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professional hatters. As the surface of hair and wool is by nomeans smooth, but formed either of plates resembling the scalesof lish, or of zones placed over each other, as we find in the struc-ture of horns, it follows that hair or wool, when promiscuously en-tangled, cannot he easily disengaged, on account of its roughsides, which may be readily perceived, by drawing a hair betweenthe lingers against the root-end. Thus, each inequality of surfaceaccommodates itself to that of another hair, and forms at length anatural texture. Felt is made either Of wool alone, wr of a mix-ture of that article with camel’s or other hair, and is used princi-pally in the manufacturing of hats.

FKLl'Rl, a town of Austria , capita! of the Feltrin, 38 milesN.of Padua . Lon. 11. 5a. L. I,at. 46 3. N.

FELilllA, in ancient geography, a town on the borders ofRhaitia towards Italy ; now called Feltri.

FF.LTRIN, or FELTR1NO, a mountainous district of Ma-ritime Austria, in the Trevisan, at the foot of the Alps, 28 mileslong and 10 broad.

FELLCCAS, \fdcu, Fr. felkon, Arab .] -small open boatswith s.x oars; they are common in the Mediterranean, and havethis peculiarity, that the helm may be applied either in the head orstern, ns occasion requires.

FEMEKEN, or FF.MERN, a fertile island of Denmark , inthe Baltic, three miles from the coast of Holstein; c. ntainingthe town of Burg, and several villages. Lon. 11.5. E. l.at.54.30.N.

FEMtNEUlS FLOS, a female flower. Linnteus thus deno-minates a flower which is furnished with the pistillum, or femaleorgan of generation, but wants the stamina or male organ. Fe-male tiotvers may he produced anart. from the male, either on thesame root, or on distinct plants. The birch and mulberry areexamples of the first case ; willow and poplar of the second. " SeeBotany .

^ FEMININE, in grammar, one of the genders of nouns. SeeGender. The feminine gentler is that which denotes the nounor name to belong to a female.

I 1 EMME COVER FE, in law, a married woman. See Cover-ture.

['emme Sole, an unmarried woman, whose debts, contractedbefore marriage, become those of her husband after it. A femmesole merchant, is where a woman, in London , uses a trade alone,without her liuTand, on which account she shall be charged with-out bun. °

i a small island of Denmark between Zealand and La-

land Lon. 11 . 32. E. Lat. 35. 1. N.

or-bie thigh bone. See Anatomy.the thigh. See Anatomy.

" kN, a plAce overflowed with water, or abounding with bogs;the term is also applied to such boggy lands as arc naturally dis-posed to produce coarse vegetables from the retention of water.In many parts of the kingdom since the introduction of a laudablespirit of improvement in agriculture, much valuable land has beenredeemed both in England and Ireland from bogs and fens. Se-'eralstatutes have been made for the draining of fens, chietly inwent, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Lincolnshire ; and byt* 1 . ? C y 9 , Geo - commissioners shall be appointed for the effecU; d draining and preserving of the fens in the isle of Ely, whoare authorised to make drains, dams, and proper works thereon;j.na they may charge the landholders therein witli a yearly acrc-ax, and, in default of payment, sell the defender’s Ends’ Theens in Lincolnshire and el-ewhere in England, bring many advan-ces to, the inhabitants. Fowls and fi -h are very plentiful inH ’ m ' I be pikes and eels are large and easily caught, hut they‘ e . Usua '!y coarse. Ducks, mallards, and teals, are in such plentydi(i' S SC T e l ° t>,! ctmcc 'ved. They are taken by decoys in pro-,1 S 1 . 011 ’' flocks at a time, and sent to London market twice a week“uruig the season.

