time when he must break his fast or die. Recent investigation
suggests that death will be due to acid poisoning, and it is stated that
the administration of what are called “buffer salts,” for example the
acid phosphate of sodium, is instrumental in postponing the fatal
issue. In any case the end is apt to occur suddenly, the patient
becoming collapsed without warning. If the fast is broken with a
little fruit juice and then milk given for a day or two no untoward
results seem to follow. Indeed, many people derive benefit and
practise occasional fasting for a short period as a therapeutic measure.
The Allan treatment of diabetes is an instance in point. There are
many cases on record of men walking considerable distances on the
40th day of a fast, and shorter fasts have been fairly common. It
need scarcely be added that water is taken throughout the period of
abstinence in all instances. (R. M. Wi.)
FAWCETT, MILLICENT GARRETT (1847-), British writer and political worker, was born at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, June 11 1847, the seventh child of Mr. Newson Garrett. In 1867 she married the economist Henry Fawcett, subsequently Postmaster-General (see 10.215), and during her husband's life was closely associated with him in all his work, his blindness making him in many ways extremely dependent upon her. She herself produced various works on economics, including Political Economy for Beginners (1870), Tales in Political Economy (1875), and, with her husband, a volume of Essays and Lectures (1872). Mrs. Fawcett had for many years been interested in the higher education of women and in their economic and political future, and was one of the early workers for women's suffrage, becoming more prominent in the cause after her husband's death (1884). By about 1870 various small societies had grown up with the purpose of advancing the cause of women's suffrage, and in 1896 these were amalgamated under the name of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, Mrs. Fawcett in 1907 becoming the president of this movement. The body was for some years the only important suffrage society, and most of the pioneers of the movement belonged to it; but in 1906 the Women's Social and Political Union was formed, pledged to work by militant, as opposed to constitutional methods. Mrs. Fawcett was strongly opposed to the tactics of the militant suffragists, and expressly dissociated the N.U.W.S.S. from any sympathy with such methods. The constitutional methods adopted by the body of which she was president included an alliance formed with the Labour party (1912) by which the society agreed to support Labour candidates in preference to Liberal when the latter proved unsatisfactory on the suffrage question. Mrs. Fawcett in 1912 produced her work Women's Suffrage, and her other books include Lives of Queen Victoria (1895) and Sir William Molesworth (1901), and Five Famous French Women (1906).
Mrs. Fawcett's only child, Miss Philippa Garrett Fawcett, had a distinguished career at Newnham College, Cambridge, where in 1890 she was bracketed equal to senior wrangler. She became in 1905 principal assistant in the Education Officer's department of the L.C.C.
FAYOLLE, MARIE-EMILE (1852-), French marshal, was born at Puy (Haute Loire) May 14 1852. He entered the École Polytechnique in 1873, and on leaving in 1875 was posted to the 16th Regt. of artillery. As a subaltern he saw service in Tunis. He was promoted captain in 1882. In 1889 he passed through the École de Guerre, to which, in Nov. 1889, he returned as assistant to Col. Ruffey, who was then artillery lecturer. At this time Foch was lecturer in tactics, and Maud'huy and Pétain joint lecturers in infantry. In 1900 Fayolle succeeded Ruffey as artillery lecturer and held the appointment for seven years. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1902 and colonel five years later. In Nov. 1908 he took over command of a regiment of artillery, and in 1910 he was made a general of brigade; but as on May 14 1914 he had passed the age limit and had not received further promotion he was placed on the retired list. On the outbreak of the World War he was recalled and given command first of a reserve brigade and then of the 70th (Reserve) Division. This division took part in the abortive Lorraine offensive of Aug. 1914. It distinguished itself in the defence of Nancy and was made the subject of a special order of the day by de Castelnau. In Oct. 1914 the division again received special notice—this time for the part it played in the fighting on the line Gavrelle-Bailleul. On Oct. 11 Fayolle was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour. In June 1915 the division was again made the subject of a special army order by Gen. d'Urbal who commanded the X. Army. On May 13 1915 Gen. Fayolle had been, contrary to the custom in the case of retired officers and in face of considerable opposition, promoted a temporary general of division. In June of the same year he succeeded Gen. Pétain in the command of the XXXIII. Corps. On Feb. 26 1916 he was promoted to the command of the VI. Army, and on March 25 following was confirmed in his rank as general of division. In command of the VI. Army, he carried out the French portion of the Somme offensive (July 1916-Nov. 1916). On Oct. 8 1916 Fayolle was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. In May 1917 he again succeeded Pétain, this time in the command of the centre group of armies. In Nov. he went to the Italian theatre in command of the French forces that were sent thither after the disaster of Caporetto. He returned in Feb. 1918 and took an important part in repelling the German offensives of March-June 1918, and in the Allied counter-offensive from July 18 onwards as commander of the northern group of armies. On July 10 he was given the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. Somewhat tardily he was, in Oct. 1919, awarded the Médaille Militaire. But not long afterwards he was, with Lyautey and Franchet d'Espérey, given the highest grade of all, that of Marshal of France.
FAZY, HENRI (1842-1920), Swiss statesman and historian, was a member of a family which at the date of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) came from Dauphiné to Geneva to seek protection for religious reasons. Its most prominent member was his great-uncle, the Radical statesman, James Fazy (see 11.591), whose biography (1887) was written by him. He was born at Berne on Jan. 31 1842. He studied at Geneva for his doctorate in philosophy and law, became a member of the Genevese cantonal parliament in 1868, and was member of the cantonal executive from 1897 till his death. He was a Radical in politics, but of a more moderate type than his great-uncle, and founded a Radical “group,” opposed to the more extreme section. Carteret, the successor of James Fazy as leader of the latter, died in 1889, and henceforward Henri Fazy played a more and more prominent part in Radical Genevese politics. As a member of the cantonal executive he had charge of the Department of Finances, and was much criticised by Gustave Ador, the leader of the Democrats or Whigs. In 1880 his proposal to separate Church and State in Geneva was rejected by the people, but was finally accepted by them in 1907. He was a member of the Swiss Conseil National from 1896 to 1899, and from 1902 onwards. After the Radical defeat of 1918 he was the only member of his party who was not turned out of office, but he became more and more conservative as time went on. In 1914, as the senior member of the Swiss Conseil National, he protested solemnly against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium.
For many years he was the archivist of Geneva, and also professor of Swiss history at the university of Geneva (1896-9 and from 1902). In the latter capacity he wrote much on Genevese history. In 1887 appeared the Life of James Fazy, in 1890 the Constitutions de Genève, in 1891 L'Alliance de 1584 entre Berne, Zurich et Genève, in 1895 Les Suisses et la Neutralité de Savoie, in 1897 La Guerre du Pays de Gex et l'Occupation genevoise, 1589-1601, in 1902 Histoire de Genève a l'Époque de l'Escalade, 1589-1601, in 1909 Genève el Charles Emmanuel and countless papers in the Proceedings of the Institut National Genevois. He died at Geneva Dec. 22 1920.
FEBVRE, ALEXANDRE FRÉDÉRIC (1835-1916), French actor (see 10.231). He retired from the Paris stage in 1893, and made a final tour of certain European capitals the following year. He died in Paris Dec. 14 1916.
FEDERAL FARM LOAN SYSTEM [United States].—The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 was adopted in the United States for the following reasons. Increasing use of costly equipment and the rising price of farm land had combined to make the problem of financing the American farmer a difficult one. His need for short-time credit, generally, had been met in various
