Chapter XVII: Part 17

It would seem that while the feather germ may be artificially
stimulated to produce three successive generations of feathers within
a year, it may, on the other hand, be induced artificially to maintain
a continuous activity extending over long periods. That is to say, the
normal quiescent period, and periodic moult, may be suspended, so that
the feather maintains a steady and continuous growth till it attains a
length of several feet. The only known instance of this kind is that
furnished by a domesticated breed of jungle-fowl known as the
"Japanese long-tailed fowls" or as "Yokohamas." In this breed the
upper tail coverts are in some way, as yet unknown to Europeans,
induced to go on growing until they have attained a length of from 12
to 18 or even 20 ft.! In this abnormal growth the "hackles" of the
lower part of the back also share, though they do not attain a similar
length.

The feathers of birds are not uniformly distributed over the body, but
grow only along certain definite tracts known as _pterylae_, leaving
bare spaces or _apteria_. These pterylae differ considerably in their
conformation in different groups of birds, and hence are of service in
systematic ornithology.

The principal pterylae are as follows:--

(1) The head tract (_pt. capitis_), which embraces the head only.

(2) The spinal tract (_pt. spinalis_), which extends the whole length
of the vertical column. It is one of the most variable in its
modifications, especially in so far as the region from the base of the
neck to the tail is concerned. In its simplest form it runs down the
back in the form of a band of almost uniform width, but generally it
expands considerably in the lumbar region, as in Passeres. Frequently
it is divided into two portions; an upper, terminating in the region
of the middle of the back in a fork, and a lower, which commences
either as a fork, e.g. plover, barbet, or as a median band, e.g.
swallow. Very commonly the dorsal region of this tract encloses a more
or less extensive featherless space (_apterion_), e.g. swift, auk.
While, as a rule, the dorsal region of this tract is relatively
narrow, it is in some of great breadth, e.g. grebe, pigeon, coly.

(3) The ventral tract (_pt. ventralis_), which presents almost as many
variations as the spinal tract.

In its simplest form it runs from the throat backwards in the form of
a median band as far as the base of the neck where it divides, sending
a branch to each side of the breast. This branch commonly again
divides into a short, broad outer branch which lodges the "flank"
feathers, and a long, narrow, inner branch which runs backwards to
join its fellow of the opposite side in front of the cloacal aperture.
This branch lodges the abdominal feathers. The median space which
divides the inner branches of the tract may be continued forwards as
far as the middle of the neck, or even up to the throat, e.g. plover.
Only in a few cases is the neck continuously covered by the fusion of
the dorsal and ventral tracts, e.g. flamingo, Anseres, Ciconidae,
Pygopodes.

For convenience sake the cervical portions of the spinal and ventral
tracts are generally regarded as separate tracts, the _pt. colli
dorsalis_ and _pt. colli ventralis_ respectively.

(4) The humeral tract (_pt. humeralis_), which gives rise to the
"scapular" feathers.

(5) The femoral tract (_pt. femoralis_), which forms an oblique band
across the thigh.

(6) The crural tract (_pt. cruralis_), which clothes the rest of the
leg.

(7) The tail tract (_pt. caudalis_), including the tail feathers and
their coverts; and

(8) The wing tract (_pt. alaris_). The wing tract presents many
peculiar features. Each segment--arm, forearm and hand--bears feathers
essential to flight, and these are divided into _remiges_, or "quill"
feathers, and _tectrices_, or "coverts."

The remiges of the arm, more commonly described as "tertiaries," are,
technically, collectively known as the _parapteron_ and _hypopteron_,
and are composed respectively of long, quill-like feathers forming a
double series, the former arranged along the upper, and the latter
along the lower aspect of the humerus. They serve to fill up the gap
which, in long-winged birds, would otherwise occur during flight
between the quill-feathers of the forearm and the body, a gap which
would make flight impossible. In short-winged birds these two series
are extremely reduced.

The remiges range in number from 16, as in humming-birds, to 48 as in
the albatross, according, in short, to the length of the wing. But
these numerical differences depend, in flying birds, rather upon the
length of the forearm, since the quills of the hand never exceed 12
and never fall below 10, though the tenth may be reduced to a mere
vestige.

The quills of the forearm are known as "secondaries," those of the
hand as "primaries." The former are attached by their bases at
relatively wide distances apart to the ulna, while the primaries are
crowded close together and attached to the skeleton of the hand. The
six or seven which rest upon the fused metacarpals II.-III. are known
as "metacarpals." The next succeeding feather is borne by the phalanx
of digit III. and hence is known as the addigital. Phalanx i. of digit
II. always supports two quills, the "middigitals," while the remaining
feathers--one or two--are borne by the last phalanx of digit II. and
are known as pre-digitals, while the whole series of primaries are
known as the metacarpo-digitals.

In their relation one to another the remiges, it must be noted, are
always so placed that they overlap one another, the free edge of each,
when the wing is seen from its upper surface, being turned towards the
tip of the wing. Thus, in flight, the air passes through the wing as
it is raised, while in the downstroke the feathers are forced together
to form a homogeneous surface.

Birds which fly much have the outer primaries of great length, giving
the wing a pointed shape, as in swifts, while in species which fly but
little, or frequent thickets, the outer primaries are very short,
giving the wing a rounded appearance. This adaptation to environment
is commonly lost sight of by taxonomers, who not infrequently use the
form of the wing as a factor in classification.

The tectrices, or covert feathers of the wing, are arranged in several
series, decreasing in size from behind forwards. The number of rows on
the dorsal aspect and the method of their overlap, afford characters
of general importance in classification.

