Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/868

 838 TRAFALGAR TRAJAN allels 30 N. and S. toward the equator. They aiv atmospheric currents moving toward the equator to till the spaces left by the airs that have become heated and passed up to the more elevated portions of the atmosphere in the belt of the equatorial calms. These currents, mov- ing continually toward larger parallels of lati- tude, do not at once acquire the increasing eastAvardly movement of the portions of the earth's surface revolving beneath, and the lag- ging occasioned by the earth slipping away under them produces a deviation from a direct meridional movement as respects the surface of the earth, and an apparent progress of the currents toward the west. Beyond the limits stated above these currents merge into the re- gions of variable winds and calms. (See ME- TEOROLOGY, and RAIN.) The trade winds have been known to Europeans since the end of the 14th century; to them Columbus owed his prosperous voyages to America, and they con- stitute a most important factor in the naviga- tion of the ocean. The limits within which the trades prevail vary from month to month with the varying position of the sun, the range being about ten degrees. In general the trade wind is not accompanied by clouds, and the air is comparatively dry. See Maury's, Fitzroy's, and Andrau's trade-wind charts, the admiral- ty wind charts, and Coffin's "Winds of the Globe," to be published in 1876 by the Smith- sonian institution; also Fen-el's "Motions of Fluids and Solids" (New York, 1860). TRAFALGAR (anc. Promontorium Junonis), a cape of Spain, on the S. W. coast, at the N. W. entrance of the strait of Gibraltar, in lat. 36 10' N., Ion. 6 1' W., about 28 m. S. E. of Cadiz. It is memorable for the naval battle fought near it, Oct. 21, 1805, between the English under Nelson and the combined fleets of France and Spain. (See NELSON, HORATIO.) TRAGACANTH. See GUM, vol. viii., p. 321. TRAGOPANj a name given by Cuvier to the birds of the pheasant family comprised in the genus ceriornis (Swains.). The bill resembles that of the common fowl ; the wings are am- ple and very concave, with the fourth to the seventh quills the longest; tail rounded, and its coverts ample ; tarsi stout and armed with a small spur, anterior toes united at the base by membrane, and the claws long and curved. There are three or four species, inhabitants of the gloomy and thick pine forests of the high mountains of central Asia ; they are solitary and shy, and discoverable only by their shrill whistle ; the plumage is very bril- liant, being red, varied with black, blue, and golden, and with white eye-like spots. The best known species is the horned pheasant (C. satyra, Swains.), of the size of a large domes- tic fowl ; the males have the sides of the head naked, and in the spring behind each eye a long reddish and bluish horn directed oblique- ly backward, and under the throat long, na- ked, bluish, expansile wattles ; the feathers are lengthened and disunited on the crown, pur- plish black, becoming crimson on the occiput ; back of neck and bare skin in front surround- ed by deep black ; wings and back brown with an eyed white spot at the end of each feather ; Horned Pheasant (Ceriornis satyra). rest of plumage deep red with small spots of white; the female and young are brownish, and have neither the horns nor the wattles ; the males do not attain the full beauty of their plumage till the third year. The food con- sists of grains, roots, insects, and larvae. There are also the golden-breasted and black-headed tragopans, similar to the preceding. TRAGUS, Hieronymns, the Latin name of a German botanist, whose real name was Bock, born at Heidersbach in 1498, died at Horn- bach in 1553. He was successively head of a school in Zweibrticken and superintendent of the ducal garden, Protestant pastor at Horn- bach, and physician of the count of Nassau in Saarbriick. He published Neues Krauter- buch vom Unterschiede, WirTcung und Nahmen der Krauter, so im Deutschland wachsen (fol., Strasburg, 1551 ; Latin translation by Kyber, 1552). This was the first attempt in modern times toward the classification of plants. TRAILING ARBUTUS. See ARBUTUS. TRAJAN (MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS), a Ro- man emperor, born in Italica, near Seville, Spain, Sept. 18, A. D. 52, died in Selinus (after- ward called Trajanopolis), Cilicia, in August, 117. He was the son of Trajanus, an officer in the imperial service, and early embraced the profession of arms. He served as a mili- tary tribune in the wars of the East, before 86 was made praetor, and in 91 became con- sul along with M. Acilius Glabrio. After- ward he went to J3pain, and was sent by Do- mitian to Germany to command the troops on the lower Rhine. When at the close of 97 Nerva adopted him and chose him as his suc- cessor, the selection met with geoeral acquies- cence, although no previous emperor had been born out of Italy. His title after his elevation