Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/608

 TAP

TANT, in natural hiftory, an Englifh name fcr a fmall fpiilei of the opilio kind, having only two eyes, and eight very long legs, and commonly fuppofed to be very poifonous. It is all over of an elegant fcarlet colour, refembling that of the flowers of the red poppy when full blown, except that the belly has a whitifh caft. Four of its legs are inferted in the upper part of the breaft, and the other four near the belly; and near the origin of each leg there is a fmall black fpot. Its body is round and full, and it is all over covered with a fine fhort velvety down. It is not unfrequcnt in dry paftures in the fpring feafon. It is terribly dreaded by our farmers, who fuppofe that an ox will die who chances to fwallow it. Ray's Hift. Infect, p. 44.

TANTALUS, one of the many names given by the chemifts to mercury.

TANZY, Tanacetum, in botany, is'c. See the article Tan a-

CETUM.

TAOS Lapis, the Peacock Stone, a name given by fome of the an- tient writers to a very beautifully variegated agate, refembling, in fome degree, the great variety of colours in the peacock's

' tail.

TAP Root, in trees, that part of the root that defcends ftrait down.

In removing or tnmfplanting young oaks, great care mould be taken not to wound this root, much lefs to cut it off; but it mull be dug up to the bottom, and the hole prepared deep enough to fet it ; otherwise the tree either dies, or if not, yet it is always greatly {tinted and impeded in its growth. Ray's Englifh Words, p. 129.

TAPAYAXIN, in zoology, the name of a very remarkable fpecies of lizard, called by Hernandez the lacertus orbicularis. It is not of the long and (lender fhape of the common lizards, but as broad as it is long, and much refembling the wray-fifh in fhapc, though isldom exceeding four inches in length or breadth. It is a cartilaginous lizard, of a very beautiful va- riety of colours, always very cold to the touch, and fo fluggifh a creature, that it often will not move cut of its place even on touching it. Its head is extremely hard and elate, and has a fort of crown of prickles for its defence ; yet it is a perfectly harmlefs animal, and fo fir from having the fear of man, and ihynefs that other bcaits have, that it loves to be taken up and played with, and will ftarid perfectly {till, and feem very happy while handled. There is alfo another thing very lingular in it, that if hurt about the head or eyes, or handled too rough- ly, it will throw out drops of blood from its eyes to three or four foot diftance. Rays Syn. Quad. p. 263. Hernandez, I. 9. c. 16.

TAPE-lVor/n, a fpecies of worm breeding m he human bowels, and called by authors, taenia, and lumbricus latin, or the broad worm.

The Greek and Roman phyficians, as well as thefe of our own time, have defcribed three forts of worms to which the human bowels are fubject. The common long worms, which refembie earth- worms ; the afcarides, or fmall worms; and this Tape worm, which they have alfo called vermis cucurbiti- nits, or the gourd worm, from its feveral joints refembling, in fome degree, the feeds of that fruit.

The interpreters of fome of the Greek phyficians have how- ever been guilty of a great error, in confounding the gourd worms and the afcarides together, tho* nothing can be more unlike. The antients feem to have had a very juft opinion of this animal, in calling it vermis cucurbitinus, fince it is'plain by this, that they underftood every joint, as we call them, of this creature, to be a diftinct worm ; and what we call the iingle worm, to be a long feries of thefe worms joined toge- ther end to end.

Petrus de Abano was one of the firft whom we find deferr- ing the feries of thefe creatures forming a chain of this kind, and reprefenting a fingle and very long animal. Arnoldus de Villa Nova mentions two kinds of thefe worms ; but he gives no farther defections of them than faying, that one kind is broad and long, the other broad and fiiort. After thefe, he mentions the long and round worm, which is the common kind ; and fourthly, the fmall worm, or afcarides. To thefe he adds a fifth, which he calls folium, from its being found fingle in the bowels. This he alfo calls cingulwh ; and ob- ferves, that it is very long and large, and that only one can live in the bowels at the fame time.

It has been fuppofed by fome, that what this author defcribes as a feparate fpecies of worm, under the name of folium, was no other than a kind of facculus or bag inclofing a lon^ feries of thefe Tape-worms.

The writers that fucceeded ran into great errors about thefe worms : Some declared them a mere figment of the Arabian phyficians, affirming that no fuch animals ever exifted in nature. Others who believed in general that there was fuch a fpecies of worm, yet difcountenancedall theftories related concerning it ; and many who wrote on thefe fubjects, mentioned two kinds of the lumbricus latus, or broad worm, but knew nothing of what was the difference between them. Another fet of writers, of whom Platerus is the head, diftin- guifh, by certain characters, two fpecies of broad worms ; the one, they fay, is long and broad, and not jointed ; the other jointed, or formed like a chain ; this is the common Tapeworm, which they fuppofe to confifl fingly of a number

TAP

of joints, contrary to the opinion of Petrus de Abano ; and they fay, that the vermis cucurbitinus of the Arabian writers, is only one of the joints, or a fragment of the jointed taenia, femetimes voided in this manner in feparate pieces. Finally, others confounding the cucurbitini with the afcarides, if ever they chanced to fee a real Taps-worm, looked on it as fome monflrous production ; nothing that had any name. Clerici Hift. Nat. Lumbr. Lat.

