Fistula, R. (1) A water-pipe of lead or earthenware. (2) A writing-pen made of reed, and thence a Pan’s pipe. (3) A rolling-pin for making pastry. (4) A probe. (5) A machine for bruising corn, which was called fistula farraria.
Fitch. The best of paint-brushes are made of the hair of the fitch or polecat. They are black, elastic, and firm though soft. They are made flat or round, and are used also for varnishing.
Fitchée, Her. Pointed at the base.
Flabelliform, Arch. (flabellum). Fan-shaped. The term is usually applied to an ornament composed of leaves and palms, which is of frequent occurrence on Romano-Byzantine monuments.
Flabellum, Gen. (flo, to blow). A fan. (See Fan.)
Flagellum, Gen. (flagrum). A whip or scourge made with thongs of leather, especially thongs of the ox’s hide, or twisted or knotted cords, &c., used in antiquity for punishing slaves or culprits. It was a terrible weapon, and the lash was often knotted with bones, or heavy metal hooks to tear the flesh (scorpio). Gladiators used to fight in the arena with flagella.
Flagon. A vessel with a long neck covered at top, and a spout. The flagons of the 15th and 16th centuries are the best in design and ornamentation.
Flail. A weapon like a flail, of wood and iron armed with spikes, temp. Henry VIII.
Flake-white. So called from its form, in commerce, of flakes or scales. As a pigment it possesses great body, and enters largely into numerous compound tints. (Fairholt.) (See Carbonate of Lead.)
Flamboyant (style), Mod. The style of French architecture peculiar to the 15th century, so called because the mullions and tracery of the windows in the monuments belonging to that period are curved and twisted like the waving of flames. This style was contemporary with that called “the perpendicular” in England.