FAUNA 



2143 



FAUST 



forms what the geologist calls a fault. In the 

 diagram, at the right is shown the different 

 layers of rock in the position in which they 

 were formed; at the left are sections after 

 they have dropped to a lower level. The fault 



A FAULT 



is at the fracture, to the right of the center 

 of the illustration. Faults are frequently found 

 in mines, for some of which they serve as 

 natural drains. 



FAUNA, jaw'na, the collective name given 

 to the entire range of animal life of any cer- 

 tain part of the world, or of a definite period 

 of time. It corresponds to the word flora, 

 which signifies the vegetation of the place or 

 time. The region characterized by certain 

 fauna is called faunal region, and may be large 

 or small ; for instance, one may speak of the 

 fauna of North America, or of the fauna of 

 any one state or province. 



The name originated in the Fauna of Ro- 

 man myths, the goddess of fields and flocks. 



FAUNS, fawnz, in Roman mythology, the 

 deities of the woods and herds, represented 

 as half human, with pointed ears, short horns, 

 a tail and cloven feet. A notable illustration 

 is the marble Faun of Praxiteles, in the Capi- 

 toline Museum at Rome, the original bronze 

 of which is doubtfully attributed to the famous 

 Greek sculptor of that name. This statue fig- 

 ures in Hawthorne's Marble Faun. See PRAX- 

 ITELES, for illustration. 



FAUST. To many people Faust is simply 

 the hero of Goethe's great drama of Faust and 

 of Gounod's famous opera which is based on 

 it, but such a character has no more real ex- 

 istence than Prospero in Shakespeare's Tem- 

 pest, for instance, or than the hero of Gulliver's 

 Travels. There was a man, a German astrol- 

 oger, named Johann Faust, who lived from 1485 

 X) 1540, and about him were woven those 

 weird legends of which Goethe made use. Nor 

 was Goethe the only one who found in his 

 strange career an inspiration; all in all, no 

 fewer than four thousand books were written 

 about him. 



When but sixteen years of age, the story 

 goes, Faust, then a theological student at 

 Ingolstadt, became interested in astrology and 



black magic, and turned to the study of these 

 arts, in which he also instructed his friend 

 Wagner. Having spent a large fortune, he 

 conjured up evil spirits by means of his magic, 

 and made a reckless contract with the devil. 

 According to its terms Faust received Mephis- 

 topheles as his sen-ant and embarked upon a 

 riotous career, consulting nothing but his own 

 pleasure, but at the end of twenty-four years 

 the evil spirits carried him off. 



The Opera. The music for the world-famous 

 opera based on the Faust legend was com- 

 posed by Charles F. Gounod (which see). The 

 work has enjoyed unfailing popularity since 

 its first presentation in Paris, in 1859. In this 

 version of the story Faust is an old man, weary 

 of books and learning and disappointed with 

 life. Shown a vision of the beautiful Mar- 

 guerite, he signs a contract with Mephistoph- 

 eles, is changed into a young man, and gives 

 himself up to the pleasures of youth and love. 

 In the end, Marguerite dies in prison to the 

 chant of a heavenly choir, as Mephistopheles, 

 carrying out the terms of the contract, drags 

 Faust down with him into the regions below. 

 Other important characters are Dame Martha, 

 companion of Marguerite (contralto) ; the 

 heroine's brother, Valentine (baritone), who is 

 killed by Faust in a duel; and Siebel, friend 

 of Valentine. The latter role is always acted 

 by a woman, as the music for that part is 

 written for a soprano voice. 



The popularity of Faust is due almost 

 wholly to the exquisite music. Marguerite's 

 spinning-wheel song, Once There Lived a King 

 in Thule (Goethe's famous ballad), the stirring 

 Soldiers' Chorus of the fourth act, Margue- 

 rite's Jewel Song and the duet of the lovers, 

 Forever Thine, are among the favorite melo- 

 dies of the opera. The part of Faust has been 

 sung by many noted tenors, among them Jean 

 de Reszke. Madame Melba was one of the 

 most successful Marguerites. M.S. 



FAUST, joust, or FUST, JOHANN ( ? - 

 1466), a German citizen of Mainz, who fur- 

 nished money to produce the first printed book 

 in the world. He was a partner of Gutenberg, 

 inventor of printing. When the latter under- 

 took to produce a copy of the Bible printed 

 with type and was unable to finish it because 

 he lacked the necessary funds, Faust loaned 

 him a large sum of money, taking a mortgage 

 on his business as security. Gutenberg could 

 not repay him, and the partnership was dis- 

 solved. Among their printed books were the 

 Mazarin Bible, sometimes called the Forty- 