The first row of the series is formed by the _major coverts_; these,
like the primaries, have their free-edges directed towards the tip of
the wing, and hence are said to have a distal overlap. The next row is
formed by the _median coverts_. These, on the forearm, commonly
overlap as to the outer half of the row distally, and as to the inner
half proximally. On the hand this series is incomplete. Beyond the
median are four or five rows of coverts known as the _minor coverts_.
These may have either a proximal or a distal overlap. The remaining
rows of small feathers are known as the _marginal coverts_, and they
always have a distal overlap.

The three or four large quill-like feathers borne by the thumb form
what is known as the "bastard-wing," _ala spuria_.

The coverts of the under follow an arrangement similar to that of the
upper surface, but the minor coverts are commonly but feebly
developed, leaving a more or less bare space which is covered by the
great elongation of the marginal series.

One noteworthy fact about the coverts of the under side of the wing is
that all save the major and median coverts have what answers to the
dorsal surfaces of the feather turned towards the body, and what
answers to the ventral surface of the feather turned towards the under
surface of the wing. In the major and median coverts, however, the
ventral surfaces of these feathers are turned ventralwards, that is to
say, in the extended wing they, like the remiges, have the ventral
surfaces turned downwards or towards the body in the closed wing.

But the most remarkable fact in connexion with the pterylosis of the
wing is the fact that in all, save the Passerine and Galliform types,
and some few other isolated exceptions, the secondary series of
remiges appears always to lack the fifth remex, counting from the
wrist inwards, inasmuch as, when such wings are examined, there is
always found, in the place of the fifth remex, a pair of major coverts
only, while throughout the rest of the series each such pair of
coverts embraces a quill.

This extraordinary fact was first discovered by the French naturalist
Z. Gerbe, and was later rediscovered by R.S. Wray. Neither of these,
however, was able to offer any explanation thereof. This, however, has
since been attempted, simultaneously, by P.C. Mitchell and W.P.
Pycraft. The former has aptly coined the word _diastataxic_ to denote
the gap in the series, and _eutaxic_ to denote such wings as have an
uninterrupted series of quills. While both authors agree that there is
no evidence of any loss in the number of the quills in diastataxic
wings, they differ in the interpretation as to which of the two
conditions is the more primitive and the means by which the gap has
been brought about.

According to Mitchell the diastataxic is the more primitive condition,
and he has conclusively shown a way in which diastataxic wings may
become eutaxic. Pycraft on the other hand contends that the
diastataxic wing has been derived from the eutaxic type, and has
produced evidence showing, on the one hand, the method by which this
transition is effected, and on the other that by which the diastataxic
wing may again recover the eutaxic condition, though in this last
particular the evidence adduced by Mitchell is much more complete. The
matter is, however, one of considerable difficulty, but is well worth
further investigation.

The wings of struthious birds differ from those of the Carinatae, just
described, in many ways. All are degenerate and quite useless as
organs of flight. In some cases indeed they have become reduced to
mere vestiges.

Those of the ostrich and Rhea are the least degraded.

In the ostrich ankylosis has prevented the flexion of the hand at the
wrist joint so that the quills--primaries and secondaries--form an
unbroken series of about forty in number. Of these sixteen belong to
the primary or metacarpo-digital series, a number exceeding that of
any other bird. What the significance of this may be with regard to
the primitive wing it is impossible to say at present. The coverts, in
their disposition, bear a general resemblance to those of Carinate
wings; but they differ on account of the great length of the feathers
and the absence of any definite overlap.

The wing of the South American Rhea more nearly resembles that of
flying birds since the hand can be flexed at the wrist joint, and the
primaries are twelve in number, as in grebes, and some storks, for
example.

The coverts, as in the African ostrich, are remarkable for their great
length, those representing the major series being as long as the
remiges, a fact probably due to the shortening of the latter. They are
not, however, arranged in quincunx, as is the rule among the
Carinatae, but in parallel, transverse rows, in which respect they
resemble the owls.

In both ostrich and Rhea, as well as in all the other struthious
birds, the under surface of the wing is entirely bare.

The wing of the cassowary, emeu and apteryx has undergone complete
degeneration; so much so that only a vestige of the hand remains.

Remiges in the cassowary are represented by a few spine-like
shafts--three primaries and two secondaries. These are really
hypertrophied calami. This is shown by the fact that in the nestling
these remiges have a normal calamus, rhachis and vane; but as
development proceeds the rhachis with its vane sloughs off, while the
calamus becomes enormously lengthened and solid.

In the emeu the wing is less atrophied than in the cassowary, but is
not yet completely degenerate. Altogether seventeen remiges are
represented, of which seven correspond to primaries. Since, however,
these feathers have each an aftershaft as long as the main shaft--like
the rest of the body feathers--it may be that they answer not to
remiges, but to major coverts.

The wing of apteryx, like that of the cassowary, has become extremely
reduced. The remiges are thirteen in number, four of which answer to
primaries. These feathers are specially interesting, inasmuch as they
retain throughout life a stage corresponding to that seen in the very
young cassowary, the calamus being greatly swollen, and supporting a
very degenerate rhachis and vane.

The penguins afford another object-lesson in degeneration of this
kind. Here the wing has become transformed into a paddle, clothed on
both sides with a covering of small, close-set feathers. A pollex is
wanting, as in the cassowary, emeu and apteryx, while it is impossible
to say whether remiges are represented or not.

AUTHORITIES.--The following authors should be consulted for further
details on this subject:--

_For General Reference as to Structure, Colour, Development and
Pterylosis._--H. Gadow, in Newton's _Dictionary of Birds_ (1896); W.P.
Pycraft, "The Interlocking of the Barbs of Feathers," _Natural
Science_ (1893).

