Part 33

These various causes of fog-formation maybe considered with advantage in relation to the geographical distribution of fog. Statistics on this subject are not very satisfactory on account of the uncertainty of the distinction between fog and mist, but a good deal may be learned from the distribution of fog over the north Atlantic Ocean and its various coasts as shown in the Monthly Meteorological Charts of the north Atlantic issued by the Meteorological Office, and the Pilot charts of the North Atlantic of the United States Hydrographic Office. Coast fog, which is probably of the same nature as land fog, is most frequent in the winter months, whereas sea fog and ocean fog is most extensive and frequent in the spring and summer. By June the fog area has extended from the Great Banks over the ocean to the British Isles, in July it is most intense, and by August it has notably diminished, while in November, which is proverbially a foggy month on land, there is hardly any fog shown over the ocean.

The various meteorological aspects of fog and its incidence in London were the subject of reports to the Meteorological Council by Captain A. Carpenter and Mr R.G.K. Lempfert, based upon special observations made in the winters of 1901-1902 and 1902-1903 in order to examine the possibility of more precise forecasts of fog.

The study of the properties and behaviour of fog is especially important for large towns in consequence of the economic and hygienic results which follow the incidence of dense fogs. The fogs of London in particular have long been a subject of inquiry. It is difficult to get trustworthy statistics on the subject in consequence of the vagueness of the practice as regards the classification of fog. For large towns there is great advantage in using a fog scale such as that given above, in which one deals only with the practical range of vision irrespective of the meteorological cause.

Accepting the classification which distinguishes between fog and haze or mist, but not between the two latter terms, as equivalent to specifying fog when the thickness amounts to the figure 2 or more on the fog scale, we are enabled to compare the frequency of fog in London by the comparison of the results at the London observing stations. The comparison was made by Mr Brodie in a paper read before the Royal Meteorological Society (_Quarterly Journal_, vol. 31, p. 15), and it appears therefrom that in recent years there has been a notable diminution of fog frequency, as indicated in the following table of the total number of days of fog in the years from 1871:--

+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | 1871.| 1872.| 1873.| 1874.| 1875.| 1876.| 1877.| 1878.| 1879.| 1880.| 1881.| 1882.| 1883.| 1884.| 1885.| 1886.| 1887.| 1888.| 1889.| +-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | 42 | 35 | 75 | 53 | 49 | 40 | 46 | 63 | 69 | 74 | 59 | 69 | 61 | 53 | 69 | 86 | 83 | 62 | 75 | +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | 1890.| 1891.| 1892.| 1893.| 1894.| 1895.| 1896.| 1897.| 1898.| 1899.| 1900.| 1901.| 1902.| 1903.| 1904.| 1905.| 1906.| 1907.| 1908.| +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+ | 65 | 69 | 68 | 31 | 51 | 48 | 43 | 48 | 47 | 56 | 13 | 45 | 42 | 26 | 44 | 19 | 16 | 37 | 19 | +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

But from any statistics of the frequency occurrence of fog it must not be understood that the atmosphere of London is approaching that of the surrounding districts as regards transparency. Judged by the autographic records it is still almost opaque to sunshine strong enough to burn the card of the recorder during the winter months.

The bibliography of fog is very extensive. The titles referring to fog, mist and haze in the _Bibliography of Meteorology_ (part ii.) of the U.S. Signal Office, published in 1889, number 306. Among more recent authors on the subject, besides those referred to in the text, may be mentioned:--Koppen, "Bodennebel," _Met. Zeit._ (1885); Trabert, _Met. Zeit._ (1901), p. 522; Elias in _Ergebnisse des aeronautischen Observatoriums bei Berlin_, ii. (Berlin, 1904); Scott, _Q.J.R. Met. Soc._ xix. p. 229; A.G. McAdie, "Fog Studies," _Amer. Inv._ ix. (Washington, D.C., 1902), p. 209; Buchan, "Fogs on the Coasts of Scotland," _Journ. Scot. Met. Soc._ xii. p. 3. (W. N. S.)

