Felt is a fabric which is not woven, but made of fibres, usually wool or wool and cotton, which when subjected to beating and vibration grip one another in the form of layers. The materials to be felted are carded and placed in a machine, where they are kept wet and intimately mixed together by a process of beating. Pressure then unites the whole into a compact mass. The use of felt as a material for hats, tents, cloaks, etc, is very ancient. For hat-making the fur of rabbits, beavers, raccoons, and the wool of sheep was generally used. Felt being a good non-conductor of heat it was much used for roofing, sheathing boilers, hot-water reservoirs, etc. The felt for such purposes was made from the coarsest woollen refuse from paper-mills.
Under a treaty between America and Spain of 1819, parallel 42 degrees was fixed as the northern limit of Spain's possessions in America. Between 42 and 54 degrees 40 minutes lay the special 'Oregon country', claimed by both England and the United States. English fur-traders had passed to the south of parallel 49 degrees, below which surveys had been made by the United States, and where settlements were being- slowly made. In 1844 the hot-headed among the Democrats started the cry, Fifty-four forty or fight, referring to 54 degrees 4o minutes, for which limit they wished to resort to war. For a time war seemed inevitable, but in 1846 a treaty was concluded fixing the boundary between the British and United States possessions at 49 degrees north latitude. Research Fifty-four Forty or Fight
Fitchet, or fitch is the fur of the polecat. It has a yellow ground, with long, soft, black shining hairs on its surface, which are exclusively used for artists' brushes. The fur is not in great demand for fabrics as it emits an unpleasant odour which is difficult to dissipate. Research Fitchet
Fresco Painting is a method of mural painting in water colours on fresh or wet grounds of lime or gypsum. Mineral or earthy pigments are employed, which resist the chemical action of lime. In drying, the colours are incorporated with the plaster, and are thereby rendered as permanent as itself.
In producing fresco paintings, a finished drawing on paper, called a cartoon, exactly the size of the intended picture, is first made, to serve as a model. The artist then has a limited portion of the wall covered over with a fine sort of plaster, and upon this he traces from his cartoon the part of the design suited fur the space. As it is necessary to the success and permanency of his work that the colours should be applied while the plaster is yet damp, no more of the surface is plastered at one time than what the artist can finish in one day. A portion of the picture once commenced, needs to be completely finished before leaving it, as fresco does not admit of retouching after the plaster has become dry. On completing a day's work, any unpainted part of the plaster is removed, cutting it neatly along the outline of a figure or other definite form, so that the joining of the plaster for the next day's work may be concealed.
The art is very ancient, remains of it being found in India, Egypt, Mexico, etc. Examples of Roman frescoes are found in Pompeii and other places. After the beginning of the 15th century fresco painting became the favourite process of the greatest Italian masters, and many of their noblest pictorial efforts are frescoes on the walls of palaces and churches. Some ancient wall-paintings are executed in what is called Fresco Secco, which is distinguished from true fresco by being executed on dry plaster, which is moistened with lime-water before the colours are applied. Fresco painting was revived during the 19th century, and works of this kind were executed in the British Houses of Parliament and other public and private buildings, more especially in Germany. Research Fresco
The term fur is sometimes distinctively applied to hairy animal skins when prepared for being made into articles of dress, etc, while the name of peltry is given to them in an unprepared state or when merely dried. The animals chiefly sought after for the sake of their furs were the beaver, raccoon, musk-rat, squirrel, hare, rabbit, the chinchilla, bear (black, grey, and brown), otter, sea-otter, seal, wolf, wolverine or glutton, marten, ermine, lynx, coypou (nutria), polecat (fitch), opossum, fox, etc. All the preparation that skins require before being sent to the market is to make them perfectly dry, so as to prevent them from putrefying. This is done by exposing them to the heat of the sun or a fire. The small skins are sometimes previously steeped in a solution of alum. When stored in large quantities they must be carefully preserved from dampness, as well as from moths. The fur-dresser, on receiving the skins, first subjects them to a softening process. He next cleans them from loose pieces of the integument by scraping them with a metalblade. Finally, the fur is cleaned and combed, after which it is handed over to the cutter, who cuts the furs out into the various shapes required to make different articles.
In Europe the furtrade was fed chiefly by Russia, which yielded great quantities of furs, especially in the Asiatic portion of her dominions. Austria, Turkey, Scandinavia, etc, also yielded a certain quantity.
