Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/127

LEFT FANEUIL HALL 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. FANEUIL HALL, a public hall in Boston, presented to the town by Peter Faneuil, in 1740. In 1761 it was de- stroyed by fire. In 1763 it was rebuilt by the town; and, in 1775, during the Brit- ish 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. FANNING ISLANDS, a group of is- lands in the Pacific Ocean, lying be- tween longitude 157° and 163° West. The group has an area of about 260 square miles. The chief islands are Christmas, Fanning, Jarvis, Washing- ton, and Palmyra. They have been the property of Great Britain since 1888. Pop. about 200. FANO (ancient Fanum Fortunae, from a temple dedicated to the goddess For- tuna) ; 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. FANTAIL, in zoology, a genus of Australian birds (Rhipidnra) belonging to the family Muscicapidse. They derive their name from the fan-like shape of their tails. Also a variety of the domes- tic 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, Cis- ticola eursitans, a very tiny bird, some- what like a diminutive lark. It is a na- tive of southern Europe, Africa, India, and China. 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 vari- ous airs and movements. 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 at- tacked by the Ashantees who after a considerable struggle were conquered by British forces. Ashantee became a Brit- ish protectorate in 1896, and was an- nexed 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 electromo- 97 FARADAY tive 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. FARADAY, MICHAEL, an English scientist; born in Newington Butts, Eng- land, Sept. 22, 1791. He received little or no education and was apprenticed to the trade of a bookbinder. During his term of apprenticeship, a few scientific woi-ks fell into his hands, and he devoted himself to the study of, and experi- ments in, electricity. Having attended the lectures given in 1812 by Sir Hum- phry Davy, and taken notes thereon, he sent them to that great philosopher, and besought some scientific occupation. The reply was prompt and favorable. In 1813 Faraday was appointed chemical assist- ant, under Sir Humphry, at the Royal Institution. After a continental tour in company with his patron, Faraday, still pursuing his scientific investigations, dis- covered, in 1820, the chlorides of carbon, and, in the following year, the mutual rotation of a magnetic pole and an electric current. These discoveries led to the condensation of gases in 1823. In 1829 he labored on the production of optical glass; but though unsuccessful in his immediate object, his experiments produced the heavy glass which after- ward proved of great assistance to him in his magnetical investigations. In 1831 the series of "Experimental Researches in Electricity," published in the "Philo- sophical Transactions," began with the development of the induction of electric currents, and the evolution of electricity from magnetism. Three years later Fara- day established the principle of definite electrolytic action, and in 1846 received at the same time the Royal and the Rum- ford medals for his discoveries of dia- magnetism, and of the influence of mag- netism upon light respectively. In 1847 he discovered the magnetic character of oxygen, and, also, the magnetic relations of flame and gases. His papers, includ- ing other contributions to the store of modern science, are too numerous to mention in detail. In 1833 Faraday was appointed Professor of Chemistry in the Royal Institution, London, which chair he continued to hold until his death. In 1835 he received from government a pen- sion of .$1,500 per annum in recognition of his eminent scientific merits. In 1836 he was appointed a member of the senate of London University. From 1829 to 1842 he was chemical lecturer at the Royal Academy. In 1823 Faraday was elected corresponding member of the French Academy, in 1825 he was chosen