Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/798

* FLAXMAN. execute a colossal statue of "Britannia" 200 feet high, to be placed on Greenwich Hill (1800). He made the monument to the Baring family in Micheldean Church, Hampshire (1811); a model fur a monument to Sir Joshua Reynolds in Westminster Abbey (1807); a monument to Lend Cornwallis for Prince of Wales Island ( 18 12 i : a monument to Sir J. Moore for Glas- gow (1813) ; a tripod executed by the goldsmiths Rundell and Bridge, and presented to John Kemble in 1817; "a realization of Homer's Shield of Achilles," which was made in silver gilt and bronze by the same artisans (1S18) ; a pedimental group in marble for the Duke of Bedford's sculpture gallery at Woburn (1820) ; a group of "Maternal Love" for the monument to Mrs. Fitzharris (1817); the great group of "Saint Michael and Satan" ( 1821 ) ; "The Pas- toral Apollo" (1824), etc. Consult: Cunningham, Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (London, 1830-33) ; Meteyard, The Life of Josiah 'Wedgwood (Lon- don. 1805-66) : and Calvin, in Stephen, Diction- ary of National Biography, vol. xix. (London, 1889). FLEA (AS. fleah, led. fid, OHG. floh, Ger. Floh; connected with OHG. fliohan, Ger. fliehen, to flee, AS. flcon, Icel. fli/ja. Goth, pliuhan). One of the small wingless insects now commonly re- garded as constituting a distinct order, Siphonap- tera, containing a single family, Pulicid.e. All the species are very similar to the common Euro- pean flea (Pulex irritans), which is plentiful in most parts of the world, and lives by sucking the blood of man and of certain quadrupeds and birds. It abounds particularly in the nests of poultry, pigeons, and swallows, and wherever dust accumulates in the chinks of floors, etc.; and it is to be found also plentifully in beds wherever cleanliness is neglected. The abundance of fleas in some hot, sandy countries is an intolerable nuisance to both travelers and residents. The female is rather larger and stronger than the male, but the sexes are otherwise very similar. The head is small, very compressed, rounded above, and has on each side a small round eye. The mouth has two lancet-like mandibles, the maxil- lae being represented by two conical scales, the mandibles and the maxillae forming a suctorial beak, with a slender, bristle-like tongue, the whole inclosed between two three-jointed plates. The thorax consists of three segments, the second and third of which bear a scale on each side, regarded as rudimentary wings. There is no marked division between the thorax and the abdomen, which consists of nine segments, much larger than those of the thorax, but much compressed. The whole body is covered with a tough integu- ment. The activity of the flea, its power of leaping, and its extraordinary strength are well known. Its strength has been sometimes applied to the drawing of miniature carriages, cannon, etc. Fleas undergo a complete metamorphosis. The female lays about a. dozen white eggs, slightly viscous. The larva is long ami Blender, at first white, afterwards reddish, and destitute of feet. It. subsists upon animal particles in dust and upon the loosened particles of skin caught among an animal's hairs. When about, to Bge into a pupa it incloses itself in a little silk cocoon, from which emerges the perfect flea. Cleanliness and careful attention are the prin- cipal means of keeping beds and houses free of 714 FLECHE. fleas; but where these are found insufficient a free use of kerosene is recommended. The com- mon flea of households in the United States is that of the cat and dog (Pulex serraticeps). The flea prevalent upon human beings in the Old World [Pulex irritans) is rarely seen in America. Squirrels, foxes, rats, and some other animals have separate species, of which in all about 100 are known, a third of which are American. Fleas have been accused of spreading disease, Grassi alleging that the cat-and-dog flea i- an intermediate host for tapeworms; and cer- tain others carry the bubonic plague. See Chigoe. FLEABANE. A common name applied in the United States to plants of the genus Erigeron (q.v. ), and in England to those of Pulicaria, which belong to the order Compositse. The whole plant emits a peculiar aromatic smell, which is said to be efficacious in driving away fleas and other insects. Two species are found in England, one of which, Pulicaria dysenterica, common in most places, has oblong leaves, a cottony stem twelve to fifteen inches high, and panicled flow- ers. It has been used in diarrhoea and dysentery. The name fleabane is applied to a species of an allied genus. Conyza squarrosa. The Persian insect-powder, or buhach, as it is sometimes called, is prepared by pulverizing the flower-heads of related plants. Chrysanthemum cinerarisefo- lium and Chrysanthemum roseum. The former species, extensively grown in California, yields more than double the amount of insect-powder produced by the second species. FLEA-BEETLE. Any of many of the smaller leaf-beetles of the family Chrysomelidae, so called on account of their activity in jumping, and characterized by the great thickening and muscu- larity of the hind femora. They were formerly grouped under the name Haltica, but are now divided into the genera Psylliodes, Dibolia, Phyllotreta, Galeruca, Diabrotica, and their allies. Many of them do vast damage to shade- trees and farm crops. See Leaf-Beetle, and the accounts of insects affecting the Melon, Grape, Turnip, etc. FLEA-LOUSE. A plant-louse of the family Psyllida 1, having "two-jointed tarsi, antennae eight or nine-jointed, and the hind legs with somewhat swollen thighs," enabling them to leap vigorously, as other plant-lice do not. Many forms make galls, others secrete honeydew; and they live upon certain trees, which they damage seriously. One species (Psylla pyricola) is a pest of pear-trees in the northwestern United States. Consult: Riley, "Notes on American Psyllida?," in Proceedings of Biological Society of Washington, vol. ii. (Washington, 1884). See Pear-Insects. FLEANCE, flS'ons. The son of Banquo, in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth instigates an attempt against his life in fear that the witches' prophecy will be fulfilled, and that he will come to I lie throne of Scotland. FLECHE, flesh, La. The capital of an arron- ilissement in the Department of Sarthe, France, situated on the right bank of the Loire, twenty- four miles south southwest of Le Mans (Map: Prance, G4). It is a well-buill town, and is cele- brated for the Prytannfi military school, with a library of 20,000 volumes, situated in an old