TORTOISE PLANT, a plant of the yam family, from the Cape of Good Hope, also called elephant's foot, these two common names being equivalent to its systematic name, testudinaria elephantipes. While its habit is strikingly unlike that of the yam (dioscorea), it is so close to that in flower and fruit that a description of one will answer for both. (See YAM.) The yam makes an underground, thin-skinned, tuberous root, or rootstock; but in this the same portion is above ground, and very large, while the stem proper is slender; several stems from the same rootstock climb to the height of 20 to 40 ft., throwing off numerous branches, which bear bright green heart-shaped or kidney-shaped leaves. It is often cultivated as a greenhouse climber for its pleasing foliage, and for its curious rootstock; this is hemispherical or nearly globular, and sometimes 3 ft. in diam thick, and obtuse, covered with plates; the | ted States.-The tortoise shell of commerce is eyes are large, with a dark iris; the jaws cov- the product of the hawk's bill or imbricated ered with horny, serrated plates; the neck turtle. (See TURTLE.) short, and its skin granulated; the fore limbs very large and thick, compressed antero-posteriorly, with five fingers armed with strong nails; along the outer edge of the forearm is a row of projecting horny points; the hind limbs are short, thick, rounded, with four toes armed with strong nails. The general color is brownish yellow, with darker brown tints, the head almost black, the lower parts dirty yellow, and the limbs dusky. It is found in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, but does not appear to go north of the Savannah river. Like the rodent gophers, they burrow in the ground, preferring such dry and sandy places as the pine barrens, where they exist in troops; they live entirely on vegetable food; they are fond of basking in the sun, though they cannot bear its full summer heat, and cannot endure rain; they become torpid in winter. The adults are very strong, moving with a weight of 200 lbs., and the females are the largest; the flesh and the eggs are esteemed as food. In the European land tortoise (testudo Græca, Linn.) the carapace is oval, somewhat widest and gibbous behind, marbled with black and yellow; plastron pale yellow with a wide blackish band down each side; legs short, and tail ending in a horny tip. It is found in Spain, Italy, Greece, and other countries bordering on the Mediterranean; in England it has been domesticated and known to live more than a century. The Galápagos tortoise (megalochelys Indica, Fitz.; testudo elephantopus, Harlan) is the largest of the order, frequently measuring 12 ft. in circumference; the shell is very convex and of a deep brown color. It is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and delighting to wallow in the mud like a pachyderm; some live in the mountains and others in the low lands of the Galápagos islands, and the latter in their journeys after water in the elevated regions have worn well beaten paths, which led mariners to the discovery of the springs, often at a great distance from the shore; they drink by immersing the head up to the eyes, and swallowing great mouthfuls, about 10 a minute, according to Darwin; their flesh is excellent and largely used both fresh and salted, and a very clear oil is made from the fat. They feed on succulent plants and vegetables, and in captivity are fond of cabbage, lettuce, and marrows. They were formerly very numerous in these islands, and probably live for centuries. Their gait is very slow, about two miles in 24 hours, though they have been known to travel four miles in the same time. The eggs are laid in October in the sand, and are about 8 in. in circumference; the young are devoured by birds of prey; in Great Britain, where numbers have been kept alive, they go under ground in November and reappear in the middle of April; many have been seen in the Uni792 VOL. XV.-52 Tortoise Plant (Testudinaria elephantipes). eter; its exterior is covered with a thick corklike substance, which cracks and forms manysided protuberances, separated by deep fissures, giving the whole much the appearance of the shell of a large tortoise; the brown color and apparently lifeless character of this mass form a striking contrast with the vigor and lively green of the rest of the plant. The dormant rootstocks as imported from Africa are to all appearance dead, but when placed upon the ground soon throw out small roots from the lower surface, and stems start from the upper surface and grow very rapidly. When not growing, the plant is kept quite dry. It is called in Africa Hottentots' bread, but it is said that the natives do not eat it, though the fleshy interior of the rootstock affords food to baboons and other animals. One or two other species are known, but are not cultivated. TORTOLA, the most important of the Virgin group of West India islands, belonging to Great Britain, lying between Virgin Gorda | and St. John's, in lat. 18° 24′ N., lon. 64° 32′ W.; area, 26 sq. m.; pop. about 4,000. It is 12 m. long by 2 to 4 m. broad, and has a rough surface, rising to the height of over 