Fur.

being obtained from the otters which frequent the seas washing the Asiatic shores of the Russian dominions; it varies from a beautiful brown to jet-black, and is very fine, soft, and glossy. Seal fur is obtained from the seals frequenting various coasts, chiefly in the Southern ocean. Beaver fur was once much in request for the manufacture of hats; but the growing scarcity of the animal, and the substitution of silk hats for beaver hats, has lessened its importance. The fur of various other animals is similarly valued, either for its warmth or its beauty; such as that of the bear, raccoon, badger, minx, lynx, musquash or musk-rat, rabbit, hare, squirrel, and chinchilla.

For manufacturing purposes, furs are classified into felted and dressed. Felted furs, such as beaver, nutria, hare, and rabbit, are used for hats and other felted fabrics, in which the hairs or filaments are made so to interlace or entangle as to form a very strong and close plexus. The quality of the fur is better when the skin is taken from the animal in winter than in any other season, giving rise to the distinction between "seasoned" and "unseasoned "skins. The removal of the fur from the pelt is a necessary preliminary to the preparation of fur for felting purposes. In many kinds of skin, such as that of the hare, the fur is of two kinds-a close short layer of felting fur next the pelt, and longer outer hairs of unfelting fur. The removal of these two is effected separately. The long hairs are cut off by a kind of shears; and the true fur is then removed by the action of a knife, bearing some resemblance to a cheese-cutter, requiring much care in its management. In some sorts of skin, the long hairs are removed by pulling instead of shearing; in others, the greasiness of the pelt renders necessary a cleansing process before the shearing can be conducted, with the aid of soap and boiling water; and in others, both pelt and fur are so full of grease as to require many repetitions of cleansing. For beaver skins, a machine of very beautiful construction is employed in cutting the fur from the pelt. When the coarse hairs have been removed to form a stuffing for cushions, the skin is placed in a machine containing a broad keen blade equal in length to the width of the skin. This blade has a peculiar reciprocating movement given to it, producing a kind of chopping effect on any substance to which it is applied, by coming nearly in contact with another blade placed parallel with it. The skin is guided between rollers into the space between the two blades; and then the action of the upper blade crops off the fur from the pelt in a very complete manner-every particle being removed, and yet the pelt is not cut. The fur falls upon an endless apron, which carries it to a chest, or trunk, containing a blowingmachine; this machine separates the fur into three or four qualities, by blowing to the furthest distance the lightest and most valuable filaments, leaving the heavier and coarser to be deposited sooner.

Furs have their felting property sometimes increased by the process of carroting, in which the action of heat is combined with that of sulphuric acid. The chief employ ment of felted furs is described under HAT MANUFACTURE.

Dressed furs are those to which the art of the furrier is applied for making muffs, boas, and fur-trimmings to garments. The fur is not separated from the pelt for these purposes; the two are used together; and the pelt is converted into a kind of leather to fit it for being so employed. The fur-hunters always exercise great care in dyeing the skins after removing them from the animals, seeing that any putrefactive action would ruin the fur. When brought to England, the skins undergo certain cleansing processes. They are steeped and scoured in a bath of bran, alum, and salt, to remove greasiness from the pelt; and then in a bath of soap and soda, to remove oiliness from the fur. When thoroughly washed and dried, it is found that the pelt, by the action of the alum, has been converted into a kind of tawed or kid leather.

When the skins are cleansed and dried, they are made up into garments and trimmings by sewing through the pelt. The skins, however, are very irregular in shape, and often differ much in color in different parts; they require to be cut up into pieces, matched according to tint, and sewn together edge to edge. This requires much skill, especially where the furs are of a valuable sort. A fur gar ment or trimming, appearing to the eye as if it were one uniform piece, is thus generally made up of many curiously shaped pieces. The shaping for use, and the lining with silk and other materials, call for no description. The great source of furs is the Hudson's Bay territory (q.v.).

