In Harvard College, tutors were formerly called Fellows of the House or College, and their office, fellowships. In this sense that word is used in the following passage.
Joseph Stevens was chosen "Fellow of the College, or House," and as such was approved by that board [the Corporation], in the language of the records, "to supply a vacancy in one of the Fellowships of the House."—Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. I. p. 279.
FELLOWS' ORCHARD. See TUTORS' PASTURE.
FEMUR. Latin; a thigh-bone. At Yale College, a femur was formerly the badge of a medical bully.
When hand in hand all joined in band,
With clubs, umbrellas, femurs,
Declaring death and broken teeth
'Gainst blacksmiths, cobblers, seamers.
The Crayon, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 14.
"One hundred valiant warriors, who
(My Captain bid me say)
Three femurs wield, with one to fight,
With two to run away,
"Wait in Scull Castle, to receive,
With open gates, your men;
Their right arms nerved, their femurs clenched,
Safe to protect ye then!"—Ibid., p. 23.
FERG. To lose the heat of excitement or passion; to become less angry, ardent; to cool. A correspondent from the University of Vermont, where this word is used, says: "If a man gets angry, we 'let him ferg,' and he feels better."
FESS. Probably abbreviated for CONFESS. In some of the Southern Colleges, to fail in reciting; to silently request the teacher not to put farther queries.
This word is in use among the cadets at West Point, with the same meaning.