The most important property of tannin, among those above mentioned, is that displayed in its relation to animal gelatine. They combine with much facility, forming, from a state of solution, a soft, flocculent precipitate, which, on drying, becomes hard and brittle: this has been called tanno-gelatine. The combination is not always established in the same proportions, but varies according to the concentration of the solutions and the relative quantities of the substances; nor is the compound in all cases insoluble in water. When the gelatine is only slightly in excess, it consists of 54 gelatine and 46 tannin: when there is a large excess of gelatine, the compound is redissolved. On the formation of this combination, the art of tanning depends. The skin of an animal, when freed from the hair, epidermis and cellular fibre (which is done principally by the action of lime), consists chiefly of indurated gelatine. By immersion in the tan liquor, which is an infusion of bark, the combination of the tannin with the organized gelatine, which forms the animal fibre, is slowly established; and the compound of tannin and gelatine not being soluble in water, and not

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liable to putrefaction, the skin is rendered dense and impermeable, and not subject to the spontaneous change which it would otherwise soon undergo. To render it equal throughout the whole substance of the skin, the action of the tan liquor must be gradual; and hence the tanning is performed by successive immersions of the skin in liquors of different strength. Sir H. Davy observes, that leather, slowly tanned in weak infusions of bark, appears to be better in quality, being both softer and stronger than when tanned by dense infusions; and he ascribes this to the extractive matter which they imbibe. This principle, therefore, affects the quality of the material employed in tanning; and galls, which contain a great deal of tannin, make a hard leather, and liable to crack, from their deficiency of extractive matter. Hides increase in weight during the process of tanning from one fifth to one third.

TANNING is a mechanical art, by which the hides and skins of various animals, particularly those of neat cattle, are converted into sole leather, upper leather, harness, &c., by being cleansed of the hair and flesh, and saturated with the

tannin contained in the bark of the oak, hemlock, and some other kinds of forest trees. It is a simple process to make leather of hides and bark, but probably one of the most critical of manufacturing operations to make the most and the best leather that can be made from a given quantity of hide. The process is long and laborious. Time and labor are both materially reduced, and the quantity and weight of the leather increased, by various improvements, which commenced in the year 1803, in Hampshire county, in Massachusetts. The improvements above alluded to are the substitution of water power for manual labor, in many of the most laborious parts of the process; viz. to soften and cleanse the hide preparatory to the bark being applied to it; to grind the bark; to move pumps for transferring the decoction of the bark from one vat to another (much of which is necessary to be done daily in an extensive tannery), and to roll the leather preparatory to its being sent to market; also the least possible quantity of lime is now used to facilitate getting off the hair: this has been found greatly to add to the weight and quality of the leather. The application of heat to bark in leaches is found to be very important, and more particularly the application of the decoction (usually termed liquor) to the hide, rather than the bark, which had been commonly employed. In 1829, 36,360 sides of sole leather were tanned in one establishment in the town of Hunter, Greene county, New York. They weighed 637,413 pounds, and were manufactured with the labor of forty-nine hands, and with 3200 cords of bark. The tannery has seven powerful water-wheels adapted to its various machinery. Slaughter hides averaged fifty-six and a half pounds of sole leather from one hundred of hide best South American dry hides gained sixty-one per cent. in weight, and ordinary ones in proportion.Tanning is a chemical process; and undoubtedly the art will go on improving with the progress of chemical science and the diffusion of chemical knowledge.

TANSY (tanacetum vulgare). This plant is now naturalized, and pretty common in many parts of the U. States. It grows in beds by road sides, and in waste places. The stems are upright, branching, and about two feet high; the leaves doubly pinnate, and incisely serrate, and of an agreeable aspect. It belongs to the composita. The flowers are yellow buttons, disposed in a large, upright corymb. The

whole plant has a strong and penetrating odor, agreeable to some persons, and an extremely bitter taste. It contains an acrid volatile oil, is stimulant and carminative, and the decoction and seeds are recommended as anthelmintic and sudorific. The young leaves are shredded down, and employed to give color and flavor to puddings; they are also used in omelets and cakes, and those of the curled variety for garnishing.

TANTALITE. (See Columbite.)
TANTALUM. (See Columbium.)

TANTALUS, Son of Jupiter, and king of Sipylus, in Phrygia, was a favorite of the gods, who often visited him, until he forfeited their favor by his arrogance. Tradition does not agree as to his crime. According to one account, he offended Jupiter by his perfidy; according to another, he stole away the nectar and ambrosia from heaven; and a third story is, that he murdered his own son Pelops, and served him up for some of the gods. The same diversity prevails in regard to his punishment. He is sometimes described as having a large stone suspended over his head, which constantly threatens to fall and crush him, and from which he cannot flee. But the more common account represents him as standing up to his throat in water, with the most delicious fruits hanging over his head, which, when he attempts to quench his burning thirst or to appease his raging hunger, elude his grasp. From this fable comes the English expression to tantalize.

