Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/762

 FEA

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FEB

f,

or the Nativity ; the Circumcifion, Epiphany, Candlcmafs, or the Purification ; Zfl^y 2>ay, or the Annunciation, c a!1 'd alfo the Incarnation, and Conception ; All Saints, and ^// iflw/i : Befides the Days of the feveral Apofiles, St. Thomas, St. Pan/, &c. which with us, are Feajls, tho' not Fm<0. See each fej? under its proper Article, Nativity, Cir- cumcision, Epiphany, £S?c.

Moveable Feasts are thole, which are not confined to the fame Day of the Year. Of thefe the principal is Ea- sier, which gives Law to all the reft 5 all of them following, and keeping their proper Diftance therefrom : Such are, "Palm-Sunday, Good-Friday, Ajh-PVednefday, Sexagcfima, Jfccnfion-day, Pentccofl, and Trinity Sunday. See Ea- ster, Sexagesima, Pentecost, Trinity, ££c.

Befide thefe Fcajis, which are general, and enjoy nM by the Church, there arc others, Local, and Occasional, en- joyn'd by the Magiftratc, or voluntarily fet on Foot by the People : Such areDaysof Th&ffl$ivin$ for Delivery from Wars, Plagues, &c.

Such alio are the vigils, or Wakes, in Commemoration of the Dedications of particular Churches. See Vigil, Hfc.

The Romans had abundance of flared Feafts, in honour of their Deities and Heroes : Such were the Saturnalia, Cerealia, Lupercalia, Liberalia, Nep-unalia, Confualia, portumnalia, Vulcauia, Palilia, tDivalia, ckc.

They had alfo Feafts, inftituted occafionally Carmentalia, gfuirinalia, Terminalia, Floralia, Compitalia, Lemuria, Ver- nalia : Befide other moveable, and occafional ones j as to give Thanks to the Gods, for Benefits receiv'd ; to im- plore their Affiflance, or to appeafe their Wrath, &c. as the Paganalia, Feralia, ^Bacchanalia, Ambarvalia, Am- huYbalia, Suovetaurilia ; and divers others, particularly denominated Fer'iee ; as Scmcntind?, Fating, &.z. See each Feaft and Feria in its proper Place, Saturnalia, Luper- calia, Sementinje, %$c.

Thefe Feafts, were divided into Days of Sacrifice, and Days of fcafting, or banqueting; Days of Games, and Days of Reft, or Feria:. Sec Games, Sacrifices, &c.

There being but little Hiflory wrote, or at leaft pub- liih'd in thofe Days ; one end of thefe Feafts, or fpeak- ing Ceremonies, was to ferve the People to keep up the Remembrance of Things, in lieu of reading, and Books.

The principal Feafts of the jfetm were, the Feaft of Trumpets ; that of the Expiation ; of Tabernacles ; of the ^Dedication ; of the Pajfovcr, and of Pentecoft. See Feaft of Expiation, Tabernacles, Passover, &c.

Feast is alfo us'd for a Banquet, or fumptuous Meal, without any immediate Regard to Religion.

The Uk of the Word in this Senfe, is owing to this, that a Part of the Ceremony of many of the antient Fefti- vals, both thofe of the Heathens, and the Agapea of the Chriftians, was good Eating j Tho' M. Huet chufes to de- rive the Word from Feftinare, which is found in an antient Latin Vcrfion of Origetis Comment on Matthew, to figni- fy to Feaft. Ut veniens iliac Jefus feftinet cum Z)ifcipulis fuis.

In all Antiquity, both facred, and profane, Sacrifices were little more than religious Feafts. See Sacrifice.

It has been often obferv'd by Authors, that there is no Nation in the World comes near the Englifh, in the Mag- nificence of their Feafts. Thofe made at our Coronations, Inflallments, Confecratinns, f$c. tranfeend the Belief of all Foreigners; and yet it is a)!ow'd, that thofe now in ufe are no way comparable to thofe of our Forefathers.

The c Perfians never difcourfe, and deliberate of their mo ft important Affairs, but in the middle of their Feafts. —

FEATHER, Plume, that Part in Birds, which covers them; and by which they are enabled to fly. See Wing, Flying. See alio Bird.

Feathers make a confiderable Article in Commerce; par- ticularly thofe of the OJlrich, Heron, Swan, Peacock, Goofc, &c- For Plumes, Ornaments of the Head, filling of Beds, writing Pens, %$c. See Plume, Quill, i£c

Some of our lateft Naturalifls contend for Feathers be- ing a Species of Plants; as having the two great Characters of Vegetables, ms$. That they grow, and arc not fenfible. They add, that the Growth of Feathers is not perform'd with lefs Art or Apparatus, than that of Plants ; and that they have all the effential, or characteriftick Parts thereof, as a Root, Stem, Branches, and Leaves. See Plants.

Others, take Feathers to be that on Birds, which Leaves arc on Trees. See Leaves.

Others feem to be nearer to Nature, in making Feathers to be what Hairs are on other Animals. See Hair.

Others, will have Feathers a kind of Neophytes, or Plant- Animals ; fuch as the Fastus is in the Womb. Accordingly, in Feathers, efpecially thofe of unfledg'd Birds, the Stem, or Quill, is found full of Blood; which argues, that there is fome umbclical Nodus, whereby the firil Rudiment of the Feather was connected to the extreme Fibres, i. e. to the Veins and Arteries of the Bird.

