FINSTERWALDE. 629 FIR. FINSTERWALDE, fln'stSr-val'de. A n ill town of Prussia, in the Province of Brandenburg, Bituated on an affluent of the Black Elster, 10 miles north of Dresden (Map: Prussia, E 3). There are manufactures of cloth and machinery; also iron-foundries, flour and saw mills, and spinning and weaving establishments. The town 1ms a flne old Gothic church, dating from the six- teenth century, and an old castle. Population, in 1890, 8133; in 1900, 10,726. FIONN, FINN, or FIND. See Fenian So- ciety: Fionn Maccumhail. FIONN MACCUMHAIL (i.e. 'Fionn, son of Cumhail,' pronounced Fin WacCool).
Irish
epic hero, general of thi IVin r armed band of Ireland in the third century of the Christian Era. Although, as always in ancient sagas, wo find much of myth interwoven with the story of his life and exploits, there seems no reason to doubt the basic truth of the tradition. Among his chosen companions were Goll, Diarmid, his own son Oistn (Ossian), and a wonderful dog, Bran. Unlike Cuehulain, his name is as familiarly known at g the Scotch Gael as in Ireland, al- though in Scotland it sometimes takes the form of Fionn-gall, i.e. Fionn the Stranger, indicative of an outside origin. A later bardic tradition brings down the Fenian saga to the introduction of Christianity into Ireland, and the baptism of Oisln after a sojourn of two hundred years on an enchanted island of perpetual youth. From metrical fragments of the Gaelic tradition, col- lected in the Highlands, Macpherson elaborated his celebrated Poems of Ossian. FIORAVANTI, fyo'ra-van'te, Valentino (1764-1837). An Italian composer. He was born in Rome, and was instructed by Jannaconi in Rome, and by Fenaroli, Monopoli, Sala, and Tritta in Naples. He lived, as a conductor and composer successively in Rome, Naples, Paris, and Lisbon, and eventually returned to Rome. In 1816 he sueceeded Jannaconi as maestro at Saint Peter's, and henceforth devoted himself ex- clusively to Church music. Among his besl com- positions, however, are his comic operas, of which he produced about fifty, Le cantatrici villane (1806) being considered his finest production. FIORD, or FJORD, fySrd (Norweg., Dan., bay, inlet). An inlet of the sea, or a narrow bay, indenting a mountainous coast and penetrating deeply into the interior. Fiords are bordered by steep, rocky walls, which descend without inter- ruption to considerable depths below water-level. Their origin is usually explained by subsidence of the coast, whereby the sea floods the valleys and washes directly against the mountain flanks. Glacial erosion may have been a factor in deter- mining the prominent relief of the land previous to submergence. The most notable fiords are on the coast of Norway, the longest being the Sogne Fiord, which extends inland for a distance of 100 miles, and is shut in throughout its en- tire length by high and precipitous rock walls. Hardly less prominent are the fiords of Chris- tiania and Trondhjem. The coasts of British Columbia and southern Alaska, of Iceland. Green- land, Patagonia, and of parts of New Zealand are marked by similar inlets. They are also found on the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia. Many of the lochs and firths indenting the shores of tlie British Isles possess the characteristics of fiords. See Shoke. FIORE, IV, 'm. I |. An Hub ian juris! , born at I ei lizzi, Bari. H pointed pro! E © i t al la . at 1 lie univi i M rbino I 1865), 'I nun l 1876), and and wrote the following ome of which have "in i urn l.iii.l into French and Spani -I mi nil ill tin ilia i inti rnaziqnale pi ivato i I860 I : 3 to interna ionali . (1879); and Trattato di iln itto inten FIORE D'URBINO, fyo'rfl dSSr-bS'no, li. See Bab Fi bi rigo. FIORELLI, fyo rel'U-, GlUSl PPE An Italian archaeologist, born in Naples. In 1845 he was made inspector ol the nun-, of Pom peii, but was di pi u ed becau i political opinions. U] I the King- dom of I inly, he beci ■ supei intendent ol . a- tiquities in the outhern provinces, and also pro- fessor of archaeology in the Qniversitj pies (1860). In 1875 he v. tor of al] the excavations in the country. His publications include: Osservasioni sopra talune mon'ete rare di cittd greche (1843) ; Monet e in- edite ill IV Italia antica (1845) . Voit dipinti rinvenuti n Cuma dnl conte di Si) (1853); Pompeiana/rvm Antiquitatum H (1853) : and Deserizione di Pompei < 1875). FIORENTINO, f yo ' rSn - ts ' nfi, Fbancesoo (1834-84 1. An Italian philosopher. He was born at Sambiase, Calabria, and wits educated at the University of Naples. After teaching philosophy at Spoleto, he was appointed professoT of thai science successively at the universities of Bo- logna, Naples, Pisa, and again at Naples. He was long n member of the Italian Parliament, was the editor of nn edition of Giordano Bruno's Opera I. a l inn (Mils. i. and ii.. l^Tii 84 i . and published a large number of independent works, of which ! It nn nii ili lilnsnfiii and Manuale di storia di lla filo- sofia (Naples, 1870-81 I deserve especial mention, He was Hegelian in his philosophical sympathies. FI'ORIN. See Redto]> Gbass; Bent Grass. FIORINI, fy.Vre'ne, Mattki (1827-1901). An Italian geographer, particularly distinguished as a historian of cartography. He was born al Feliz- zano (Alessandria), and he became an hydraulic engineer in 1848. He lectured at the University of Turin from 1848 until 1860, when he was ap- pointed professor of geodesy at the University of Bologna, with which institution he remained associated during the last thirty years of his life. In addition to numerous essays, he published the following works: he projezioni delle carte geo- graficJie (1881), still regarded as it standard work ; Le sfere cosmografiche e spet sfere terrestri (1894; German translation by S. Gtinther, L89 I Sfere terrestri e celesti di autori o (1800). FIR (AS. furh, led. fura, OHG. forha, Ger. Fohre; ultimately connected with Lat. q oak). The popular name applied to many conif- erous trees of the genus Abies. This name has often been employed to embrace all the evergreen coniferous trees' that I irt, rigid leaves, occurring singly, scattered over the stems, a- dis- tinguished from the pines (Pinus), whose leaves are longer and usually occur in bundles of twoto five or more, and from those conifers having small imbricate scale-like leaves, as arbor-vita and various cedars. The name fir should be re-