_On the Colours of Feathers._--J.L. Bonhote, "On Moult and Colour
Change in Birds," _Ibis_ (1900); A.H. Church, "Researches on Turacin,
an Animal Pigment containing Copper," _Phil. Trans._ clix. (1870), pt.
ii.; H. Gadow, "The Coloration of Feathers as affected by Structure,"
_Proc. Zool. Soc._ (1882); Newbegin, _Colour in Nature_ (1898); R.M.
Strong, "The Development of Color in the Definitive Feather," _Bull.
Mus. Zool. Harvard College_, vol. xl.

_On Moulting._--J. Dwight, "The Sequences of Plumage and Moults of the
Passerine Birds of New York," _Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci._, vol. xiii.
(1900); W.E. De Winton, "On the Moulting of the King Penguin," _Proc.
Zool. Soc._ (1898-1899); W.P. Pycraft, "On some Points in the Anatomy
of the Emperor and Adelie Penguins," _Report National Antarctic
Expedition_, vol. ii. (1907).

_On Development of Embryonic, Nestling and Adult Feathers._--T.H.
Studer, "Die Entwicklung der Federn," _Inaug.-Diss._ (Bern, 1873);
"Beitrage zur Entwickl. der Feder," _Zeitsch. f. wiss. Zool._, Bd.
xxx.; J.T. Cunningham, "Observations and Experiments on Japanese
Long-tailed Fowls," _Proc. Zool. Soc._ (1903); H.R. Davies, "Beitrag
zur Entwicklung der Feder," _Morph. Jahrb._ xiv. (1888), xv. (1889);
W.P. Pycraft, "A Contribution towards our Knowledge of the Morphology
of the Owls," _Trans. Linn. Soc._ (1898); W.P. Pycraft, "A
Contribution towards our Knowledge of the Pterytography of the
Megapodii," _Report Willey's Zoological Results_, pt. iv. (1900); W.P.
Pycraft, "Nestling Birds and some of the Problems they Present,"
_British Birds_ (1907).

_On Pterylosis._--H. Gadow, "Remarks on the Numbers and on the
Phylogenetic Development of the Remiges of Birds," _Proc. Zool. Soc._
(1888); Z. Gerbe, "Sur les plumes du vol et leur mue," _Bull. Soc.
Zool. France_, vol. ii. (1877); J.G. Goodchild, "The Cubital Coverts
of the Euornithae in relation to Taxonomy," _Proc. Roy. Phys. Edinb._
vol. x. (1890-1891); Meijere, "Uber die Federn der Vogel," _Morphol.
Jahrb._ xxiii. (1895); P.C. Mitchell, "On so-called 'Quintocubitalism'
in the Wing of Birds," _Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool._ vol. xxvii. (1899);
"On the Anatomy of the Kingfishers, with special reference to the
Conditions known as Eutaxy and Diastataxy," _Ibis_ (1901); C.L.
Nitzsch, "Pterytography," _Ray Soc._ (1867); W.P. Pycraft, "Some Facts
concerning the so-called 'Aquintocubitalism' of the Bird's Wing,"
_Journ. Linn. Soc._ vol. xxvii.; C.J. Sundevall, "On the Wings of
Birds," _Ibis_ (1886); R.S. Wray, "On some Points in the Morphology of
the Wings of Birds," _Proc. Zool. Soc._ (1887). (W. P. P.)

_Commercial Applications of Feathers._--The chief purposes for which feathers become commercially valuable may be comprehended under four divisions:--(1) bed and upholstery feathers; (2) quills for writing; (3) ornamental feathers; and (4) miscellaneous uses of feathers.

_Bed and Upholstery Feathers._--The qualities which render feathers available for stuffing beds, cushions, &c., are lightness elasticity, freedom from matting and softness. These are combined in the most satisfactory degree in the feathers of the goose and of several other allied aquatic birds, whose bodies are protected with a warm downy covering. Goose feathers and down, when plucked in spring from the living bird, are most esteemed, being at once more elastic, cleaner and less liable to taint than those obtained from the bodies of killed geese. The down of the eider duck, _Anas mollissima_, is valued above all other substances for lightness, softness and elasticity; but it has some tendency to mat, and is consequently more used for quilts and in articles of clothing than unmixed for stuffing beds. The feathers of swans, ducks and of the common domestic fowl are also largely employed for beds; but in the case of the latter bird, which is of course non-aquatic, the feathers are harsher and less downy than are those of the natatorial birds generally. Feathers which possess strong or stiff shafts cannot without some preliminary preparation be used for stuffing purposes, as the stiff points they present would not only be highly uncomfortable, but would also pierce and cause the escape of the feathers from any covering in which they might be enclosed. The barbs are therefore stripped or cut from these feathers, and when so prepared they, in common with soft feathers and downs, undergo a careful process of drying and cleaning, without which they would acquire an offensive smell, readily attract damp, and harbour vermin. The drying is generally done in highly heated apartments or stoves, and subsequently the feathers are smartly beaten with a stick, and shaken in a sieve to separate all dust and small debris.

_Quills for Writing._--The earliest period at which the use of quill feathers for writing purposes is recorded is the 6th century; and from that time till the introduction of steel pens in the early part of the 19th century they formed the principal writing implements of civilized communities. It has always been from the goose that quills have been chiefly obtained, although the swan, crow, eagle, owl, hawk and turkey all have more or less been laid under contribution. Swan quills, indeed are better and more costly than are those from the goose, and for fine lines crow quills have been much employed. Only the five outer wing feathers of the goose are useful for writing, and of these the second and third are the best, while left-wing quills are also generally more esteemed than those of the right wing, from the fact that they curve outward and away from the writer using them. Quills obtained in spring, by plucking or otherwise, from living birds are by far the best, those taken from dead geese, more especially if fattened, being comparatively worthless. To take away the natural greasiness to remove the superficial and internal pellicles of skin, and to give the necessary qualities of hardness and elasticity, quills require to undergo some processes of preparation. The essential operation consists in heating them, generally in a fine sand-bath, to from 130 deg. to 180 deg. F. according to circumstances, and scraping them under pressure while still soft from heat, whereby the outer skin is removed and the inner shrivelled up. If the heating has been properly effected, the quills are found on cooling to have become hard, elastic and somewhat brittle. While the quills are soft and hot, lozenge-shaped patterns, ornamental designs, and names are easily and permanently impressed on them by pressure with suitable instruments or designs in metal stamps.

