Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/86

 78 FALSTER the poet Enevold von Falsen, was educated in Copenhagen, became a lawyer and judge in Norway, and was a member of the constituent diet of Eidsvold (1814), and deputy to the storthing (1815-'22). He voluntarily gave up his title of nobility, but became unpopular in 1822, when, as attorney general, he defended such measures of the government as conflict- ed with his formerly enunciated views. The storthing in 1824 withdrew the appropriation for his office, upon which the king appointed him governor of Bergen, and in 1827 he re- moved to Christiania as justice of the supreme court. His principal work is Norges flistorie (4 vols., Christiania, 1823-'4). FALSTER, an island of Denmark, in the Bal- tic, S. of Seeland, separated from the island of Moen on the northeast by Gron sound, and from that of Laaland on the west by Guld- borg sound, and forming part of the bailiwick of Maribo ; area, including the little island of Hasselo, 181 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 25,000. In the northeast it is mountainous, and elsewhere entirely flat. On account of its abundant fruits, it is called the orchard of Denmark. Grain, flax, hemp, hops, honey, and wax are the princi- pal products. Cattle, hogs, and poultry abound, and peat, chalk, and building stone are found. The chief town, Nykiobing, contains a castle and cathedral, and has an active trade ; pop. in 1870, 3,645. Originally in possession of Danish nobles, the island passed into that of the royal family, and a number of Danish queens resided in its capital in the 16th and in the early part of the 17th century. FAMAGOSTA, or Famagnsta (anc. Arsinoe ; Turk. Mciusa a seaport town of the island of Cyprus, on the E. coast, about 12 m. N. "W. of Cape Grego ; pop. about 800. It is about two miles in circumference, and is little more than a confused mass of ruins, the ancient streets being choked up and the buildings fallen into decay ; but the fortifications erected by the Genoese and Venetians are in a good state of preservation, and the cannon mounted by the latter still defend its walls. Of the 200 churches which it formerly contained, but a few ruined ones remain. The Latin cathedral of St. Nicholas, now a mosque, is a fine speci- men of mediaeval architecture. In it the Lu- signans were crowned kings of Jerusalem, and many interesting monuments are still to be seen in its interior. On the N. side of the town are bomb-proofs and cannon founderies. There are but two gates, one on the south and one opening toward the port. The harbor is narrow and its entrance is shallow, but there is good anchorage before the town in eight fathoms of water. Without the walls is the suburb of Varoskia, which contains most of the population. The surrounding country is bleak and barren. About 5 m. to the north are the ruins of ancient Salamis. The original city was one of those built by Ptolemy Phila- delphus in honor of his sister Arsinoe. After the battle of Actium it was called by Augustus FAN Fama Augusta. It was of great importance du- ring the crusades, and it was there that Guy de Lusignan received the crown of Cyprus in 1191 from Richard I. of England. It was taken by the Genoese in 1373, and in 1489 by the Vene- tians, under whom it became a rich and pow- erful city. In 1571 it fell into the hands of the Turks, after a siege of four months, in which it was nearly destroyed ; and in 1735 an earthquake completed its ruin. FAJV, an implement used to produce coolness by agitating the air. Its origin is traced to re- mote antiquity, and is ascribed by some histo- rians to Kan-si, daughter of a Chinese mandarin. On the walls of the tombs at Thebes, the king is represented surrounded by his fan-bearers, who bore the instruments as standards in war, , while in times of peace they waited upon the monarch in the temple, refreshing him with the fans, and at the same time driving away insects from the sacred offerings. The fashion spread from Persia to Asia Minor, and in Greece we find traces of fans as early as 500 B. 0. The wings of a bird joined laterally and fastened to a delicate handle constituted a most beautiful fan. The fan of the priest of Isis, when the worship of that divinity began to prevail in Greece, was semicircular, made of feathers of different lengths, pointed at the top, and waved by a female slave. In one of the tragedies of Euripides a eunuch is intro- duced, who says that, in accordance with Phrygian custom, he had used his fan to pro- tect Helen against the effects of the heat. In Rome fans became popular among the ladies, and at dinner parties slaves with fans stood behind the guests. The Roman poets, Ovid, Terence, and Propertius, frequently allude to their use, and the pictures on the ancient vases also indicate the wide prevalence of the fash- ion. In the middle ages fans made of eagle or peacock feathers, in various forms, and fastened with a handle of gold, silver, or ivory, were a lucrative article of trade in the Levantine mar- kets, whence they were exported to Venice and other Italian cities. Catharine de' Medici introduced into France fans which could be folded in the manner of those of the present day. Having been favorably received by the court of Henry II., they became objects of great luxury during the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. No toilet was considered complete without a fan, the cost of which fre- quently exceeded $70. Picturesque landscapes, the most exquisite paper of China, the most elegant taffeta of Florence, precious stones and diamonds, all in turn were put in requisition to enhance the appearance and the value of the fan. Manufacturers of fans soon became nu- merous in Paris; and previous to 1673, when a charter was granted to them by Louis XIV., they had organized themselves into a corpora- tion. In England, fans were in fashion in the time of Henry VIII. In Shakespeare's " Mer- ry Wives of Windsor" an allusion to fans is made by Falstaff to Pistol. A superb fan set