TANTALUS, the ibis, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Grallæ. Generic character: bill long thick at the base, incurvated; face naked, and sometimes all the head; tongue broad and short; nostrils linear and oval; four toes, connected by a membrane at the base. There are nineteen species, of which we shall notice the following: T. loculator, the wood ibis, is of the size of a goose, and the length of three feet, and is found in Carolina, and in many countries of South America, haunting, particularly, those low tracts which are inundated during summer. These birds subsist on reptiles and fish, have little sagacity, and are often seen in cypress trees of extraordinary height, with their heavy bills reposing on their breasts. They are in use for the table, though far from being excellent.

T. ruber, or the scarlet ibis, is found in America, and the neighbouring islands. Its plumage is of a most ardent scarlet, and it is one of the most beautiful birds of the genus. It subsists on insects, and the ova of fishes, for which, on the ebbing of the tide, it frequents the shores. It perches in trees, but lays its eggs on the ground. The old birds and the young keep in distinct flocks. They do not attain the full lustre and glow of plumage till their third year; and in sickness and confinement lose almost all their brillian

cy.

T. ibis, or the Egyptian ibis, is more than three feet long, and as large as a stork. On the retreating of the Nile, it is found in Lower Egypt in great numbers, subsisting on insects and frogs. It perches on palm trees, and sleeps in an erect attitude, its tail touching its legs. It is supposed by some naturalists to be the ibis of the ancients, and is known to destroy and devour serpents. Others suppose it to be the ox-bird described by Shaw. For the black headed ibis, see Aves, Plate XIV. fig. 2.

TANTALUS's cup, in hydraulics, a siphon, so adapted to a cup, that the short leg being in the cup, the long leg may go down through the bottom of it.

The bended siphon is called Tantalus's cup, from the resemblance of the experiment made with an image in the glass, representing Tantalus in the fable, fixed up in the middle of the cup, with a siphon concealed in his body, beginning in the bottom of his feet, and ascending to the upper part of his breast; there it makes a turn, and descends through the other leg, on which he stands; and from thence

TAPESTRY. It has been supposed that the use of tapestry was introduced into the various nations of Europe from the Levant, by the princes and nobles who commanded in the different crusades undertaken to recover the Holy Land from the Saracens; but this supposition seems in a great measure to rest on the fact, that the workmen employed in this pursuit in France were called Sarrassinois. We do not find, upon referring to the travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquiere to Palestine in 1432, any thing to support the assertion, neither do our modern tourists mention tapestry as used by the present inhabitants of that country. Lempriere describes the apartments of the Harem at Morrocco to have been hung with rich damasks; but as the same rooms had European mirrors on the walls, it does not appear quite clear that the hangings were not introduced by the same means.

There is not a doubt that the Greeks used tapestry, as Homer frequently mentions the labours of the loom in a manner that proves the production of it could have been employed in no other way. Those countries which are subject to long and cold winters made it necessary, that the rich and powerful should adopt some method to check its disagreeable effects on domestic comfort; and besides, the feudal system universally prevailing, their residences were calculated for military purposes only: and every consideration of internal convenience was sacrificed to the means of defence from their jealous and envious neighbours of the same rank in the state; hence they constructed their mansions with walls as solid and impenetrable as those of a fortified city, in which the windows were little better than loopholes for missive weapons externally, whence they were widened inwards to make the most of the little light and air they were capable of admitting.

was

Cold and dreary as all their apartments were, every possible contrivance made to temper the damp chill of the walls; for this purpose vast fire-places were constructed, occupying almost on

side of the square, and hangings were suspended to exclude from view the rough surface of the massy stones, and to confine the humidity in them from immediately attaching to the family. That which may have been used in Greece, in Palestine, and throughout Asia for the double purposes of ornament, and for the convenience of easy removal during the warmth prevailing in those countries, where tapestry or hangings make the most pleasant partitions or separations of apartments, became necessary in the greatest part of Europe, through a directly opposite cause.

Whatever was the nature of the original hangings in our quarter of the globe, and wherever they were introduced from, it is very certain that the French have had the honour of giving them their present denomination, which is derived from tapisser, to line, and that from the Latin tapes. It is very probable that the tapestry of ancient times in England, and on the Continent, was equally rude and barbarous with the paintings of the same period, and perhaps more so; and in the present state of the country it is difficult to ascertain when it improved, or when attempts were made to introduce figures in the weaving of it. When the feudal system ceased, our castles and castellated mansions were gradually deserted, and their possessors mixing more with the general population, began to admire the comforts of society, and to adopt some of the customs of those they had hitherto despised; hence occurred a new mode of building, which, though it in some degree resembled that of their ancestors, was attended with infinite improvement. It is in the residences thus produced that we are now to look for the tapestry once so necessary, but in the latter instance preserved through a laudable family pride, and as objects of curiosity. At Hardwicke Hall in Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Devonshire, built by a Countess of Shrewsbury, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, some very interesting tapestry and hangings of a bed are shown, which were worked by Mary, Queen of France and Scotland, during her long confinement at that place, previously to her execution. As may be anticipated, from her mode of faith, and the circumstances of her situation, the colours and subjects are of a sombre and melancholy cast, but sufficiently well done to excite approbation.

