Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/593

* FERGHANA. Ml FERGUSON. larger part of the country is barren and un- lii for cultivation. The climate is hot and the rainfall insullicient. The chief rivers arc the Bir-Daria and the Kizil-Su. Lake Kara Kul is situated in Ferghana. The agricultural land is found mostly along the Sir-Daria, where cereals and fruit arc raised I" sunn' extent. Silk, for which Ferghana was especially known, is still cultivated, being greatly favored by the Russian Government. The region is rich in minerals, including coal, lead, graphite, and petroleum. The last is exploited to some extent. The manu- facturing industries of Ferghana arc of COnsid erable importance, although most of them are carried on as house industries. In ls!i."> there were over 70 large industrial establishments with an animal output valued at more than $4,000,000. The leading manufactures are cotton, leather, silk, rugs, etc. The trade is chiefly with Russia, Bokhara, and East Turkestan. In 1895 the total value of the trade amounted to over $10,000,000. There are over 130 miles of railway line in the territory, connecting it with Samarkand and Bokhara. The population of the territory in 1897 was 1. aliO. 400, of whom the larger part were Sarts, and the rest Kirghizes, Tajiks, Russians, Jews, etc. The capital is Khokand. Ferghana con- stituted a part of the Sogdiana of the Greeks. II was invaded by the Arabs during the eighth century, and was under the rule of the Samanids for two centuries thereafter. Conquered succes- sively by a number of Oriental rulers, including Timur, the country obtained its independence at the end of the eighteenth century, when it was known as the Khanate of Kokand, or Khokand. the territory of the khanate being then consider- ably larger than the present territory of Fer- ghana. Internal dissensions gave the Russians an opportunity for interference, and in 1870 the khanate was annexed to Russia under the name of Ferghana. FER'GTJS. A town of Wellington County, Ontario, Can., on Grand River, 10 miles north of Guelph. It has manufacturing industries, and is a railway junction of branch lines of the Cana- dian Pacific and the Grand Trunk railways. Pop- ulation, in 1891, 1598: in 1901, 1396. FERGUS FALLS. A city and the county- seat of Otter Tail County, Minn., 187 miles north- west of Minneapolis, on the Red River, and on the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific railroads (Map: Minnesota, B 4). It is in the 'park' region of the State, the centre of a pro- ductive agricultural and lumbering section, and has abundant water-power. The manufactures include flour, woolen goods, wagons, sleighs, undertakers' supplies, foundry and machine-shop products, sash and doors, brooms, beer, etc. There is a public library. A State hospital for the insane and the Park Region Lutheran and Northwestern colleges are situated here. Fergus Falls, chartered as a city in 18G3, is governed under the charter of that date, which provides for a mayor, annually elected, and a city council. The electric-light plant is owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890 3772; in 1900. 6072. FER'GUSON, Adam (1723-1816). A Scottish philosopher and historian. He was born at Logierait, Perthshire, where his father was parish minister; studied at the universities of Saint Andrew- and Edinburgh, and in 174.") was appointed ohaplain to the tony second Regiment, in wlu.h capacity he was present in the battle oi l-ontcnoy, and i-. ■.aid to have charged the enemy sword in band, at ig the foremosl of the regi- ment. In 1757 he succeeded David Hume keeper of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. The same year he took a greal interest in the success of the tragedy of Douglas, written by hi: in. 'id John Eome, and wrote in its defense The Morality of Stagi Plays (1757), which brought him into considerable notice. He was appointed professor in Edinburgh Qniversity first of natu- ral philosophy, in 1759, and subsequently (17 of moral philosophy. Tic year alter he pub- lished his Essay on tin Eistory oj Civil Society, He then devoted some time to collecting mate rial for a Roman history, hut hi- work was inter- rupted by travel on the Continent with the young Karl of Chesterfield in 1774-76, and in 1778 by his duties as secretary to the commission sent out by Lord North to try to arrange the disputes be- tween the North American Colonics and England. In 178.'! appeared his chief work, Th< History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic (3 vols.). It is a carefully written narrative of the history of the Roman people during five hundred years. Two years later ill health forced Ferguson to give up his professor- ship, and ' in 1792 he published his academic lectures under the title of Principles of Moral and Political Science. His Institutes of Moral Philosophy (1772) has been used as a text-book in several foreign universities. Consult the biographical sketch by John Small (1864). FERGUSON, James (1710-70). A Scottish astronomer, born near Keith, a village in Banff- shire. Of humble origin, be enjoyed only three months of instruction at school, and his subse- quent acquirements were the result of his own ardent desire for knowledge. After being em- ployed in keeping sheep and drawing, he sup- ported himself and his parents by making por- traits, first in Edinburgh, and afterwards (1743) in London, his leisure time being devoted to astronomical pursuits. In 174S he began to de- liver popular lectures on astronomy and me- chanics with considerable success, a feature of bis lectures being the remarkable apparatus of his own construction, which he used for purposes of illustration. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1763, and received from George III. a pension of £50. He now gave up portrait- painting and devoted himself to lecturing and writing on his favorite scientific subjects. Few men in Europe did more to promote a knowledge of the results of science among those who did not have the advantage of regular scientific train- ing. His principal works arc: Astronomy Ex- /,lninr<l Upon 8ir Isaac Newton's Principles (1756; Sir David Brewster's ed., 2 vols., 1811) ; Lectures on Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, ami Optics (1760), also edited by Sir David Brewster in 1805; and S< U, t Mechanical E.rcr- cises, with an autobiography (1773). Consult Henderson, Life of James Ferguson, F.R.S. (Lon- don, 1867). FERGUSON, James (1797-1867). An Ameri- can astronomer and civil engineer. He was born in Perthshire. Scotland, but in 1S00 was brought by his father to New York. He was engaged, as