Ferny

Containing fern; abounding in, or overgrown with fern; as, a ferny covert. Ferocious, (fe-ro's hus,) a. [Fr. féroce ; Lat. ferox , allied to fer us, wild. See FERINE.] Fierce; savage; rapacious; bloodthirsty; betokening cruelty; as, a fero cio us beast, a ferocious look. Ferociously, adv . With savagery or cruelty; fiercely; rapaciously; as, he looked at me ferociously . Ferociousne , n. Quality of being ferocious; savagene ; ferocity; fiercene ; cruelty. Feroc'ity, n. [Fr. féroc ité; Lat. ferocitas , from ferox , fierce.] Savage wildne or fiercene ; fury; cruelty; as, the ferocity of a Highland chieftain, ferocity of mien. Feronia, (for one-a.) (Myth.) A godde at Rome, who presided over the woods and groves. Fero'nia, n. [From the above godde .] ( Bot .) A genus of plants, order Aurantiaceæ . The species F. elephantum is a large tree, growing in India. A kind of gum, closely resembling gum-Arabic, exudes from its stem, and it is very probable that this constitutes part of the gum imported from the East Indies. The young leaves have an anise-like odor, and are used by the native doctors of India for their stomachic and carminative effects. The fruit is known as the elephant or wood-apple. Fe'rous, a . [Lat. fer us , wild.] Savage; untamed. Ferozabad', a town of Hindostan, British pres. Bengal, 24 m. E. of Agra; pop . abt. 10,000.-Also, the name of several minor places in India, Persia, . Ferozepore', a town of N.W. Hindostan, dist. Sishind, near the Sutlej, 85 m. W. of Loodianah.- Another, prov. Agra, 5 m. S.S.W. of Delhi. Ferozeshah', a village of Hindostan, in Lahore, 10 m. E.N.E. of Ferozepore. Here, Dec. 21st and 22d, 1845, а British force of 16,700 men and 69 guns, under Lord Gough, utterly defeated a Sikh army of 50,000 men, with 108 pieces of cannon, which were nearly all captured. The British lost 2,415 men killed and wounded. Ferran'dine, n. A cloth composed of wool and silk. Ferrara, ( fair - rar'a ,) a famous fortified city of Central Italy, cap. prov. of same name, and formerly an independent duchy under the rule of the House of Este, is situate in a low marshy plain, on the left bank of the Volano, 5 m. S. of the Po, and 26 N.N.E. of Bologna. Under. the rule of its native princes, F. was the seat of one of the most polished and refined of the Italian courts, and is said to have had from 90,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. But it has long been in a state of decay, and numbers of its splendid palaces are uninhabited. The Duomo , or cathedral, was built in 1135, and is a vast but tastele edifice. P. contains a great number of other churches, a university, and a fine public library (in which are deposited the MSS. and other relics of the poets Ariosto and Ta o), and one of the finest theatres in Italy. Its manufactures and trade are inconsiderable. The celebrity of F. is almost wholly derived from its a ociation with two of the greatest names in the literature of Europe. Ariosto resided here, where, in 1516, was published the first edition of his immortal "Orlando;" and here, too, in 1533, he breathed his last. The house in which he lived is still carefully preserved. F. , besides being the birthplace, is also memorable as being the place of imprisonment of the poet Ta o, (q. v.) Guarini, author of the Pustor Fido , and Cardinal Bentivoglio, were also natives of F. From a small town F. became a walled city, A. D. 670. The family of Este po e ed it first as chief magistrates, and afterwards as hereditary sovereigns, from abt. 1030 to 1597; when, on the death of its last duke, and the extinction of the male line of the house, it was taken po e ion of by the pope. In 1796, the French entered F. , and made it the cap. of the dep. of Ba o Po. In 1814 the Church again recovered it, but in 1859 it became a part of the new kingdom of Italy. Pop . 68,516.