152 



FATESFAUST. 



the Fata Morgana, are proved by the accurate obser- 

 vations of the coast and town of Heggio, by P. 

 Minasi, to be derived from objects on shore. If, in 

 aildition to the circumstances we before described, 

 the atmosphere be highly impregnated with vapour, 

 and dense exhalations, not previously dispersed by 

 the action of the wind and waves, or rarified by the 

 sun, it then hnppens, that, hi this vapour, as in a cur- 

 tain extended along the channel to the height of 

 above forty palms, and nearly down to the sea, the 

 observer will behold the scene of the same objects 

 not only reflected from the surface of the sea, but 

 likewise in the air, though not so distinctly or well 

 defined as the former objects on the sea. Lastly, if 

 the air be slightly hazy and opaque, and at the same 

 time dewy, arid adapted to form the iris, then the 

 above-mentioned objects will appear only at the 

 surface of the sea, as in the first case ; but all vividly 

 coloured or fringed with red, green, blue, and other 

 prismatic colours. As the day advances, the fairy 

 scene gradually disappears. A very singular instance 

 of atmospherical refraction is described in the Philo- 

 sophical Transactions, as having taken place at 

 Hastings, England. The coast of Picardy, which is 

 between forty and fifty miles distant from that of 

 Sussex, appeared suddenly close to the English shore. 

 The sailors and fishermen crowded down to the beach, 

 scarcely believing their own eyes ; but at length they 

 began to recognise several of the French cliffs, and 

 pointed out places they had been accustomed to visit. 

 From the summit of the eastern clift' or hill, a most 

 beautiful scene presented itself : at one glance the 

 spectators could see Dungeness, Dover cliffs, and the 

 French coast, all along from Calais to St Vallery ; 

 and, as some affirmed, as far to the westward even as 

 Dieppe. By the telescope, the French fishing-boats 

 were plainly seen at anchor ; and the different colours 

 of the land on the heights, with the buildings, were 

 perfectly discernible. This refractive power of the 

 atmosphere was probably produced by a diminution 

 of the density of its lower stratum, in consequence of 

 the increase of heat communicated to it by the rays 

 of the sun, powerfully reflected from the surface of 

 the earth. (See Mirage.) Similar appearances occur 

 also in the great sandy plains of Persia, of Asiatic 

 Tartary, in Lower Egypt, on the plains of Mexico in 

 North America, &c. See Biot's Astronomic Phys., 

 Paris, 1810, 3 vols., 1st vol. 



FATES (in Latin, Parcce ; in Greek, Mo7^a,); the 

 inexorable sisters, who spin the thread of human 

 life. Homer mentions neither their separate 

 names nor their number. 1'he appellation Clotho 

 (the spinner) was probably at first common to them 

 all. As they were three in number, and poetry 

 endeavoured to designate them more precisely, Clotho 

 became a proper name, as did also Atropos and 

 Lachesis. Clotho seems to indicate nothing peculiar; 

 Atropos signifies unalterable fate ; Lachesis, lot or 

 chance ; so that all three refer to the same subject 

 under different points of view. In Homer and Hesiod, 

 they appear as goddesses of human fate and indivi- 

 dual destiny, both in life and death. Among the 

 lyric poets, they seem to have a general power over 

 events, and are always present where any thing is to 

 lie divided (from partire, Greek ^I'^M). In the 

 narrowest signification, they are the goddesses of 

 death, as of that destiny which closes the scene with 

 all. In this capacity, they belong to the infernal 

 world, and are daughters of Erebus and Night. As 

 goddesses of fate, they are the servants or Jupiter, 

 and the offspring of Jupiter and Themis. The former 

 genealogy is the more modern. As daughters of 

 Jupiter, they have a share in the decisions of fate, 

 and are commissioned by him to execute his com- 

 wiaiids. They regulate the future events in the life 



of man. They know and predict what is yet to hap- 

 pen. They sing the fate of mortals, and at the same 

 time keep their spindles in motion, and are free from 

 change. A peculiar department is assigned to each 

 of them. The first writes, the second speaks, and 

 the third spins out the thread ; or Atropos represents 

 the past, Lachesis the future, and Clotho the present; 

 and thus they point to the beginning, the middle, or 

 continuance, and the end of life. Lachesis is repre- 

 sented with a spindle, Clotho with the thread, and 

 Atropos with scissors, with which she cuts it off. 

 We find, in the northern mythology, three beautiful 

 virgins, the Nornen, who determine the fate of men. 

 Their names are Urd (the past), Varande (the pre- 

 sent), and Skuld (the future). See Northern Mytho- 

 logy. 



FATHOM ; a measure of six feet, used to regulate 

 the length of the cables, rigging, &c., and to divide 

 the lead (or sounding) lines, &c. 



FAUJAS-DE-SAINT-FOND, BARTHELEMI, a 

 celebrated geologist, was born at Paris in 1750. He 

 visited almost all the countries of Europe and the 

 new world, devoting his attention especially to geo- 

 logical phenomena, particularly to volcanic produc- 

 tions. His researches threw new light on this 

 subject. In his Recherches sur les Volcans eteints du 

 Fivarais et du Velai (1788), he developed his views 

 on the origin of volcanoes, which he attributed to the 

 contact of water and subterranean fire. His researches 

 made him incline to the opinion of those geologists 

 who consider all trap formations as of volcanic origin. 

 This opinion he supports in his Essais geologioues. 

 Of his numerous works should be mentioned his 

 Histoire naturelle des Roches de Trapp (1788, and new 

 edition, 1813), Hist. not. de la Montague de Maes- 

 tricht (1799 to 1808, 10 numbers, folio), and his 

 Travels through England, Scotland, and the Hebrides 

 (1797, 2 vols.), which contains discriminating obser- 

 vations on the manners of those countries. 



FAUN ; the name given to the Roman gods of the 

 woods, i. e., a kind of spirits inhabiting the forests 

 and groves, who were particularly reverenced by the 

 cultivators of the ground. Their form was princi 

 pally human, but with a short goat's tail, pointed ears 

 and projecting horns. They were clothed in the skin 

 of a goat, or that of some other beast. They are 

 sometimes crowned with vine branches, because, like 

 the satyrs, they belonged to the train of Bacchus. 

 Among the most famous antique statues of fauns are 

 the old dancing faun in the Florentine museum, and 

 the young faun represented as a flute-player. The 

 poets describe them as deformed and sensual ; and 

 we recognise this character in the ancient statues 

 which have come down to us. They were considered 

 as the sons of Faunus, who was reverenced as one of 

 the most ancient kings of Latinm, and was celebrated 

 for his power of prophecy. He answers to the Pan 

 of the Greeks ; and his sons by Fatua, or Fauna, cor- 

 respond with the Grecian Panes, as guardian gods 

 of the herds, woods, and fields. 



FAUNA (from Faun, q. v.); a collective word, 

 signifying all the mammalia of a certain region, and 

 also the description of them, corresponding to the 

 word flora in respect to plants. Thus we have Har- 

 lan's Fauna Americana. 



FAUST, or FUST, JOHN ; a goldsmith of Mentz, 

 one of the three artists to whom the invention of 

 printing is generally ascribed. It is, however, doubt- 

 ful if he did more than advance money to Guttem. 

 berg, who had previously made some attempts with 

 carved blocks at Strasburg. The third person con- 

 cerned was Schasffer, who married the daughter of 

 Faust, and who is allowed the honour of having in. 

 vented punches and matrices, by means of which this 

 grand art was carried to perfection. The nrstrfruits 



