FEVER-FEVERFEW. the paroxysms and of the intervals, the complete intermission, or more partial remission, of symptoms, become in such cases the characteristic facts that mark the type, as it is called, of the fever, which is accordingly distinguished as intermittent, remittent, or continued; and, according to the length of the periods, Tertian, Quartan, Quotidian, &c. (q. v.). fever. The other symptoms are loss of appetite, malaria, i. e., emanations from the soil, educed thirst, restlessness, and vague general uneasiness, under the influence of solar heat. The duration of often headache, and diffused pains in the back and limbs; a frequent pulse, which is sometimes also full and hard; a furred tongue, often with red margin; a flushed face and suffused eyes; vitiated secretions, and general derangement of the functions, with great debility of the voluntary movements of the limbs. The disease often commences with a shivering, or rigor, as it is technically called; this leads through the cold stage to the hot, which usually follows pretty rapidly, and is attended by all the febrile phenomena in their highest degree; the skin being often very pungently warm to the hand, dry, and harsh; by and by, the pores appear to open, moisture begins to bedew the surface, and the pungent heat disappears: the disease is then about to pass into its third or sweating stage, which ushers in the convalescence. For the special symptoms of particular fevers, see TYPHUS and TYPHOID FEVERS, SMALL-POX, SCARLET FEVER, MEASLES, AGUE, INTERMITTENT and REMITTENT FEVER, YELLOW FEVER. Besides being thus the leading fact in a number of specific diseases, fever is also associated with many other forms of disease as a secondary or subordinate phenomenon, connected with an inflammation or other distinctly local disease. Thus, in Pneumonia (q. v.) or Enteritis (q. v.), fever is as much a part of the symptoms as pain or any other; and even in some chronic or long-standing diseases, as in Consumption (q. v.), a slow and consuming type of fever (see HECTIC FEVER) is found to be very generally present. Indeed, there is no condition which rules so large a part of the physician's duty, whether in the way of distinguishing diseases or of curing them, as this constitutional state. Fever is also very generally prevalent after surgical operations and injuries, of which it constitutes one of the leading dangers; and in midwifery practice, it is well known as constituting a large part of the risks of the puerperal state, whether in the slighter form commonly called a weed, or in the more dreaded and fatal, often epidemic, form of Puerperal Fever (q. v.). The family of fevers is thus separated pretty naturally into two large groups, in one of which the fever is the greatly predominating fact, and determines the specific character of the disease: the local disease (if present) being quite subordinate, and usually secondary in point of time; the other, where the opposite order prevails, and the fever is obviously secondary. Hence the distinction embodied in medical language between idiopathic (i. e., self-originating, spontaneous) and symptomatic or secondary fevers. Fevers are also distinguished, with reference to their mode of diffusion, as Epidemic (q. v.) and Endemic (q. v.); or with reference to their supposed cause, as contagious, infectious, malarious, pneumonic, rheumatic, &c.; or with reference to their incidental symptoms and their peculiarities of course and termination (the presumed specific phenomena attracting, of course, particular attention), as eruptive (see EXANTHEMATA) or noneruptive, bilious, gastric, enteric, mucous, putrid, malignant, typhoid, &c. Among these distinctions, based upon the course of the fever, one demands particular notice, as involving an important law of febrile diseases generally, and of a large class of fevers of warm climates in particular. Periodic increase and diminution, or paroxysms of longer or shorter duration, with intervals of more or less perfect relief from all the symptoms, are characteristic of most diseases of this kind, but especially of those arising from The true pathology, or ultimate essence of the febrile state, is still a subject open to question; but it is in accordance with modern physiology to regard fever as connected with some complex derangement of the functions on which the animal heat is known to depend-viz., the nutrition of the textures, or the vital changes constantly in operation between the blood, on the one hand, and the ultimate atoms of solid texture, on the other. Recent observations have shewn that, in the paroxysm of ague, the