_Ornamental Feathers._--Feathers do not appear to have been much used, in Europe at least, for ornamental purposes till the close of the 13th century. They are found in the conical caps worn in England during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II.; but not till the period of Henry V. did they take their place as a part of military costume. Towards the close of the 15th century the fashion of wearing feathers in both civil and military life was carried to an almost ludicrous excess. In the time of Henry VIII. they first appeared in the bonnets of ladies; and during Elizabeth's reign feathers began to occupy an important place as head-dress ornaments of women. From that time down to the present, feathers of endless variety have continued to be leading articles of ornamentation in female head-attire; but, except for military plumes, they have long ceased to be worn in ordinary male costume. At the present day, the feathers of numerous birds are, in one way or another, turned to account by ladies for the purpose of personal ornament. Ostrich feathers, however, hold, as they have always held, a pre-eminent position among ornamental feathers; and the ostrich is the only bird which may be said to be reared exclusively for the sake of its feathers. Ostrich farming is one of the established industries of South Africa, and is also practised in Kordofan and other semi-desert regions of North Africa, in Argentina, and in Arizona and California in North America. The feathers are generally plucked from the living animal--a process which does not appear to cause any great inconvenience. In the male bird, the long feathers of the rump and wings are white, and the short feathers of the body are jet black; while the rump and wing feathers of the female are white tinged with a dusky grey, the general body colour being the latter hue. The feathers of the male are consequently much more valuable than those of the female, and they are separately classified in commerce. The art of the plumassier embraces the cleaning, bleaching, dyeing, curling and making up of ostrich and other plumes and feathers. White feathers are simply washed in bundles in hot soapy water, run through pure warm water, exposed to sulphurous fumes for bleaching, thereafter blued with indigo solution, rinsed in pure cold water, and hung up to dry. When dry the shafts are pared or scraped down to give the feathers greater flexibility, and the barbs are curled by drawing them singly over the face of a blunt knife or by the cautious application of a heated iron. Dull-coloured feathers are usually dyed black. Feathers which are dyed light colours are first bleached by exposure in the open air. Much ingenuity is displayed in the making up of plumes, with the general result of producing the appearance of full, rich, and long feathers from inferior varieties and from scraps and fragments of ostrich feathers; and so dexterously can factitious plumes be prepared that only an experienced person is able to detect the fabrication.

In addition to those of the ostrich, the feathers of certain other birds form articles of steady commercial demand. Among these are the feathers of the South American ostrich, _Rhea americana_, the marabout feathers of India obtained from _Leptoptilos argala_ and _L. javanica_, the aigrettes of the heron, the feathers of the various species of birds of paradise, and of numerous species of humming-birds. Swan-down and the skins of various penguins and grebes and of the albatross are used, like fur, for muffs and collarettes.

The Chinese excel in the preparation of artificial flowers and other ornaments from bright natural-coloured or dyed feathers; and the French also skilfully work fragments of feathers into bouquets of artificial flowers, imitation butterflies, &c.

_Miscellaneous Applications of Feathers._--Quills of various sizes are extensively employed as holders for the sable and camel hair brushes used by artists, &c. Feather brushes and dusters are made from the wing-feathers of the domestic fowl and other birds; those of a superior quality, under the name of vulture dusters, being really made of American ostrich feathers. A minor application of feathers is found in the dressing of artificial fly-hooks for fishing. As steel pens came into general use it became an object of considerable importance to find applications for the supplanted goose-quills, and a large field of employment for them was found in the preparation of toothpicks. (J. Pa; W. P. P.)

FEATHERSTONE, an urban district in the Osgoldcross parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 6 m. E. of Wakefield on the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway. Pop. (1901) 12,093. The industrial population is employed in large collieries in the vicinity; and here, on the 7th of September 1893, serious riots during a strike resulted in the destruction of some of the colliery works belonging to Lord Masham, and were not quelled without military intervention and some bloodshed.

FEATLEY (or FAIRCLOUGH) DANIEL (1582-1645), English divine, was born at Charlton, Oxfordshire, on the 15th of March 1582. He was a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and probationer fellow in 1602, after which he went to France as chaplain to the English ambassador. For some years he was domestic chaplain to George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, and held also the rectories of Lambeth (1619), Allhallows, Bread Street (c. 1622), and Acton (1627), this last after leaving the archbishop's service in 1625. His varied activities included a "scholastick duel" with James I. in 1625, and the publication of (1) the report of a conference with some Jesuits in 1624, (2) a devotional manual entitled _Ancilla Pietatis_ (1626), (3) _Mystica Clavis, a Key opening divers Difficult Texts of Scripture in 70 Sermons_ (1636). He was appointed provost of Chelsea College in 1630, and in 1641 was one of the sub-committee "to settle religion." In the course of this work he had a disputation with four Baptists at Southwark which he commemorated in his book [Greek: Katabaptistai kataptystoi], _The Dippers dipt or the Anabaptists duckt and plunged over head and ears_ (1645). He sat in the Westminster Assembly 1643, and was the last of the Episcopal members to remain. For revealing its proceedings he was expelled and imprisoned. He died at Chelsea on the 17th of April 1645.