In later times this animal has been better known, and Tyfon, Lewenhoek, Andry, and others, have treated very carefully of it, and all have referred it to the fecond kind of taenia?, mentioned by Platerus, which was of the fhape of a chain, or compofed of feveral joints, like fo many links fattened end by end to one another. Yet thefe have fallen into errors ; and whent hey have found feveral of thefe taeniae conjoined and en- clofed in a facculus, they have taken the whole for one worm, whole head and tail they have defcribed, but that in an inaccu- rate manner.

The true hiftory of this animal is, that it is fhort and broad. What is called a link of the long worm is really a diftinct worm; and when one of thefe mutiplies in the bowels, its young ad- here to it, and to each other endwifc, fo as to form a fort of chain, which lengthens as they continue to increafe, and in fine becomes immoderately long. Hence it is that the break- ing, as it is called, of this worm, does not deftroy it, and that the voiding large pieces of it is no cure, fince it frill recovers that length again by new young ones. Every feparate link of fuch a chain, if examined, is found to be entire, lively and brifk, and not at all injured by the feparation. Authors who have treated of thefe worms as a difeafe, have given a canine appetite, or unnatural appetite to food as one of the fymptoms ; but this is wrong, for it has never been found, in reality, that thefe worms, even where moft numerous, have at all increafed the natural appetite ; and in- deed it is very difficult to judge of their being in the body by fymptoms, iince they occaflon none which are not alfo com- mon in many other difeafes. Many people have had them a long courfe of time, without being fenfibly hurt by them ; and there has never been a known inftance of their occa- fioning any one's death ; or indeed any confiderable diforder. Seethe article Worms. TAPECON, in ichthyology, a name given by fome to the fifh generally called the uram/atpus, or ftar-gazer. It is properly a fpecies of the trachinus, and is diftinguifhed by Artedi by the name of the trachinus with feveral beards at the lower jaw. Aldrovand. de Pifc. p. 258. TAPERA, in zoology, the name of a Brafilian fwallow, called by the Portuguefe there, andorintra. It is of the fize and fhape of our fwallow, and it flies about in the fame manner. The head, back, neck, wings and tail, are all of a greyifh brown ; and its throat and breaft of a greyifh white. Mars- grave's Hift. Braf. TAPETI, in zoology, the name of an animal common in the Weft Indies, and called by fome, cuniculus Americanus, the American rabbit.

It is exactly of the fhape of our common rabbit, and is of about double the fize of the dormoufe. Its hair in length and co- lour is like that of the hare, and Its ears long and erect; in the manner of out rabbits. It has a little reddifhnefs on the fore- head, and is fomewhat whitifh under the throat. It has ufually alfo a fort of white circle or collar round the neck ; but fome of this fpecies want that, and have their whitenefs only under the throat, breaft, and belly. It has no tail; its eyes are black, and Its mouth bearded in the manner of our rabbits. The Indians eat the flefh of it. Ray's Syn. Quad. p. 205. TAPHICESIUS Lapis, a name given by Pliny and the antients to a fpecies of Elites, or eagle-ftonc, found in a place of that name near Leucadia. TAPHNEUS, a word ufed by fome writers to exprefs any thing when depurated or purified to the greateft degree, as the falls by repeated folutions and cryftallizations, and the like. Para- celsus ufes it for a fpecies of earth, the things produced from which, he fays, never alter their nature by calcination or re- verberation, or the like operations. TAPIA, in botany, a name given by Plumier to a genus of plants called afterwards by Linnasus, crateva. Plum. Gen. 21. See the article Crateva. TAPIJERETE, in natural hiftory, the name of an animal found in fome parts of America, and called by the Portuguefe, anta. It is of the fize of a young calf, and in fhape fomewhat ap- proaching to the figure of the hog. Its head is thicker than a hog's, and ends in a fharp ridge at top ; and has a fnout hang- ing over the opening of the mouth, in which he has a very fh-ong mufcle, ferving to retrafl it at pleafure. The dentes in- cifores arc ten in each jaw ; from the end of thefe the jaw feems toothlefs for a little fpace. The grinders are large, and are placed five on each fide ; fo that, on the whole, the creature has twenty of each fort of teeth. Its eyes are fmall, and very like thofe of the hog j its ears roundish ; and thefe he can draw forward at pleafure. Its legs are thick, and not longer than thofe of our hogs. Its hoofs are divided into four portions. It has no tail j the fkin is hard and folid ; and the hair fhort, and of a pale brown, variegated with white foots. It hves in the thick woods, and fleeps all day ; but at night, or early in the morning, goes out for its prey. It feeds on 2 vege-