FUR AND FURRIERY (ante). Trade in furs began with the first European settlements in North America, and beaver-skins were used in New Amsterdam and elsewhere in place of gold and silver for currency. The figure of a beaver is a conspicuous figure on the escutcheon of the city of New York. The search for furs was one of the objects of the daring expeditions of the voyagers of French Canada, as the search for gold was the motive power of Spanish invasion of Mexico and South America. The famous Hudson's bay company originated in 1670, and claimed the entire country from the bay to the Pacific and from the great lakes to the Arctic ocean, except such portions as were then occupied by Frenchmen and Russians. Towards the close of the 18th c., certain Canadian merchants formed the Northwest fur company, having their headquarters at Montreal, their operations being carried on in the districts watered by rivers that flow to the Pacific. This organization soon became a formidable competitor with the Hudson's bay company. In 1821, the two companies united. The charter expired some years

Fur.

ago, and the once powerful organization is now a simple trading-company. In 1763, some merchants of New Orleans established a fur-trading post where St. Louis now stands, under the management of the brothers Chouteau. For the first half of the present century the St. Louis trade was from $200,000 to $300,000 a year. One of the most famous of early American fur-traders was John Jacob Astor, of New York, who began by trading in a small way upon his arrival in the country in 1784. By 1810–12, his trade, conducted under the name of the American fur company, was enormous. An entirely new field for American enterprise was opened by the purchase of Alaska in 1867, which secured complete control of an important seal-fishery. This field was so eagerly worked that it was found necessary to limit the taking of seals to 100,000 per year, and those only to be males, lest the animals should be altogether exterminated. The annual value of the trade in Alaska alone is about $1,500,000.

Collectors and dealers in Canada and the United States forward their furs to the seaboard, chiefly to New York, for sale there, or for consignment principally to London and Leipsic. In the latter town, spring and autumn fairs are still maintained, at which every kind of wares are sold or exchanged with dealers from Turkey, Austria, and Russia. Nijni-Novgorod is the chief fair for European Russia, though very important fairs are also held in Kasan and in Irbit, among the Ural mountains. The most important fair for eastern Siberia is held at Kiachta, on the borders of China, where an extensive exchange of furs is carried on with the Chinese. Japan has entered very little into the fur trade, though her northern shores have furnished many fine fur-seals and seaotters to the hardy navigator. Staple furs, or those used chiefly in the manufacture of hats, are those of the hare and the rabbit, collected mainly in Russia, Germany, France, and England; dressed, carroted, and cut from the skin in western Germany, France, Belgium, and England; and thence distributed to the manufacturing centers of the world; and here it may be added that the clippings and cuttings of fancy furs from the workshops of furriers are all saved, and find their way to the machinery which utilizes the waste and transforms them into hatters' furs. But of all these fur marts, that of London is the chief, for thither tends, by the laws of trade, not only much of the prod uce of Asia and Europe, but also the fine peltries of Chili and Peru, the nutria from Buenos Ayres, the fur-seal of Cape Horn and South Shetland, the hair-seal from Newfoundland, as well as the inferior peltries of Africa. To prepare fur skins in a way to endure this long transportation is a simple and easy matter. When stripped from the animal the flesh and fat are carefully removed, and the pelts hung in a cool place to dry and harden; nothing is added to protect them. Care is taken that they do not heat after packing, and that they are occasionally beaten to destroy worms. A marked exception is the case of the fur-seal, which is best preserved by liberal salting and packing in hogsheads. All other raw furs are marketed in bales.

Few kinds of animals furnish a pélt of suitable weight and pliability, and all of them differ widely in elegance of texture, delicacy of shade, and fineness of overhair; and these differences determine their place in the catalogue of merchandise. These few animals are not very prolific, and many of them attain their greatest beauty in wild and uncultivated regions. To this remark there are some notable exceptions; being thus few in kind, and limited in quantity, the extinction of the several choice varieties might be expected through the persistent energy of the trapper. But here the fickleness of fashion steps in, and does for the fur trade what the law of supply and demand does for the more staple articles of commerce. Fashion, fastidious and fickle, neglects the use of certain kinds for a season; the market price of the pelt no longer repays the outfit of the trapper; the hunt is intermitted, and in two or three years the animal regains its numbers and strength. The annual collection of furs is thus subject to ceaseless change; but the following may be relied on as an estimate correct enough for all practical purposes.

Furniture.