FOGAZZARO, ANTONIO (1842- ), Italian novelist and poet, was born at Vicenza in 1842. He was a pupil of the Abate Zanella, one of the best of the modern Italian poets, whose tender, thoughtful and deeply religious spirit continued to animate his literary productions. He began his literary career with _Miranda_, a poetical romance (1874), followed in 1876 by _Valsolda_, which, republished in 1886 with considerable additions, constitutes perhaps his principal claim as a poet, which is not inconsiderable. To the classic grandeur of Carducci and D'Annunzio's impetuous torrent of melody Fogazzaro opposes a Wordsworthian simplicity and pathos, contributing to modern Italian literature wholesome elements of which it would otherwise be nearly destitute. His novels, _Malombra_ (1882), _Daniele Cortis_ (1887), _Misterio del Poeta_ (1888), obtained considerable literary success upon their first publication, but did not gain universal popularity until they were discovered and taken up by French critics in 1896. The demand then became prodigious, and a new work, _Piccolo Mondo antico_ (1896), which critics far from friendly to Fogazzaro's religious and philosophical ideas pronounced the best Italian novel since _I Promessi Sposi_, went through numerous editions. Even greater sensation was caused by his novel _Il Santo_ (_The Saint_, 1906), on account of its being treated as unorthodox by the Vatican; and Fogazzaro's sympathy with the Liberal Catholic movement--his own Catholicism being well known--made this novel a centre of discussion in the Roman Catholic world.

See the biography by Molmenti (1900).

FOGELBERG, BENEDICT (or BENGT) ERLAND (1786-1854), Swedish sculptor, was born at Gothenburg on the 8th of August 1786. His father, a copper-founder, encouraging an early-exhibited taste for design, sent him in 1801 to Stockholm, where he studied at the school of art. There he came much under the influence of the sculptor Sergell, who communicated to him his own enthusiasm for antique art and natural grace. Fogelberg worked hard at Stockholm for many years, although his instinct for severe beauty rebelled against the somewhat rococo quality of the art then prevalent in the city. In 1818 the grant of a government pension enabled him to travel. He studied from one to two years in Paris, first under Pierre Guerin, and afterwards under the sculptor Bosio, for the technical practice of sculpture. In 1820 Fogelberg realized a dream of his life in visiting Rome, where the greater part of his remaining years were spent in the assiduous practice of his art, and the careful study and analysis of the works of the past. Visiting his native country by royal command in 1854, he was received with great enthusiasm, but nothing could compensate him for the absence of those remains of antiquity and surroundings of free natural beauty to which he had been so long accustomed. Returning to Italy, he died suddenly of apoplexy at Trieste on the 22nd of December 1854. The subjects of Fogelberg's earlier works are mostly taken from classic mythology. Of these, "Cupid and Psyche," "Venus entering the Bath," "A Bather" (1838), "Apollo Citharede," "Venus and Cupid" (1839) and "Psyche" (1854) may be mentioned. In his representations of Scandinavian mythology Fogelberg showed, perhaps for the first time, that he had powers above those of intelligent assimilation and imitation. His "Odin" (1831), "Thor" (1842), and "Balder" (1842), though influenced by Greek art, display considerable power of independent imagination. His portraits and historical figures, as those of Gustavus Adolphus (1849), of Charles XII. (1851), of Charles XIII. (1852), and of Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm (1853), are faithful and dignified works.

See Casimir Leconte, _L'Oeuvre de Fogelberg_ (Paris, 1856).