The furtrade of America has long been highly important, and several great trading companies were engaged in it, of which the Dutch East India Company was first. The French early took up the furtrade in Canada, and their chain of forts and trading posts at one time extended from Hudson's Bay to New Orleans. Quebec and Montreal were at first trading posts. In 1670 Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and others a charter empowering them to trade exclusively with the aborigines of the Hudson's Bay region. A company, then and after called the Hudson's Bay Company, was formed, which for a period of nearly two centuries possessed a monopoly of the furtrade in the vast tract of country known as the Hudson's Bay Territory. In the winter of 1783-1784 another company was formed at Montreal, called, the North-west fur Company, which disputed the right of the Hudson's Bay Company, and actively opposed it. After a long and bitter rivalry the two companies united in 1821, retaining the name of Hudson's Bay Company. The monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the original company about Hudson's Bay was much extended; but in 1868 an act of parliament was passed to make provision for the surrender, upon certain terms, of all the territories belonging to the company, and for their incorporation with the Dominion of Canada. In 1869 the surrender was carried out, Canada paying 300,000 pounds to the company by way of compensation. The company still possessed large stretches of valuable land, and many houses, forts, and posts in the region formerly belonging to it. Its operations even extended beyond British America into the United States and to the Sandwich Islands and Alaska. It employed a large staff of agents, traders, Indian hunters, etc. Some of its posts were situated far north, almost approaching the Arctic Ocean.
In the United States, the fur-trade, especially that trade in beaverfur, was an important element in the economic life of all the colonies in the seventeenth century, and in the struggle between England and France for the possession of North America, also in all negotiations respecting the northwest boundary of the United States. In 1809 John Jacob Astor secured the incorporation of the American Fur Company. He founded Astoria in Oregon, and attempted to connect it with Mackinaw by a line of posts and consolidate the whole north-western fur-trade. After the War of 1812 he renewed his attempt. In 1816 the American Congress passed an act excluding foreign fur-traders. Research Fur-Trade
Fur is the short, fine, soft hair covering of some animals, as distinct from the longer, coarser hairs covering other animals. The term fur is also applied to fabric imitating, or prepared from the dressed coat of various animals. Research Fur
The Northwest Boundary Question was a historic territorial dispute in North America. The territory bounded north by latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes, east by the Rocky Mountains, south by latitude 42 degrees, and west by the Pacific Ocean has been claimed at various times and to various extents by Russia, Spain, Great Britain and the United States. The Russian claim, which rested mainly upon occupation by fur traders, was settled by a treaty made on January 11, 1825. Under this treaty the United States were to make no-settlements north of latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes and Russia none south of that latitude. England and Russia agreed upon the same terms.
The Spanish claims were confined south of latitude 42 degrees by the treaty which ceded Florida in 1819. Great Britain had little or no claim by discovery. The United States' claim rested upon the voyage of Gray up the Columbia River in 1792, and the explorations of Lewis and Clark through the Rocky Mountains and through the Oregon country in 1805-06, under the orders of Jefferson. By the treaty of October the 20th, 1818, the whole territory west of the Rocky Mountains was to be opened to both countries for ten years, and, in 1827, the joint occupation for an indefinite period was agreed upon. Later this produced dissatisfaction, and after considerable negotiation, Great Britain was induced in 1846 to accept latitude 49 degrees as the boundary from the Rocky Mountains to the channel between Vancouver's Island and the mainland. Research Northwest Boundary Question
The African hunting dog is a small, wild member of the dog family, Canidae. The single species, Lycaon pictus, is found in Africa south and east of the Sahara and is also known as the African wild dog or Capehuntingdog. The black-skinned, long-legged body weighs up to 23 kg and is covered with short, sparse fur in a wide range of black, yellow, and white patterns. The ears are large and rounded. Each paw has only four toes. The animal lives and travels in packs numbering from a few to more than 50 individuals. They sometimes range widely in their search for food. The dogs exhibit complex social patterns; both parents care for the young, who learn much about hunting and game-trail patterns from the older dogs in the pack. A large pack of dogs can bring down large animals, such as lions and antelopes. After a gestation period of about 70 days, six to eight young are born to a litter. Research African Hunting Dog
The Amur Leopard of Far Eastern Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a severely endangered Asian sub-species of Leopard found only in a small part of north-east Asia comprising the south-west region of Primorski Krai province in Russia and eastern Manchukua in north-east China. In 2000 there were less than thirty Amur Leopards living in the wild. Similar to their related African leopards, the Amur Leopard is more heavily built and has longer fur and large areas of white on the underside. Research Amur Leopard
Abbreviations
Research Fifty-four Forty or Fight
