The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Faujas de Saint-Fond, Barthélemy

FAUJAS DE SAINT-FOND,, Barthélemy, French geologist: b. Montélimart, 17 May 1741; d. 18 July 1819. He received his education at the Jesuit College of Lyons, studied law at Grenoble and was admitted advocate to the Parliament. In 1765 he became president of the Seneschal's Court, but he soon was attracted to outdoor life and the study of geology. On the occasion of his repeated visits to the Alps he studied the forms, structure and composition of rocks and in 1775 discovered a rich vein of pozzuolana in the Velay. Buffon invited him to Paris, where Louis XVI appointed him assistant naturalist at the Museum and in 1788 he became royal commissioner for mines. In the latter capacity he traveled all over Europe and in his &lsquo;Recherches sur les volcans éteints du Vivarais et du Velay&rsquo; he developed his theory of the origin of volcanoes. He was the first to point out the volcanic nature of the basaltic columns in Fingal's Cave, Isle of Staffa. In 1793 he was made professor at the Jardin des Plantes, a post he held until 1818. He wrote &lsquo;Voyage en Angleterre, en Écosse et aux Iles Hébrides&rsquo; (1797; Eng. trans., 2 vols., 1799); &lsquo;Description des expériences de la machine aérostatique de MM. Montgolfier&rsquo; (1784); &lsquo;Historie naturelle de la province de Dauphine&rsquo; (1782); &lsquo;Mineralogie des volcans&rsquo; (1784); &lsquo;Essai de géologie&rsquo; (1809).