Fan, an implement used to produce coolness by agitating the air. Its origin is traced to remote antiquity, and is ascribed by some historians 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. C. 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 introduced, who says that, in accordance with Phrygian custom, he had used his fan to protect 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 fashion. 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 markets, 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 frequently 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 numerous in Paris; and previous to 1673, when a charter was granted to them by Louis XIV., they had organized themselves into a corporation.

In England, fans were in fashion in the time of Henry VIII. In Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor" an allusion to fans is made by Falstaff to Pistol. A superb fan set with diamonds was presented to Queen Elizabeth on New Year's day. Among the articles received by Cortes from Montezuma were five fans of variegated feathers, four of them with 10 and one with 13 rods embossed with gold, and one fan, also with variegated feather work, with 37 rods plated with gold. In Spain at an early day fans were special favorites with ladies, and the Spanish lady, as well as the ladies of Spanish extraction in the new world, are.inimitable in their management (manejo) of the fan (abanico.) They carry on conversations with it, and a book might be written to explain the complicated code of signals by which they express their feelings with the fan.-The best and cheapest lacquered fans are produced in China. Those made of ivory, bone, and feathers are destined chiefly for the European and American markets. The fans which the Chinese use are of polished or japanned bamboo, covered with paper, and vary in price from 20 to 30 cents a dozen.

The state fan which is used on great occasions in China and India is precisely of the same semicircular form and pointed top which was in fashion among the ancient Greeks. In Japan the fan is to be seen on all occasions, among all classes of society, and in the hands of men, women, and children. Where the European takes off his hat in token of politeness, the Japanese performs the same courtesy by waving his fan. In the schools diligent scholars receive fans in reward for their zeal. A gentleman, in giving alms to a beggar, puts the money upon his fan. When a criminal of rank is sentenced to death, his doom is proclaimed to him by presenting him with a fan, and his head is taken off while he bows and stretches out his hand to receive the fatal gift. Japanese fans, generally ornamented with grotesque pictures, are exported in large quantities to the United States, where they are as popular as those of China for their cheapness and neatness.-Fans were used for allegorical purposes in the mythology of Greece, and the Egyptian custom of employing them in temples and for religious purposes has also been perpetuated in the ritual of the modern Greek church, which places a fan in the hands of its deacons.

They are used to this day in Rome on public occasions, especially at the festa di cattedra, when the pope is escorted by two men who carry feather fans with ivory handles, but do not use them.-Next to China and Japan, France is most celebrated for the manufacture of fans, but beautiful fans are also made in the United States, in England, at Brussels, Geneva, Vienna, and at various other places. The manufacture in France presents an interesting instance of the subdivision of labor, 20 different processes being required to produce a fan which sells for less than three cents, as well as one worth several thousand francs. This industry gives employment to thousands of persons, and its aggregate value for Paris alone is estimated at 7,000,000 francs annually. In France, the fan is occasionally used by gentlemen at the theatres, having first appeared on a warm summer evening of 1828, during the representation of Corisandre at the comic opera. Hence the name of corisandre applied in France to fans used by gentlemen.