Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/162

154 FERRARI FERRET more recent works include Filosofia delta rivo- luzione (1851) ; Histoire des revolutions cPIta- lie (4 vols., Paris, 1856-'8) ; and Corso di lezioni sugli scrittori politici italiani (1862-'3). FERRARI, Lnigi, an Italian sculptor, born in Venice in 1810. He studied under his father Bartolorameo, an eminent artist, and was early employed in connection with Can ova's monu- ment to Titian. In 1827 he exhibited his first work, a statuette of the Virgin ; and since 1851 he has been professor of statuary at the acad- emy of fine arts in Venice. Among his prin- cipal works are "Laocoon," in the museum of Brescia; two figures representing a " Nymph collecting Lotus " and " Melancholy ;" and marble statues of King David, of the Madonna della Ooncezione, of Marco Polo, and of St. Justus, in Trieste. He has executed many funeral monuments, and busts and statues of angels, nymphs, and children. FERRE, Theopliile Charles, a French commu- nist, born about 1845, executed at Satory, near Paris, Nov. 28, 1871. He was a merchant's clerk, and was early implicated in revolutionary movements. During the insurrection of March, 1871, he favored the assassination of Gens. Le- comte and Clement-Thomas, and became a member of the commune and of the commission of public safety, adjunct procurator general, and prefect of police. On May 27 he presided over a massacre of hostages, after having re- leased and armed the inmates of the peniten- tiary and converted them into executioners. One of the most ferocious terrorists, he set fire to the prefecture of police, and ordered the burning of the ministry of finance. Previous to his execution, he wrote to his sister that he died as he had lived, a materialist. FERREIRA, Antonio, a Portuguese poet, born in Lisbon in 1528, died there of the plague in 1569. He was a contemporary of Camoens, and perfected the elegiac and epistolary style already introduced with success by Sa de Mi- randa. He enriched Portuguese poetry with the epithalamium, the epigram, ode, and tra- gedy, and the influence which he exerted in kindling a love for classical scholarship caused him to be called the Horace of Portugal. His Poemas lusitanos, which are distinguished by remarkable purity of language, appeared in 1598, and his complete works in 1771. His best comedy is Comedia do cioso (the " Jealous Man "), and his masterpiece is the tragedy of Ines de Castro. An English translation of this tragedy, by Mr. Musgrave, appeared in 1825. FERRET, a carnivorous digitigrade animal, belonging to the weasel family, and the genus putorius (Cuv.). The dentition is: incisors, | ; canines, ~_ ; molars, |:f , two above and three below being false molars. Since the time of Linnaeus the ferret has been generally considered a southern or albino variety of the polecat (P. foztidus, Klein), principally from their producing offspring together; but they may more properly be considered distinct species for the following reasons : the ferret is a native of Africa and warm regions, and only exists in Europe in a domesticated state, being very sensitive to cold, and requiring the pro- tection of man ; its size is smaller, its shape more slender, and its snout sharper than in the polecat ; and its habits, though quite as san- guinary, do not enable it to live wild in the woods. The length of the ferret (P. furo, Linn.) is from 12 to 14 in. from nose to base of tail, the latter being about 5 in. long. It is an error to suppose that the ferret is always white, with pink eyes, as such individuals are only albino varieties, such as occur in many other animals ; the general color is an irregular mix- ture of yellow and black, the fur being long and fine, with an undergrowth of cinereous woolly hair ; the yellowest animals are most subject to albinism. Both sexes are alike in color, but the male is the larger, being about 3 in. high at the shoulder and 4 in. at the sa- crum. Though ranked as a domesticated ani- mal, and employed by man to hunt rabbits and rats, it is far from docile or gentle, and never seems to have any affection for those who feed Ferret (Putorius furo). and take care of it. According to Strabo, it was introduced from northern Africa into Spain, whence it has spread over Europe. In its nat- ural condition it has the habits of the polecat and weasels, sucking the blood of small quad- rupeds and birds, and devouring eggs ; itisnoc-' turnal, sleeping nearly all day ; in captivity it is fed on bread and milk and raw meat. It pro- duces young twice a year, and from five to eight at a time ; gestation is about six weeks, and the young are said by F. Cuvier to be born hair- less and with closed eyes, and to be frequently devoured by the mother. Its natural enmity to the rabbit has been taken advantage of by man, who trains it to enter the burrows of these animals, and to drive them out into nets spread over the entrance ; the ferret is muzzled to prevent its killing the rabbits, otherwise it is believed it would suck their blood, and go to sleep in the burrow. It will also soon rid a house of rats and mice. For these reasons the ferret is cared for by man, without whose aid it would not survive in Europe ; it is carefully bred in