Those, it will be remembered, are the product of the needle, and are therefore

very different from that which adorns the walls of the House of Lords from the loom, and are nearly coeval with the performances of the royal captive; the latter have long been celebrated as the only representations we possess of the destruction of the Spanish Armada, but their age and the fading of their colours have greatly lessened their interest. Exclusive of those, there are specimens of ancient tapestry at the Charter House, placed there by the Duke of Norfolk in the reign of Elizabeth, and at St. James's Palace, which is the best in every particular of all that has been mentioned.

It will be perceived, that in each of these instances the dates nearly correspond, whence it may be safely concluded, that very little use was made of tapestry after the reign of James I. in England. Next to the English, the Flemings were most expert at weaving of rich hangings; the French, who subsequently exceeded all other nations in this art, did not apply themselves to it till the reign of their Henry IV. when an establishment was made in the year 1607 in the Fauxbourg St. Michael at Paris; after the assassination of that monarch, the manufactory was neglected, nor was it revived till the reign of Louis XIV. under the auspices of Colbert, who caused a receptacle for this work to be constructed, where two brothers, named Giles and John Gobelins, had long before been celebrated as excellent dyers, whence the name, which an edict issued by Louis confirmed, under the title of Hotel Royal des Gobelins. it was the intention of the luxurious monarch just mentioned to excel all his contemporary sovereigns of Europe in the splendour of his palaces and establishments, the manufactory of the Gobelins was placed by him under a complete sys. tem of government, and it flourished, with some fluctuations of neglect and encouragement, as a royal institution, till the late revolution, during which dreadful period it was consigned, to all appearance, to irretrievable ruin; but the subsequent consulship of Bonaparte, and his further elevation to the throne of France, has in a great degree recovered it, though the change in public opinion in the manner of decorating walls will prevent it from obtaining its pristine encouragement.

As

The reader will forgive our enlarging on this subject, as the Gobelins is the only manufactory of tapestry remaining in Europe, worthy of particular notice, and where paintings are imitated with all

the strength and beauty of colouring of the pictures from which they are copied. M. Le Maistre, who visited Paris in 1802, mentions two pieces made about that time, one representing the assassination of Admiral Coligni, and the other the heroic conduct of the President Molé, of uncommon excellence. Ninety persons were then employed, and appeared to workwith the utmost ease,though six years apprenticeship and much attention and care are required to attain superior skill. Previously to the change in the govern ment of France, the workmen were in a great degree state prisoners, but such is the jealousy of rivalship, that they are still under the special care or surveillance of the police; and the pieces manufactured were destined principally to ornament the favourite residence of St. Cloud, and some other public buildings. To this information we shall subjoin the still more recent account of Mr. Pinkerton in 1805. "In the ancient method," says that gentleman, "the workmen were obliged to stoop, which was found detrimental to their health, and the pictures were destroyed, being cut in pieces in the width of the loom; the figures were also reversed. Neilson, an intelligent foreman, contrived to save the pictures, in tracing them with oil paper. Nor were the figures reversed as before, and the picture itself was placed behind the workman, that he might accurately express the shades and tone of colour. Still the result could not be judged of, till each division was perfected in the loom. Vaucanson superadded an easy and ingenious mechanism, to examine with pleasure the progress of the work; but the manufacture continued to be guided by a servile routine."

The last director introduced three improvements, which cannot very well be explained, but the result has been of great advantage in the manner of weav ing; and as more judgment has been evinced in the selection of pictures for copying, the style of colouring partakes more of the taste of each master than when it was the custom to make all the tints vivid and gaudy; besides, as they have ceased to use silk, the tapestry is much less subject to fade. "Yet," adds Mr. Pinkerton, "the colours are sufficiently bright and various to represent, with exquisite truth, all the fine tints of beautiful flowers. It is however to be regretted, that these splendid tapestries become so expensive, from the length of time required in the workmanship, that

even the rich tremble; and the sale to the government, which presents them to distinguished foreigners, affords the chief, if not sole, consumption. The sum annually allowed, to support the manufacture, in its greatest activity, is estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand francs."

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As it is not in our power to obtain the precise improvements made in the manner of weaving tapestry, we are pelled to describe the mode by which that now remaining in England was made, and which is undoubtedly the basis of the present method in use at the Gobelins. The loom employed for this purpose stands perpendicularly, and is composed of four principal pieces, two of which are long planks, and the others rollers or beams of considerable diameter; the planks are placed upright, and the beams cross them at either extremity of the loom, the lower at about twelve inches from the floor; each have trunnions, which suspend them on the planks, and they are turned with bars. The rollers are grooved lengthways, in which are fastened long cylinders of wood with hooks; the use of these is to fasten the ends of the warp to, the latter of twisted woollen thread encircles the upper roller, and it is worked as fast as wove on the lower.

The planks already mentioned are seven or eight feet in height, from fourteen to fifteen inches broad, and three or more in thickness; their interior surfaces are pierced into holes the whole length, for the admission of thick pieces of iron with hooks at their ends, which are intended to support what is called the coatstave; those irons are also pierced to receive pins, by which the stave is contracted or expanded at pleasure. The coat-stave, three inches in diameter, extends the whole length of the loom, and on it are fixed the coats or threads, and thus the threads to the warp cross each other, in this particular having nearly the same effect with the spring stave and treddles in the common looms. The coats, as they are called, are threads fastened to each thread of the warp by a sliding knot; those keep the warp open, and thus the broaches bearing the material for weaving are passed freely through, according to the will of the workman, besides, the process is further facilitated by small pieces of wood, which are used to make the threads of the warp intersect each other, and that those may keep their due situation, a packthread is run among the threads above the stick.

We will now suppose the loom prepared with the warp, the operator then proceeds to sketch the principal outline on the threads composing it from the picture or design to be copied, and this is done by placing the painting, or a cartoon, on the back of the intended tapestry, and tracing it with a black-lead pencil; after accomplishing the transfer, the original is rolled on a cylinder, and placed behind the workman, who unrolls it in the same progression with which he weaves. Exclusive of the instruments already mentioned, a broach, a reed, and an iron needle, are required for introducing the silk or wool of the woof amongst the threads of the warp; the first is about two-thirds of an inch thick, and seven or eight inches in length, terminating at one extremity in a point, with the other formed into a kind of handle, and is made of hard wood; this broach, as it is termed, serves as a shuttle, the silk, wool gold, or silver thread, being wound on it. The reed is a kind of comb, made of wood, eight, or more inches in length, and an inch thick at the back, tapering thence to the teeth, which vary in their distance from each other, according to the fine. ness of the tapestry. The needle varies from the common instrument of that name

only in its size, and its use is, to press the material close in those parts where any defect is observed. The most singular part of the weaving of tapestry is the position of the weaver, who works on the wrong side of the piece, and with his back to the picture he is to imitate; consequently, he is frequently compelled to leave his position, and pass to the opposite side of the loom, to ascertain whether he has been correct in his proceedings. When he is about to put the material in the warp, he turns and examines the original; then having furnished the broach with the colour required, he introduces it amongst the threads of the warp, which he brings across each other with his fingers, through the assistance of the coats or threads secured to the staff, and this operation is repeated with every change of tint. After the wool or silk is placed, he presses it close with the reed or comb, and examining the picture, he makes the necessary amendments with the needle. Those

subjects which are very large may be worked upon by more than one weaver at a time. The method we have described is called the high warp; another, the low warp; though rather different in the manner of weaving, it so nearly resemVOL. XII.

bles the tapestry of the high warp, that it is unnecessary to describe it. TAPIR, in natural history, a genus of Generic Mammalia of the order Belluæ. character: ten fore teeth in each jaw; tusks in both jaws single and incurvated; five grinders on each side in both jaws; feet with three hoofs, and on the fore feet a false hoof. The only species is the T. Americanus. This is a native of South America, and, when perfect in growth, is about the size of a heifer. Its colour is a dark brown, and the male is distinguished by a species of very short proboscis. The tapir is perfectly inoffensive, and considerably timid, seeking safety in flight, and often plunging into waters, in which he swims with great rapidity, and in which sometimes he proceeds for a long way, ranging at the bottom at a very great depth; in this respect resembling the hippopotamus. When resting, the tapir sits in the manner of a dog. In feeding, its trunk is employed in drawing into its mouth the vegetables which constitute its nourishment. In some parts of Guiana it has been domesticated, and, when taken young, is easily familiarized. Its flesh is not excellent for flavour or delicacy, but is nevertheless used for food; and its skin, which is of uncommon toughness, is converted to various purposes of usefulness. It is slow in its movements, sleeps during the greater part of the day, and is destroyed by the Indians, who decoy it by the imitation of its peculiar sounds, by poisoned arrows. It produces but one at a birth, in the care of which it is extremely assiduous and affectionate.