waste of the nitrogenous tissues is in excess; and further, the curious result appears to be arrived at, that for almost every grain of excretion representing this excess of waste in a given time, there is a propor tional increase of the temperature of the blood, according to accurate thermometric observations. If such observations are corroborated and extended, it will probably appear that the cause of fever is to be found in an increased destructive decomposition of the atoms of texture through the oxygen absorbed at the lungs and circulated with the blood; perhaps under the influence of a derangement of nervous system; which has been shewn by experiment to have a very marked control over the generation of animal heat. The treatment of fever will be considered under the separate forms already referred to. FE'VERFEW (Pyrethrum parthenium or Matricaria parthenium), a perennial plant, found in waste places and near hedges in Britain and many parts of Europe. It is botanically allied to Chamomile (q. v.), and still more nearly to Wild Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), and much resembles these plants in its FEVERWORT-FIARS. a popular remedy in ague, and from time immemorial has been used as an emmenagogue. It is employed in infusion, and is stimulant and tonic. A double variety is not uncommon in gardens. Of the same genus with F. is the MAYWEED (P. inodorum or M. inodora), with leaves more resembling those of chamomile, but almost scentless, and large flowers, with white ray and yellow disc, very common in cornfields and waste places in Britain and throughout Europe. FE'VERWORT (Triosteum perfoliatum), a perennial plant of the natural order Caprifoliaceae, having an erect, round, hairy, fistular stem, from one to four feet high, opposite ovato-lanceolate entire leaves, axillary whorls of flowers, with tubular 5-lobed corolla, and leathery 3-seeded berries. It is a native of North America, where its dried and roasted berries have been occasionally used as a substitute for coffee; but it is chiefly valued for its medicinal properties, its roots acting as an emetic and mild cathartic. It is sometimes called Tinkar's Root, from Dr Tinkar, who first brought it into notice. FEZ (Ar. Fas), the chief and most northerly province of the empire of Marocco, occupies the country between the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean. Its population is estimated at about 3,200,000, consisting of Berbers, Moors, Arabs, Negroes, Jews, and a few Europeans. The province is divided into fifteen districts.-FEZ, the capital of the province, in lat. 34° 6' N., and long. about 5° 0 W., was founded by Muley Edris II., in the year 808 A.D., and was reckoned during the middle ages-when it was the capital of the kingdom of Marocco-one of the most magnificent and largest cities in the Mohammedan world. It is said to have contained about 90,000 dwelling-houses, and about 700 mosques, and was celebrated for its splendid public buildings, schools, and scientific institutions. On the removal of the court to Marocco, about the middle of the 16th c., F. gradually fell into decay. It is still, however, a place of considerable importance. The situation of F. is singular; it lies in a valley, formed by surrounding hills into a sort of funnel, the higher parts of which are covered with trees, orange groves, and orchards. It is divided into Old and New F. by one of the upper branches of the Sebu, and has a population variously estimated at from 20,000 to nearly 90,000 souls. There are 100 mosques, of which the most important is that built by the Sultan Muley Edris, which contains his monument, and is an inviolable refuge for criminals, however guilty. On account of its numerous mosques and relics, it is regarded as the Holy City of the western Arabs. It has seven well-attended schools. The old palace of the sultan is large, but is now falling into decay. In other respects, the external aspect of F., with its numerous baths, caravanseras (of which there are about 200), and bazaars, resembles that of Mohammedan towns in general; the multitude of hotels and shops alone imparting to it a peculiar and more European character. A consider able trade is still carried on, by means of caravans, with the adjoining countries on the south and east, extending as far as Timbuktu. F. carries on manufactures of woollens, sashes, silk-stuffs, girdles, slippers, fine carpets, &c. Its artisans are also skilful workers in gold and jewellery. FEZZA'N (more correctly, FESSÂN), an extensive oasis in the north of Africa, in 24°-31° N. lat., and 12-18° E. long. It lies south of the