FÜRICH, JOSEPH VON, 1800-76; a painter and contemporary of Cornelius and Over beck. His first attempt at composition was a sketch of the Nativity for the festival of Christmas in his father's house. He lived to see the day when, becoming celebrated as a composer of Scriptural episodes, his sacred subjects were transferred in numberless repetitions to the roadside churches of the Austrian state, where humble peasants thus learned to admire modern art, reviving the models of earlier ages. F. has been fairly described as a "Nazarene," a romantic religious artist whose pencil did more than any other to restore the old spirit of Dürer and give new shape to countless incidents of the Gospel and scriptural legends. He was a master of the art of arrangement, and in form, movement, and expression his power was considerable. His drapery, if peculiar, was perfectly cast. Endowed with creative genius, he lacked skill as a colorist. Among his well-known works are illustrations to the "Lord's Prayer;" the " Triumph of Christ," the Road to Bethlehem;" the "Succession of Christ according to Thomas à Kempis;" and the " Prodigal Son." The latter especially is remarkable for the constant recurrence of the allegorical spirit of evil. F. studied under Bengler in the academy of Prague in 1816. His earliest inspirations were derived from the prints of Dürer and the Faust of Cornelius. In 1834, he was made custos and in 1841 professor of composition in the academy at Vienna. In 1854-61, he produced the vast series of wall paintings which cover the inside of the Lerchenfeld church at Vienna. In 1872, he was pensioned and made a knight of the order of Franz Joseph.

FURIDPUR', a t. of Bengal proper, capital of a district of the same name, stands on the right bank of the Ganges, here called the Podda, in lat. 23° 36′ n., and long. 89° 50' east. It is 115 m. to the n.e. of Calcutta. Excepting the public establishments, which it possesses as the capital of the district of its own name, the place is mainly a scattered series of native villages; and, in fact, it claims notice chiefly as having at one time been a nest of river-pirates. Pop. '72, 8,593.

FURIDPUR', or DACCA JELALPUR, the district mentioned in the preceding article, stretches in n. lat. between 23° 3′ and 24° 5', and in e. long. between 89° 30′ and 90° 15', containing 1496 sq.m. and (1881) 1,631,734 inhabitants. It is everywhere intersected by branches or feeders of the Ganges, which, as the surface barely rises above the level of the sea, are all, unless in the dry season, well adapted to navigation. The soil is in general rich; and the climate, more particularly from the beginning of Mar. to the middle of June, is excessively hot.

FURIES. See EUMENIDES.

FURLONG (the length of a furrow), a measure of length, the eighth part of a mile or 220 yards. See YARD.

Furniture,

FURLOUGH, a military term signifying leave of absence. Non commissioned offcers and private soldiers on F. must be provided with a pass, or they are liable to be seized and dealt with as deserters.

FURMAN, RICHARD, D.D., 1755-1825; b._N. Y.; removed when a child to South Carolina. At the age of 18, he became a Baptist minister, and was conspicuous for eloquence and patriotism during the revolution. Several of his discourses were pub lished.

FURNACE, a contrivance for the production and utilization of heat, for warming, ventilating, cooking, and for manipulation of metals and liquids in the arts. Calcining furnaces are those in which the solid fuel is mixed with the matters to be heated. Crucible furnaces are used for melting, steel or brass, and the F. itself is imbedded in the mass of heating fuel. Forge furnaces are such as are in ordinary use by blacksmiths, merely a combination of draft and blowing from a bellows. Blast and cupola furnaces are used in the smelting of iron and other ores, and the fusing of hard metals. In these the stuff to be melted and the fuel are charged in combination in the upper end of a vertical cylinder, and the combustion is produced by air forced in at the bottom. Flame furnaces are of varied form and character. Their effect is obtained by bringing a flame or current of highly heated gas into contact with the thing to be acted upon, instead of imbedding the substance with the fuel. The well-known reverberatory F., with firegrate, flume-chamber, etc., is so arranged that by means of a low arched roof the flame is reverberated or turned back upon the material to be operated upon. Gas furnaces have recently come into use; there are five or six different kinds. There are furnaces for burning powdered fuel, for natural gas, and for petroleum, Furnaces are also very largely used in glass-making, and in metallurgy and iron-manufacture.