FOGGIA, a town and episcopal see (since 1855) of Apulia, Italy, the capital of the province of Foggia, situated 243 ft. above sea-level, in the centre of the great Apulian plain, 201 m. by rail S.E. of Ancona and 123 m. N.E. by E. of Naples. Pop. (1901) town, 49,031; commune, 53,134. The name is probably derived from the pits or cellars (_foveae_) in which the inhabitants store their grain. The town is the medieval successor of the ancient Arpi, 3 m. to the N.; the Normans, after conquering the district from the Eastern empire, gave it its first importance. The date of the erection of the cathedral is probably about 1179; it retains some traces of Norman architecture, and the facade has a fine figured cornice by Bartolommeo da Foggia; the crypt has capitals of the 11th (?) century. The whole church was, however, much altered after the earthquake of 1731. A gateway of the palace of the emperor Frederick II. (1223, by Bartolommeo da Foggia) is also preserved. Here died his third wife, Isabella, daughter of King John of England. Charles of Anjou died here in 1284. After his son's death, it was a prey to internal dissensions and finally came under Alphonso I. of Aragon, who converted the pastures of the Apulian plain into a royal domain in 1445, and made Foggia the place at which the tax on the sheep was to be paid and the wool to be sold. The other buildings of the town are modern. Foggia is a commercial centre of some importance for the produce of the surrounding country, and is also a considerable railway centre, being situated on the main line from Bologna to Brindisi, at the point where this is joined by the line from Benevento and Caserta. There are also branches to Rocchetta S. Antonio (and thence to either Avellino, Potenza, or Gioia del Colle), to Manfredonia, and to Lucera.

FOHN (Ger., probably derived through Romansch _favongn_, _favoign_, from Lat. _favonius_), a warm dry wind blowing down the valleys of the Alps from high central regions, most frequently in winter. The Fohn wind often blows with great violence. It is caused by the indraft of air from the elevated region to areas of low barometric pressure in the neighbourhood, and the warmth and dryness are due to dynamical compression of the air as it descends to lower levels. Similar local winds occur in many parts of the world, as Greenland, and on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. In the southern Alpine valleys the Fohn wind is often called sirocco, but its nature and cause are different from the true sirocco. The belief that the warm dry wind comes from the Sahara dies hard; and still finds expression in some textbooks.

For a full account of these winds see Hann, _Lehrbuch der Meteorologie_, p. 594.

FOHR, a German island in the North Sea, belonging to the province of Schleswig-Holstein, and situated off its coast. Pop. 4500. It comprises an area of 32 sq. m., and is reached by a regular steamboat service from Husum and Dagebull on the mainland to Wyk, the principal bathing resort on the E. coast of the island. The chief attraction of Wyk is the Sandwall, a promenade which is shaded by trees and skirts the beach. Fohr, the most fertile of the North Frisian islands, is principally marshland, and comparatively well wooded. There are numerous pleasantly-situated villages and hamlets scattered over it, of which the most frequented are Boldixum, Nieblum and Alkersum. The inhabitants are mainly engaged in the fishing industry, and are known as excellent sailors.

FOIL. 1. (Through O. Fr. from Lat. _folium_, a leaf, modern Fr. _feuille_), a leaf, and so used in heraldry and in plant names, such as the "trefoil" clover; and hence applied to anything resembling a leaf. In architecture, the word appears for the small leaf-like spaces formed by the cusps of tracery in windows or panels, and known, according to the number of such spaces, as "quatrefoil," "cinquefoil," &c. The word is also found in "counterfoil," a leaf of a receipt or cheque book, containing memoranda or a duplicate of the receipt or draft, kept by the receiver or drawer as a "counter" or check. "Foil" is particularly used of thin plates of metal, resembling a leaf, not in shape as much as in thinness. In thickness foil comes between "leaf" and "sheet" metal. In jewelry, a foil of silvered sheet copper, sometimes known as Dutch foil, is used as a backing for paste gems, or stones of inferior lustre or colour. This is coated with a mixture of isinglass and translucent colour, varying with the stones to be backed, or, if only brilliancy is required, left uncoloured, but highly polished. From this use of "foil," the word comes to mean, in a figurative sense, something which by contrast, or by its own brightness, serves to heighten the attractive qualities of something else placed in juxtaposition. The commonest "foil" is that generally known as "tinfoil." The ordinary commercial "tinfoil" usually consists chiefly of lead, and is used for the wrapping of chocolate or other sweetmeats, tobacco or cigarettes. A Japanese variegated foil gives the effect of "damaskeening." A large number of thin plates of various metals, gold, silver, copper, together with alloys of different metals are soldered together in a particular order, a pattern is hammered into the soldered edges, and the whole is hammered or rolled into a single thin plate, the pattern then appearing in the order in which the various metals were placed.

