FILIGREE’

a kind of ornamental open work in gold or silver, wrought delicately in the manner ‘of little threads or grains, or of both intermixed. The art was practised by the itruscans and the Greeks of the Byzantine Empire. In the seventeenth century it was carried to great perfection in Italy, and silver filigree work is still largely manufactured in the south of Europe. Some of the Eastern nations, especially the Chinese and Malays, show great skill in the manufacture of silver filigree. FILIPINOS. collective name for the Christian i zed natives of the Philippine islands. Of Malay descent, they number 8,500,000: the remaining 3,500,000 inhabitants of the islands are largely Moslemsand pagans. Before the American occupation,1898, a Liga Filipina sought to improve their condition. See PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.