regency of Tripoli, and has a population variously estimated at from 75,000 to 150,000 souls. The north is for the most part hills, but the hills are composed of perfectly bare, black quartz sandstone, with no The rivers or brooks among them, and the south is mainly a level waste of dry sand. Not more than a tenth of the soil is cultivable. In the neighbourhood of the villages, which are situated mainly in the wadies, wheat, barley, &c., are cultivated. Camels and horses are reared in considerable numbers. Lions, leopards, hyænas, jackals, wild-cats, porcupines, vultures, ostriches, buzzards, &c., are found in abundance. The inhabitants are a mixed race, of a brown colour, in many respects resembling the negroes, but are generally well formed. original inhabitants belonged to the Berber family, but since the invasion of the country by the Arabs in the 15th c., the traces of this native North African element have gradually become very faint. The language spoken is a corrupt mixture of Berber and Arabic. The people are far behind in civilisation, and occupy themselves with gardening and the manufacture of the most indispensable necessaries of life. Considerable trade is carried on by means of caravans between the interior of Africa and the coast. F. is the Phazania of the ancients, against which the Romans, under Cornelius Balbus, undertook a campaign about 20 B. C. During the classic period, as well as in the middle ages, it was governed by its own princes who were at first independent, but afterwards became tributary to the pashas of Tripoli. In the year 1842, F. was conquered by the Turks, and since that time has remained a Turkish pashalic. Murzuk, the capital of F., is a well-built town, with broad streets and a population of 2800. Merchandise to the value of £21,000 annually changes hands here, and of that amount the slave-trade forms seven-eighths. Murzuk is now the great starting-point from the north for the interior of Negroland. Compare Barth's Travels in Central Africa (Lond. 1857), and also the descriptions given of Fezzân by Denham, Clapperton, Oudney, Richardson, Dr Vogel, &c. FIAR. See FEE AND LIFERENT. FIARS (a word said by Jamieson to be of Gothic origin, and to exist in the same form in Icelandic). The fiars prices in Scotland are the prices of the different kinds of grain of the growth of each county for the preceding crop, as fixed by the sentence of the sheriff, proceeding on the report of a jury summoned for the purpose, before whom the evidence of farmers and ascertained serve as a rule for ascertaining the corn-dealers is produced. The values thus officially prices of grain in all contracts where they are not fixed by the parties; and in many sales it is agreed to accept the rates fixed by the fiars. Ministers' stipends, in so far as they consist of prices of the county for each year. With a view to grain, and crown dues, are also paid by the fiars the latter, fiars, in former times, were struck in exchequer. An error in striking the fiars will not afford a ground of suspension. The form of procedure in 'striking the fiars,' as it is called, is regulated by Act of Sederunt, 21st Dec. 1723, renewed 29th February 1728. The time fixed by this act for summoning the jury is between the 4th and 20th of February, and the verdict must be returned before 1st March, old style; which is generally considered too early, as before that time not much grain of the previous crop has been brought into the market. Mr Barclay, sheriff-substitute of Perthshire, in his Digest, gives the following account of this difficult and delicate process as practised in his county. In Perthshire, the fiars court is held on the last Friday of February, or the first Friday of March. The jury consists of eight heritors, a few farmers, and some neutral parties, especially one or two able to check the calculations. FIASCO-FIBRE. An experienced accountant is sworn, and acts as such, but is not on the jury, and is paid a fee from the county rates. The list of the jury is shifted every alternate year, thereby giving sufficient release from duty, and yet securing persons skilled in the practice. Some years ago, it was arranged to take no juror who either paid or received rents according to the fiars; but this greatly limited the choice, and was complained of, and abandoned. All considerable dealers in Perthshire victual, whether resident in Perthshire or elsewhere, are uniformly summoned, and in addition, every person whose name is given in by whatever person interested.' As grain is commonly sold according to weight, one shilling being generally allowed on wheat for every