Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/192

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184 FIGEAC FILANGIERI dried and pressed fruit of commerce. Nearly all the figs consumed in the United States and Great Britain are produced in Turkey. The genus Jicus includes also the banian and the East India rubber tree. FIGEAC, a town of France, in the department of Lot, on the railway from Perigueux to Ro- dez, in a deep valley of the Cele or Selle, an affluent of the Lot, 30 in. 1ST. E. of Cahors; pop. in 1866, 7,610. It has a communal col- lege, a library, a chamber of agriculture, a magnificent bridge, a railway tunnel 4,100 ft. long, manufactures of linen and cotton fabrics, dyeing houses, tanneries, &c., and some trade in wine and cattle. It is supposed to owe its origin to a Benedictine abbey, founded in 755 by Pepin the Short. It is the birthplace of the Charnpollions, to the younger of whom a statue has been erected. FIGUERAS, a town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, Catalonia, situated on the road from Perpignan to Barcelona, 21 m. N. N. E. of Gerona and 14 m. from the French frontier ; pop. about 10,500. The citadel or castle of San Fernando is regarded as one of the strongest fortresses of Spain. It was built about the middle of the l$th century, and will serve as an intrenched camp for 16,000 men. It was, however, captured by the French in 1808, re- taken by the Spaniards in 1811, again captured by the French in the same year, and also in 1823. FIGUERAS, Estanislao, a Spanish statesman, born in Barcelona, Nov. 13, 1819. After com- pleting his studies he espoused the ultra liberal cause, but subsequently separated himself from it and became one of the editors of a journal which supported Espartero. In 1851 he was elected to the cortes; in 1854 he was a mem- ber of the Tarragona revolutionary committee, and in 1862 was reflected to the cortes. He was connected with the revolutionary attempts in 1866, and was imprisoned by Narvaez in 1867. After the downfall of Isabella (1868) he became a member of the revolutionary com- mittee and judge. Subsequently he was again sent to the cortes, where he became a promi- nent leader of the republican party, and after the abdication of King Amadeus (Feb. 11, 1873), and the formation of the republic, he was appointed president of the executive coun- cil. Subsequently he was minister of the in- terior until the end of April, when he retired on occasion of the death of his wife. FIGUEROA. I. Francisco de, a Spanish poet, born at Alcala de Henares about 1540, died about 1620. He received a university education, served in the army, and in 1579 accompanied Carlos of Aragon, duke of Terranova, to Flan- ders. He wrote in Italian and in Spanish, and was called " the divine poet." His eclogue of Tirsi (his nom de plume) contains the first good Spanish blank verse. His poems, first publish- ed in!625-'6, were republished in Ramon Fer- nandez's collection (Madrid, 1785-1804). II. Cristoval Soarez de, a Spanish author, born in Valladolid about 1580, died about 1650. He was a jurist and a soldier, and resided for a long time in Italy. His principal works are : La constante Amarilis, a pastoral romance in prose and verse (Valencia, 1609 ; French trans- lation, 1614; 3d and best Spanish edition, Ma- drid, 1781); El pasagero (Madrid, 1617), a half narrative, half didactic work, containing his autobiography and severe attacks on Cer- vantes, Lope de Vega, and other dramatists; and Plaza universal de todas ciencias y artes (Madrid, 1615; new and enlarged ed., 1737). FIGUIER, Guillaume Louis, a French writer on scientific subjects, born in Montpellier, Feb. 15, 1819. He studied chemistry under his uncle Pierre Oscar Figuier, became a physician in Paris in 1842, professor of pharmacy in Mont- pellier in 1846 and in Paris in 1853, and wrote numerous scientific articles for the press. Among his many works are: Exposition et Mstoire des principales decouvertes scientifiques modernes (4 vols., 1851-'7; 6th ed., 1862); Histoire du merveilleux dans les temps modernes (4 vols., 1859-'62); and Vie des savants illmtres depuis Vantiquite jusqitau XIX* siecle (1866). Among recent English translations of his wri- tings are the following: "The World before the Deluge" (new ed., 1 vol., 1866); "The Vegetable World " (1867) ; " The Ocean World " (1868) ; " The Insect World " (1868) ; "Birds and Reptiles" (1870); "Mammalia" (1870); "Primitive Man" (1870); "To-mor- row of Death" (1871); and "The Human Race " (1872). These works are copiously il- lustrated, and have been widely circulated in the United States. M. Figuier edits UAnnee scientifique et industrielle, which has led to the publication of many similar annuals. His wife, JULIETTE BOUSCAEET, has published novels, and a drama, Gutenberg (1869). FILANGIERI. I. Gaetano, an Italian publicist, born in Naples, Aug. 18, 1752, died July 21, 1788. From 1777 he held various offices at court, and in 1787 he was called to the supreme council of finance. His principal work is the Scienza della legislazione, the first four books of which were published between 1780 and 1784, and the fifth was left unfinished at his death, caused prematurely by his excessive labors. The Scienza has been translated into German, French, English, and Spanish. II. Carlo, duke of Taormina, son of the preceding, born in Naples in 1783, died in 1867. He was indebted for his military education at Paris to the kindness of Napoleon L, fought in the ranks of the French at the battle of Austerlitz, served in the Neapolitan army under Murat, and brave- ly exposed himself to the fire of the Austrian riflemen in 1815 by making a reconnoissance at the bridge of the Tanaro with only 80 men, on which occasion he was severely wounded. King Ferdinand II. placed him at the head of the artillery and of the engineers, employed him in 1848 in bombarding Messina and in quelling the rebellion in other parts of Sicily, and invested hirn as governor general of that island with unlimited power. During the short