Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/128

 120 FEMERtf ed in the 15th century by Father Bernardi- ni, is regarded as the oldest establishment of the kind in Europe. Wax bleaching and silk weaving are the principal branches of industry, and there is a brisk trade in wine, silk, and oil. The former see of Feltre has been united with that of Belluno, but the town is still the seat of a vicar apostolic. Marshal Clarke, one of Napoleon's generals, derived his ducal title from this place. FEMERN, Fehmern, or Fehmarn, an island of Prussia, in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, separated from Holstein by the Fehmarn sound, and from the Danish island of Laaland by the Fehmarn belt, 37 m. E. N. E. of Kiel ; area, about TO sq. m. ; pop. about 10,000. It is accessible only to small boats, owing to the shallowness of the sea. The principal pro- ducts are grain and peas. There is an active trade in woollen hosiery, and a number of the inhabitants are also engaged in fishing. Capi- tal, Burg or Borg. Femern was taken in 1420 by King Eric of Denmark, who had all the young women slain on the so-called Maiden mountain, near the village of Petersdorf. It was recovered by the duke of Holstein in 1426. The treaty of Flensburg, 1580, gave the island to the Gottorp line of dukes, with whom it passed to Denmark two centuries afterward. Femern was taken by Prussia in March, 1864, during the war with Denmark. FENCING, the art of attack and defence with any weapon but such as cut or break by sheer force. The word is, however, understood to allude especially to the management of the small sword or rapier, and when any other arm, such as broadsword, bayonet, or stick, is used, the kind of weapon is specified. Fen- cing was cultivated by the ancients, as shown by the Roman gladiators. During the period when suits of armor were worn by combatants, battle axes and other ponderous weapons were much adopted, and fencing fell into disuse. When, however, metal casing was abandoned, it came again into vogue. The peculiar state of society existing in Italy in the 16th century made such knowledge more needed there than elsewhere; consequently the Italians became the most expert fencers of that epoch, and were the teachers of the art to other nations. The next country which found the art to be a ne- cessity was Spain, whither it was imported from Italy. There the art was improved, and the amendments were accepted by the Italians. From Italy fencing was also imported into France, where the court and gentry favored it so much* that it quickly took a fresh develop- ment, and a new school was established. Though the principal object in studying the art of fencing is to enable men to wield arms with advantage, it is also pursued by many as a recreation and an exercise. While it demands no violent straining of the muscles, it develops in an extraordinary degree the whole physique, and imparts the most perfect delicacy of touch, with steadiness and lightness of hand. The FENCING- fundamental principle upon which is based the defence of the person by means of the small sword is a peculiar application of the power of the lever, whereby the fencer who parries an attack causes the point of his adversary's blade to deviate from the direct course, and throws it aside from his bo'dy through pressing or striking the faible (part near the point) of his adversary's weapon by tlQ forte (part near the handle) of his own. The surface of the front of the body is, in fencing language, di- vided by an imaginary line, horizontal, and just below the breast, separating the upper from the lower portion ; the upper part is again subdivided by a perpendicular line, the right of which is termed the outside, the left the in- side. There were in the old school eight parries, distinguished by the Italian numerals primo, secondo, terzo, quarto, &c., from which are taken the modern terms prime, seconde, tierce, carte, &c. -The instrument adopted for exercise is called a foil ; it has a handle similar to the small sword, which it is intended to 'represent ; it has a guard of metal or leather between the handle and the blade, which blade is of pliant steel, having at the end a button in place of a point. The parries are made with the weapon itself; the upper part of the body to the right is defended by the parry termed tierce, the upper part to the left by that termed carte, and the lower line by seconde. Of the old parries these are the chief; indeed the others are nearly obsolete, or used only in cer- tain exceptional cases. When the fencer is left-handed, the left of his person instead of the right is most exposed to his adversary, and the parries of carte and tierce are reversed. The fencer is expected to depend upon his sword hand for protection, rather than upon his agility of leg; nevertheless he must be quick and active on his legs to be able to ad- vance, retreat, or lunge. Thrusts are directed solely at the body ; a hit upon a limb can only be accidental, and in a fencing school will not be counted as a hit. An attack or a riposte may be made by the mere extension of the arm, or accompanied by a lunge, that is, by advancing the body, stepping forward with the right foot without moving the left one. An engagement means the crossing of the blades. A riposte means the attack without pause by the fencer who has parried. The early Italian and Spanish schools taught the management of the sword aided generally by the dagger or the mantlet ; the shifting of the position of the fencer to the right or left was also called into requisition in avoiding an attack. But since the habit of wearing the dagger and mantlet has been abandoned, and the velocity of attack and riposte has become so great that the dag- ger and mantlet would be an encumbrance, and the shifting of the position would be fatal to him who relied upon it, the instruction in defence has been confined solely to the foil. The Italian foil is long, some 38 to 40 in. ; the ancient was longer than the more modern.