2. (From an O. Fr. _fuler_ or _foler_, modern _fouler_, to tread or trample, to "full" cloth, Lat. _fullo_, a fuller), an old hunting term, used of the running back of an animal over its own tracks, to confuse the scent and baffle the hounds. It is also used in wrestling, of a "throw." Thus comes the common use of the word, in a figurative sense, with reference to both these meanings, of baffling or defeating an adversary, or of parrying an attack.

3. As the name of the weapon used in fencing (see FOIL-FENCING) the word is of doubtful origin. One suggestion, based on a supposed similar use of Fr. _fleuret_, literally a "little flower," for the weapon, is that foil means a leaf, and must be referred in origin to Lat. _folium_. A second suggestion is that it means "blunted," and is the same as (2). A third is that it is an adaptation of an expression "at foils," i.e. "parrying." Of these suggestions, according to the _New English Dictionary_, the first has nothing to support it, the second is not supported by any evidence that in sense (2) the word ever meant to blunt. The third has some support. Finally a suggestion is made that the word is an alteration of an old word "foin," meaning a thrust with a pointed weapon. The origin of this word is probably an O. Fr. _foisne_, from the Lat. _fuscina_, a three-pronged fork.

FOIL-FENCING, the art of attack and defence with the fencing-foil. The word is used in several spellings (foyle, file, &c.) by the English writers of the last half of the 16th century, but less in the sense of a weapon of defence than merely as an imitation of a real weapon. Blunt swords for practice in fencing have been used in all ages. For the most part these were of wood and flat in general form, but when, towards the close of the 17th century, all cutting action with the small-sword was discarded (see FENCING), foil-blades were usually made of steel, and either round, three-cornered or four-cornered in form, with a button covering the point. The foil is called in French _fleuret_, and in Italian _fioretto_ (literally "bud") from this button. The classic small-sword play of the 17th and 18th centuries is represented at the present time by fencing with the _epee de combat_ (fighting-rapier), which is merely the modern duelling-sword furnished with a button (see EPEE-DE-COMBAT), and by foil-fencing. Foil-fencing is a conventional art, its characteristic limitation lying in the rule that no hits except those on the body shall be considered good, and not even those unless they be given in strict accordance with certain standard precepts. In epee-fencing on the contrary, a touch on any part of the person, however given, is valid. Foil-fencing is considered the basis, so far as practice is concerned, of all sword-play, whether with foil, epee or sabre.

There are two recognized schools of foil-fencing, the French and the Italian. The French method, which is now generally adopted everywhere except in Italy, is described in this article, reference being made to the important differences between the two schools.

_The Foil._--The foil consists of the "blade" and the "handle." The blade, which is of steel and has a quadrangular section, consists of two parts: the blade proper, extending from the guard to the button, and the "tongue," which runs through the handle and is joined to the pommel. The blade proper is divided into the "forte," or thicker half (next the handle), and the "foible" or thinner half. Some authorities divide the blade proper into three parts, the "forte," "middle" and "foible." The handle is comprised of the "guard," the "grip" and the "pommel." The guard is a light piece of metal shaped like the figure 8 (Fr. _lunettes_, spectacles) and backed with a piece of stiff leather of the same shape. The grip, which is grasped by the hand, is a hollow piece of wood, usually wound with twine, through which the tongue of the blade passes. The pommel is a piece of metal, usually pear-shaped, to which the end of the tongue is joined and which forms the extremity of the handle. The blade from guard to button is about 33 in. long (No. 5), though a somewhat shorter and lighter blade is generally used by ladies. The handle is about 8 in. long and slightly curved downwards.

The genuine Italian foil differs from the French in having the blade a trifle longer and more whippy, and in the form of the handle, which consists of a thin, solid, bell-shaped guard from 4 to 5 in. in diameter, a straight grip and a light metal bar joining the grip with the guard, beyond the edge of which it extends slightly on each side. Of late years many Italian masters use French blades and even discard the cross-bar, retaining, however, the bell-guard.

