), sweet fennel, Ord. Um- 

 belliferse. 



Ferns, n. , fernz (AS. fearn, fern ; 

 Swed. fara, to go applied to 

 events produced by diabolic art), 



a family of cryptogamic plants, 

 usually with broad feathery leaves 

 or fronds, Ord. Filices ; the fern 

 or male shield-fern (Asplenium 

 filix mas) is a remedy of very 

 great value in the treatment of 

 tape-worms. 



Feronia, n.,/3r $*# (L. Feronia, 

 an old Italian goddess of plants), 

 a genus of fruit-bearing plants, 

 Ord. Aurantiacese : Feronia ele- 

 phantum, el'e-fant'um (L. ele- 

 phantus, an elephant), a species 

 from which is procured a gum, 

 like gum-arabic ; a genus of ticks 

 infesting the horse and the ass, 

 etc. 



ferruginous, a^fer-rddf-m-us (L. 



ferrugmeus, of the colour of iron 

 rust from ferrum, iron), im- 

 pregnated or coated with oxide 

 of iron ; chalybeate ; applied to 

 medicines having iron for their 

 active principle ; in bot., rust- 

 coloured. 



Ferula, n., fer'-ul-a (L. ferula, 

 the plant fennel-giant, a rod for 

 punishment), the giant-fennels, a 

 genus of plants, Ord. Umbellif- 

 erse : Ferula galbaniflua, gal'- 

 ban-i-fld'a (L. galbdnum, the 

 resinous sap of an umbelliferous 

 plant in Syria ; fluo, I flow) ; 

 also F. mbricaulis, roob'-rl- 

 kdivl'fa (L. ruber, red ; caulis, 

 a stem), are species which pro- 

 duce the gum-resin galbanum, 

 consisting of resin, gum, and a 

 volatile oil, used as an antispas- 

 modic and emenagogue : F. Pers- 

 ica, Pers f -iJc-a (L. Persicus, of or 

 from Persia), a plant whose leaves 

 are very much divided, yields an 

 inferior sort of asafoetida, consist- 

 ing of a resinous and gummy 

 matter with a sulphur oil, used 

 as a stimulant, antispasmodic, 

 and anthelmintic. 



Festuca, n., ftet-u&& (old F. 

 festu, a straw ; L. festuca, the 

 young shoot or stalk of a tree), 

 a genus of plants, Ord. Graminese : 

 fescue, n.,f$sk'u t a sharp-pointed 



