Fan Coral
in zoology, the name of the genus Rhipidogorgia, belonging to the family Gorgonidæ.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: F (6)
Each of these 12 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
Fanatic
a person affected by excessive zeal and enthusiasm, especially on religious subjects; one laboring under wild and extravagant notions of religion; an enthusiast; a visionary. In ancient Rome the term was applied to such as passed their time in temples, and who, pretending to be inspired by the divinity, would burst into wild and frantic gestures, utter pretended prophecies, cut themselves with knives, etc. Hence, the term has in modern times come to be applied to such as manifest a religious enthusiasm, uncontrolled by Fanaticism is reason or experience. sometimes applied in a wider sense to any excessive prepossession of the mind by ideas of any kind. It has prevailed under different forms in all ages of the world; and one of its most remarkable and dangerous features is the tendency that it has to spread over large masses of a people. The very earnestness of the fanatic serves to carry conviction to the minds of others. Among persons of this class were Madame Guyon, Joanna Southcott, and numerous others.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Faneuil
PETER, an American merchant; born in New Rochelle, N. Y., in 1700; settled in Boston, Mass., where he became a successful merchant. In per- 1740 he built a market house at his sonal expense as a gift to the town. During the Revolutionary War this building was often used as a meeting place by the patriots. Owing to the many stirring debates that occurred here, the hall received the name of "the Cradle of American Liberty." Faneuil died in Boston, Mass., March 3, 1743. See FANEUIL HALL.
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Faneuil Hall
a public hall in to the town by Peter Boston, presented nted Faneuil, in 1740. In 1761 it was destroyed by fire. In 1763 it was rebuilt by the town; and, in 1775, during the British occupation of Boston, it was used for a theater. It is an edifice about 80 feet square; the hall contains some fine paintings; and the basement is still used as a market. See FANEUIL, PETER.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Fanning Islands
a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, lying between longitude 157° and 163° West. The group has an area of about 260 square miles. The chief islands are Christmas, Fanning, Jarvis, Washington, and Palmyra. They have been the property of Great Britain since 1888. Pop. about 200. FANO (ancient Fanum Fortune, from a temple dedicated to the goddess Fortuna); a well-built town and seaport of central Italy, province of Urbino, 7 miles S. E. of Pesaro, and 29 N. W. by W. of Ancona. Manufactures silk stuffs, twists, etc. Pop. about 12,000.
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Fantail
in zoölogy, a genus of Australian birds (Rhipidura) belonging to the family Muscicapide. They derive their name from the fan-like shape of their tails. Also a variety of the domestic pigeon. In gas lighting a form of gas burner, in which the burning jet has an arched form. In carpentry, a kind of joint. Fantail warbler; in ornithology, Cisticola cursitans, a very tiny bird, somewhat like a diminutive lark. It is a native of southern Europe, Africa, India, and China.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Fantasia
in music, a species of composition in which the author confines himself to no particular form or theme, but ranges as his fancy leads amid various airs and movements.
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Fantasmagoriana
The title of a collection of popular stories, dealing mainly with apparitions and spectres, which was published in Paris in 1812. The contents were for the most part translated from the German.
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Fantis
a negro people on the Gold Coast of Africa. They were once the most numerous and powerful people on the Gold Coast. In 1873 they were attacked by the Ashantees who after a considerable struggle were conquered by British forces. Ashantee became a British protectorate in 1896, and was annexed in 1901. FARAD (from Michael Faraday, the great electrician), the standard electrical unit, which is measured by the capacity of a condenser, that with an electromotive force of one volt is able to overcome a resistance equivalent to one ohm in one second, or in other words, the resistance offered by a cylindrical copper wire 250 feet long, 1-20 inch in diameter, the ohm being the magneto-electric unit.
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Faraday, Michael
Michael (1791-1867), a distinguished English chemist. His father was a blacksmith near London. He was apprenticed at an early age to a book binder, an occupation which gave him opportunity to read. Young Michael had few opportunities for an education, but managed to attend a series of poular lectures on chemistry given by Sir Humphry Davy. Faraday's notes attracted the lecturer's attention. To the young man's great delight, he was engaged as an assistant and traveled about setting up apparatus and getting everything ready for the lecture. Sir Humphry, the most noted chemist of the day, was wont to declare that his greatest discovery was "Mike" Faraday. Under his master's instruction, Faraday was the first to condense gases into liquids by pressure. He succeeded Sir Humphry as professor of chemistry in the Royal Institute. Among his most noted publications are his Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle. He also contributed to the study of glaciers, heat, ice, electricity, and magnetism. He is said to have contributed something new to almost every department of physics. As a lecturer he was very successful by reason of his charm of manner, simplicity of style, and facility in illustration. The great work of his life was a series of Experimental Researches on Electricity, published in Philosophical Transactions. See Davy
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Farce
a comic dramatic performance in which the characters and incidents are grotesque and absurd. Sometimes a farce is in the form of an opera. It is then a musical farce, comic opera, opera bouffe, or burletta. See Drama ; Comedy Farce is that in poetry which grotesque is in a picture; the persons and actions of a farce are all unnatural, and the manners false--Dryden.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Fargo
a city and county-seat of Cass co., N. D.; on the Red river, and on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Northern Pacific, and the Great Northern railroads; opposite Moorhead, Minn. Here are a United States land office, Fargo College (Cong.), the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, high school, court house, waterworks, street railroad and electric light plants, several banks, hospitals, parks, and a number of daily and weekly newspapers. It has the car shops of the Northern Pacific railroad, flour, planing and paper mills, large grain elevators, knitting mills, bottling works, and large brick yards. Pop. (1910) 14,331; (1920) 21,961.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia