Abbott, whose chief claim upon posterity he owes to the famous 'Rollo' books which have been burlesqued and parodied ever since their career began about the year 1840.

The modern epoch of American fiction begins with the close of the Civil War, and henceforth romance writers and novelists multiplied rapidly. The post-Civil War writers, those whose reputations were established prior to 1880 and after 1865, are meagre in numbers compared with those who became popular during the last 20 years of the 19th century. Of the writers who arose in the latter period, four names naturally come to mind — William Dean Howells, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Bret Harte and Henry James the younger. Their names are here given in the chronological order of their appearance before the public. Mr. Howells, who through his facility as a writer and his ability to adapt himself to many varied forms of composition - the novel, the essay, the poem and the playhas practically become the most distinguished, if not the greatest American man of letters, began his apprenticeship in the exacting field of journalism with a strong tendency toward the romantic school. After the publication of A Chance Acquaintance) (1874), he turned his attention to the making of realistic novels, and it was not long before he was accepted as the exponent of a distinctive school of American fiction whose claim is its dictum that the commonplace and generally ignored facts of life shall form the true province of the novelist. His books written in pursuance of this method followed one another in rapid succession, the most notable of them being A Foregone Conclusion, A Modern Instance,' 'The Rise of Silas Lapham, The Minister's Charge,' April Hopes and A Hazard of New Fortunes. Although Mr. Howells has been extraordinarily active in all phases of literary work, it is distinctly as a "realistic" novelist that he is now known and will be remembered by posterity. As Mr. Howells is the exploiter of a theory in fiction, so Bret Harte was the discoverer and creator for literary purposes of an undiscovered country, the California of 1849. He was preeminently a short story writer, and it needs only a knowledge of 'The Luck of Roaring Camp, "Tennessee's Pardner,' of 'M'liss' and a hundred more of his tales to realize how thoroughly his art was restricted and how its very perfection made it impossible for him to succeed with 'Gabriel Conroy,' and the other long novels he attempted. Thomas Bailey Aldrich, singularly enough, became a novel writer through the vogue of a juvenile tale, The Story of a Bad Boy, published in 1869, after serial appearance in a monthly magazine. Mr. Aldrich also published 'Prudence Palfrey,' 'The Stillwater Tragedy, and many volumes of short stories. Although Henry James, Jr., resided in England for many years, he still held his position as an American author of unique style and genius. He made no bid for popularity, being content to express his own individuality and thought, and to expound his philosophic views of literature and life to a public which is able to understand and appreciate such novels as 'The American, Daisy Miller, The Bostonians' and The Tragic Muse. Although Edward Everett Hale and Thomas Wentworth Higginson antedate the foregoing writers by almost a score of years, they practically belong to the

VOL. 11-12

same literary epoch, for it is since the Civil War that they have contributed liberally to the supply of American fiction, mainly in the form of short stories. For 20 years or more E. P. Roe's name was held high in the esteem of a large class of fiction readers who delighted in the placid commonplaces of 'The Opening of a Chestnut Burr,' and its companion tales, but his repute was ephemeral and he is now almost forgotten. With the mention of Frank R. Stockton, who wrote The Lady or the Tiger,' Edward Eggleston, George W. Cable, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Joel Chandler Harris, Francis Marion Crawford, Albion W. Tourgee, Lew Wallace (whose 'Ben Hur' became immediately popular upon its publication in 1881), Hamlin Garland, Harold Frederic and Sarah Orne Jewett, the story of American fiction is brought down to a time when the beginnings of presentday reputations may be remembered by the reader of to-day. Of Mark Twain and his work much could be said, for his later years were productive of famous novels: The Prince and the Pauper, Jeanne D'Arc,' 'Pud'nhead Wilson, Tom Sawyer,' and his other classics of American humor rank him among the great literary figures of the present era.

