FLOQUET. 735 Buffered a month's imprisonment at Paris. In 1872 lie appeared in public life as a radical Republican, and in 187(1 entered the Chambei oi Deputies, voting always with the Extreme Left. I In same year he established the Radical journal he Peuple. Be was made Prefeel of the Seine in 188.;, but reentered the Chamber soon alter, ami from Is8f> in IS88, when lie became Prime .Minister, was president of that body. The height (if his popularity was reached in 1888 aftei the famous duel in which he wounded General Boulanger (q.v.) in the throat. In February, 1889, on the defeat of his projected constitutional amendment, he resigned the premiership. The Panama disclosures in 1892-93 implicated Floquef and injured his political standing, although he was elected to the Senate in 18!U. Be died January 18, 18'.ib. Consult Proth, 06l€brit4s con- temporavn.es, vol. ii. ( l'aris, 1883). FLOOR (AS., [eel. flOr, Ger. Flur, It., Cad. lar, Corn, lor, Welsh llawr, Bret, leur; ultimately connected with Ol'russ. plonis. harn-fl '. I.ith. plonas, Hal, Lai. planus, level. (Ik. 7rXd£, phix, level surface). The horizontal partition between the stories of a building; the upper part of which forms the Hour of the apartments above, and the lower portion the ceiling of those below. The ground floor of barns and such structures is but slightly raised above the ground level, thus being distinguished from pavements, which are laid solidly on the ground. In its narrowest sense, it is merely the lower visible surface of any interior or even of a bridge, a platform, balcony, etc., without reference to the supporting structure. Floors are variously constructed, according to their dimensions, to the weight they have to sustain, and to the character of the buildings. The supporting structure may be a vault of masonry, a combination of iron beams with brick arches or other non-combustible filling, or a series of parallel wooden beams called joists. The last is the common construction, except for im- portant and fireproof buildings. Single-joisted floors are the simplest and most cheaply con- structed, and are used for ordinary buildings, where the distance between the bearings does not exceed 20, or, at most, 24 feet. Joists are beams laid edge upward, and rest- ing at their ends upon wall-plates built into the walls. Their width should not be less than two inches, for if narrower, they would be liable to split with the nailing of the flooring-boards. They are placed edge upward, in order to econo- mize timber, as the strength of a beam to bear a transverse strain varies simply with the breadth and with the square of the depth. When a deep and long joist is used, there is danger of its twisting or turning over; this is prevented by strutting, or cross-bracing, that is, nailing cross- pieces of wood between them, or, less effectually, by driving pieces of planking between them. Strutting is required when the length of the joists exceeds eight feet. The laths for the ceil- ing of the room below are nailed to the bottom of the joists. In good, substantial work, the dis tance between the joists, from centre to centre, is about twelve inches, but this is usually exceeded in cheaply built bouses, where the normal dis- tance is sixteen inches. Double- joistcd floors are constructed by laying strong timbers, called binding-joists, from wall FLOOR. to wall, :it a distance ol about i feet apart. and a double Bel of joi t i for the H ', ami our below foi the ceiling are laid across tin e, and notched down upon them These lat iii, h ben thus plai ed are called '» ■• joists, as they bridge over the interval bi i he la rger binding rhi d when .■I more pei feet ceiling, free from erai by the j ielding of t be flooi red, or where there is a difficulty in obtaining a sufficient amount of long timber for single joi ting the whole of t he Hour. I In- term doubU used of this method as well a - of a Hoi "i two thicknesses of hoard or planl the lower of rougli material laid diagonally, the upper of choicer matei ia I The [ranted floor is one degree mure complex than the double-joisted. Binding and bridging joists arc used in the framed floor, but the bind - i s cease to be i he primarj suppoi I this purpose strong balks of timbers, called girders, arc used. They are laid across, at distances of from eight to ten feet, and the binding-joists are framed into them by a tusk- tenon joint. The bridging-joists are notched to these in the same manner as for double joistcd floors. A bay is the general name for the space between girders; if between a girder and a wall, it is called a tail l>ug ; or between two gin case hug; and the work between is de bay of joist ing. When the space to be spanned is too great for a simple wood girder, trussed or built-up wooden girders or iron girders are used; the latter have, of late, come into extensive use, even where simple wood girders are sufficient. See GlBDER. With a given quantity of lumber and a mod- erate space, the single-joisted floor is the strong- est of any. One of its disadvantages is the free communication of sound to the apartment below, unless some additional means of obstructing the sound be adopted. This is partly obviated by the use between the boards of the double flooring above of felting, heavy building-paper, or the like. The flooring-boards are usually nailed to the joists, and vary from 1 to 1% inches in thickness: for common floors they are from 4 to 8 inches wide, but for belter floors a width of only 2 to 4 inches is used. The advantage of the narrow boards is that the shrinkage and warping have not so much effect on the spaces bet win. hi all but thecommonesthouscs. the Hour i- blind-nailed. This refers to the ordinary deal flooring used in modern American domestic buildings. In old English and Continental houses the flooring, in- stead of Vicing of thin and narrow matched boards, was of wider heavy plank. The facing of the floor in many old mansions is formed of small pieces of oak carefully inlaid. (See I'm: qvf.try. for other kinds of inlaid fancy floors, see Mosaic; Tim:, section Encaustic Tiles crkte.) In the old palacesand houses of Italy and many buildings m France and < iermany, bricks are often found in place of wood for all j sionally replaced by decorative tiles. Such heavy flooring was natural in the Middle Ages, when stone-vaulted rooms were frequent and even concrete floors were used. In fireproof buildings the beams and girders arc usually of iron or steel between which are flat arches or brick terra niita. or concrete slabs on iron plates, bar-, or wire netting. See Fireproof CONSTBUCTION.