FEBRONIANISM, the name given to a powerful movement within the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, in the latter part of the 18th century, directed towards the "nationalizing" of Catholicism, the restriction of the monarchical power usurped by the papacy at the expense of the episcopate, and the reunion of the dissident churches with Catholic Christendom. It was thus, in its main tendencies, the equivalent of what in France is known as Gallicanism (q.v.). The name is derived from the pseudonym of "Justinus Febronius" adopted by Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim (q.v.), coadjutor bishop of Treves (Trier), in publishing his work _De statu ecclesiae et legitima potestate Romani pontificis_. This book, which roused a vast amount of excitement and controversy at the time, exercised an immense influence on opinion within the Roman Catholic Church, and the principles it proclaimed were put into practice by the rulers of that Church in various countries during the latter part of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century.

The main propositions defended by "Febronius" were as follows. The constitution of the Church is not, by Christ's institution, monarchical, and the pope, though entitled to a certain primacy, is subordinate to the universal Church. Though as the "centre of unity" he may be regarded as the guardian and champion of the ecclesiastical law, and though he may _propose_ laws, and send legates on the affairs of his primacy, his sovereignty (_principatus_) over the Church is not one of jurisdiction, but of order and collaboration (_ordinis et consociationis_). The Roman (ultramontane) doctrine of papal infallibility is not accepted "by the other Catholic Churches" and, moreover, "has no practical utility." The Church is based on the one episcopacy common to all bishops, the pope being only _primus inter pares_. It follows that the pope is subject to general councils, in which the bishops are his colleagues (_conjudices_), not merely his consultors; nor has he the exclusive right to summon such councils. The decrees of general councils need not be confirmed by the pope nor can they be altered by him; on the other hand, appeal may be made from papal decisions to a general council. As for the rights of the popes in such matters as appeals, reservations, the confirmation, translation and deposition of bishops, these belong properly to the bishops in provincial synods, and were usurped by the papacy gradually as the result of a variety of causes, notably of the False Decretals. For the health of the Church it is therefore necessary to restore matters to their condition before the False Decretals, and to give to the episcopate its due authority. The main obstacle to this is not the pope himself, but the Curia, and this must be fought by all possible means, especially by thorough popular education (_primum adversus abusum ecclesiasticae potestatis remedium_), and by the assembling of national and provincial synods, the neglect of which is the main cause of the Church's woes. If the pope will not move in the matter, the princes, and notably the emperor, must act in co-operation with the bishops, summon national councils even against the pope's will, defy his excommunication, and in the last resort refuse obedience in those matters over which the papacy has usurped jurisdiction.

It will be seen that the views of Febronius had but little originality. In the main they were those that predominated in the great general councils of Constance and Basel in the 15th century; but they were backed by him with such a wealth of learning, and they fitted so well into the intellectual and political conditions of the time, that they found a widespread acceptance. The book, indeed, was at once condemned at Rome (February 1764), and by a brief of the 21st of May the pope commanded all the bishops of Germany to suppress it. The papal condemnation met with a very mixed reception; in some dioceses the order to prohibit the book was ignored, in others action upon it was postponed pending an independent examination, in yet others (nine in all) it was at once obeyed "for political reasons," though even in these the forbidden book became the "breviary of the governments." The Febronian doctrine, in fact, exactly fitted the views of the German bishops, which were by no means disinterested. It must be remembered that the bishops were at this time great secular princes rather than Catholic prelates; with rare exceptions, they made no pretence of carrying out their spiritual duties; they shared to the full in the somewhat shallow "enlightenment" of the age. As princes of the Empire they had asserted their practical independence of the emperor; they were irked by what they considered the unjustifiable interference of the Curia with their sovereign prerogatives, and wished to establish their independence of the pope also. In the ranks of the hierarchy, then, selfish motives combined with others more respectable to secure the acceptance of the Febronian position. Among secular rulers the welcome given to it was even less equivocal. Even so devout a sovereign as Maria Theresa refused to allow "Febronius" to be forbidden in the Habsburg dominions; her son, the emperor Joseph II., applied the Febronian principles with remorseless thoroughness. In Venice, in Tuscany, in Naples, in Portugal, they inspired the vigorous efforts of "enlightened despots" to reform the Church from above; and they gave a fresh impetus to the movement against the Jesuits, which, under pressure of the secular governments, culminated in the suppression of the Society by Pope Clement XIV. in 1773. "Febronius," too, inspired the proceedings of two notable ecclesiastical assemblies, both held in the year 1786. The reforming synod which met at Pistoia under the presidency of the bishop, Scipione de' Ricci, is dealt with elsewhere (see PISTOIA). The other was the so-called congress of Ems, a meeting of the delegates of the four German archbishops, which resulted, on the 25th of August, in the celebrated "Punctation of Ems," subsequently ratified and issued by the archbishops. This document was the outcome of several years of controversy between the archbishops and the papal nuncios, aroused by what was considered the unjustifiable interference of the latter in the affairs of the German dioceses. In 1769 the three archbishop-electors of Mainz, Cologne and Treves (Trier) had drawn up in thirty articles their complaints against the Curia, and after submitting them to the emperor Joseph II., had forwarded them to the new pope, Clement XIV. These articles, though "Febronius" was prohibited in the archdioceses, were wholly Febronian in tone; and, indeed, Bishop von Hontheim himself took an active part in the diplomatic negotiations which were their outcome. In drawing up the "Punctation" he took no active part, but it was wholly inspired by his principles. It consisted of XXIII. articles, which may be summarized as follows. Bishops have, in virtue of their God-given powers, full authority within their dioceses in all matters of dispensation, patronage and the like; papal bulls, briefs, &c., and the decrees of the Roman Congregations are only of binding force in each diocese when sanctioned by the bishop; nunciatures, as hitherto conceived, are to cease; the oath of allegiance to the pope demanded of bishops since Gregory VII.'s time is to be altered so as to bring it into conformity with episcopal rights; annates and the fees payable for the pallium and confirmation are to be lowered and, in the event of the pallium or confirmation being refused, German archbishops and bishops are to be free to exercise their office under the protection of the emperor; with the Church tribunals of first and second instance (episcopal and metropolitan) the nuncios are not to interfere, and, though appeal to Rome is allowed under certain "national" safe-guards, the opinion is expressed that it would be better to set up in each archdiocese a final court of appeal representing the provincial synod; finally the emperor is prayed to use his influence with the pope to secure the assembly of a national council in order to remove the grievances left unredressed by the council of Trent.