With the exception of Howells, Wallace, Mark Twain and one or two others, the first 80 years of our fiction is concerned wholly with writers native to the eastern and the southern portions of the United States. But toward the close of the 19th century the western country began to develop writers of fiction such as Owen Fister. About the same time Mary E. Wilkins arose in the East, and James Lane Allen in the South, and each has gained no little reputation for the skilful manner in which he has set down the mingled characteristics of his own locality. Miss Wilkins has brought the short story into high estate through her picturesque handling of commonplace incidents and through her delineations of New England character, while Mr. Allen has been especially adept in his analysis of the human soul. Hopkinson Smith also sounds a distinctively American note. The numerous novels written by Julian Hawthorne show the influence of heredity, and it is altogether likely that the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne might have made a higher position for himself in his chosen profession had he not been obliged to remain in the shadow of his father's great reputation. Frances Hodgson Burnett, although of English birth, may be ranked, through her long residence in this country, as an American author. (That Lass o' Lowrie's,' A Lady of Quality' and the juvenile Little Lord Fauntleroy,' are evidence that she is not lacking at least in exceptional versatility. In 'The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains,' 'In the Clouds' and other volumes of lengthy novels and short stories, Mary N. Murfree (Charles Egbert Craddock) has made herself the historian of the Tennessee mountain region. In 1888 Margaret Deland's John Ward, Preacher,' attracted wide attention to a writer, the excellence of whose work has ever since been kept at high standard. Robert Grant, with his 'Confessions of a Frivolous Girl' and 'Unleavened Bread,' may be called the novelist of the social East and Henry Harland, although his long residence in England has caused him to lose something of

his American identity is well known by such fantastic stories as The Cardinal's Snuff Box' and The Lady Paramount.' Paul Leicester Ford, historian and bibliographer, wrote "The Honorable Peter Stirling, an artistic novel of political life notable from every point of view and Janice Meredith,' a popular flamboyant novel. As a writer of animal tales Ernest Thompson Seaton has become popular and Bliss Carman, as a poet of the poets, has won a high place for himself.

The modern extravagant vogue of the historical novel has been stimulated and fostered, especially by Mary Johnson and Winston Churchill. In the late nineties Booth Tarkington achieved a veritable tour de force with a remarkable little story called 'Monsieur Beaucaire. The story of American fiction may fittingly be brought to a close with the name of Edith Wharton, whose genius as expressed in 'The Touchstone,' 'The Greater Inclination' and The Valley of Decision,' gives her unquestioned place among modern novelists. See AMERICAN LITERATURE.

Bibliography-Abernethy, 'American Fiction (1902); Bates, American Literature' (1896); Beers, A Century of American Literature (1878); Howells, Literary Friends and Acquaintances (1901); Matthews, Aspects of Fiction' (1896); Richardson, American Literature (1889); Sears, American Literature in the Colonial and National Periods' (1902); Tyler, History of American Literature' (1897); Wendell, A Literary History of America' (1901).

EDWIN FRANCIS EDGETT,

Literary Editor, Boston Transcript. FICUS, plant genus of the Moracea, which includes about 600 species, mostly all of which are tropical. The common rubber plant (F. elastica) is of this genus.

FICUS RUMINALIS, the fig tree under which Romulus and Remus were sheltered after being abandoned. Many legends surround it. Consult Platner, 'The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome' (2d ed., New York 1911).

FIDDLE. See VIOLIN.
FIDDLE-BEETLE.

See FUNGUS-EATERS. FIDDLE-FISH. See MONK-FISH. FIDDLER-CRAB, one of the small and active crabs of the genus Gelasimus, termed "calling crabs" by the English, who say they are waving the enormously developed front claw of the male on the right side in beckoning, while Americans imagine them to be fiddling. This great claw is brightly colored, and is thought to be used by the males not only as a weapon, but to be displayed as an attraction before the females, whose claws (chelipeds) are feeble and alike in their small size. These crabs throng in thousands in salt-marshes near high-water mark, where they dig burrows, some of which have a sort of hood over their entrances where the crab, lies in wait for prey, such as beach-fleas, on which it pounces. These crabs have a breathing apparatus so modified that it serves the purpose of both gills and lungs, and all the species spend much time in the air, and in the case of some, as those which swarm along the shores of the Philippines, make long excursions on shore.

