FAKIR. 435 FALCK. shaman is particularly close, as in the mango trick of the one and the corn trick of the other. In both cases the plant is apparently grown in eight of the spectators, in a few minutes, from the seed, through the tender shoot, the funning bud, the full bloom, the immature truit, and the ripened product, all by an ingenious series of illusions, but the Oriental trick has become little more than a feat of jugglery; the Occidental one remains a part of a solemn religious ceremony. See Man, Science of, section Sophiology. FALAISE, fa'laz'. The capital of an arron- dissement in the Department of Calvados, France, on the Ante, 31 miles southeast of Caen by rail (Map: France, F 3). It is built on a bluff (falaise), whence its name. The chief buildings arc the two Gothic churches, the hospital, the public library, and the ruined castle, once the seat of the dukes of Normandy, and the birth- plai I of William the Conqueror, a statue of whom stands on the Place Saint Gervais. In the castle, the chamber in which the Conqueror was born is shown, as well as a round tower, 130 feet high, called 'Talbot's' tower, which was built by Talbot, who was lord warden of the district, after the capture of Falaise by Henry V. of Eng- land. Falaise has manufactures of cottons, hosiery, and bobbinet. An important annual horse and cattle fair, dating from the eleventh century, is held in August, at Guibray, a sub- urb. Population, in 1901, 7657. FALANAKA, fa'la-na'ka (.Malagasy word). A peculiar fossorial civet [Eupleres Goudotii) of Madagascar, remarkable for its slender skull and the weakness of its jaws and the small size of the teeth, which are insectivore-like, and, with other characteristics, make this animal the most aberrant of the Viverridae. Accordingly it is placed in a subfamily (Euplerinoe) by itself. FAXASHAS, fa-la'shaz (Ethiop., wanderers). The inhabitants of the Abyssinian Kingdom of Amhara. They claim to be of Jewish race and to be descended from emigrants of the period of dis- order in Israel during and following the reign of Jeroboam. Whether the.y are true Jews, or de- scendants merely of proselytes of the period of close connection between Abyssinia and Israel, is uncertain. They practice debased Jewish rites, but. are not acquainted with the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud, make no use of the tephillin, a,nd observe neither the Feast of Purim nor that of the Dedication of the Temple. They possess, in Geez, an Ethiopic dialect of great antiquity, the foundation of the Amharic, the canonical and apocryphal books of the Old Testament: a vol- ume of extracts from the Pentateuch, with com- ments, given, as they think, from God to Moses on Mount Sinai ; the Te-e-sa-sa Sanbat, or laws of the Sabbath ; the Ardit, a book of secrets re- vealed to twelve saints, which is used as a charm against disease ; lives of Abraham, Moses, etc., and a translation of Josephus, called Sana Aihud. A copy of the Orit, or Mosaic law, is kept in the holy of holies in every, synagogue. Various pagan observances are mingled in their ritual ; every newly built house is considered uninhabitable till the blood of a sheep or fowl has been spilt in it: a woman guilty of a breach of chastity has to undergo purification by leap- ing into a flaming fire; the Sabbath has been deified, and, as the goddess Sanbat, receives adoration and sacrifice, and is said to have ten thousand times ten thousand angels to wait on her commands. There i a mono tic system, said to have been nil reduced in I 1" hunt b i tury. The monks must prepare all their food with their own hands, and no lay person, male or female, may enter then hnn i , i lelibacy is imt. practiced by the priests, but tiny are not al- lowed to marrj a second time, and no one is admitted into the ordei eaten with a Christian, or is the son or grandson of a man thus contaminated. Belief in the evil eye or shadow is universal, and spirit-raisers, sooth- ' I, ami ra iii-doctors are in repute. Education is in the hands of the monks and priests, and is given only to buy.-. Fasts, obli- gatory on all above seven years of age, are held on every Monday or Thursday, on every new moon, and al the Passover (the 21st. or 22d of April). The annual festivals are the Passover, the Harvest feast, the Baala Mazalat or Feast of the Tabernacles (during which, however, no booths are built), the Day of Covenant or As- sembly, and Abraham's Day. It is believed that after death the soul remains in a place of dark- ness till the third day, when the first taskar or sacrifice for the dead is offered : prayers are read in the mesgeed (synagogue) for the repose of the departed, and for seven days a formal lament takes place every morning in bis house. No cof fins are used, and a stone vault is built over the corpse so that it may not come into direct con tact with the earth. The Falashas are an indus- trious people, living for the most part in their own villages, or, if they settle in a Christian or Mohammedan town, occupying a separate quar ter. They engage in agriculture, manufacture pottery, ironware, and cloth, and are especially sought after for their skill in mason-work. Their number is variously estimated at from 100,000 to 250,000. Consult: Flad, The Falashas of Abys- sinia, English translation (London, ls'iilh ; Stem. Wanderings Among the Falashas in Abyssinia (London, 1862) ; Halevy, Travels in Abyssinia, English translation (London, 1878). M. Halevy was a Jew, sent to Abyssinia to offset the effects of Christian missionary work. FALB, falp, Rudolf (1838-1903). An Aus trian meteorologist, born at Obdach, Styria. lie studied theology at Gratz, and although ordained to the priesthood subsequently became converted to Protestantism. From 1869 to 1872 he studied mathematics, physics, geology, and astronomy at. Prague and Vienna, and from 1S77 to 1880 he traveled through North and South America. Sub- sequently he became established at Berlin. He be- came widely known by his theory that the inllu ence of the sun and moon, exercised conjointly on the atmosphere and on the molten materia] be- neath the earth's surface, produces earthquakes and other disturbances of nature. This tl > has, however, found no acceptance a n« scien- tists. He was popularly known for his predictions of 'critical days.' In 1868 he founded the popular astronomical periodical Sirius (conducted from 1SS2 by Klein) . His works include: I on dt n Um- walxungen im Weltall (3d ed. 1890); Das Wet- h r wnd di i llnnd (2 ed. 1892) : Kalender drr kritischen Tage ( 1S92 et seep) . FALCK, falk, Niels Nikolais (1784-1850). A German jurist. He was born at Emmerlef, Schleswig, and was educated at Kiel. In 1814 he became professor of law at Kiel, and in 1838
