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 FAZY FEATHERS 103 which appears to be of the Roman period. On the S. W. bank of the lake are what are sup- posed to be the remains of Bacchis. The di- rection of the principal streets and the ground plans of houses may still be traced. FAZY, Jean James, a Swiss politician, born in Geneva, May 12, 1796. He completed his edu- cation in France, wrote several treatises on political economy, and was extensively con- nected with journalism in Paris (where his radical opinions involved him in difficulties with the French government) and in Switzer- land. After his return to Geneva he took an active part in the establishment of a new con- stitution, and distinguished himself as the prin- cipal champion of the introduction of trial by jury, which institution was adopted, Jan. 12, 1 844. In 1 846 the radicals became exasperated at the neutrality observed by the Genevese government in the conflict between the Cath- olic and Protestant cantons. A revolution broke out on Oct. 5, a provisional government was established on the 9th, and Fazy, who placed himself at its head, became the ruling spirit of the new grand council of Geneva. The city was embellished under his direction, and he also gave a powerful impulse to the construction of railways and telegraphs. As a delegate of Geneva in 1847 he exerted himself in behalf of the new federal constitution, which was adopted Sept. 12, 1848. From February to December, 1848, he was out of office, owing to disagreement with some of his colleagues ; but with this exception he was uninterrupted- ly at the head of the Genevese government un- til Nov. 14, 1853. In 1853 he was vice presi- dent of the federal council of states, and in 1854 president ; and in 1855 he was reinstated in his former position of president of the gov- ernment of Geneva, but had to resign in No- vember, 1864. Having been indicted as the leader of the riots which took place in August, he fled to France, but returned when the case was abandoned, and obtained once more a seat in the grand council, which he gave up again in 1865, and accepted anew in 1868. He has written Essai d^un precis de Vhistoire de la republiqw de Genhe (Geneva, 1838). FEATHER GRASS (stipa pennata, Willd.), a grass readily distinguishable by its elegant and feather-like awns. It grows in close, matted tufts, having very long, fine, wiry, dark green leaves, numerous tall flower stalks with small florets, succeeded by an abundance of sharp- pointed elliptical grains, each of which is sur- mounted by the feathered awn or bristle, a foot or more in length. This is of a rich bird- of-paradise color, and gives a remarkable beau- ty to the plant. Gerarde, a famous herbalist in 1597, informs us that these awned seeds were worn in his time by "sundry ladies in- stead of feathers." It is this species which is the principal grass in those portions of the steppes of Asia called the truva or pasturing grounds, growing in immense quantities, and developing its woody root stocks above the soil, much to the annoyance of the mower. The seeds of this beautiful grass are frequently Feather Grass (Stipa pennata). imported from abroad and sold in our seed shops, but they seldom vegetate. FEATHER RIVER, a stream rising in the N. E. part of Plumas co., California, which flows S. W. and S. through a rich gold region, and empties into the Sacramento, 30 m. above Sacramento City ; length about 180 m. It is navigable as far as Marysville, to which point steamboats ascend from San Francisco. The North and Middle forks, and Yuba river, are its principal tributaries. FEATHERS, a complicated modification of the tegumentary system, forming the external cov- ering or plumage of birds. Though chemical- ly similar to and homologous with the hair of mammals, their anatomical structure is in some respects different. An ordinary feather is composed of a quill or barrel, a shaft, and a vane or beard consisting of barbs and barbules. The quill, the part attached to the skin, is a hollow cylinder, semi-transparent, composed of coagulated albumen, resembling horn both in appearance and chemical constitution. It is light, but strong, terminated below by an obtuse extremity pierced by an opening, the lower umbilicus, through which the primary nutritive vessels enter ; above, it is continuous with the shaft, with which it communicates internally by an opening, the upper umbilicus ; the cavity contains a series of conical shrivelled membranes, fitting one upon the other, that have formerly been subservient to the growth of the feather. The shaft is more or less quadrilateral, gradually diminishing in size to the tip ; it is always slightly curved, convex above, and the concave lower surface, divided longitudinally by a groove, presents two in- clined planes meeting at an obtuse angle ; it is covered by a thin horny layer, and contains in its interior a white, soft, elastic substance,