FIDEICOMMISSUM, fi'da-i-kom'mis-sum, in Roman and civil law, a trust bequest, originally oral, or in writing by codicil effected by the request of the decedent to the heir by law or by testament to present to a named third person a portion of the estate bequeathed. Under the earlier practice the obligation of the trustee was merely moral, depending on his honor and good faith. Later the bequest might be made in the will itself, and when certain words, as of wish or command, were used by the testator in the bequest the obligation became binding on the trustee. A special officer, known as a prætor fideicommissarius, was in the early Roman days placed in charge of such trusts. Certain bequests could be legally made by the fideicommissum that could not be made directly by testament, as for instance to aliens, which were in derogation of the civil law. The fideicommissum must not be confused with the common-law trust, in which latter the interest of the cestui que trust and the trustee coexists, while in the fideicommissum the interest of the fideicommissary does not vest until after performance by the fiduciary. Furthermore the interest of the fideicommissary lapses with his death if he predeceases the fiduciary.

Fideicommissa later became a regular part of the law of succession, and through them a form of entail was evolved, which could not be accomplished by testament. Subsequently, however, it was found necessary to restrict by legislation this feature of its use, to prevent property from being tied up through an objectionable number of generations. It is believed that the English law of entail, as well as of some other countries, at least in part, is founded on this branch of Roman law.

The fideicommissum in a modified form still exists in modern legal systems, as Holland, Germany, France and Spain. In Germany a permanently entailed estate is called a fideicommiss. In Louisiana, where the civil law is in force, the fideicommissum has been abolished by the civil code of the State.

EDWARD F. DONOVAN.

FIDELIO, grand opera in two (originally three) acts by Ludwig von Beethoven (libretto adapted by Sonnleithner and Breuning from Bouillys' 'Leonore ou l'Amore conjugale'), first produced at Vienna 20 Nov. 1805. The story of the fortunes and misfortunes of Beethoven's only work for the stage would fill a volume. After three poorly attended performances, it was withdrawn and in a revised and condensed form again brought forward the next year. A quarrel between composer and theatre manager cut short this production. It was then shelved for eight years when, again further revised, it was tried out a third time before the Viennese public and gradually made its way through the musical world. A prominent writer wrote that it was "quite devoid of music; one cannot understand why people take the trouble to weary themselves with it." Beethoven's infinite capacity for taking pains is evidenced by the four overtures which he composed for Fidelio. A still stronger confirmation appears in the sketch book which contains the material for the opera - a volume of 346 pages with 16 staves to the page. which shows no fewer than 18 distinct beginnings for Florestan's air "In des Lebens Früh

lingstagen" and 10 for one of the choruses. The plot, unlike most operatic texts of the day, dealt with one of the noblest of human emotions, conjugal devotion, which, impels Leonore at the risk of her life to seek service in disguise with Rocco, the jailor of her husband, Florestan, to defeat the attempt to kill him made by Pizzaro, the governor of the prison. At the critical moment a trumpet call announces the arrival of the minister who is Florestan's friend and the rescue is completed. Undeniably the book is loose-jointed and as a whole lacking in dramatic value. The music is without essential theatrical qualities, but it is deeply felt and epical in its conception. and ranks with the first masterpieces of composition. Yet it stands alone in the literature of stage music. It has had but little influence on theatrical works of succeeding generations and there is nothing else with which to compare it. As one writer has well expressed it, 'Fidelio' is a drama conceived and executed' on symphonic lines. Dramatic moments there are notably the dungeon scene with its stirring climax of the trumpet call — but_speaking generally, it is not operatic music. The text and voice are not of first importance. The orchestra is the real protagonist, with its deeply expressive, emotional qualities developed as they never had been before. Every one of the separate musical numbers is important; but, if selection must be made there are the reposeful quartet in canon form, "Mir ist so Wunderbar," Leonore's "Abscheulicher" aria, and the spiritually moving prisoners' chorus in the first act, and the duet, so expressive of ecstatic joy, "Oh, Namenlose Freude" of Leonore and Florestan in the second and the monumental overture usually played between the two acts. This overture called "Leonore No. 3." is a favorite of orchestras and concertgoers the world over.