FURNAS, a co. in s. Nebraska, on the Kansas border, intersected by Republican river; 900 sq.m.; pop. '80, 6,407. The surface is undulating, with very little woodland. It is a grazing country. Co. seat, Beaver City.

FURNEAUX, the name of an English navigator, who was second in command on Cook's second voyage, indicates various localities in the southern hemisphere.-1. Fur neaux island in the open Pacific, lies in lat. 17° s., and in long. 143° 6' w.-2. Furneaux islands, an Australasian group in Bass's strait, between Australia and Tasmania. Flinders island, the principal one, is 46 m. long, by 10 broad; Cape Barren, Clarke, Hummock, and Babel islands are those next in importance. Flinders and Clarke islands have peaks 2,500 ft. above the sea. Their soil is sandy, and vegetation scanty.

FURNES, a small t. of Belgium, in the province of West Flanders, is situated in a marshy and unhealthy district, 4 m. from the sea, and 27 m. w.s. w. of Bruges. At this town four important lines of canal meet. F, is weil built, has a town-house, a fine Gothic structure, richly ornamented with carvings, and has interesting remains of the former abbey of St. Willebrod. It has a great trade in horses, cattle, hops, and cheese; and has three annual fairs, at which large quantities of linen are sold. Pop. '80, 5,000. FURNESS, HORACE HOWARD. See page 888.

FURNESS, WILLIAM HENRY, D.D., b. Boston, 1802; graduated at Harvard; studied theology at Cambridge, and was ordained pastor of the First Unitarian church in Philadelphia in 1825. A great part of his life has been devoted to the study of the life and spiritual ideas of the Savior, in pursuit of which he has published Remarks on the Four Gospels; Jesus and His Biographers; History of Jesus; Thoughts on the Life and Character of Jesus of Nazareth; The Veil partly Lifted, and Jesus becoming Visible. He has composed prayers, hymns, and other devotional works, and made translations of secular poetry from the German; besides contributing to current religious literature. He was also widely known in the long struggle with slavery as a supporter of the cause of freedom. His writings show an unusually refined spiritual sentiment.

FURNESS, WILLIAM HENRY, JR., 1828-67; b. Philadelphia, son of William Henry. He early turned his attention to art, and studied in various cities of Europe. He commenced his career as portrait-painter in Philadelphia, but soon afterwards removed to Boston, where he met with an exceptional success. Among his sitters were his father, Charles Sumner, Lucretia Mott, and many celebrities of the day. He was on the highroad to fame when he died at the age of 39.

FURNITURE, the name of an organ-stop or register, consisting of two or more ranke of pipes to each note, all of a higher pitch than the 15th stop.

FURNITURE: various chattels and fittings required to adapt houses, churches, ships, etc. for use. The sculptures, paintings, and metal work of antiquity and of the later ages, now kept in museums and private collections, have, with few exceptions, formed part of decorations or furniture of temples, churches, or houses, Most of the ancient bronzes, are either images taken from ancient shrines, or pieces of mirrors, tripods, altar vessels, or even the dishes and pans of the kitchen. Wood, ivory, precious stones, bronze, silver, and gold have been used from the most ancient times in the construction, or for the decoration, of seats, chests, tables, and other furniture, and for the shrines and altars of sacred buildings. Most of the medieval furniture, chests, seats, trays, etc., of Italian make, were richly gilt and painted, In northern Europe carved oak was more generally used. State seats in feudal halls were benches with ends carved

Fürstenberg.