1,600 ft. On the north, at Tortola, the chief town, is an excellent land-locked harbor. It exports sugar, molasses, rum, and copper ore. It is the seat of the lieutenant governor and the administrative council. The climate is unhealthful. (See VIRGIN ISLANDS.) TORTOSA (anc. Dertosa), a walled city of Catalonia, Spain, in the province and 41 m. S. W. of the city of Tarragona, on the left bank of the Ebro; pop. about 25,000. It is on the slope of a hill, and is entered by three gates; the streets are narrow, ill paved, and some of them very steep. It has a Gothic cathedral, a theological seminary, and numerous churches and schools. Cotton and linen goods, glass, earthenware, cordage, wax candles, leather, soap, brandy, starch, and baskets are manufactured. The river is navigable for vessels of 100 tons, and there is considerable trade. There are quarries of valuable marble, known as Tortosa jasper, about 3 m. from the city. The town enjoyed the privilege of a Roman municipium. It was early taken by the Moors, but was wrested from them in 811 by Louis le Débonnaire. They afterward retook it, and it became a harbor of pirates. A crusade was proclaimed against it in 1148 by Pope Eugenius III., and it was captured. The Moors made desperate efforts to retake it, but the Christian women defended the walls while the men sallied out and put the besiegers to flight. Many privileges were conferred upon the women for their bravery, and in 1170 the military order of La Hacha, or the Flambeau, was instituted for them. The French took Tortosa in 1708, and again at the beginning of 1811. TORTUGAS. I. See DRY TORTUGAS. II. An island of the West Indies, off the N. E. coast of Cuba, from which it is separated only by a narrow channel called El Savinal. It forms the entrance to the harbor of Nuevitas, and is about 25 m. long from N. W. to S. E. and 6 m. wide. Several smaller islands are called Tortuga or Tortue (Sp. and Fr., a tortoise) from their shape, or from abounding in tortoises. TORTURE, properly, an infliction of severe pain upon an accused person to induce a confession of guilt, or upon a criminal to extort a revelation of his accomplices. The term is frequently used carelessly to designate severe and unusual punishment inflicted for crime, but improperly, as it is never spoken of by judicial writers as a punishment. By legal writers on the continent of Europe and the earlier English authors, the word question (Lat. quæstio, a seeking) is used as a synonyme of torture; the object being a search for the truth in regard to the criminality of the tortured person, or the names of his accomplices, by the compulsion of suffering. Torture was divided as to intensity into the "question ordinary," a com paratively mild application of the instruments used in torturing, and the “question extraordinary," where these means were used to the greatest extent compatible with the preservation of life. The threats of torture were divided into "verbal territion," when the executioner described the torture, and "real territion," when the victim was placed upon the rack but not tortured. As to the time of its application, it was called the "question preparatory when used for the purpose of compelling the accused to confess his own crime, and the "question préalable or preliminary" when applied to extort from a criminal the revelation of his accomplices.-Torture seems to have been early practised as a means of discovering guilt, both judicially and privately, but was not inflicted on freemen or citizens till the time of the Roman emperors, except in cases of suspected crime against the state itself. The Greeks inflicted it on their slaves, and after their subjugation by the Romans it was inflicted on those who had not a claim to the name of Roman citizen; the oath of the citizen was considered sufficient. Under the emperors this distinction was not long continued, and men and women even of patrician birth were subjected to torture to compel confession of crimes existing only in the imagination of tyrants. Wherever the code of Justinian was adopted as the basis of the legal system of European nations during the middle ages, judicial torture formed a feature of the examination of persons accused of crime; in the Teutonic nations it gradually took the place of ordeals and the trial by battle. In England it was probably never considered a part of the common law, though the peine forte et dure, which was used to compel a prisoner to plead to the indictment, had certainly some countenance from that law. (See PEINE FORTE ET DURE.) But it was recognized as one of the prerogatives of the crown to order it, and was thus in occasional use up to 1640, when the last case occurred. Severe and cruel as were the punishments inflicted by the ecclesiastical law, there is no evidence of a resort to "the question" by the inquisition or any other ecclesiastical court before 1252, when Innocent IV. called upon the civil arm to use it to induce confessions and accusations by offenders. Not long after this period the necessity of secrecy in the proceedings of the inquisition led to its extensive adoption, and to refinements of cruelty in its use before unknown. Judicial torture continued in most of the European states till the latter part of the last century. In 1780 the "question preparatory" was discontinued by a decree of Louis XVI., and in 1789 torture in general was abolished throughout the French dominions. In Russia it was abolished in 1801. In Austria, Prussia, and Saxony it was suspended soon after the middle of the last century, but in several of the smaller German states it continued on the statute books till the present century. Thomasius, Hommel, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Howard were instrumental 66 in bringing about its discontinuance. In the | London, 1839); Maclaurin, "Introduction to Criminal Trials;" Augustin Nicolas, Si la torture est un moyen sûr à vérifier les crimes secrets (12mo, 1681); Reitemaier, Sur la question chez les Grecs et les Romains; and Mittermaier, Das Deutsche Strafverfahren, vol. i. TORY. See WHIG AND TORY. TOSCHI, Paolo, an Italian engraver, born in Parma about 1788, died there in 1854. He studied in Paris, returning in 1819 to Parma as director of the academy of fine arts. He was the first to engrave Correggio's frescoes, of which he completed 22 plates with the aid of his pupils, who continued the work after his death; the whole number is to be 48, and 18 additional had been finished in 1874. TOTAL ABSTINENCE. As early as 1639 a law was made in Massachusetts to restrain intemperate drinking, and similar laws were passed about the same time in Connecticut. In 1760 the religious societies began to protest against the use of liquors at funerals. In 1756 a duty was laid upon imported spirits in Pennsylvania for the purpose of diminishing their consumption, and in 1772 this act was extended to embrace spirits of domestic production. The first continental congress, in 1774, recommended "the several legislatures of the United States immediately to pass laws the most effectual for putting an immediate stop to the pernicious practice of distilling, by which the most extensive evils are likely to be derived if not quickly prevented." The first modern temperance society was formed in 1789 by 200 farmers of Litchfield, Conn., who, to discourage the use of spirituous liquors, "determined not to use any distilled liquors in doing their farm work the ensuing season." In December, 1790, the college of physicians in Philadelphia memorialized congress "to impose such heavy duties upon distilled spirits as shall be effectual to restrain their intemperate use in our country." The Methodist church from its foundation in America took decided ground against the use and sale of liquors. In the latter part of the 18th century the clergy in general began to make active efforts against intemperance. The cause of temperance was also publicly advocated by philanthropists, chief among whom was Dr. Benjamin Rush. But the modern temperance movement may be said to date from 1811, when the efforts for the suppression of intemperance assumed an organized and systematic form, although for 25 years thereafter but limited results were apparent. In that year the general assembly of the Presbyterian church appointed a committee of seven ministers to devise measures for preventing the evils arising from the intemperate use of spirituous liquors. In 1812 this committee recommended that all Presbyterian ministers in the United States should deliver discourses on the evils of intemperance, and that extended efforts should be made to circulate addresses, sermons, tracts, and other printed matter on this subject. In June, 1811, the general association of Massachusetts appointed | a committee of four ministers and four laymen to cooperate with the committee of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church and the general association of Connecticut in devising measures for the promotion of temperance. In 1813 this committee organized the "Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance," which in 1833 changed its name to that of the "Massachusetts Temperance Society," under which title it was incorporated in 1845 and still holds a corporate existence. In 1826 the "American Society for the Promotion of Temperance" was formed in Boston, with Marcus Morton as president. Dr. Justin Edwards of Andover, Mass., became the corresponding secretary in 1829, and travelled extensively, preaching total abstinence and organizing state and local societies. The five annual reports of the society written by him are among the best contributions to the literature of this subject. In 1836 the society became by change of name the "American Temperance Union," with the Rev. Dr. John Marsh as secretary. It was then established in Philadelphia, but in October, 1838, was removed to New York. Although total abstinence was publicly advocated as early as 1820, it was not till many years later that any of the temperance organizations insisted upon this requirement. The object of the Massachusetts society, as set forth in its constitution, was "to discountenance and suppress the too free use of ardent spirits." Neither the American temperance society nor its auxiliaries opposed the use of wine, cider, or malt