In effect, Feathers feem only Productions and Expanfl-

ons of the laft, extreme Fibrillg of the Cutis ; and hence, upon ftripping off the Cutis, the Feathers arc likcwifc taken away : Jufl, as the Leaves, and Fruit follow, upon peeling the Bark off a Tree. Add, that Feathers as well, as Hairs, arife out of Pores in the Cutis ; which Pores arc not mere Apertures, or Foramina, but a kind of VaghmJse- wove of the Fibres of the Skin ; which terminate in the Ofcula or Anaflomafes of the internal Fibres of the Feather.

Feathers, Mr. 1)erham obferves, arc a very commodious Drefs for the Inhabitants of the Air ; not only a Guard againft wet and cold, and a Means for the Hatching and Brooding the Toung, but mod commodious for Flight : To which purpofe they are nicely placed over the Body, to give an cai'y Paflage ; everywhere neatly pofited, from the Head towards the Tail in clofe uniform Order : Sq that b?ing preen'd and drefs'd by an unctuous Matter, fecrete.l in a proper Gland, and depolited in a Oil bag, placed therein for that Purpofe (See Oil-Bag) ; they afford as eafy a Paffage through the Air, as a Boat new clean'd and drefs'd, through the Waters. Without all this Nicety they would have been apt to be ruffled and difcompos'd; would have gather'd Air, and prov'd an Ob- struction to the Paffage of the Body.

Moll of the Feathers tend backwards, and are laid over each other in exact Method, arm'd with warm and loft Down next the Body; and more ftrongly made, as well as more curioufly clos'd next the Air, and Weather. To which Purpofe the Apparatus Nature has made, and the Inftinct fhe has given them to preen, or drels their Fea- thers, are admirable. See Preening.

The Mechanifm of the Feather is wonderful : The Shaft, or Rib exceeding ftrong, but hollow below, for Strength and Lightnefs fake, and above, not much lefs ftrong ; fill'd, with a Parenchyma, or Pith both ftrong and light.

But the Vanes, or Webs in the flag Part of the Wing, are incomparable; nicely gauged; broad on one Side, and narrower on the other: The Edges of the exterior Vanes bending downwards, and thofe of the interior, or wider, upwards ; by which means they catch, hold, and lie clofe to each other, when the Wing is fpread ; fo that not one Feather may mifs its full Force and Impulfe upon the Air : The Tips all made Hoping ; thofe of the interior Vanes Hoping to a Point towards the outer Part of the Wing, and the exterior Vanes towards the Body? fo that the Wing, whether extended, or Ihut, is as neatly flop'd and form 'd, as if constantly trim'd with a pair of Sciflars.

Mr. Derham has feveral new Obfervations on the Me- chanifm of the Vanes or Webs of the Feathers, as they pre- fent themfelves to the Microfcope, by which the wonder- ful Care and Accuracy of the Creator in fo fmall a Part, are excellently illuftratcd. • *

The Vane confifts not of one continued Membrane (be- caufc if once broken, it would then be fcarce reparable ) ; but of many Laming, admirably contriv'd to hook and hang together. On the under fide they are thin, and fmooth ; but their upper, outer Edge (reprefented Tab. Nat. Hi>- Jlory, Fig. 3.) parted into two hairy Edges; each Side hav- ing a different fort of Hairs, laminated, or broader at Bot- tom, and {lender, and bearded towards the Top. Thofe bearded Hairs, on one fide the Lamina:, have f trait Beards, as reprefented in Fig, 4. Thofe on the other, have hook'd Beards on one Side, the flender part of the Brittle; and {trait ones on the other, as in Fig. 5.

Both Kinds are reprefented, as they grow on the upper Edge of the Lamina, in Fig. 3. In the Vane, the hooked Beards of one Lamina always lie next the {trait Beards of the next Lamina ; by which means they lock, and lay hold of each other ; and by a pretty Mechanifm, brafe the Lamina; clofe to one another.

Feather Edgd Boards and Planks, are thofe which are thicker on one fide, than on the other.

Feather in a Horfes Fore-head, cVc. Is a Turning, or Parting of the Hair, which in fome refembles an Ear of Barley, and in others, a kind of Oeilct-hole.

FEBRIFUGE, in Medicine, a fpecifick Remedy for the Cure of Fevers. See Fever.

The Word is a Compound of Febris, and Fitgo, I drive away.

The Quinquina, or Jcfuit's Bark, is the greateft, and fureft of all the Clafs of Febrifuges. See Quinquina.

The little Centaurcum is iometlmes alfo call'd Febrifli- gum, on account of its Virtues. See Centaureum.

The Chinefe Ginfeng is particularly fam'd as a Febri- fuge. Sec Ginseng.

For fuch as cannot rake the Bark in Subflance, Dr. Ful- ler prefcribes a Febrifuge Enema, made of a Decoction thereof. r

The inner Bark of the Aflvtree, with a little Salt ot Wormwood, taken like the Peruvian Bark, is faid to equal, or even exceed it, as a Febrifuge.

The like is faid of the Bark of the Elm near the Root The Flowers of Sal Jrmouiac are held an excellent

Febri-