in tracery, backs paneled or hung with cloths, and canopies projecting above. Bedsteads were square frames, the testers of paneled wood, resting on carved posts. The splender of most feudal houses depended on pictorial tapestries which could be packed and carried from place to place in chests of carved oak or Italian cypress. Wardrobes were rooms fitted for the reception of dresses, as well as for spices and other valuable stores. Excellent carving in relief was executed on caskets which were of wood or of ivory, with painting and gilding, and decorated with delicate hinges and locks of metal work. The general subjects of sculpture were taken from legends of the saints or from metrical romances. Renaissance art made a great change in furniture, as in architecture. Cabinets and paneling took the outlines of palaces and temples, and curious internal fittings were arranged in cabinets, still following the details of architectural interiors. The elegance of form and perfection of detail, noticeable in the furniture of the 16th c., declined during the 17th all over Europe. The frame-work became bulky and heavy, and the details coarse. To this period belongs the name of André Charles Boule, who furnished the palace of Versailles. He invented or perfected a beautiful system of veneering with brass and tortoise-shell, or brass and ebony, occasionally using white metal besides. Examples of this buhl or boule are shown in the Apollo gallery of the Louvre at Paris. The system of veneering or coating common wood with slices of rare and costly woods, fastened down with glue by screw-presses, came into general use in the 18th century. Marquetry is veneer of different woods, forming a mosaic of pictorial or ornamental designs. Looking-glasses in large sheets exported from Venice at the end of the 17th c. were engraved with figures on the backs. The light fantastic frames which came into fashion in France were called "rococo" (from roquaille, coquaille, rock and shell work). Carved and gilt furniture was made in Italy, where it was best designed, and all over Europe, till late in the 18th century. The "empire" style, a stiff affected classicalism, prevailed in France during the reign of Napoleon. It is shown in the metal mounts of veneered mahogany furniture, and in the carvings of chair legs and backs.

A return has been made during recent years to medieval designs. In England there is a revival of the fashions prevalent during the first fifty years of the last century. In France and America the elegant Louis XIV. style is very popular. Bedroom furniture is no longer as rich or costly as when it was the fashion to include state bed-chambers among suites of rooms thrown open for the entertainment of guests. Light-colored woods, with the simplest decorations, are preferred by many, on account of their freshness and cheerfulness. Common woods, such as pine, ash, oak, and maple, with French polish and with colored lines sparingly employed, are much in use for bedroom furniture, though less durable than mahogany. Imitations by graining are general, though not satisfactory; the practice was common even in ancient Rome. The Japanese have a method of staining, powdering with gold-dust, and polishing common wood without hiding the grain.

The designs of furniture in the United States vary greatly. Among the styles often seen are the Gothic, Florentine, Venetian, Roman, and Dutch, the classic and the rococo. The Eastlake style, now in favor, is by some critics disliked as exaggerated. Many manufacturers employ "furniture designers," frequently persons who have a high repu tation for artistic work. Often the designs of the furniture are procured from the architect of the house, thus avoiding incongruities.

The census of 1880 reported 5,584 manufacturers of furniture, employing 61,698 persons; with a capital of $46,600,000; paying $24,500,000 as wages; using $25,843,170 worth of raw material, and manufacturing furniture to the amount of $83,100,000 *FURNITURE, HOUSEHOLD, HIRING OF. If a man lets out furniture for immediate use, there is an implied warranty that it is fit for use, and free from all defects inconsistent with the reasonable and beneficial enjoyment of it. Sutton v. Temple, 12; Meason and Welsby, 60. The hirer must use the furniture for a proper purpose. If it is applied to a purpose inconsistent with the terms of the contract, or if it is sold by the hirer, the owner is entitled to maintain an action for its value. These general rules may be regarded as prevailing both in England and Scotland. In case of willful injury done to furniture by a tenant within the metropolitan police district, it is provided by 2 and 3 Vict. c. 71, s. 38, that the police magistrate may award compensation to the amount of £15. In England as well as Scotland, the use of furniture for life is often made the subject of a bequest; and in this case, allowance will be made for ordinary wear and tear in the use of the furniture.

Lien on Furniture for Rent.-As a general rule, all furniture found on the premises, whether the property of the tenant or of a third party, may be distrained for rent, on the principle that the landlord has a lien over it in respect of the place in which it is found, and not in respect of the person to whom it belongs. To this rule there are some exceptions in favor of trade, as of tools in actual use, etc. In Scotland, the landlord has a similar right over the furniture in a house, so that hired furniture may be seized; but furniture lent without payment of rent does not fall under this hypothec (q.v.). Even where furniture has been sold, the landlord has a claim over it while it remains on the premises. See Supp., page 888.

FURNIVALL, FREDERICK JAMES. See page 888.