liquors. Total abstinence from distilled spirits, except when prescribed as a medicine, and moderation in the use of the less intoxicating drinks, were the only general requirements. Many of the earlier advocates of temperance, including Mathew Carey, encouraged the culture of the grape and the use of wine as a preventive of intemperance. Dr. Marsh, in his "Fifty Years' Tribute to the Cause of Temperance," says: "The first reformers built a brewery in Boston for the accommodation of members of the temperance society." Even the first national temperance convention, which assembled in Philadelphia in May, 1833, and was composed of 400 delegates from 21 states, including a large number of clergymen of all denominations, simply took the ground that "the traffic in ardent spirits as a drink, and the use of it as such, are morally wrong, and ought to be abandoned throughout the world." Nothing was said of total abstinence from other alcoholic beverages. At this convention the "United States Temperance Union" was formed, consisting of the officers of the American temperance society of Boston, 23 state societies, and more than 7,000 minor associations. Its object was, by diffusing information and exerting a moral influence, to extend the principles of temperance throughout the world. In 1833 the Massachusetts society adopted a new con stitution with a pledge of total abstinence. In 1836 the state society of Pennsylvania, formed in 1827, adopted the pledge of "total abstinence from all that can intoxicate." Demand was now made in all the states that higher ground should be taken; yet few were prepared to include malt liquors in the pledge, believing that beer was necessary and beneficial. The second national convention was held at Saratoga, N. Y., in 1836, when the name of the United States temperance union was changed to that of the "American Temperance Union," with the design of admitting members from all parts of North America. The convention was attended by 348 delegates from 19 states and territories and from Canada. The most marked feature of the proceedings was the adoption of the principle of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks as beverages. One of the earliest state societies was that of Connecticut, organized in May, 1829. In the same year state temperance societies were formed in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Virginia, and Illinois. In May, 1831, there were 19 state societies, with 2,200 known local societies formed on the plan of total abstinence, and embracing more than 170,000 pledged members. In 1832 the war department abolished the "grog" ration, substituting coffee and sugar.-As early as 1832 the license question began to be agitated, and a strong public opinion against license laws was soon formed. In 1837-'8 a bill introduced in the Maine legislature to repeal all license laws of the state, and to forbid the sale of ardent spirits as a beverage in less quantity than 28 gallons, was lost by one vote in the senate. In Tennessee a law was passed repealing all acts licensing tippling houses, and making the retailing of spirits a misdemeanor punishable by fine at the discretion of the courts. In Massachusetts the sale of spirituous liquors in less quantity than 15 gallons, except by physicians and apothecaries, was forbidden. Laws were also passed in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, either restricting the sale or leaving it to a vote of the people of each town whether liquor selling should be licensed. The third national convention, composed of 560 delegates, assembled in July, 1841, and resolved "that the license laws are at variance with all true political economy, and one of the chief supports of intemperance." Large conventions in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts declared against granting licenses, and in favor of providing by fine and imprisonment for the effectual suppression of the traffic. In 1846 New York voted against license by a large majority. Vermont gave a majority of 8,000 against license, and many towns in New Hampshire voted against it. In Rhode Island every town but three, and in Connecticut two thirds of the towns, declared in favor of "no license." In Pennsylvania 18 counties voted on the question, and generally against license. In Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Wis consin about half of the counties opposed it. The agitation of the question of license resulted in a strong public sentiment in favor of prohibition. In March, 1847, the supreme court of the United States unanimously decided that prohibitory laws "were not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States, nor with any acts of congress;" and that it was within the police powers of the states to restrain or prohibit the traffic in intoxicating drinks. Maine was the first state to prohibit by law the sale of strong drinks. A prohibitory law was enacted in that state in 1846, with only ordinary fines for its violation. The "Maine law," drafted by Gen. Neal Dow, provided for the seizure and destruction of liquors held for illegal sale; fine and imprisonment for the illegal manufacture or