Whether this manifesto would have led to a reconstitution of the Roman Catholic Church on permanently Febronian lines must for ever remain doubtful. The French Revolution intervened; the German Church went down in the storm: and in 1803 the secularizations carried out by order of the First Consul put an end to the temporal ambitions of its prelates. Febronianism indeed, survived. Karl Theodor von Dalberg, prince primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, upheld its principles throughout the Napoleonic epoch and hoped to establish them in the new Germany to be created by the congress of Vienna. He sent to this assembly, as representative of the German Church, Bishop von Wessenberg, who in his diocese of Constance had not hesitated to apply Febronian principles in reforming, on his own authority, the services and discipline of the Church. But the times were not favourable for such experiments. The tide of reaction after the Revolutionary turmoil was setting strongly in the direction of traditional authority, in religion as in politics; and that ultramontane movement which, before the century was ended, was to dominate the Church, was already showing signs of vigorous life. Moreover, the great national German Church of which Dalberg had a vision--with himself as primate--did not appeal to the German princes, tenacious of their newly acquired status as European powers. One by one these entered into concordats with Rome, and Febronianism from an aggressive policy subsided into a speculative opinion. As such it survived strongly, especially in the universities (Bonn especially had been, from its foundation in 1774, very Febronian), and it reasserted itself vigorously in the attitude of many of the most learned German prelates and professors towards the question of the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility in 1870. It was, in fact, against the Febronian position that the decrees of the Vatican Council were deliberately directed, and their promulgation marked the triumph of the ultramontane view (see VATICAN COUNCIL, ULTRAMONTANISM, PAPACY). In Germany, indeed, the struggle against the papal monarchy was carried on for a while by the governments on the so-called _Kulturkampf_, the Old Catholics representing militant Febronianism. The latter, however, since Bismarck "went to Canossa," have sunk into a respectable but comparatively obscure sect, and Febronianism, though it still has some hold on opinion within the Church in the chapters and universities of the Rhine provinces, is practically extinct in Germany. Its revival under the guise of so-called Modernism drew from Pope Pius X. in 1908 the scathing condemnation embodied in the encyclical _Pascendi gregis_.

AUTHORITIES.--See Justinus Febronius, _De statu ecclesiae et legitima
potestae Romani pontificis_ (Bullioni, 1765), second and enlarged
edition, with new prefaces addressed to Pope Clement XIII., to
Christian kings and princes, to the bishops of the Catholic Church,
and to doctors of theology and canon law; three additional volumes,
published in 1770, 1772 and 1774 at Frankfort, are devoted to
vindications of the original work against the critics. In the _Revue
des deux mondes_ for July 1903 (tome xvi. p. 266) is an interesting
article under the title of "L'Allemagne Catholique," from the papal
point of view, by Georges Goyau. For the congress of Ems see
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_ (Leipzig, 1898), s.v. "Emser
Kongress." Further references are given in the article on Hontheim
(q.v.). (W. A. P.)

FEBRUARY, the second month of the modern calendar. In ordinary years it contains 28 days; but in bissextile or leap year, by the addition of the intercalary day, it consists of 29 days. This month was not in the Romulian calendar. In the reign of Numa two months were added to the year, namely, January at the beginning, and February at the end; and this arrangement was continued until 452 B.C., when the decemvirs placed February after January. The ancient name of _Februarius_ was derived from _februare_, to purify, or from _Februa_, the Roman festival of general expiation and lustration, which was celebrated during the latter part of this month. In February also the Lupercalia were held, and women were purified by the priests of Pan Lyceus at that festival. The Anglo-Saxons called this month Sprout-Kale from the sprouting of the cabbage at this season. Later it was known as _Solmonath_, because of the return of the sun from the low latitudes. The most generally noted days of February are the following:--the 2nd, Candlemas day, one of the fixed quarter days used in Scotland; the 14th, St Valentine's day; and the 24th, St Matthias. The church festival of St Matthias was formerly observed on the 25th of February in bissextile years, but it is now invariably celebrated on the 24th.

FEBVRE, ALEXANDRE FREDERIC (1835- ), French actor, was born in Paris, and after the usual apprenticeship in the provinces and in several Parisian theatres in small parts, was called to the Comedie Francaise in 1866, where he made his debut as Philip II. in _Don Juan d'Autriche_. He soon became the most popular leading man in Paris, not only in the classical repertoire, but in contemporary novelties. In 1894 he toured the principal cities of Europe, and, in 1895, of America. He was also a composer of light music for the piano, and published several books of varying merit. He married Mdlle Harville, daughter of one of his predecessors at the Comedie Francaise, herself a well-known actress.

