FAVRE

favre, jules claude gabriel (1809-1880), french statesman, was born at lyons on the 21st of march 1809, and began his career as an advocate. from the time of the revolution of 1830 he openly declared himself a republican, and in political trials he seized the opportunity to express his opinions. after the revolution of 1848 he was elected deputy for lyons to the constituent assembly, where he sat among the moderate republicans, voting against the socialists. when louis napoleon was elected president of france, favre made himself conspicuous by his opposition, and on the 2nd of december 1851 he tried with victor hugo and others to organize an armed resistance in the streets of paris. after the _coup d'etat_ he withdrew from politics, resumed his profession, and distinguished himself by his defence of felice orsini, the perpetrator of the attack against the life of napoleon iii. in 1858 he was elected deputy for paris, and was one of the "five" who gave the signal for the republican opposition to the empire. in 1863 he became the head of his party, and delivered a number of addresses denouncing the mexican expedition and the occupation of rome. these addresses, eloquent, clear and incisive, won him a seat in the french academy in 1867. with thiers he opposed the declaration of war against prussia in 1870, and at the news of the defeat of napoleon iii. at sedan he demanded from the legislative assembly the deposition of the emperor. in the government of national defence he became vice-president under general trochu, and minister of foreign affairs, with the onerous task of negotiating peace with victorious germany. he proved to be less adroit as a diplomat than he had been as an orator, and committed several irreparable blunders. his famous statement on the 6th of september 1870 that he "would not yield to germany an inch of territory nor a single stone of the fortresses" was a piece of oratory which bismarck met on the 19th by his declaration to favre that the cession of alsace and of lorraine was the indispensable condition of peace. he also made the mistake of not having an assembly elected which would have more regular powers than the government of national defence, and of opposing the removal of the government from paris during the siege. in the peace negotiations he allowed bismarck to get the better of him, and arranged for the armistice of the 28th of june 1871 without knowing the situation of the armies, and without consulting the government at bordeaux. by a grave oversight he neglected to inform gambetta that the army of the east (80,000 men) was not included in the armistice, and it was thus obliged to retreat to neutral territory. he gave no proof whatever of diplomatic skill in the negotiations for the treaty of frankfort, and it was bismarck who imposed all the conditions. he withdrew from the ministry, discredited, on the 2nd of august 1871, but remained in the chamber of deputies. elected senator on the 30th of january 1876, he continued to support the government of the republic against the reactionary opposition, until his death on the 20th of january 1880. his work include many speeches and addresses, notably _la liberte de la presse_ (1849), _defense de f. orsini_ (1866), _discours de reception a l'academie francaise_ (1868), _discours sur la liberte interieure_ (1869). in _le gouvernement de la defense nationale_, 3 vols., 1871-1875, he explained his role in 1870-1871. after his death his family published his speeches in 8 volumes. see g. hanotaux, _histoire de la france contemporaine_ (1903, &c.); also e. benoit-levy, _jules favre_ (1884). favus (lat. for honeycomb), a disease of the scalp, but occurring occasionally on any part of the skin, and even at times on mucous membranes. the uncomplicated appearance is that of a number of yellowish, circular, cup-shaped crusts (scutula) grouped in patches like a piece of honeycomb, each about the size of a split pea, with a hair projecting in the centre. these increase in size and become crusted over, so that the characteristic lesion can only be seen round the edge of the scab. growth continues to take place for several months, when scab and scutulum come away, leaving a shining bare patch destitute of hair. the disease is essentially chronic, lasting from ten to twenty years. it is caused by the growth of a fungus, and pathologically is the reaction of the tissues to the growth. it was the first disease in which a fungus was discovered--by j.l. schonlein in 1839; the discovery was published in a brief note of twenty lines in _mullers archiv_ for that year (p. 82), the fungus having been subsequently named by r. remak _achorion schonleinii_ after its discoverer. the achorion consists of slender, mycelial threads matted together, bearing oval, nucleated gonidia either free or jointed. the spores would appear to enter through the unbroken cutaneous surface, and to germinate mostly in and around the hair-follicle and sometimes in the shaft of the hair. in 1892 two other species of the fungus were described by p.g. unna and frank, the _favus griseus_, giving rise to greyish-yellow scutula, and the _favus sulphureus celerior_, causing sulphur-yellow scutula of a rapid growth. favus is commonest among the poorer jews of russia, poland, hungary, galicia and the east, and among the same class of mahommedans in turkey, asia minor, syria, persia, egypt, algiers, &c. it is not rare in the southern departments of france, in some parts of italy, and in scotland. it is spread by contagion, usually from cats, often, however, from mice, fowls or dogs. lack of personal cleanliness is an almost necessary factor in its development, but any one in delicate health, especially if suffering from phthisis, seems especially liable to contract it. before treatment can be begun the scabs must be removed by means of carbolized oil, and the head thoroughly cleansed with soft soap. the cure is then brought about by the judicious use of parasiticides. if the nails are affected, avulsion will probably be needed before the disease can be reached.