TAPESTRY; a kind of woven hangings of wool and silk, frequently raised and enriched with gold and silver, representing figures of men, animals, landscapes, historical subjects, &c. This species of curtain-covering for walls was known among the inhabitants of Eastern countries at an extreinely remote era. The most grotesque compositions and fantastic combinations were commonly selected for the display of the talents of workmen in this department of Oriental art, which was afterwards imported into Greece. From these compositions the elegant Greeks are supposed, by Böttiger, to have taken their ideas of griffins, centaurs, &c. At length the refined taste of Athens became visible in the structure of tapestries. The old grotesque combinations no longer, as formerly, covered their surfaces, but were confined to the borders only; and the centre received more regular and systematic representations. In modern times, this description of embroidery has been executed with very great success,

and has often employed the talents of the greatest masters in the art of painting. In Flanders, particularly at Arras (whence the term arras, signifying tapestry), during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the art was practised with uncommon skill; and tapestries were executed there after the masterly designs of Raffaelle in his cartoons. (q. v.) This art was introduced into England by William Sheldon, near the end of Henry VIII's reign. In 1619, a manufacture was established at Mortlake, in Surrey, by sir Fras. Crane, who received £2000 from James I, to encourage the design. The first manufacture of tapestry at Paris was set up under Henry IV, in 1606 or 1607, by several artists whom that monarch invited from Flanders. But the most celebrated of all the European tapestry manufactures was that of the Gobelins (q. v.), instituted under Louis XIV, which sent forth very beautiful cloths, remarkable for strength, for elegance of design, and happy choice of colors. The finest paintings were copied, and eminent painters employed in making designs. For a long while Gobelin tapestry was the most costly and favorite method of hanging the walls of chambers. The texture of tapestry is in many respects similar to that of the finer carpetings; but the minuteness of the constituent parts causes the sight of the texture to be lost in the general effect of the piece. (See Carpets, and Hautelisse.)

TAPEWORM, one of the most stubborn worms which infest the bowels of beasts, and also of man, has its name from the broad, flat, ribbon-like appearance of each articulation and of the whole body, which is composed of these articulations. Bremser makes two species-tania and bothryocephalus-both of which were formerly united in one species, under the name of tania.. One kind of both species appears in the human body; namely, 1. tania solium, the single or longlimbed chainworm, in which the organs of generation are found on one side of every articulation; it is the kind most commonly met with in Germany, France and England; 2. bothryocephalus latus, the proper or broad tapeworm, in which the sexual organs are found on the flat side of the articulations. It is met with only in Russia, Poland, Switzerland, and some parts of France, and causes little pain. Both kinds often reach the length of twenty or thirty feet, and usually only detached parts pass from the body, but not that which has the head; before this

has passed away, the worin reproduces itself, and, moreover, what was formerly doubted, several tapeworms are often met with in one intestinal canal. The symptoms of the tapeworm are a peculiar, sudden sensation of pricking in the stomach, oppression, and undulatory motions in the abdomen, anxiety, cramps, swoons, &c.; but all these symptoms are uncertain, and only the actual passing of pieces of the worm from the body is a certain proof of its existence. The cure is difficult, and requires an experienced physician. TAPIOCA. (See Manioc.)

TAPIR. The American tapir, when full grown, is six feet in total length, and about three and a half in height. In general form it resembles the hog; but the legs are rather longer in proportion, and the nose is prolonged into a small movable proboscis. The fore feet have four toes, and the hind ones three only. The eyes are small and lateral, and the ears long and pointed; the skin thick, and covered with scattering, short, silky hairs; the tail short, and slightly hairy. The teeth resemble those of the horse. It is the largest animal of South America, and is found in all parts of that continent, though most abundant in Guiana, Brazil and Paraguay. It shuns the habitations of men, and leads a solitary life in the interior of the forests, in moist situations, but selects for its abode a place somewhat elevated and dry. By travelling always the same rounds, it forms beaten paths, which are very conspicuous. It comes out only in the night, or during rainy weather, and resorts to the marshes. Its ordinary pace is a sort of trot; but it sometimes gallops, though awkwardly, and with the head down, and, besides, swims with facility. In the wild state, it lives on fruits and young branches of trees, but when domesticated, eats every kind of food. Though possessed of great strength, it makes use of it only for defence; and its disposition is mild and timid. The flesh is dry and disagreeably tasted; but the skin is very tough, and might be applied to useful purposes. The Indian tapir has only been discovered within a few years. It inhabits Sumatra, Malacca, and some of the surrounding countries. The colors are remarkable. The head, neck, feet and tail are black; the rest of the body and tip of the ears white.