LEWIS M. ISAACS. FIDELITY INSURANCE. See INSUR

ANCE.

FIDENÆ, fi'dē-nī, an ancient city of Latium, and the greatest rival of early Rome. It was built by the Etruscans, and was frequently at war with Rome, being subdued finally in 426 B.C. when its inhabitants were sold into slavery. It was long important as a frontier and post station. The ancient ruins are few. Consult Tacitus, 'Annales,' IV, 62; Ashby, T., 'Papers of the Bristol School at Rome' (Vol. III, London 1906).

FIDES, fi'dez, the Roman goddess of faith and honesty. Numa was the first who paid her divine honors.

FIDUCIARY, a law term signifying a relation of trust and confidence, generally by one acting as trustee, executor or administrator, or a director of a corporation.

FIEDLER, fè'dler, Max, German orchestral leader: b. Zittau 1859. His father was a teacher of music and from him he received his early instruction in piano, studying later at Leipzig under Jadassohn and Reinecke. He was appointed teacher at the Hamburg Conservatory in 1882 and became director in 1903. He organized orchestral concerts which were very successful and in 1904 became conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Society. He appeared in New York in 1907 as a guest of the New

York Philharmonic Society and in 1908 became conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he remained for three years. He returned to his old post in Hamburg in 1911.

FIEF, fef. See FEE

FIELD, Barron, English writer: b. 23 Oct. 1786; d. 11 April 1846. He was a friend of Charles Lamb and one of a distinguished group of literary men which included Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Leigh Hunt. He graduated in law but turned his attention to literature and became theatrical critic to the London Times. He contributed to Leigh Hunt's Reflector, the Quarterly Review and other periodicals. He became advocate fiscal at Ceylon and later on, judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and its dependencies; and went to Sydney in 1817 where he remained seven years. On his return to England he renewed his intimacy with Lamb; but he was not long at home before he was appointed chiefjustice of Gibraltar where he remained most of his life. He published an analysis of Blackstone's Commentaries' in 1811 which was frequently reprinted and was numerous times included in editions of Blackstone. As a result of his residence in Australia he published, First Fruits of Australian Poetry (1819); "Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales' (1825), including also 'First Fruits of Australian Poetry.' He edited for the Shakespeare Society the First and Second Parts of King Edward IV Histories,' 'The True Tragedy of Richard III,' the Latin play of 'Richardus Tertius,' 'The Fair Maid of the Exchange) and Fortune by Land and Sea. The best of the contributions to the Reflector was 'Student of the Inner Temple,' a rich collection of anecdotes of bar and bench. Barron Field has been claimed by Australian anthologies as an Australian writer, but there is nothing Australian about him except the fact of his having lived in that country for a while and having made it a subject of some of his writings which are all essentially English in form and atmosphere.