FECAMP, a seaport and bathing resort of northern France, in the department of Seine-Inferieure, 28 m. N.N.E. of Havre on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 15,872. The town, which is situated on the English Channel at the mouth of the small river Fecamp, consists almost entirely of one street upwards of 2 m. in length. It occupies the bottom and sides of a narrow valley opening out towards the sea between high cliffs. The most important building is the abbey church of La Trinite, dating for the most part from 1175 to 1225. The central tower and the south portal (13th century) are the chief features of its simple exterior; in the interior, the decorative work, notably the chapel-screens and some fine stained glass, is remarkable. The hotel-de-ville with a municipal museum and library occupy the remains of the abbey buildings (18th century). The church of St Etienne (16th century) and the Benedictine liqueur distillery,[1] a modern building which also contains a museum, are of some interest. A tribunal and chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators and a nautical school, are among the public institutions. The port consists of an entrance channel nearly 400 yds. long leading to a tidal harbour and docks capable of receiving ships drawing 26 ft. at spring-tide, 19 ft. at neap-tide. Fishing for herring and mackerel is carried on and the town equips a large fleet for the codbanks of Newfoundland and Iceland. The chief exports are oil-cake, flint, cod and Benedictine liqueur. Imports include coal, timber, tar and hemp. Steam sawing, metal-founding, fish-salting, shipbuilding and repairing, and the manufacture of ship's-biscuits and fishing-nets are among the industries.

The town of Fecamp grew up round the nunnery founded in 658 to guard the relic of the True Blood which, according to the legend, was found in the trunk of a fig-tree drifted from Palestine to this spot, and which still remains the most precious treasure of the church. The original convent was destroyed by the Northmen, but was re-established by Duke William Longsword as a house of canons regular, which shortly afterwards was converted into a Benedictine monastery. King Richard I. greatly enlarged this, and rebuilt the church. The town achieved some prosperity under the dukes of Normandy, who improved its harbour, but after the annexation of Normandy to France it was overshadowed by the rising port of Havre.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The liqueur is said to have been manufactured by the Benedictine
monks of the abbey as far back as 1510; since the Revolution it has
been produced commercially by a secular company. The familiar legend
D.O.M. (_Deo Optimo Maximo_) on the bottles preserves the memory of
its original makers.

FECHNER, GUSTAV THEODOR (1801-1887), German experimental psychologist, was born on the 19th of April 1801 at Gross-Sarchen, near Muskau, in Lower Lusatia, where his father was pastor. He was educated at Sorau and Dresden and at the university of Leipzig, in which city he spent the rest of his life. In 1834 he was appointed professor of physics, but in 1839 contracted an affection of the eyes while studying the phenomena of colour and vision, and, after much suffering, resigned. Subsequently recovering, he turned to the study of mind and the relations between body and mind, giving public lectures on the subjects of which his books treat. He died at Leipzig on the 18th of November 1887. Among his works may be mentioned: _Das Buchlein vom Leben nach dem Tode_ (1836, 5th ed., 1903), which has been translated into English; _Nanna, oder uber das Seelenleben der Pflanzen_ (1848, 3rd ed., 1903); _Zendavesta, oder_ _uber die Dinge des Himmels und des Jenseits_ (1851, 2nd ed. by Lasswitz, 1901); _Uber die physikalische und philosophische Atomenlehre_ (1853, 2nd ed., 1864); _Elemente der Psychophysik_ (1860, 2nd ed., 1889); _Vorschule der Asthetik_ (1876, 2nd ed., 1898); _Die Tagesansicht gegenuber der Nachtansicht_ (1879). He also published chemical and physical papers, and translated chemical works by J.B. Biot and L.J. Thenard from the French. A different but essential side of his character is seen in his poems and humorous pieces, such as the _Vergleichende Anatomie der Engel_ (1825), written under the pseudonym of "Dr Mises." Fechner's epoch-making work was his _Elemente der Psychophysik_ (1860). He starts from the Spinozistic thought that bodily facts and conscious facts, though not reducible one to the other, are different sides of one reality. His originality lies in trying to discover an exact mathematical relation between them. The most famous outcome of his inquiries is the law known as Weber's or Fechner's law which may be expressed as follows:--"In order that the intensity of a sensation may increase in arithmetical progression, the stimulus must increase in geometrical progression." Though holding good within certain limits only, the law has been found immensely useful. Unfortunately, from the tenable theory that the intensity of a sensation increases by definite additions of stimulus, Fechner was led on to postulate a unit of sensation, so that any sensation S might be regarded as composed of n units. Sensations, he argued, thus being representable by numbers, psychology may become an "exact" science, susceptible of mathematical treatment. His general formula for getting at the number of units in any sensation is S = C log R, where S stands for the sensation, R for the stimulus numerically estimated, and C for a constant that must be separately determined by experiment in each particular order of sensibility. This reasoning of Fechner's has given rise to a great mass of controversy, but the fundamental mistake in it is simple. Though stimuli are composite, sensations are not. "Every sensation," says Professor James, "presents itself as an indivisible unit; and it is quite impossible to read any clear meaning into the notion that they are masses of units combined." Still, the idea of the exact measurement of sensation has been a fruitful one, and mainly through his influence on Wundt, Fechner was the father of that "new" psychology of laboratories which investigates human faculties with the aid of exact scientific apparatus. Though he has had a vast influence in this special department, the disciples of his general philosophy are few. His world-conception is highly animistic. He feels the thrill of life everywhere, in plants, earth, stars, the total universe. Man stands midway between the souls of plants and the souls of stars, who are angels. God, the soul of the universe, must be conceived as having an existence analogous to men. Natural laws are just the modes of the unfolding of God's perfection. In his last work Fechner, aged but full of hope, contrasts this joyous "daylight view" of the world with the dead, dreary "night view" of materialism. Fechner's work in aesthetics is also important. He conducted experiments to show that certain abstract forms and proportions are naturally pleasing to our senses, and gave some new illustrations of the working of aesthetic association. Fechner's position in reference to predecessors and contemporaries is not very sharply defined. He was remotely a disciple of Schelling, learnt much from Herbart and Weisse, and decidedly rejected Hegel and the monadism of Lotze.