sale of liquors were prescribed in 1851. This law was repealed in 1856, and a stringent license law substituted; but after an experience of two years of license, with increase of poverty, crime, and public disorder, contrasted with the previous years of prohibition, an enactment was passed and submitted to the people, and prohibition again became the policy of the state, being ratified by a majority of 22,952. Delaware was the second state to enact a prohibitory law, which was submitted to the people and ratified in 1847; but in 1848 it was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court for being so submitted. In May, 1852, Rhode Island passed a prohibitory law, which was declared unconstitutional by Judge Curtis of the United States circuit court. It was amended in January, 1853, and was repealed in 1863. In 1865 a law was passed allowing town councils and boards of aldermen to grant or refuse licenses. In 1874 the license clause was repealed, and prohibition reenacted; but in June, 1875, the prohibitory clause was again repealed. Massachusetts passed a prohibitory law in 1852, which was declared unconstitutional in some of its provisions, and a new law was passed in 1855, which remained till 1868, when it was repealed and license substituted; but the prohibitory law was again enacted in 1869, cider being excepted. In 1870 the law was altered to allow the free sale of lager beer, ale, porter, and strong beer, in every town in the state where the citizens did not vote to prohibit it; but in 1871 the law was again changed so that malt liquors might not be sold in towns without a vote in its favor, cider being still exempt. In 1873 the beer clause was repealed, thus restoring the prohibition of both malt and spirituous liquors; but as apothecaries were permitted to sell, the law of 1855 and 1857 was not fully restored. In 1875 the prohibitory clause of the law was repealed, and license substituted. The Vermont legislature in 1852 passed a prohibitory law, which was ratified by the people in 1853, and still remains. In 1850 Michigan prohibited the sale of liquor by a constitutional provision; and in 1853 a prohibitory law was enacted and ratified by a popular majority of 20,000. In 1854 the law was pronounced unconstitutional by half of the judges of the supreme court, because it had been submitted to the people. The law was reenacted in 1855, and was changed seven times previous to 1875, when the prohibitory law was repealed and a tax law substituted. In 1853 Chief Justice Williams of Connnecticut drafted a prohibitory law, which was passed by the legislalature, but was vetoed by Governor Seymour. But in 1854 a bill was passed prohibiting the sale of liquors by a vote of 13 to 1 in the senate and 148 to 61 in the house. It was repealed in 1872. A prohibitory law was enacted in Indiana in 1853, with a clause providing for its submission to the people, which the supreme court pronounced unconstitutional. In 1855 another prohibitory law was passed, but it became null because the supreme court was equally divided as to its constitutionality. In Iowa a prohibitory law was passed by the legislature in 1855, and ratified by the people. This law still exists, with some modifications in regard to fermented liquors. The New York legislature passed a strong prohibitory law in 1854, which was vetoed by Governor Seymour. The next year the law was again passed, and its constitutionality was affirmed by the court of appeals in 1856. In New York city the mayor did not attempt to enforce it. New Hampshire passed a prohibitory law in 1855, which is still in force. Illinois also passed a prohibitory law, with a clause providing for submitting it to a vote of the people, by whom it was defeated.-The fourth national convention assembled in 1851 at Saratoga, and passed resolutions in favor of prohibitory laws, and advised that an appeal should be made to the people in states where the legislature would not enact such a law. The fifth convention, held in 1865, recommended the use of unfermented wine by the churches in the communion, deprecated the use of alcoholic liquors as a medicine, and urged the medical profession "to substitute other articles in the place of alcohol as far as in their judgment it can be wisely done." A committee appointed by this convention organized in 1865 the "National Temperance Society and Publication House," which has its headquarters in New York, and is engaged in the publication and distribution of temperance literature. The sixth convention, at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1868, urged the friends of the cause "to refuse to vote for any candidate who denies the application of the just powers of civil government to the suppression of the liquor traffic." The seventh convention, held at Saratoga in 1873, declared "that the time had arrived to introduce the temperance issue into state and national politics," and "to coöperate with existing party organizations where such will indorse the legislative policy of prohibition and nominate candidates pledged to its support, otherwise to organize and maintain separate independent party action." The eighth |