FILEFISH. of an orange and sometimes of a tawny hue." It is a favorite object in aquariums. The habits of G06 FILIGREE. DENTITION OF FILEFISH. Palatal and profile view uf the teeth. the group are much the same as those of the trigger- fishes (q.v.). See Plate of Plectognath Fishes. FILELFO, fe-lel'fo (L. PHILELPHTJS ) , Francesco ( 1398-C.1481). An Italian humanist, born at Tolentino. He studied at Padua, and in 1417 was called to teach moral philosophy and eloquence at Venice. There he became distin- guished as an expositor of the works of Vergil and Cicero, which then constituted the principal text- books in his subjects. In 1419 he was appointed secretary to the Venetian consul at Constanti- nople, where he acquired an excellent knowledge of the Greek language and a valuable collection of Greek manuscripts. From 1427 he taught at Venice, Bologna, and Florence, and from 1440 at Milan, where he was also attached to the Court of the Duke, Filippo Visconti, as poet and orator. He wrote for the next Duke, Francesco Sforza, 12.S00 lines of an epic known as the Sforziad. In 1475 he went to Rome, and subsequently ac- cepted the chair of Greek at Florence. He was neither a profound nor an accurate scholar, but his energy did much to further the spirit of learn- ing inspired by Petrarch. Consult: Rosmini. Vita di Filelfo (Milan, 1808) ; and Symonds, The Renaissanci in Italy (London, 1877). FILE-SHELL. A pholad. See Pholas. FILIATION (from Lat. filius, son). In law, the judicial determination of the paternity of a person. This may be claimed with the view of establishing legitimacy with reference to inheri- tance, or to determine the paternity of a bastard, in order to charge upon the father the support of his illegitimate offspring. In the United States the term is more commonly employed in the latter sense, as in the expression 'filiation pro- ■■ lings' for bastardy proceedings. See Bas- tabd; Legitimacy; Parent and Child. FILIBUSTERS (Sp. fiUbustero, from Fr. fUbustier, fribustier, from Dutch vrijbueter, vrij- buili-r. freebooter, from vrij, free ; butter, from boete, Eng. boot, profit). The name once applied to a da of piratical adventurers in the West Indie during I he eventeenth century I lee Bi i eebs), bul now generally used to designate any group or association of men who, in disre- gard of international law, forcibly intervene as ite individuals in the affairs of any foreign ■ ■ with which their own Government i^ at the i ' in American history the term i- applied specifically to those citizens of the United States, or residents therein, who, at vari- ous times in the nineteenth century, intervened in the affairs of the West Indies, or of Centra] or South America, for the purpose of freeing colonies from Spanish domination or independent States from misgovernment, frequently with an underlying motive of securing the annexation of additional territory to the United States, and in many cases of extending the area of slavery and 'thus augmenting the influence of the slave power' in governmental affairs. Aaron Burr planned to lead a great filibustering expedition into Mexico and Central America in 1806-07, and the acquisition of Texas, in 1845, was brought about chiefly by filibusters from the Southern States; but the most famous expedi tions in American history were those of Lopez and Walker. Lopez, after making several fruit- less attempts, in 1850-51, to effect the liberation of Cuba, was finally, on August 16, 1851, defeat ed. captured, and executed. Walker succeeded (1855) in overturning the Government of Xica ragua, but quarreled with the native leaders, and in 1857 was brought back to the United States by an American naval officer, to whom he had surrendered. He subsequently (1857-60) or- ganized three more expeditions, each of which failed, and in September. 1800, was routed by the President of Honduras and summarily executed. (See Lopez, Narciso; and Walker, William.) Minor expeditions were sent from the United States to Cuba during the years 1868-98, but they accomplished little and attracted relatively little attention, though much excitement was caused in 1873 by the brutal execution at Santi- ago, Cuba, of a number of Americans, mostly filibusters, found by the Spanish authorities aboard the captured steamer Yirginius. Consult Roche, Bytcays of War: The Story of the Fili- busters (Boston, 1901). See Vibginius Mas- sacre, The. FILICAJA, fe'le-kii'ya. Vincenzio da (1642 1707). An Italian lyric poet, who first came into note through a series of lofty odes celebrating the delivery of Vienna in 1683 from the besieg- ing forces of the Turks. Among others whose attention was attracted by these poems was Queen Christina of Sweden, who bestowed liberal patronage upon him and made him a member of her recently founded academy at Rome; in return he composed many of his most touching verses in her honor. In 1606 the Grand Duki of I u cany appointed him Senator and Governor of Volterra, and in 1700 Governor of Pisa, an office which he held until the time of his death. I'ili caja is interesting as one of the best examples of the purely academic poet. A collected edition of his | ins. begun by Filicaja, was completed by his son after his death, and published under (he title Poesie toscane (Florence, 1707). Con suit: Amico, Poesie e letters di Vincenzio '/•■ Filicaja (Florence, 1864). and Garnett, A His- tory of Italian Literature (Loudon. 1898). FILICALES, fil'I-ka'lez. See PBSBN. FILIGREE (formerly filigravne, filigrane, Fr. fiUgrana, from Lat. /Hum, f bread -f gra grain: tl Id filigree work being a combination of these two elements). The name applied to deli cate wirework ornaments, usually of gold or silver wire, twisted and plaited into spiral- and oilier convoluted forms, combined to form a JOrl of metallic lacework, and joined a1 their points
