© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
662 i Faysal ► Federal Deposit
dance. Creation begins at the most perfect level, God, and descends through the world of the spirit to the least perfect level, the world of mat¬ ter. The fayd theory was refuted by al-GHAZALi in the 11th century.
Faysal Vfi-solX I (b. May 20, 1885, Mecca, Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula—d. Sept. 8, 1933, Bern, Switz.) Arab statesman and king of Iraq (1921-33). Son of Sharif Husayn ibn 'AlI, he helped his father plot Arab nationalist rebellion against the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914-18). When the Arab revolt was declared in 1916, he played an important part in anti- Ottoman military campaigns. In 1918 an Arab military force occupied Damascus, and Faysal was declared king of Syria. Two years later France invaded Syria, and he went into exile in London. The British sponsored him as king of Iraq, in anticipation of a treaty providing for Iraqi inde¬ pendence; he was crowned in 1921, and Iraq became independent in 1932.
Fazzan See Fezzan FBI See Federal Bureau of Investigation FDA See Food and Drug Administration FDIC See Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
feather Component structure of the outer covering and flight surfaces of all modern birds. Unique to birds, feathers apparently evolved from the scales of birds’ reptilian ancestors. Like hair, feathers are made of kera¬ tin, a fibrous protein. They are variously specialized for insulation, flight, formation of body contours, display, and sensory reception. Contour feath¬ ers form most of the surface of the bird, streamlining it for flight and often waterproofing it. The basal portion may be downy and thus act as insu¬ lation. The major contour feathers of the wing (remiges) and tail (rec- trices) function in flight. Contour feathers grow in tracts (pterylae) separated by bare areas (apteria) and develop from follicles in the skin. Down feathers have loose-webbed barbs, all rising from the tip of a very short shaft. Their function is insulation, and they may be found in both pterylae and apteria in adult birds. They also constitute the first feather coat of most young birds. Filoplumes are hairlike feathers with a few soft barbs near the tip. They are associated with contour feathers and may be sensory or decorative in function. Bristlelike, vaneless feathers occur around the mouth, eyes, and nostrils of birds. Some bristles function as eyelashes on ground-dwelling birds; bristles over the nostrils may serve as filters. See illustration opposite.
feather star Any of the 550 living species of crinoid echinoderms (class Crinoidea) that lack the stalk that their relatives the sea lilies use to attach themselves to the ocean bot¬ tom. Most species have five feathery-fringed arms. Feather stars usually attach themselves to a sur¬ face or a floating object and feed on drifting microorganisms, trapping them in their sticky arm grooves.
They live mainly on rocky bottoms in shallow water. Most abundant from the Indian Ocean to Japan, they are also found in the Atlantic.
featherbedding Labour union practices that require the employer to pay for the performance of unneces¬ sary work or to employ workers who are not needed. Featherbedding provisions in labour contracts may result from the continuation of work rules that were once efficient but that have become obsolete. A union may insist on the continuation of such work rules to protect the job security of its members. See also collective bar¬ gaining.
February Revolution (1848) Rioting in France that led to the over¬ throw of the July Monarchy and precipitated the Revolutions of 1848. In 1840^-9 there was a flowering of socialist thought begun by Charles Fou¬ rier, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and others that fueled urban workers’ discon¬ tent. A major recession in 1846-47 added to popular unrest, as did the increasing arbitrariness of King Louis-Philippe. An opposition campaign brought police action, and crowds of students and workers gathered in the streets and clashed with police. The king tried to appease the demonstra¬ tors, but, when an army unit killed 40 of them, he abdicated rather than face civil war.
Structures of a typical contour feather. The feather's central shaft (rachis) has a series of paired branches (barbs) forming a flattened, usually curved surface (vane). The barbs possess further branches (barbules) that are attached to one another by hooks (barbicels), a structure that stiffens the vane. Some contour feath¬ ers have a complex branch (aftershaft) that arises at the base of the vane and has the appearance of a second, smaller feather. The unbranched basal section of the rachis (calamus, or quill) is embedded in the skin at the inferior umbilicus, which channels blood to the growing feather.
© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.
feces Vfe-,sez\ or excrement or stools Solid bodily waste discharged from the colon through the anus during defecation. Normal feces are 75% water. The rest is about 30% dead bacteria, 30% indigestible food matter, 10-20% cholesterol and other fats, 10-20% inorganic substances, and 2-3% protein. The colour and odour are produced by bacterial action on chemical constituents. Many disorders produce abnormalities in the feces, usually constipation or diarrhea. Bleeding in the stomach or intestines may show up as dark red to black stools. Tests are needed to detect small amounts (occult blood). High fat content usually indicates disease of the pancreas or small intestine. Many diseases are spread by contamination of food with feces of infected persons.
Fechner Vfek-nor,\ English \'fek-nor\, Gustav Theodor (b. April 19, 1801, Gross Sarchen, near Muskau, Lusatia—d. Nov. 18, 1887, Leipzig, Ger.) German physicist and philosopher who founded the science of psy¬ chophysics. He taught at the University of Leipzig (1834-40) but left because of ill health. He developed experimental procedures, still useful in experimental psychology, for measuring sensations in relation to the physical magnitude of stimuli, establishing that, as physical stimulation increases logarithmically, sensation increases arithmetically. Most impor¬ tant, he devised an equation to express Weber's law. His principal scien¬ tific work was Elements of Psychophysics (1860).
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Largest investigative agency of the U.S. government. It was founded in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation within the U.S. Justice Department. J. Edgar Hoover served as its director from 1924 until his death in 1972. Since 1968 the director, who reports to the attorney general, has been appointed by the president for a 10-year term, subject to Senate approval. The FBI employs more than 10,000 special agents. Its responsibilities include investigating vio¬ lations of federal criminal law (including in the areas of civil rights and organized crime), collecting evidence in civil cases to which the U.S. is a party, and providing internal security.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Independent U.S. gov¬ ernment corporation created to insure bank deposits against loss in the
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Federal Reserve ► feldspar I 663
event of a bank failure and to regulate certain banking practices. Estab¬ lished after the bank holiday in early 1933, the FDIC was intended to restore public confidence in the system. It insures bank deposits in eli¬ gible banks up to $100,000 for each deposit. All members of the Federal Reserve System are required to insure their deposits with the FDIC, and almost all commercial banks in the U.S. choose to do so.
Federal Reserve System U.S. central bank system consisting of 12 Federal Reserve districts with a Reserve bank in the principal commer¬ cial city of each district. The system is supervised by a board of gover¬ nors in Washington, D.C., as well as by various advisory councils and committees. As a result of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, all national banks are required to join the system; state banks may join if they meet membership qualifications. The Federal Reserve is responsible for mon¬ etary policy. The original act set fixed reserve requirements for the U.S. fractional reserve banking system. It allowed each district bank to deter¬ mine its discount rate, the rate it charged on loans to member banks. The modern Federal Reserve resulted from the Federal Reserve Act of 1935, which allowed the board to determine reserve requirements within defined limits. It became responsible for approving the discount rates of the dis¬ trict banks. Most importantly, the act created the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, which is responsible for conducting operations in financial markets that increase or decrease the amount of reserves in the system. If the Federal Reserve wants to ease monetary policy, it will use open market operations and increase the amount of reserves through the purchase of financial assets. Conversely, it can tighten monetary policy through the sale of financial assets.