See W. Wundt, _G. Th. Fechner_ (Leipzig, 1901); A. Elsas, "Zum
Andenken G. Th. Fechners," in _Grenzbote_, 1888; J.E. Kuntze, _G. Th.
Fechner_ (Leipzig, 1892); Karl Lasswitz, _G. Th. Fechner_ (Stuttgart,
1896 and 1902); E.B. Titchener, _Experimental Psychology_ (New York,
1905); G.F. Stout, _Manual of Psychology_ (1898), bk. ii. ch. vii.; R.
Falckenberg, _Hist. of Mod. Phil._ (Eng. trans., 1895), pp. 601 foll.;
H. Hoffding, _Hist. of Mod. Phil._ (Eng. trans., 1900), vol. ii. pp.
524 foll.; Liebe, _Fechners Metaphysik, im Umriss dargestellt_ (1903).
(H. St.)

FECHTER, CHARLES ALBERT (1824-1879), Anglo-French actor, was born, probably in London, on the 23rd of October 1824, of French parents, although his mother was of Piedmontese and his father of German extraction. The boy would probably have devoted himself to a sculptor's life but for the accident of a striking success made in some private theatricals. The result was an engagement in 1841 to play in a travelling company that was going to Italy. The tour was a failure, and the company broke up; whereupon Fechter returned home and worked assiduously at sculpture. At the same time he attended classes at the Conservatoire with the view of gaining admission to the Comedie Francaise. Late in 1844 he won the grand medal of the Academie des Beaux-Arts with a piece of sculpture, and was admitted to make his debut at the Comedie Francaise as Seide in Voltaire's _Mahomet_ and Valere in Moliere's _Tartuffe_. He acquitted himself with credit; but, tired of the small parts he found himself condemned to play, returned again to his sculptor's studio in 1846. In that year he accepted an engagement to play with a French company in Berlin, where he made his first decisive success as an actor. On his return to Paris in the following year he married the actress Eleonore Rabut (d. 1895). Previously he had appeared for some months in London, in a season of French classical plays given at the St James's theatre. In Paris for the next ten years he fulfilled a series of successful engagements at various theatres, his chief triumph being his creation at the Vaudeville on the 2nd of February 1852 of the part of Armand Duval in _La Dame aux camelias_. For nearly two years (1857-1858) Fechter was manager of the Odeon, where he produced _Tartuffe_ and other classical plays. Having received tempting offers to act in English at the Princess's theatre, London, he made a diligent study of the language, and appeared there on the 27th of October 1860 in an English version of Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas. This was followed by _The Corsican Brothers_ and _Don Cesar de Bazan_; and on the 20th of March 1861 he first attempted _Hamlet_. The result was an extraordinary triumph, the play running for 115 nights. This was followed by _Othello_, in which he played alternately the Moor and Iago. In 1863 he became lessee of the Lyceum theatre, which he opened with _The Duke's Motto_; this was followed by _The King's Butterfly_, _The Mountebank_ (in which his son Paul, a boy of seven, appeared), _The Roadside Inn_, _The Master of Ravenswood_, _The Corsican Brothers_ (in the original French version, in which he had created the parts of Louis and Fabian dei Franchi) and _The Lady of Lyons_. After this he appeared at the Adelphi (1868) as Obenreizer in _No Thoroughfare_, by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, as Edmond Dantes in _Monte Cristo_, and as Count de Leyrac in _Black and White_, a play in which the actor himself collaborated with Wilkie Collins. In 1870 he visited the United States, where (with the exception of a visit to London in 1872) he remained till his death. His first appearance in New York was at Niblo's Garden in the title role of _Ruy Blas_. He played in the United States between 1870 and 1876 in most of the parts in which he had won his chief triumphs in England, making at various times attempts at management, rarely successful, owing to his ungovernable temper. The last three years of his life were spent in seclusion on a farm which he had bought at Rockland Centre, near Quakertown, Pennsylvania, where he died on the 5th of August 1879. A bust of the actor by himself is in the Garrick Club, London.

FECKENHAM, JOHN (c. 1515-1584), English ecclesiastic, last abbot of Westminster, was born at Feckenham, Worcestershire, of ancestors who, by their wills, seem to have been substantial yeomen. The family name was Howman, but, according to the English custom, Feckenham, on monastic profession, changed it for the territorial name by which he is always known. Learning his letters first from the parish priest, he was sent at an early age to the claustral school at Evesham and thence, in his eighteenth year, to Gloucester Hall, Oxford, as a Benedictine student. After taking his degree in arts, he returned to the abbey, where he was professed; but he was at the university again in 1537 and took his B.D. on the 11th of June 1539. Returning to Evesham he was there when the abbey was surrendered to the king (27th of January 1540); and then, with a pension of L10 a year, he once more went back to Oxford, but soon after became chaplain to Bishop Bell of Worcester and then served Bonner in that same capacity from 1543 to 1549. In 1544 Bonner gave him the living of Solihull; and Feckenham established a reputation as a preacher and a disputant of keen intellect but unvarying charity. About 1549 Cranmer sent him to the Tower of London, and while there "he was borrowed out of prison" to take part in seven public disputations against Hooper, Jewel and others. Released by Queen Mary (5th of September 1553), he returned to Bonner and became prebendary of St Paul's, rector of Finchley, then of Greenford Magna, chaplain and confessor to the queen, and dean of St Paul's (10th of March 1554). He took part, with much charity and mildness, in the Oxford disputes against Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley; but he had no liking for the fierce bigotry and bloody measures then in force against Protestants. Feckenham used all his influence with Mary "to procure pardon of the faults or mitigation of the punishment for poor Protestants" (Fuller), and he was sent by the queen to prepare Lady Jane Grey for death. When Elizabeth was sent to the Tower (18th of March 1554), Feckenham interceded for her life and liberty, even at the cost of displeasing the queen.