FIELD, Charles W., Confederate general: b. Woodford County, Ky., 1818; d. Washington, D. C., April 1892. He was graduated at West Point in 1849; was commissioned brevet second lieutenant; for five years served against the Indians on the frontiers of New Mexico and Texas and on the plains; was chief of cavalry and assistant instructor of cavalry tactics at West Point, 1856-61; on 31 Jan. 1861 was commissioned captain in the 2d Cavalry; but on 30 May resigned to enter the Confederate army. By August he had become colonel of the 6th Virginia Cavalry and on 9 March 1862 became brigadier-general, being assigned to an infantry brigade in A. P. Hill's division and fighting throughout the Seven Days' battles, Cedar Run and Second Bull Run, where he was wounded. After a year's absence he reported for duty, on 12 Feb. 1864 being commissioned major-general and rendering conspicuous services at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Bermuda Hundred and other important battles. From 1875-77 he was colonel of engineers in the Egyptian army, serving as inspector-general in the Abyssinian campaign, 1875-76; from 1878-81 was doorkeeper of the House of Representatives in Washing

ton; 1881-85 was civil engineer in the service of the United States; and from 1885-89 was superintendent of the Hot Springs reservation in Arkansas.

FIELD, Cyrus West, American merchant: b. Stockbridge, Mass., 30 Nov. 1819; d. New York, 12 July 1892. He was the son of Rev. D. D. Field (q.v.). He early attained an important position in the mercantile world, and began to interest himself in ocean telegraphy. Having obtained a charter giving him exclusive right for 50 years of landing ocean telegraphs on the coast of Newfoundland, he organized an Atlantic telegraph company for the purpose of laying telegraph cables across the ocean. Attempts to lay cables were made in 1857 and 1858, but without permanent success, though ships had been provided by the English and the American governments. The scheme was interrupted by the outbreak of the American Civil War, but a renewed attempt to lay a cable was made in 1865, the Great Eastern now being engaged in the work. About 1,200 miles had been laid by that vessel when the cable parted; but at last, in 1866, a cable was successfully laid by the Great Eastern, and the broken one recovered and completed. Mr. Field subsequently took active part in establishing telegraphic communication with the West Indies, South America, etc., and was connected with various important enterprises.

FIELD, David Dudley, American Congregational clergyman: b. East Guilford (now Madison), Conn., 20 May 1781; d. Stockbridge, Mass., 15 April 1867. He was graduated at Yale in 1802; in 1804-18 held a pastorate at Haddam, Conn.; and in 1819-37 at Stockbridge, Mass. In 1837-51 he was again at Haddam. In addition to sermons he published 'History of Middlesex County, Conn.; History of Berkshire County, Mass.'; 'Life of David Brainerd.'

FIELD, David Dudley, American jurist: b. Haddam, Conn., 13 Feb. 1805; d. New York, 13 April 1894. He was a son of the preceding; was graduated at Williams College in 1825, studied law first in Albany, N. Y., and afterward in New York city. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1828; and practised till 1885, distinguishing himself especially by his labors in the direction of a reform of the judiciary system. In 1857 he was appointed by the State to prepare a political, civil and penal code, of which the last was adopted by New York, and all have been accepted by some other States. The new system was intended to wipe out the distinction between the forms of action and between legal and equitable remedies so that all rights of the parties in relation to the subject under litigation could be decided in one and the same forum and in a single action. The system is the basis of the reformed procedure established in England by the Judicature Act of 1873. In 1866, by a proposal brought before the British Social Science Congress, he procured the appointment of a committee of jurists from the principal nations to prepare the outlines of an international code, which were presented in a report to the same congress in 1873. This movement resulted in the formation of an association for the reform of the law of nations, and for the substitution of arbitration for war, of which Mr. Field was the first president. He was a stanch supporter of Lincoln during the

Civil War, although a Democrat in his political convictions. He was a member of Congress for a short time in 1876 to fill a vacancy. Many of his papers on law reform are contained in his 'Speeches, Arguments and Miscellaneous Papers (New York 1884-90).

FIELD, Edward, American author, statistician and artist: b. Providence, R. I., 4 Oct. 1858. He has published Tax Lists of the Town of Providence during the administration of Sir Edmund Andros and his Council 1686-1689› (1895); Revolutionary Defenses in Rhode Island (1896); "The Colonial Tavern' (1897); 'Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy During the American Revolution 1775-1778) (1898); Diary of Col. Israel Angell, Commander of the Second Rhode Island Regiment 1778-1781'; 'The Remains of General Nathanael Greene' (1903); Memorial of Robert Folger Westcott (1902); Memorial of Horatio Rogers' (1904); 'Fugitive Essays and Statistics (1905-15); and other works. He is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts.

