Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/273

 gives judgment, stating his conclusions on the law and facts involved.

There remain certain modes of trial not obsolete but rarely used. Such are impeachment of the House of Commons before the House of Lords; and in the case of a charge of treason or felony by a person having privilege of peerage, trial on indictment before the House of Lords, or in vacation before the court of the lord high steward. Trials by certificate, by inspection and by record, are obsolete.

The decisions on a trial at first instance are reviewed by (q.v.), or in trial cases heard before a jury by application for a new trial, where the judge has not directed the jury correctly as to the law or has permitted them to consider inadmissible evidence, or the jurors have in their verdict acted without evidence or against the weight, i.e. the quality not the quantity of the evidence. Under the Criminal Appeal Act 1907 the decisions in criminal trials on indictment, whether on matters of law or of fact or on mixed questions of law or fact, are reviewable by the court of criminal appeal; but that court has no power to order a retrial of the case before a jury.

Scotland.—Jury trial was introduced into Scotland for certain classes of civil cases in the 19th century but is not much used. In criminal cases it is used where summary jurisdiction has not been conferred.

Ireland.—The law of Ireland as to trials is in substance the same as in England, except as to appeals in criminal cases.

United States.—In the United States the system of trial is that of the English common law as varied by Federal and state legislation.

TRIANGLE, in geometry, a figure enclosed by three lines; if the lines be straight the figure is called a plane triangle; but if the figure be enclosed by lines on the surface of a sphere it is a spherical triangle. The latter are treated in ; here we summarize the more important properties of plane triangles. In a plane triangle any one of the angular points can be regarded as the vertex; and the opposite side is called the base. The three sides and angles constitute the six elements of a triangle; it is customary to denote the angular points by capital letters and refer to the angles by these symbols; the sides are usually denoted by the lower case letter corresponding to that of the opposite angular point. Triangles can be classified according to the relative sizes of the sides or angles. An equilateral triangle has its three sides equal; an isosceles triangle has only two sides equal; whilst a scalene triangle has all its sides unequal. Also a right-angled triangle has one angle a right angle, the side opposite this angle being called the hypotenuse; an obtuse angled triangle has one angle obtuse, or greater than a right angle; an acute-angled triangle has three acute angles, i.e. angles less than right angles. The triangle takes a prominent place in book i. of Euclid; whilst the relation of the triangle to certain circles is treated in book iv. (See : § Euclidean.)

 TRIANGLE, in music (Fr. triangle, Ger. Triangel, Ital. triangolo), an instrument of percussion of indefinite musical pitch, consisting of a triangular rod of steel, open and slightly curved at one corner. The triangle, suspended by a loop, is played by means of a steel stick with a wooden handle. Varied rhythmical effects and different grades of forte and piano can be obtained. A sort of tremolo or roll can be produced by striking each end of the triangle alternately in rapid succession. When the triangle is scored for on a separate staff, the treble clef is used, but it is more often included with the bass drum on the bass stave. The tone of the triangle is clear and ringing, but it should have no definite pitch. The small triangles are the best. Beethoven, Mozart, Weber and other great masters employed the instrument.

 TRIASSIC SYSTEM, in geology, the lowest or youngest system of the Mesozoic era; it occupies a position above the Permian and below the Jurassic system of rocks. The principal formations of the type region, Germany, are the Bunter, Muschelkalk and Keuper; these were for the first time grouped together under the systematic name “Trias” by F. von Alberti (1834).



A description of the rocks in these formations will be found under their respective headings. For a long time this German development of the strata was regarded as typical of the period; later, however, the discovery of another more fossiliferous phase in the Alps and Mediterranean region, and subsequently in Asia and elsewhere, led geologists to take a different view of the system as a whole. It was clearly seen that there existed two distinct phases of Triassic rock-building, the one continental (terrestrial and lagoonal), the other marine (pelagic).