Page:LA2-NSRW-4-0478.jpg



TOULON

1928

TOUSSAINT

depends upon the number of particular touch-organs in a square inch and also on education. The blind, for example, can be taught to read by passing their fingers over raised letters, and physicians and some artisans acquire an educated touch of remarkable acuteness. Touch is most accurate in the tip of the tongue; the palm of the forefinger stands next; and the back is the least sensitive to contact. The whiskers of cats and other similar organs increase the efficiency of this sense. As regards the temperature of sense, it has been shown that there are distinct hot and cold spots lying close together on the surface of the skin.

Toulon (tod'ldn'}, a city of France, on the Mediterranean, 30 miles southeast of Marseilles. It is on a double bay, sheltered by mountains, and has the largest military port on the Mediterranean, covering 240 acres, with large buildings, arsenals and floating docks. The cathedral, town-hall, military and naval schools and theater are among its finest buildings. Shipbuilding and the trade connected with the military and naval works are the principal industries of the city. Toulon was used as a harbor by the Romans. The fine fortifications built to protect the city from pirates withstood an attack of the English and Dutch fleets in 1707. The English captured the city in 1793, but were driven out by Napoleon. Population 103,549.

Toulouse (tdo'looz'}, a French city on the Garonne River, 130 miles southeast of Bordeaux. The beautiful church of St. Sernin, the cathedral, a fine museum of art, a public library, an observatory and an arsenal are among its attractions. It has manufactures of woolen and cotton goods, cutlery and hardware. Toulouse was the capital of the Visigoths in the 5th century. From the 8th to the i3th century it was governed by counts or dukes, and was then attached to the French crown. The battle of Toulouse, in which Wellington was victorious over the French under Soult, was fought on April 10, 1814. Population 149,438.

Tourg^e (tdor-zhd') Albion W., an American author, was born at Williamsfield, p., May 2, 1838. He studied at the University of Rochester, N. Y.; enlisted as a private in the 27th New York volunteers; was wounded at Bull Run and at Perryville; and was held a prisoner for four months. He moved to North Carolina, where he was prominent in the reconstruction of the state, drawing up the constitution and aiding in the revision of the laws. His writings, besides legal works, include Toinette, Figs and Thistles, A Fool's Errand and Bricks without Straw. In 1897 he was appointed consul to Bordeaux, France. He died on May 21, 1905.

Tourmaline (toor'ma-Un), a mineral found in granite, gneiss and sometimes in sand-

stone. The color varies according to the materials tourmalines are made of. The blue, pink and green ones have little iron, while the black ones probably are colored by iron. Silica, boric acid, alumina, lithia, soda, lime, magnesia etc. enter into their composition. Tourmaline is found in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont in red, green and blue crystals, while brown ones are found in New York and very fine black ones in California. In the Ural Mountains, the island of Elba and the St. Gothard fine specimens are found. See The Tourmaline by Hamlin.

Tournament (toor'na-ment), a military festival or contest. They were usually contests between knights on horseback, and the name came from the skill needed in turning their horses. If only two knights contended, it was called a joust; but several combatants made it a tournament. Invitations to a tournament were given by princes or nobles through heralds, and the attending knights came with large retinues and gay banners, while crowds of gaily dressed spectators filled, the seats around the place of contest. The rules of the tournament prescribed the kinds of weapons to be used, the mode of warfare and the rank of those who might enter the lists. The prizes awarded by judges were given by the ladies. The early tournaments were like the gladiatorial shows in Rome, often resulting in the death of the combatants, and were for a time forbidden in England and opposed by the church, but during the crusades they came into favor and flourished as court pageants until Henry II of France received a fatal wound, when they were abolished in Europe. See Ivanhoe by Scott.

Tours (toor), a French city, at the junction of the Loire and Cher Rivers. The finest bridge in France crosses the Loire. There are two towers standing of the famous Church of St. Martin. Tours is known for its silk-manufactures, being the first place to introduce the trade, which was so extensive that it had 80,000 inhabitants when the repeal of the Edict of Nantes drove away its best artisans. T4ie states-general of France met in Tours at different times during the i$th and i6th centuries. It was occupied by the Germans in 1871. Population 67,601.

Toussaint (tdo's&n'), Francois Domi=> nique, called also L'Ouverture, the black chieftain of Haiti, was born of slave parents near Cape Francois, Haiti, in 1743. In 1791 the mulattoes and blacks made a struggle for their rights, and Toussaint, after helping his master to escape with his family to Baltimore, joined the army and soon became a general, capturing the white army without bloodshed. The black leaders at first accepted the help of the Spaniards, but when the English invaded the island.