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TANNING

1870

TARANTULA

Tan'mng. See LEATHER.

Tantalus (tan'ta-lus), noted in Greek myth for the punishment he received in the lower world. He was the son of Zeus, and for making known the counsels of his divine father or for other reasons, — the stories differ, — he was in the lower world stricken with a fearful thirst, and had to stand up to the chin in a lake, the waters of which escaped him whenever he tried to drink. Clusters of fruit hung over his head, but missed his grasp whenever he reached for them; at the same time he was in terror lest a huge rock, hung over his head and ever threatening to fall should crush him. Prom Tantalus comes "tantalize."

Tapajos (to!pd-zkoshf), an important river of Brazil and a branch of the Amazon, is formed by the junction of the Arinos and the Juruena. After flowing north for over 1,100 miles, the Tapajos falls into the Amazon 20 miles below the town of San-tarem. Its upper waters are only 18 miles from those of the Paraguay- There is one fall of 30 feet, but otherwise J ^e river is navigable for the greater part r its length.

Tap'estry, an ornamental ngured cloth, used for lining walls and covering furniture. The Jews and Egyptians were skillful tapestry workers. In France the ladies of the nobility used their needles in making beautiful tapestry for the adornment of churches and monasteries. About the 9th century this work began to be done by the loom. The Flemings excelled in tapestry-weaving, and in the i4th and i$th centuries the factories of Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Lille and Valenciennes were noted, and in the next century the factory at Fon-tainebleau. The art of weaving tapestry was introduced into England near the end of the reign of Henry VIII. A famous and very old factory is that of the Gobelins at Paris. So slow is the work that 39 square inches are considered a fair year's work for one artist. Perhaps the most remarkable piece made by hand is the Bayeux tapestry (a. v.}> which commemorates the Norman Conquest. It is 214 feet long, and is of great historical value, as it shows the old Norman costumes in great detail, and also pictures events of the conquest not mentioned by any chronicler.

Tap'io'ca, a farinaceous substance prepared from cassava-meal, which, while moist or damp, has been heated for the purpose of drying it on hot plates. By this treatment the starch-grains swell, many of them burst, and the whole agglomerates in small, irregular masses or lumps. In boiling water it swells and forms a viscous jelly-like mass.

Ta'pir, the name for several thick-skinned mammals with elongated snouts, inhabiting India, the adjacent Malayan islands and Central and South America. The tapirs,

united with the rhinoceroses   and   horses, form  a  group   of  odd-toed   ungulates  or

hoofed animals, all other hoofed animals having an even number of toes. The tapirs h a ve three toes behind and four on the front feet, but only three are used. The Old-World tapirs are larger than those of the New World, the common Indian form being eight feet long and thirty-nine inches high at the shoulders. The legs and the front part of the body are black, but the sides and back of the hinder portion are white. Those of the New World are brown or blackish when adult. The common South-American form is about seven feet long, and inhabits thickly wooded districts as far as the Andes. It is there replaced by a mountain form living at altitudes of 7,000 and 8,000 feet. There are two species in Central America whose habits are little known. Tapirs commonly feed on young leaves, shoots and fruits. Those of South America are destructive to plantations. They are hunted for their flesh and hides. Tar, an impure turpentine got by burning the wood of pine and cone-bearing trees and by distilling peat, bituminous coal and shale. The early Greeks made tar. and the people living along the Gulf of Bothnia now make it in the same way, by burning wood in a heap covered with turf, much as charcoal is made. In Sweden trees are partly stripped of their bark, and, when cut down some six years L-ter, are found much richer in resinous matter. In the United States most wood-tar comes from North Carolina, though it is also made in other parts of the country. It is usually made of pitch-pine, and is burned in tar-kilns, which are piles of pine-billets in the form of an inverted cone, covered with logs, green twigs and earth. The kiln is lighted at the top, and the tar runs out through a wooden spout at the bottom.

Coal-tar is made when illuminating gas is manufactured from bituminous coal. For a long time this tar was a mere waste-product, but now it is widely used as a covering to protect iron-work from the weather; and the pitch is used for pavements, roof-covering etc. By distilling coal-tar, benzine or benzol and other volatile products are obtained, which are very valuable as raw materials in the preparation of artificial dyes.

Tarantula (td-ran'tti-la), the name commonly applied to any large, running spider of warm countries. The true tarantula is

MALAY TAPIR