Flycatcher
a family of songless, perching birds given to catching insects on the wing. There are 350 world species, chiefly tropical; 35 species nest in the United States . By keeping a sharp lookout along the edges of copses and in open woodlands one cannot fail to see, ere long, a small olive-colored crested bird, sitting on a dry limb or dead shrub. Every moment or two it will dart off into the air, snap an insect, and wheel back to its old position. Each dart marks the capture of a passing insect. If undisturbed, a flycatcher will use the same perch for hours at a time. In the season for feeding the young a pair of flycatchers will carry hundreds of insects to their nestlings daily. The flycatchers are of untold service to the fruit raiser. Flycatchers have rather wide mouths, surrounded by bristles to facilitate the capture of their food. The pewee, phoebe, and kingbird are members of the family.
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Flying Buttress
in architecture, a structure in the form of an arch, spanning the roof of an aisle between an outer buttress and the wall of the nave. It assists in resisting the thrust of the roof.
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Flying Childers
a chestnut racehorse foaled in England about 1715. The English do not time their horses; that is to say, the horse runs to outstrip his competitors, and not against time. It is quite honor enough to win a Derby without question of the actual speed. There is no authentic record, therefore, of Flying Childers' time, but he was considered the fastest horse England had produced. He won every race he entered.
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Flying Lemur
a long-tailed animal resembling the lemur monkey in some respects. It is about twenty inches in total length. It is an animal of the tree-tops, in the forests of the Indian archipelago. It lives inoffensively on fruit, insects, and birds' eggs. A loose fold of skin runs along each side of the body from the neck to the tail, with sufficient width to include the legs but yet leave the paws free. When the animal leaps it spreads its legs apart like a flying squirrel , and is able to soar with ease and perfect safety for almost any distance on a downward course. Also called the flying fox.
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Flywheel
in machinery, a wheel employed to regulate the rate of motion. It is attached usually to a principal shaft, and turns with it. Within reason, the greater the diameter of a flywheel and the heavier its rim, the greater its influence is. The value depends on inertia. The wheel gets under way slowly and loses motion slowly. In the case of a power saw, for instance, a heavy flywheel, once under way, preserves the motion of the saw from being checked by a temporary obstruction, such as a knot or other difficulty. Then, too, when the saw becomes empty, the flywheel prevents its attaining an excessive rate of speed before another log can be brought into place. It is a reservoir in which extra energy, that is to say, motion, is stored to be drawn upon in time of need.
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Focal Infections
OR FOCAL INFECTION DISEASES, those which originate in foci of infection, i. e. localized areas or parts of the body where pathogenic germs become seated and whence they are carried to other parts or spread throughout the body by the blood or the lymph stream. Many comdiseases, including rheumatism, mon pneumonia, appendicitis, bronchial asthma, and catarrh, together with general physical debility, and even mental-nerve diseases, have been found to arise in many cases from local infections apparently unconnected with the final symptoms of the disease in question. Common foci of infection are the intestinal canal and all the exposed membranes of the head, the mouth, nose, throat, tonsils, gums, and lastly the teeth, whose importance in this respect has lately received wide recognition. The poisonous germs multiplied in these localities often produce their first noticeable effects when carried to other parts peculiarly susceptible, such as the joints, kidneys, stomach, lungs, etc. In recent years an important part of the treatment of victims of mental disorders has been the removal of foci of infection found in bad teeth, in-
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Foehn
fen, a warm, dry wind of the Alps. It resembles our chinook in origin and nature. It descends from the upper Alps into the valleys along the northern side of the same from Geneva to Salzburg. The owners of vineyards depend upon it to cure their grapes in the autumn. It is of great benefit in the spring in removing the heavy snows of that region quickly. The word has passed into general use and is applied to winds of the sort, wherever found. Thus travelers speak of the Himalaya foehn, the Greenland foehn, etc. See Chinook ; Wind
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Fogazzaro
ANTONIO (fō-gätsär'ō), an Italian poet; born in Vicenza, Italy, in 1842. He first came into notice with "Miranda," a story in verse (1874), ded greatly to his reputation as a and added poet with "Valsonda," a volume of lyrics (1876). He was author of several novels which were received with marked favor, among them, "Master Chicco's Fiasco" (1885); "Daniel Cortis" (1887); "The Poet's Mystery" (1888); "The Saint" (1905); "Leila" (1910).
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Foggia
a city of southern Italy, capital of the province of the same name, in the center of the great Apulian plain, 46 miles E. by S. of Campo Basso. It is well built, most of the houses being reconstructed since an earthquake, which happened in 1732. It has large storehouses for keeping corn, and is the place where the flocks that feed on the great plain of Apulia are registered. Pop. about 79,000.
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Fogo
FUEGO, or ST. PHILIP, one of the Cape Verde Islands, Isl in the At lantic Ocean, and the highest of the group, being 9,760 feet above sea-level, and presenting the appearance of one single mountain, though, on the sides, there are deep valleys; area, 40 miles in circumference; pop. estimated, 16,000. It has no rivers, and a scarcity of fresh water prevails, yet it is one of the most fertile islands of the archipelago, producing excellent maize and fruits. Chief town, Nostra Senhora da Luz. Also the name of a port of entry, capital of Fogo Island, Newfoundland. FÖHR (fer), an island in the North Sea, off the W. coast of Schleswig; area, 28 square miles; population mostly Frisians engaged in fishing, the capture of wild fowl, and agriculture.
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