additional pound-weight on every bushel; on an application by the farmers, it was agreed to determine the classification by taking a certain weight as the point of division. The first thing which the jury do is consequently to determine the point of weight. The witnesses are then sworn to the schedules, which they receive after harvest, and in which they insert every separate quantity of grain sold, with the dates and prices divided into first and second classes, according as the judgment of each witness dictates, and the weight of each parcel. The results of the separate schedules are inserted by the accountant in a general schedule, which is summed up by the accountant, such members of the jury as are capable assisting him. The result constitutes the fiars prices for the year. The same mode is not adopted in England; but weekly averages of all grain sold at public markets are ascertained and published in the Gazette, and this is without respect to the produce of particular counties. 9 Geo. IV. c. 60; 5 and 6 Vict. c. 14; 9 and 10 Vict. c. 22. See Historical Account of the Striking of the Fiars in Scotland, by George Paterson, Esq., Advocate, 1852. FIA'SCO, a term borrowed from the Italian theatre, and now naturalised in France and Germany, besides being occasionally used by English writers. It signifies a failure to please on the part of an actor or singer, and is thus the opposite of furore, although why the word, which simply means a bottle, should come to be thus applied, is more than anybody knows. In Italy, it is not uncommon to hear an audience cry out, Olà, olà, fiasco,' even when the singer has only made a single false note. FI'AT, in English Law, a short order or warrant of some judge for making out or allowing certain processes. FIBER. See MUSQUASH. FIBRE (Lat. fibra), a term of very common use as applied to objects of a stringy or thread-like character, whether of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. Minerals are often described as of a fibrous structure or appearance, in which there is, however, no possibility of detaching the apparent fibres from the general mass, or in which they are inflexible and brittle if detached: but a more perfect example of mineral fibre is found in Amianthus, a variety of ASBESTUS (q. v.). For the scientific use of fibre with regard to the animal kingdom, we refer to the article MUSCLE; for its scientific use with regard to the vegetable kingdom, to VEGETABLE TISSUE and to WOOD AND WOODY FIBRE. In its more popular, but perfectly accurate use, it includes the hair or wool of quadrupeds, the silken threads of the cocoons of silk-worms and other insects, the fibres of the leaves and of the inner bark of plants, and the elongated cells or hairs connected with the seeds of plants, the ordinary materials of cordage and of textile fabrics. Of mineral substances, amianthus alone has been used for textile fabrics, and that only to a very limited extent. Animal and vegetable fibres have, from the earliest ages, supplied man with cordage and with cloth. How the invention took place, can only be matter of conjecture. The animal fibres used for textile purposes are chiefly of the two classes already mentioned-(1) the wool or hair of quadrupeds, and (2) the silk of the cocoons of insects. To these may be added (3) the Byssus (q. v.) of molluscs, but this class contains only the Byssus of the PINNA (q. v.) of the Mediterranean, an article of ancient and high reputation, but more of curiosity than of use. The skins and intestines of animals, although sometimes twisted or plaited for various uses, can scarcely be reckoned among the fibrous materials afforded by the animal kingdom. For information regarding the fibres obtained from the cocoons of insects, see SILK and SILKWORM. It is to the first class that the greater number of different kinds of animal fibre used for textile purposes belong; and the wool of the sheep far exceeds all the rest in importance. See SHEEP and WOOL. But the wool or hair of other quadrupeds is also to some extent used, as of the Goat (see GOAT and ANGORA), the Alpaca (q. v.), the Camel (q. v.), the Bison (q. v.), the Musk Ox (q. v.), the Yak (q. v.), and the Chinchilla (q. v.); all of which, except the last-and it has but a doubtful claim to be mentioned-are, like the sheep, ruminants. The hair of comparatively few animals is sufficiently long for textile purposes, or can be procured in sufficient abundance to make it of economic importance. The warmth of clothing depends much on the fineness of the hair, and on other characters in which wool particularly excels. The useful vegetable