FLEECE, ORDER OF GOLDEN 151 FLEUR DE LIS Hebrew word parsh; Sept. psyllos; Vulg. pidex, which is probably correct. The Hebrew word, according to Gesenius, is from an obsolete quadrilateral root, paras h = to leap (1 Sam. xxiv:14; xxvi:20). FLEECE, ORDER OF THE GOLDEN. See Golden Fleece. FLEMISH SCHOOL, a school of paint- ing highly recommended to the lovers of the art by the invention, or at least the first practice, of painting in oil. It has been generally attributed to John Van Eyck, in the beginning of the 15th cen- tury, who was, it is said, accustomrd to varnish his distemper pictures with a composition of oils, which was pleasing on account of the luster it gave them. In course of practice he came to mix his colors with oil, instead of water, which rendered them brilliant without the trou- ble of varnishing. From this and sub- sequent experiments arose the art of painting in oil. The attention of the Italian painters was soon excited. John of Bruges was the founder of painting as a profession in Flanders. The chief masters of the school were Memling, Weyden, Rubens, Vandyck, Snyders, and the younger Teniers. FLENSBORG, one of the most popu- lous towns of Slesvig, at the extremity of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet from the Baltic, forty miles N. W. of Kiel. It was taken from the Danes by the Ger- mans in 1866. Pop. about 60,000. FLETCHER, DUNCAN UPSHAW, a United States Senator from Florida, born in Sumter county, Ga., in 1859. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1880 and afterward studied law at that institution. He was admitted to the bar in 1881 and engaged in practice in Jack- sonville, Fla. He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 1893, and for two years following was mayor of Jacksonville. He was appointed United States senator by the governor of the State in 1909, and was elected senator by the legislature in the same year. He was re-elected in 1914. He was chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce. FLETCHER, FRANK FRIDAY, an American admiral, born at Oskaloosa, la., in 1855. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1875 and in the following year was promoted ensign. He was promoted through the various grades to the rank of rear-admiral, in 1911. After performing important duties on shore and at sea, he was in 1913 ap- pointed commander of the 3d division of the Atlantic Fleet, and was later com- mander of the 2d and 1st divisions. In 1913 and 1914 he commanded the naval force on the west coast of Mexico, and on April 21 seized and occupied the city of Vera Cruz. In 1914 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, and in the following year was appointed admiral. During the World War he was a member of the War Industries Board of the Council of National Defense, and a member of the General Board of the Navy. He invented several pieces of mechanism for guns and was awarded a medal of honor for distinguished con- duct in battle. FLETCHER, GILES, an English clergyman and poet, cousin of John; born in London, England, about 1580. His only notable composition was a sacred poem entitled "Christ's Victorie and Triumph in Heaven and Earth over and after Death" (1610), rich in imagery and descriptions of natural scenery. Parts of it were utilized by Milton in his "Paradise Regained." He died in Alder- ton, in 1623. FLETCHER, JOHN. See BEAUMONT, Francis, and Fletcher, John. FLETCHER, SIR LAZARUS, a Brit- ish scientist. He was born at Salford, England, in 1854, and was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Oxford University. In 1880 he became Keeper of Minerals in the British Museum and in 1882 Examiner for Natural Sciences Tripos, Cambridge. He is a member and official of many British and other scien- tific societies, and was vice-president of the Royal Society (1910-1912.). His pub- lications include: "Introduction to the Study of Meteorites," "Introduction to the Study of Minerals," "Introduction to the Study of Rocks," "The Optical In- dicatrix," and papers on the crystallo- graphical, physical, and mineralogical subjects and on meteorites. FLEUR DE LIS, in botany, various species of the genus iris; also Phalan- gium liliago, a liliaceous plant. In heraldry, the royal insignia of France. Its origin is disputed; by some it is sup- posed to represent a lily, by others the iron head of some weapon. In the old time the French Royal banner was seme of lys, that is, completely covered with fleurs de lis; but from the time of Charles VI. it has consisted of three golden fleurs de lis on a blue field. It is of frequent occurrence in English ar- mory. From the claims invariably put forth by English sovereigns to certain principalities in France, gained by in- heritance or marriage, the French royal coat appeared as a quartering in the English royal arms; and though all such