[LNCE, in gardening and husbandry, a wall, ditch, bank, orclif^i 110 ° Sl ! re ’ mac * (> round gardens, fields, woods, Ac. In MotS ’ w lere 'bey have no occasion for walls to ripen theirand’ le,r gardens lie open, where they can have a water fence,' tls ’ °!' <J lse they are hounded with groves, which areco«ntr' n0ri: B* e;ls ’ n g to the sight than dead walls; but, in coldfruit a'lt?’ " e | are °bbged to have walls to shelter and ripen ourthe w.i'ni' 0 " ij9‘y la ke away much from the pleasant prospeet offruit'-' .! e !\ “fick walls are accounted the best and warmest for

voi 1* taese being built pannelwise, with pillars at equal tlis-— no. 82. ■

tanres, save a great deal of expence, as they can he built thinnerthan if they were made plain without the punnels; and, besides,these pannels, make the walls look the handsomer. Stone walls,however, on account of their durability, are to be preferred tobrick, especially those of square hewn stones. Those that aiemade of rough slones, though they are very dry and warm, yet,by their unevenness, are inconvenient to nail up trees to, uulesspieces of timber be laid in them here and there for that purpose.But, in large gardens, it is better to have the prospect open to.the pleasure garden; which should be surrounded with a fosse,that from the garden the adjacent country may be viewed.Where the fosses are made round a garden situated in a park, theyare extremely proper ; because heieby the prospect of the parkwill be obtained in the garden, which renders those gardens muchnif.re agreeable than tiiose that are confined. In places wherethere are no good, prospects to he obtained from a garden, it iscommon to make the inclosure of park-paling ; which, if wellperformed, will last many years, and has a much better appear-ance than a wall: and this pale may be hid from the sight within,by plantations of shrubs and evergreens ; or there may he a quickhedge planted within the pale, which may be trained up, so as tohe an excellent fence by the time the pales begin to decay.Fences round parks are generally of paling; which, if well madeof winter fallen oak, will last many years. But a principal thingto he observed, is not to make them too heavy, else their ownweight will cause them to decay : therefore the pales should becleit thin ; and the rails should be cut triangular, to prevent thewet lodging upon them; and the posts should be good, and notplaced too far asunder. One of these pales will thus last upwardsof forty years. Dr. Anderson, in his “ Essays on Agriculture,Ac.” observes, that, “The fences that are most universally em-ployed, are either stone dikes or hedges. Dikes, if well built, aseffectually preserve a field from the intrusion of domestic animals,as any other kind of fence whatever; but they afford little warmthor shelter to the fields : whereas hedges, if good, answer both thesepurposes equally well. But the most material distinction betweendikes and hedges is, that dikes are in their highest degree of per*feelion as soon as they are reared, and from that moment begin totend towards decay ; so that the person who builds this kind offence immediately receives the full benefit thereof: whereasl'.edges, being at first weak and tender, stand in need of attentionand care, and do not become a fence for several years after theyare planted ; and, as they continue to increase in strength, andgradually acquire a higher and higher degree of perfection, it islong before they begin to fall towards decay ; so that ttjey are, ingeneral, infinitely more durable than dikes, although they arelonger in becoming of use to the person who plants them. Which *of these two kinds of fences may, upon the whole, be most eligi-ble, must, in general, be determined by the circumstances andviews of the pu-sessor of the ground to he inclosed. Variouskinds of plants have been recommended for constructing the com-mon tenet s, of which we shall point out the principal : 1. TheWhite-Thorn is the most proper for fences, as it grows quickly, isvery durable, and makes a very handsome appearance. It thriveson anv soil, where a ditch and a new bank are prepared for its re-,ception, unless the soil consist entirely of sand or gravel: it willnevertheless grow even in such situations, it the planting be suc-ceeded .by heavy rains. 2. Black-Thorn is another excellentshrub for a fence: it is, however, much inferior to the w hite-thorn, as its grow th is not so certain; and, where it thrives, itsroots spread, and are apt to run in too much upon tiie land. Fordead hedges and mending open places, the bushes of this plantare superior even to the white-thorn ; they are likewise less liableto be cropped by cattle. 3. The Holly, which is indeed preferableto either of the plants above-mentioned ; for, though its growth is ■slower, and more uncertain, yet where it succeeds, it amply com-pensates for the delay and expence incurred, by its thickness,height, and strength.” The best mode of making a fence withthese trees is, to plant them with the quick or white-thorn, in theproportion of one of the former to four of the latter. Both willflourish ; and, as the hollies increase in size, the white-thorns mayhe pulled up : so that when the trees have attained their fullgrowth, they will require the whole of the space occupied by thethorns, and will make a most durable fence. If any vacanciesshould intervene, they may be easily dosed, by bending down,and covering the lower braneaes with earth; thus, they will shoot5 M. forth