TAR, a thick, black, unctuous substance, obtained from old pines and fir trees, by burning them with a close smothering heat: it is used for coating and caulking ships, &c. and various other purposes.

TARANTULA. See ARANEA.

TARCHONANTHUS, in botany, African flea-bane, a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Equalis, class and order. Natural order of Nucamentacex. Corymbiferæ, Jussieu. Essential character; calyx one-leafed, commonly half seven-cleft, turbinate; seeds covered with down; receptacle villose. There are three species: these plants are all natives of the Cape of Good Hope.

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 inclose or bind any goods imported loose; G

or though imported in casks, chests, &c. yet cannot be unpacked and weighed net. Several sorts of goods have their tares ascertained, and those are not to be altered or deviated from, in any case, within the port of London, unless the merchant, thinking himself, or the officers of the crown, to be prejudiced by such tares, shall desire that the goods may be unpacked, and the net weight taken; which may be done either by weighing the goods in each respective cask, &c. net, or (as is practised in East India goods particularly) by picking out several casks, &c. of each size, and, making an average, compute the rest accordingly. But this must not be done without the consent of two surveyors, attested by their hands in the land-waiter's books; and in the out-ports, not without the consent of the collector and surveyor. And as to those goods which have not their tares ascertained, two surveyors in London, and the collector and surveyor in the out-ports, are to adjust and allow the same, in like manner. Sometimes the casks, &c. are weighed beyond sea, before the goods are put in ; and the weight of each respective cask, &c. marked thereon, (as is usual for most goods imported from the British plantations,) or else inserted in the merchant's invoice; in which case, if the real invoice be produced, and the officers have satisfied themselves (by unpacking and weighing some of them) that those weights are just and true, they do then, after having reduced them to British weight, esteem them to be the real tares, and pass them accordingly. But the unpacking goods, and taking the net weight, being supposedth e justest method, both for the crown, and merchant, it is usually practised in the port of London, in all cases where it can be done with conveniency, and without detriment to the goods.

TARGIONIA, in botany, so named, in honour of Cypriani Targioni, M. D. of Florence, a genus of the Cryptogamia Hepatica. Generic character: calyx twovalved, compressed, containing at bottom a capsule nearly globular, many-seeded. There is only one species; viz. T. hypophylla, a native of Italy, Spain, Constantinople, Flanders; Saxony, about Dresden; and England, near Dawlish, in Devonshire; flowering from March to May

TARTARIC acid, in chemistry, was procured by Scheele in a separate state in the year 1770. The process which he followed was by boiling a quantity of the

It

substance called tartar, or cream of tartar, in water, and adding powdered chalk till effervescence ceased, and the liquid no longer reddened vegetable blues. It was then allowed to cool, the liquor filtered, and a white insoluble powder remained on the filter, which was carefully removed and well washed. This was put into a matrass, and a quantity of sulphuric acid equal in weight to the chalk employed, diluted with water, poured upon it. The mixture was allowed to digest for twelve hours in a sand bath, stirring it occasionally with a glass rod. The sulphuric acid combined with the lime, and formed a sulphate of lime, which fell to the bottom. The liquid contained in the tartaric acid, dissolved in it. This was decanted off, and a little acetate of lead dropped into it, as a test to detect the sulphuric acid, should any remain; and if this be the case, it must be digested again with more tartrate of lime, to carry off what remains of the sulphuric acid. It is then to be evaporated, and about one-third of the weight of the tartar employed is obtained of concrete tartaric acid. To purify this, the crystals may be dissolved in distilled water, and again evaporated and crytallized seems probable that this acid exists in a state of purity in some vegetables. Vauquelin found a 64th part in the pulp of the tamarind Tartaric (or tartarous) acid thus obtained, is in the form of very fine needle-shaped crystals; but they have been differently described by dif. ferent chemists. According to Bergman, they are in the form of small plates, attached by one extremity, and diverging at the other. They have been found by others grouped together in the shape of needles, pyramids, regular six-sided prisms, and square and small rhomboidal plates. The specific gravity is 1.6. This acid has a very sharp, pungent taste; diluted with water, it resembles the taste of lemon juice; and it reddens strongly blue vegetable colours. When it is exposed to heat, or burning coals, it melts, blackens, emits fumes, froths up, and exales a sharp pungent vapour. It then burns with a blue flame, and leaves behind a spongy mass of charcoal, in which some traces of lime have been detected. In the decomposition of the tartaric acid by heat, one of the most remarkable products which particularly characterizes it, is an acid liquor of a reddish colour, which amounts to one-fourth of the weight of the former. This was formerly known by the name of pyrotartarous acid. It