FIELD, Eugene, American poet and journalist: b. Saint Louis, Mo., 2 Sept. 1850; d. Chicago, Ill., 4 Nov. 1895. After his mother's death, he was brought up by his cousin, Miss Mary French, at Amherst, Mass. He received his early education at Monson, Mass., and entered Williams College in 1868. His father's death in the following year necessitated a change of plans, and he was taken by his guardian, John Burgess, to Galesburg, Ill. A year at Knox College sufficed for the restless young Field. In 1870 he joined his brother at Missouri University, where he spent another joyous year, taking little interest in his studies but an active share in promoting all the pranks and nonsense of the school. He refused to take his education seriously; and, after three years of it, resolved to enter a profession. The theatrical world attracted him at first, but he soon discovered his limitations and began to consider journalism. Then he was informed that a division of his parental estate left him in possession of a few thousands. The lighthearted Field packed off to Europe, visiting the southern countries and letting his patrimony dwindle away. He landed penniless in America, full of the joy of his trip, and soon after married Miss Julia Comstock of Saint Joseph, Mo. With new responsibilities to be met, Field set to work at journalism and rose to be city editor of the Saint Joseph Gazette (1875-76). He wrote in a dashing, breezy, gossipy style, with rampant humor. His subsequent career in journalism was very successful. From 187680 he was editorial writer on the Saint Louis Morning Journal and the Times-Journal of the same city; managing editor of the Kansas City Times (1880-81); managing editor of the Denver Tribune (1881-83), and special writer on the Chicago Daily News and Record from the latter year until his death. His independent literary activity began in 1879, when his first volume of verse appeared under the title of 'Christian Treasures. In 1889 he again spent a year in Europea trip necessitated by his ill-health. His other works include 'Denver Tribune Primer) (1882); The Model Primer) (1882); Culture's Garland' (1887); 'Little Book of Western Verse) (1889); 'Little Book.

of Profitable Tales' (1889); 'Echoes from the Sabine Farm' (1891); With Trumpet and Drum (1892); 'Second Book of Verse) (1892); Holy Cross and Other Tales' (1893); 'Dibdin's Ghost' (1893); 'First Editions of American Authors (1893); Facts, Confessions and Observations' (1894); 'Love Songs of Children' (1894); 'Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac' (1896); The House' (1896); 'Second Book of Tales' (1896); Auto-Analysis' (1896); Field Flowers (1897); and 'Lullaby Land (1897).

It is as a poet of children that Mr. Field is best remembered. For this work his generous humor, his playfulness and naivete were aptly suited. Mr. Cowen, one of his earliest commentators, characterizes him thus: "Gayety was his element. He lived, loved, inspired and translated it, in the doing which latter, he wrote without strain or embarrassment, reams of prose satires, contes risqués and Hudibrastic verse.»

Field's favorite characterization of himself was "the good knight, sans peur, et sans monnaie." A number of his child-poems have been adapted to musical settings by Caro S. Seymour and others. The best study of his life is by his friend Slason Thompson (2 vols., New York 1901).

FIELD, George Wilton, American biologist: b. North Bridgewater, Mass., 29 Sept. 1863. He was graduated at Brown University in 1887 and studied also at Johns Hopkins, Naples and Munich. In 1891-92 he was assistant in biology at Johns Hopkins and in 1893-96 associate professor of cellular biology. From 1896 to 1901 he was biologist of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station, was instructor in economic biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1902 and since 1904 has served as chairman of the Massachusetts Commission on Fisheries and Game. He is a member of several scientific societies and has published reports on numerous original biological investigations.

