flavin \'fla-v3n\ Any of a class of organic compounds, pale yellow bio¬ logical pigments that fluoresce green. They occur in compounds essential to life as coenzymes in metabolism. Plants and microbes can synthesize them, but animals must consume them in the diet. Riboflavin is the best- known flavin.
flavonoid \ , fla-v3- l noid\ or flavone Organic compound, any member of a class of biological pigments containing no nitrogen that are found in many plants. They include anthoxanthins, which give yellow colours, often to flower petals, and anthocyanins, largely responsible for the red colouring of buds and young shoots and the purple and purple-red colours of autumn leaves. Their biological function is unknown; they may attract pollinators and seed dispersers.
flax family Family Linaceae (order Linales), composed of about 14 genera of herbaceous plants and shrubs found throughout the world. The genus Linum includes flax, perhaps the most important member of the family, grown for linen fibre and linseed oil and as a garden ornamental. Reinwardtia species are primarily low shrubs, grown in greenhouses and outdoors in warm climates; R. indica, yellow flax, is notable for its large yellow flowers, borne in profusion in late fall and early winter.
Flaxman, John (b. July 6, 1755, York, Eng.—d. Dec. 7, 1826, Lon¬ don) British sculptor, illustrator, and designer. In 1770 he entered the Royal Academy schools. After 1775 he worked for pottery designer Josiah Wedgwood, producing designs based on Classical antiquity. He directed the Wedgwood studio in Rome (1787-94), but his book illustrations were of far greater importance; his illustrations for the Iliad (1793), Odyssey (1795), and Divine Comedy (1807) became very well known. The lead¬ ing Neoclassical artist in England, he became the Royal Academy’s first professor of sculpture (1810). In his own day his reputation as a sculp¬ tor, notably of monuments with large groups of free-standing figures, was exceeded only by that of Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen.
flea Any member of 1,600 species and subspecies of small, wingless, bloodsucking (parasitic) insects (order Siphonaptera), found from the Arctic Circle to the Arabian deserts.
Specialized anatomical structures allow the flea to attach itself to the skin of mammals or birds and con¬ sume their blood. Though domestic cats and dogs are well-known hosts, rodents are the mammals most com¬ monly afflicted by fleas. The adult flea is 0.04-0.4 in. (1-10 mm) long and lives from a few weeks to more than a year. Powerful leg muscles allow it to jump distances up to 200 times its body length. Flea infesta¬ tions have had enormous consequences; fleas were the principal transmis¬ sion agents of the bubonic plague in the medieval epidemics.
Gustave Flaubert, detail of a drawing by E.F. von Liphart, 1880; in the Biblio- theque Municipale, Rouen, France.
COURTESY OF THE BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE, ROUEN; PHOTOGRAPH, ELLEBE
Flea (Ctenocephalides)
WILUAM E. FERGUSON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
682 i flea beetle ► Flint
flea beetle Any member of the beetle subfamily Alticinae (family Chry- somelidae), found worldwide. It is tiny (less than 0.25 in. [6 mm] long) and dark or metallic in colour. The enlarged hind legs are adapted for jumping. Flea beetles are important pests of cultivated plants (e.g., grapes, cucumbers, melons, tobacco, potatoes, and tomatoes). The adults feed on the leaves, the larvae on the roots. Some flea beetles carry plant diseases (e.g., early potato blight).
Fleischer, Max and Dave (respectively b. July 19, 1883, Vienna, Austria—d. Sept. 11, 1972, Woodland Hills, Calif., U.S.;b. July 14, 1894, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 25, 1979, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. ani¬ mators. The brothers worked as newspaper cartoonists before founding their own studio in 1921 to make animated cartoons. In the mid 1920s they produced the first sound-on-film animations. They later created and produced the popular cartoon series Betty Boop (1931-39), Popeye the Sailor (1929-42), and Superman (1941-42) and the feature-length car¬ toon Gulliver’s Travels (1939).
Fleming, Sir Alexander (b. Aug. 6, 1881, Lochfield, Ayr, Scot.—d. March 11, 1955, London, Eng.) Scottish bacteriologist. While serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I, he conducted research on antibacterial substances that would be nontoxic to humans. In 1928 he inadvertently discovered penicillin when he noticed that a mold contami¬ nating a bacterial culture was inhibiting the bacteria’s growth. He shared a 1945 Nobel Prize with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who both carried Fleming’s basic discovery further in isolating, purifying, testing, and producing penicillin in quantity.
Fleming, Ian (Lancaster) (b. May 28, 1908, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 12, 1964, Canterbury, Kent) British suspense novelist. He worked as a Moscow journalist, banker, stockbroker, naval intelligence officer, and newspaper manager before publishing Casino Roy ale (1953), the first of 12 novels featuring James Bond, the stylish, high-living secret service agent 007, one of the most successful characters of 20th-century fiction. Packed with violent action, espionage, and sex, all 12 books—including From Russia, with Love (1957), Dr. No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), and Thunderball (1961)—became popular movies.
Fleming, Peggy (Gale) (b. July 27, 1948, San Jose, Calif., U.S.) U.S. figure skater. She won the first of five consecutive U.S. women’s cham¬ pionships when she was 15. She finished first in the world championship three consecutive years (1966-68) and won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France. She was celebrated for her exceptional grace and artistic expression.
Flemish art Art of the 15th to early 17th century in Flanders. The pre¬ cursors of the Flemish school were located in Dijon, the first capital of the dukes of Burgundy, who established a powerful Flemish-Burgundian politi¬ cal alliance that lasted from 1363 to 1482. Philip III (the Good) moved the Burgundian capital to Bruges and in 1425 hired Jan van Eyck as his painter. The next generation of artists built on van Eyck’s heritage and, toward the end of the 15th century, began looking to Italy for pictorial inspiration. Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Dirck Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, and Gerard David brought innovation, but little of their work compared to van Eyck’s artistic vision. In the 16th century Pieter Bruegel the Elder, under the influence of Hieronymus Bosch, depicted peasant life with an eye for the grotesque. The great master of the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens, demonstrated unrivaled skill in oil painting; his style epitomized the Flemish Baroque period. See also Early Netherlandish art.
Flemish language See Dutch ianguage Fletcher, John See Francis Beaumont
Fleury \floe-'re\, Andre-Hercule de (b. June 22, 1653, Lodeve, France—d. Jan. 29, 1743, Paris) French cardinal and chief minister of Louis XV (1726-43). A priest, he was made almoner (distributor of alms) for Louis XIV. In 1715 he was appointed tutor for the future Louis XV, who later created Fleury a cardinal and minister of state (1726). Domes¬ tically, Fleury restored economic and financial stability to France; in for¬ eign policy, his efforts prevented the hostilities between Spain and Britain in 1727 from becoming a European conflict. Drawn into the War of the Polish Succession (1733-38) on the side of Stanislaw I, Louis’s father-in- law, he was able to limit the conflict’s scope.
Flexner, Abraham (b. Nov. 13, 1866, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—d. Sept. 21, 1959, Falls Church, Va.) U.S. educator. He taught high school for almost 20 years. When the Carnegie Foundation asked him to evaluate