fibres are far more numerous and various than the animal. They are obtained from plants of natural orders very different from each other; none of them, however, belonging to the class of acrogenous or cryptogamous plants. They are obtained also from different parts of plants. Those which are derived from exogenous plants are either the fibres of the inner bark (or BAst, q. v.), as flax, hemp, &c., or hairs of the fruit, as cotton. The useful fibres of endogenous plants sometimes also belong to the fruit, as coir or cocoa-nut fibre, and the unimportant fibre of cotton-grass. The spathe of some of the palms is sometimes also sufficiently fibrous and strong to be used for bags, &c., without separation of its fibres; the fibres of the interior of the stem of old cocoa-nut palms are sometimes used for coarse purposes; the fibrous character of the stems of the slender palms called rattans, of bulrushes, &c., fits them for wicker-work, for plaiting into chair-bottoms, and the like; the roots of the Agaves (q. v.) yield fibres useful for various purposes; but generally, the more valuable fibres obtained from endogenous plants are those of their leaves, either of the leaf-stalks-as Piassaba fibre and Gomuto or Ejoo fibre, both produced by palms —or of the blade of the leaf, as Pine-apple fibre, Pita Flax, New Zealand Flax, Bowstring Hemp, &c. The fibres of the leaves of endogens being parallel to each other, are easily obtained of sufficient length for economical purposes; whilst the reticulated fibres of the leaves of exogens, even if long enough, which is comparatively seldom the case, cannot be separated for use. The bast fibres of exogens, however, are often of sufficient length, and easily separable. Their separation is generally accomplished by steeping in water, or by frequent bedewing with water, so as to cause a partial rotting of the other parts of the bast and of the bark which covers it. But the fibres of endogens being in FIBRE-FIBRINE. other species of Urtica. Species of Bohmeria, one of them yielding general discoloured and injured by this process to Nat. Ord. Urticea. Common Nettle (Urtica dioiea) and a much greater degree than those of exogens, mere mechanical means are usually preferred for their separation, such as beating, passing between rollers, and scraping. The fibres of many leaves are separated by scraping alone. The fibres of fruits, as cotton, exist in nature in a separate state, like the wool or hair of animals, and require merely to be collected and cleaned. Cannabinaceæ. HEMP (Cannabis sativa). Moraceae. The bark of some species of Fig. II. ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. NEW ZEALAND FLAX, fibre of leaves of Bowstring Hemp, fibre of leaves of species Fibre of leaves of species of Aloë and of Amaryllidea. Pita Flax, fibre of leaves of A complete enumeration of the kinds of vegetable fibre applied to economical purposes would not be easy. Flax, Hemp, and Cotton have long had the Nat. Ord. Liliacea. pre-eminence. To these have recently been added New Zealand Flax, Jute, Sunn or Sunn Hemp, Coir, Pita Flax, Abaca or Manilla Hemp, Bowstring Hemp, China Grass, Piassaba, and many others. New kinds are continually being brought under notice, and to this industrial exhibitions and industrial museums have most beneficially contributed. New kinds, however, do not immediately command the attention they deserve. 'If a new product is sent into the market,' says Dr Royle, few of the regular customers will buy it, as they want that to which their machinery and manufactures are suited.' But for the judgment and enterprise of Mr Salt, it might have been long ere alpaca wool had obtained its present place among the materials of our manufactures; and there is much reason to think that many vegetable fibres, now little regarded, may yet in like manner be exalted to importance. For the use of vegetable fibres in the manufacture of paper, see PAPER. FIBROUS PLANTS. Without attempting a complete enumeration of plants which yield fibres employed for economical purposes, we give the following as a list which may be useful. Many of the subjects will be found treated in separate articles, or more fully noticed under the natural orders. The most important are indicated by capitals. I. EXOGENOUS PLANTS. 1. Fibres of the Fruit. Nat. Ord. Malvacea. COTTON, produced by species of Gossypium. Sterculiacea. Silk-cotton, or vegetable silk, Tiliacea. JUTE (Corchorus olitorius, C. cap- tatissimum. Leguminosa.