TAPROBANA (with the ancients); the name of Ceylon.

TAR; a well known substance obtained chiefly from the pine by burning in a close, smothering heat. Some of the unctuous

species of bitumen are also called mineral tar. (See Bitumen.) The tar of the north of Europe is superior to that of the U. States, on account of the latter being prepared from dead wood, while the former is procured from trees recently felled. The mode practised in the Scandinavian peninsula is precisely that described by Theophrastus and Dioscorides, as in use in ancient Greece. A conical cavity is made in the ground, with a castiron pan at bottom, from which leads a funnel. The billets of wood are thrown into this cavity, and, being covered with turf, are slowly burnt without flame. The tar which exudes during combustion is conducted off through the funnel abovementioned into barrels, which are immediately bunged, and fit for exportation.

TAR RIVER. (See Pamlico.)
TARANTULA. (See Appendix.)

TARE is an allowance for the outside package, that contains such goods as cannot be unpacked without detriment; or for the papers, threads, bands, &c., that enclose or bind any goods imported loose, or which, though imported in casks, chests, &c., yet cannot be unpacked, and weighed net.

TARENTUM (Tapas); an old Greek colony in Lower Italy, founded by Lacedæmonian Parthenii, 700 B. C. It was one of the most flourishing and powerful cities of Magna Græcia, and for a long time defended its freedom against the attacks of the Romans. It was also distinguished for luxury and splendor. Pythagoras found many disciples here, and the fine arts were encouraged. Archytas, a mathematician, was a Tarentine. The city was taken by the Romans B. C. 272. The harbor of the modern Taranto is choked up with sand; but the place has some trade, and a population of 14,000 souls. Marshal Macdonald received his title of duke of Tarentum from this place.

TARENTUM, DUKE OF. (See Macdonald.) TARGUM (interpretation, translation); a Chaldee version of the Old Testament. After the Babylonish captivity, the ancient Hebrew had gradually become unintelligible to the common people (see Hebrew Language, and Jews); and it therefore became necessary to read or explain the Scriptures in the synagogues in the vulgar language of the country. The oldest Targum is that of Onkelos, which comprises only the pentateuch; the second, or that of Jonathan. is a version of the prophets. These are supposed to have been written about the time of our

Savior. The third targum is also a version, or rather a paraphrase of the law, accompanied with many glosses and fables. The fourth, likewise of the law, is called the "Jerusalem targum," because it is in the Syro-Chaldaic language, which was spoken at Jerusalem. The fifth is a paraphrase of the megilloth (Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song, Lamenta tions); the sixth, of Esther; the seventh, of Job, the Psalms and Proverbs; and the eighth, of the Chronicles. These six are of later origin and less value than the two first mentioned. Several of the targums are contained in the polyglot Bibles. (See Polyglot.)

TARIFF, or TARIF; first a list of certain merchandises; then a list of duties on imports and exports. This word, like many others used in commerce, is derived from the Italian, in which it is tariffa; this again comes, like several other expressions relating to commerce or navigation, from the East. In Persian, it is tarij. In Arabian, the verb arf signifies to know, which in the second form becomes tarif, signifying to make known. The substantive derived from the verb therefore signifies notification.

TARLETON, general, is the son of a merchant of Liverpool, into whose counting-house he was introduced; but a regiment being raised in that town, Mr. Tarleton quitted the pen for the sword, and took a commission in that regiment, in which he soon rose to the rank of captain. In America, he very much distinguished himself by his courage, and was allowed to raise a corps of horse and foot, called a legion. He then obtained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In this capacity he distinguished himself for his intrepidity as a partisan; but a defeat which he met with from the American general Sumter, did not speak much in favor of his talents as a general. On his return, he published a History of the Campaign in the Southern Provinces of America, in which he endeavored to justify his conduct. At the peace, he went on half-pay. He had, however, the good fortune to be introduced to, and favored with the confidence of, the heir-apparent, of whom he was, for some time, a constant companion. He also, by the interest of his family, obtained a seat in parliament, for his native place, Liverpool, and while in the house, he warmly entered into the opposition, with whom the prince then acted. While a member, he published a Speech intended to have been spoken; and, in 1810, a Speech, which he did