FIELD, Henry Martyn, American clergyman and scholar: b. Stockbridge, Mass., 3 April 1822; d. there, 26 Jan. 1907. He was graduated at Williams College, and was ordained to the ministry in 1842. In 1854 he became editor and proprietor of the New York Evangelist. He was a lifelong traveler. Among his works are Summer Pictures from Copenhagen to Venice' (1859); 'History of the Atlantic Telegraph (1866); From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn' (1876); 'From Egypt to Japan' (1878); 'On the Desert (1883); Among the Holy Hills (1883); The Greek Islands and Turkey After the War' (1885); 'Our Western Archipelago'; 'The Barbary Coast'; 'Old Spain and, New Spain'; 'Gibraltar; Bright Skies and Dark Shadows.

FIELD, Joseph M., American actor and dramatist: b. London 1810; d. 1856. He came to America early in life, and for several years led a precarious life, wandering throughout the country as an itinerant player and sometimes venturing on writing the pieces in which he appeared. His success as an actor and dramatist was little and in 1852 he became manager of a theatre in Saint Louis. In that city he acquired a few years later a controlling interest in the Reveille, of which he became editor. He was better known, however, as a contributor of

sketches to the Picayune of New Orleans, and which he usually signed "Straws."

FIELD, Marshall, American merchant: b. Conway, Mass., 18 Aug. 1835; d. New York city, 16 Jan. 1906. He received a common school and academic education in the intervals of labor on his father's farm. At 17 he entered a dry goods store in Pittsfield, Mass., as clerk, soon mastered the details of the business, and in 1856 removed to Chicago, where he entered the employ of Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., a pioneer mercantile house. In 1860 he was admitted to a junior partnership in the firm, which then became Cooley, Farwell & Co., and later Farwell, Field & Co. On_the_dissolution of this partnership the firm of Field, Palmer & Leiter was formed in 1865, and on the retirement of Palmer, two years later, the firm name became Field, Leiter & Co. In 1881 the Leiter interest was purchased by Mr. Field and the business was afterward continued under the firm name of Marshall Field & Co. Prior to the Chicago Fire of 1871 the sales amounted to $12,000,000 annually, but have since steadily increased to more than $60,000,000, the firm being now the largest dry goods house in the world. The single large building, which it occupied before the fire, has been replaced by one much larger devoted to the retail trade, the wholesale business being carried on in an immense building covering an entire block. In addition to these two vast establishments the house has offices in New York, England, France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. Avoiding ostentation Mr. Field was a liberal and discriminating giver. In addition to the Field Columbian Museum (q.v.) given by him to Chicago, he bestowed gifts upon the University of Chicago, and to his native town of Conway he gave and endowed a public library, at a cost of $200,000 in memory of his parents.

FIELD, Stephen Dudley, American inventor: b. Stockbridge, Mass., 1846; d. 1913. He took out patents on very many inventions, of which the most noteworthy were a distance-telegraph box, an electric elevator, a stock ticker and a dynamo quadruplex telegraph. In 1879 he applied dynamos to telegraphy, the first person who successfully accomplished this and in 1909 he was first in applying the quadruplex telegraph to a submarine telegraph cable.

FIELD, Stephen Johnson, American jurist: b. Haddam, Conn., 4 Nov. 1816; d. Washington, D. C., 9 April 1899. He was the second son of the Rev. David Dudley Field (q.v.), and a brother of David Dudley Field (q.v.), jurist and law reformer, and of Cyrus W. Field (q.v.), the inventor of the Atlantic cable. When he was 13 years of age young Field journeyed to the East with his brother-in-law, who was a missionary and spent three years in Smyrna and Athens studying Greek and other languages. After returning to America he graduated at Williams College and for a time thereafter studied law in New York city. In 1848, soon after he was admitted to the bar, he went to Europe where he remained for one year. In 1849 he joined the rush of easterners to the new gold diggings in California and settled at the mining camp known as Yubaville, since called Marysville. Here he was elected first alcalde under the old Mexican law of that