-SUNN, Jubbulpore Hemp, &c., Yercum or Mudar (species of Calotropis). Fibre of leaves of species of Fourcroya. Bromeliaceae. Pine-apple Fibre, Curratow, Piassaba, from Attalea funifera and Leopold- Cyperaceae. Fibre from leaves of Eriophorum cannabinum (see COTTON-GRASS). Mats, chair-bottoms, &c., made of different Cyperacece. Gramineæ or Grasses. Esparto (Stipa tenacissima). Moonja (Saccharum munja). FIBRINE is an organic compound, occurring both in animals and plants. In its chemical composition it closely resembles albumen and caseine, and it was until recently believed that these three substances possessed a common radical, to which the name proteine (from proteno, I am first) was given, the proteine being regarded as the primary basis of all the tissues of the body. Hence we frequently find fibrine described as one of the proteine bodies. Fibrine is mainly distinguished from the allied substances, albumen and caseine, by its separation in a solid state, in the form of extremely delicate filaments or lamellæ, from any fluid in which it is dissolved, very shortly after the abstraction of the latter from the organism. Animal fibrine, which is of the greatest physiological importance, occurs principally in the blood, the lymph, and the chyle. In order to obtain it in a state of purity, we beat or stir the blood with a bundle of twigs, to which the fibrine adheres in strings. The impure fibrine thus obtained is then rinsed with water, boiled with alcohol and ether, -to remove fatty matters-and dried. In healthy venous blood, it scarcely ever amounts to 3 in 1000 parts, its average quantity being 2.3. Small, however, as its amount is, it varies more than any other constituent of the blood, and in acute inflammatory diseases sometimes exceeds its average by five or six times. Moreover, arterial blood contains more fibrine than venous blood. In the lymph and chyle, it occurs in considerably less quantity than in the blood. In inflammatory exudations, we find fibrine in the contents of the serous cavities-as, for FIBROUS TISSUE-FICHTE. There are good physiological reasons for believing that fibrine is formed from albumen, and not directly from the food; and as fibrine contains a little more oxygen than albumen, it has been inferred that it is formed from the latter by a process of oxidation. As, however, more fibrine is found in the blood in pneumonia-when a considerable portion of the lungs is rendered impervious to air-than in almost any other disease, we are inclined to adopt the opposite hypothesis, that the augmentation of the fibrine in inflammatory blood is caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen. When oxygen is abundantly introduced into the blood, the fibrine rapidly undergoes further transformations: on the other hand, when, in consequence of impeded respiration, the quantity of oxygen conveyed to the blood is not sufficient to effect the further normal oxidation or transformation of the fibrine, we have an accumulation of that constituent in the circulating fluid. It has, however, been a disputed question, whether fibrine is produced in the elaboration or in the disintegration of the tissues. For the discussion of this subject, and of other points connected with fibrine, we must refer to Lehmann's Physiological Chemistry, vol. i. pp. 361–364. The substance forming the mass of flesh or muscular tissue was formerly regarded as identical with coagulated blood-fibrine. The two substances are, however, chemically distinct, and the muscle-fibrine will be described under its new chemical name, SYNTONINE (from sunteinein, to contract or render tense). FIBROUS TISSUE. See TISSUES. In example, of the pleura and peritoneum-and on he commenced to expound with extraordinary zeal the mucous membrane (as in croup); in these his system of transcendental idealism. F., in fact, cases, it usually occurs in a state of spontaneous preached his philosophy as if he believed its recepcoagulation. tion essential to the salvation of his hearers. 1795, he published his Wissenschaftslehre (Doctrine of Science), in which he clearly broke away from Kant, whose speculations did not seem to him sufficiently thorough, or, as Englishmen would say, idealistic. Indeed, as early as 1793, writing to Niethammer, he says: 'My conviction is, that Kant has only indicated the truth, but neither unfolded nor proved it.' An accusation of atheism, which F. fervidly but fruitlessly refuted, cost him his chair in 1799. In the previous year, he published his System der Sittenlehre (System of Ethics, Jena, 1798), considered by many to be his most mature work. He now removed to Berlin, where he delivered lectures on philosophy to a select auditory. In 1800, appeared his Ueber die Bestimmungen des Menschen (On the