In holding the foil, the thumb is placed on the top or convex surface of the grip (the sides of which are a trifle narrower than the top and bottom), while the palm and fingers grasp the other three sides. This is the position of "supination," or thumb-up. "Pronation" is the reverse position, with the knuckles up. The French lay stress upon holding the foil lightly, the necessary pressure being exerted mostly by the thumb and forefinger, the other fingers being used more to guide the direction of the executed movements. This is in order to give free scope to the _doigte_ (fingering), or the faculty of directing the point of the foil by the action of the fingers alone, and includes the possibility of changing the position of the hand on the grip. Thus, in parrying, the end of the thumb is placed within half an inch, or even less, of the guard, while in making a lunge, the foil is held as near the pommel as possible, in order to gain additional length. It will be seen that _doigte_ is impossible with the Italian foil, in holding which the forefinger is firmly interlaced with the cross-bar, preventing any movement of the hand. The lightness of grasp inculcated by the French is illustrated by the rule of the celebrated master Lafaugere: "Hold your sword as if you had a little bird in your hand, firmly enough to prevent its escape, yet not so firmly as to crush it." This lightness has for a consequence that a disarmament is not considered of any value in the French school.

_To Come on Guard._--The position of "on guard" is that in which the fencer is best prepared both for attack and defence. It is taken from the position of "attention"; the feet together and at right angles with each other, head and body erect, facing forward in the same direction as the right foot, left arm and hand hanging in touch with the body, and the right arm and foil forming a straight line so that the button is about 1 yd. in front of the feet and 4 in. from the floor. From this position the movements to come "on guard" are seven in number:--

1. Raise the arm and foil and extend them towards the adversary (or master) in a straight line, the hand being opposite the eye.

2. Drop the arm and foil again until the point is about 4 in. from the floor.

3. Swing the button round so that it shall point horizontally backwards, and hold the hilt against the left thigh, the open fingers of the left hand being held, knuckles down, against the guard and along the blade.

4. Carry the foil, without altering the position of the hands, above the head until the arms are fully extended, the foil being kept horizontal and close to the body as it is lifted.

5. Let the left arm fall back behind the head to a curved position, the hand being opposite the top of the head; at the same time bring the right hand down opposite the right breast and about 8 in. from it; keeping the elbow well in and the point of the foil directed towards the opponent's eye.

6. Bend the legs by separating them at the knees but without moving the feet.

7. Shift the weight of the body on to the left leg and advance the right foot a short distance (from 14 to 18 in., according to the height of the fencer).

In the Italian school the fencer stands on guard with the right arm fully extended, the body more effaced, i.e. the left shoulder thrown farther back, and the feet somewhat farther apart. At the present time, however, many of the best Italian fencers have adopted the guard with crooked sword-arm, owing to their abandonment of the old long-foil blade.

_The Recover_ (at the close of the lesson or assault).--To recover "in advance": extend the right arm at right angles with the body, drop the left arm and straighten the legs by drawing the rear foot up to the one in advance. To recover "to the rear": extend the right arm and drop the left as before, and straighten the legs by drawing the forward foot back to that in the rear.

_The Salute_ always follows the recover, the two really forming one manoeuvre. Having recovered, carry the right hand to a position just in front of the throat, knuckles out, foil vertical with point upwards; then lower and extend the arm with nails up until the point is 4 in. from the floor and slightly to the right.

_To Advance._--Being on guard, take a short step forward with the right foot and let the left foot follow immediately the same distance, the position of the body not being changed. However the step, or series of steps, is made, the right foot should always move first.

_To Retreat._--This is the reverse of the advance, the left foot always moving first.

_The Calls_ (_deux appels_).--Being on guard, tap the floor twice with the right foot without altering the position of any other part of the person. The object of the calls is to test the equilibrium of the body, and they are usually executed as a preliminary to the recover.