FEYJOO Y MONTENEGRO, fii'-llo't.) inietti-n5'gro, BENITO GERONDIO ( 1676-1764). A Spanish critic and scholar, born at Cardamiro, near Orense. He entered the Benedictine Order, and lived all his life at one of the monasteries of the Order at Oviedo, where he died. He studied not only religion, but mathematics, philosophy, and medicine, and was almost the first to appre ciate how far Spain was behind other European countries in these matters. Feyjoo's works in cluded the Teat ro critico universal Para desen flan° de errores comunes (1726-60), which ap peared in eight volumes. The Teat ro has been compared to Addison's Spectator, but it is of a weightier quality. Feyjoo wrote about the posi tion of women; the manners of the clergy; the scientific discoveries of Galileo, Bacon, Pascal, and Newton ; popular fallacies concerning comets and eclipses; and other matters. In 1739 he ceased to publish the Critic°. In 1742 he began Cartas ernditas y eariosas (1742-60), which continued the leavening process begun by the other. His complete works were published in Madrid (1780).
FEZ. One of the capitals of Morocco, situated about 130 miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar in a valley surrounded by high hills (Map: Africa. D 1). The city lies on both banks of a tributary of the Sebu, which divides it into the two parts of Fez el-Bali, the old town, and Fez el-Jedid. It is a very ill-built town, with narrow, filthy streets, with no sanitary arrangements, which, together with a humid climate and an in adequate water-supply, make it most. unhealth
ful. In its flourishing days Fez had about 90.000 dwelling-houses and S00 mosques. Of the latter only about 130 are left. Of these the most impor tant are Mnley-Edris, containing the tomb of Edris IL (the reputed founder of Fez), and Jama Kartibin, to which is attached one of the highest educational institutions of the Mohammedan world, and which contains a large library of Ara bian works on theology. Fez has also a number of minor schools. and is still regarded as an impor tant educational centre. The industries are con siderable. the products including leather. rugs. shawls of silk, and the red 'Fez' caps. In point of commerce Fez is the most important city of northwestern Africa. It is the distributing centre for European products from Marseilles and Lon don, while its caravans travel as far as Tim buktu. The population of Fez, formerly about 400,000, is now estimated at 140.000, consisting chiefly of Moors, and with some Arabs. Berbers, and about 10,000 .Tews. The foundation of Fez is usually believed to have taken place at the end of the eighth century (793), and is attributed to Edris II. The city was held in high veneration by the Mohammedans, and attracted numerous pil grims. In the thirteenth century it became the capital of an independent State, when it pros pered greatly. In the middle of the sixteenth century it passed to Morocco, and since then it has gradually declined.