Destiny of Man). In 1805, he obtained the chair of Philosophy at Erlangen, with the privilege of residing at Berlin in the winter. Here he delivered his celebrated lectures, Ueber das Wesen des Gelehrten (On the Nature of the Scholar, Berlin, 1805-1806). In the same year, appeared his Grundzüge_des_gegenwärtigen Zeitalters (Characteristics of the Present Age); and in 1806, his Anweisung zum seligen Leben oder die Religionslehre (The Way to the Blessed Life, or the Doctrine of Religion). But F. was a patriot as well as a philosopher. The victories of Napoleon at Auerstadt and Jena drew forth the famous Reden an die Deutschen (Addresses to the Germans). These addresses were full of the most exalted enthusiasm. F. 'laments that his age has denied him the privilege accorded to Eschylus and Cervantes, to make good his words by manly deeds.' The Prussian king appreciated the zeal of the eloquent metaphysician, and, on the restoration of peace, requested him to draw up a new constitution for the Berlin University. 1810, the university was opened, with a host of brilliant names, F., Wolff, Müller, Humboldt, De Wette, Schleiermacher, Neander, Klaproth, and Savigny. By the votes of his colleagues, F. was unanimously elected rector. Here, as at Jena, he laboured with unremitting energy for the suppres sion of all those customs which he deemed barbarous in themselves, and incompatible with the true idea of a scholar. In 1813, the war of independence broke out, and the hospitals of the Prussian capital were soon crowded with patients. F.'s wife was one of the first who offered her services as a nurse. For five months, she tended the sick with all the patient tenderness and devotion of her nature. At last, she was seized with fever, 3d January 1814. After a fearful struggle, she recovered; but her husband caught the infection, and in spite of all remedies, sank under its influence, and died 27th January 1814. It is difficult to speak calmly of Fichte. His life stirs one like a trumpet. He com bines the penetration of a philosopher with the fire of a prophet, and the thunder of an orator; and over all his life lies the beauty of a stainless purity. See Fichte's Leben und literarischer Briefwechsel (published by I. H. Fichte, 2 vols. Sulzb. 1830-1831); and W. Smith's Memoir, published by Chapman and Hall (Lond. 1848). The fundamental notion of the idealism set forth in F.'s writings, at least in the earlier of them, is the sole reality of the Ego or L which posits both itself and the Non-ego, or Not-L (The phrase to posit,' it ought to be observed here, signifies in German metaphysics, to present to the consciousness. Hence, when it is said that the ego posits itself, the meaning is, that the ego becomes a fact of consciousness, which it can only become through the antithesis of the non-ego.) FI'CHTE, JOHANN GOTTLIEB, an illustrious German philosopher, was born at Rammeau, in Upper Lusatia, 19th May 1762. His earliest years were marked by a love of solitary musing and meditation. When a mere child, he was wont to wander forth to upland fields, that he might enjoy the pleasure of gazing into the illimitable distance. In 1775, he was placed at the gymnasium of Pforta, near Raumburg; and in 1780 he entered the university of Jena, where he devoted himself at first to theology, but afterwards to philosophy. During the years 1784 1788, he supported himself in a precarious way as tutor in various Saxon families. Subsequently, he went to Zurich in a similar capacity, where he made the acquaintance of the excellent lady who afterwards became his wife, Johanna Maria Rahn. In 1791, F. obtained a tutorship at Warsaw, in the house of a Polish nobleman. The situation, however, proved disagreeable, and was thrown up by the fastidious philosopher, who next proceeded to Königsberg, where he had an interview with Kant, of whom he had become an ardent disciple. Here he wrote, in 1792, his Kritik aller Offenbarung (Critique of all Revelation), which he shewed to that philosopher, who praised it highly, but still maintained a certain air of reserve towards the enthusiastically earnest author, which pained the latter greatly. At Königsberg, F. was reduced to such straits for want of the means of subsistence, that he was forced to ask the loan of a small sum of money from Kant, which the latter was stoical enough to refuse. Things were now at the worst with F., and of course-according to the old adage -they began to mend. He entered the delightful family of the Count of Krokow, near Danzig, as tutor; was enabled to marry; and in 1794 was appointed to the chair of Philosophy at Jena, where In |