Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/423

* TOKTOISE-BEETLE. 367 TORTUBE. brilliant goklen green or iridescent metallic col- oring which disappears after death, but may be restored by moistening the dead insect. Several very beautiful species occur upon the morning- glory and upon sweet potato (see Sweet -Po- tato INSECTS), a large species (I'hysonata uni- punctata) feeds upon the wild suntlower, and a very common brick-red species (Chcli/morpha argus) feeds upon the milkweed. TORTOISE-SHELL. The semi-transparent and beautifully mottled material of the scales covering the carapace of the hawksbill (q.v.), a marine turtle found in all tropical seas. In this species the thirteen shield-plates do not join at the edges, but overlap posteriorly; the larger cen- tral ones are broadly triangular in outline, keeled, and six or seven inches broad, and those of a large turtle may weigh eight pounds. They are rarelj' thick enough to serve the ornamental purposes to which tortoise-shell is usually ap- plied, but when heated in oil or boiled in water may be welded together under pressure, or molded into a form which will be retained when cooled. "In genuine articles of Oriental manu- facture these welds can generally be detected, or their compound nature is indicated by the beauti- ful pattern, which is too regular in the imita- tions now common." Even the shavings and fragments are welded into serviceable pieces. The turtles are taken usually when they come ashore to lay their eggs ; and the plates are ( or were) sometimes removed by roasting the living animal until they were loosened and could be torn off; this was done under the belief that when the mutilated creature was returned to the sea the plates would regrow, but there is no evidence that this occurs, and the turtle probably dies. This cruel process, moreover, injures the tortoise-shell. The best and proper way is to kill the turtle and then detach the plates by im- mersion in boiling water. In its nature and chemical composition the material closely re- sembles horn (q.v.). The use of tortoise-shell has long been known. Julius Caesar found great quantities of it in the storehouses of Alexandria. The Romans veneered furniture with it. In modern times, in addition to comb-making, tor- toise-shell is made into card-eases, trays, hand- kerchief-boxes, and various other articles of ornament and the toilet. It is also used still to inlay expensive furniture, the Chinese and .Jap- anese producing the most complicated and beau- tiful examples of this sort of art. TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY. Any one of the butterflies of the Falirician genus Vanessa. They are usually of medium size, and have the wings on the upper side of some shade of black or brown marked with red, yellow, or orange. The commonest species in the Eastern United States are the following: Vanessa aitti- opa, sometimes called the mourning-cloak (q.v.), and in England known as the Camberwell beauty. Vanessa Milberti is common in the Northern United States and Canada. Its caterpillars feed upon the nettle plants of the genus Urtica. Vanessa Californica is confined to California, and in the larval stage feeds upon Ceanothus. Vanessa j-album, the 'common tortoise,' is a northern species whose larvte feed upon willows. TORTO'LA. One of the Virgin Islands (q.v.). TORTONA, tOr-tf/nft. A town in the Prov- ince of Alessandria, Italy, on the Scrivia, 12 miles east of Alessandria (.Map: Italy, C 3). It has a ruined castle overlooking the town. The town manufactures silk, markets grain and wine, and quarries stone. Tortona was destroyed by Fred- erick Barbarossa in the twelfth century for its allegiance to the Guelphie cause. Population (commune), in 1901, 17,452. TORTOSA, tor-to'sa. A fortified town of Spain, Province of Tarragona, 42 miles from the city of Tarragona, picturesquely situated on a sloping eminence overlooking the Ebro. from the mouth of which it is distant about 22 miles, and which is navigable to this town- for vessels of light draught ( Jlap : Spain, F 2 ). The town has a cathedral with fine carved work and marbles. There are manufactures of rope, paper, leather, soap, and pottery, of palm-leaf and feather-grass, but the fisheries give employment to most of the people. In the vicinity are ruins of a Roman city. Tortosa is subject to frequent disastrous floods, which have necessitated an almost entire rebuilding of the city. Population, in 1900, 24,.306. TORTRICIDJE. See Leaf-Roller. TORTUGA, tor-too'ga, or TOBTTJE, tor-ty'. An uninhabited island otT the northern coast of Haiti, West Indies (Jlap: Antilles, L 4). Area, about 80 square miles. Its surface is broken. It was formerly occupied by buccaneers, and pro- duced sugar, t-obacco, etc. TORTTJGAS, tor-t«ygaz. A group of islands off the coast of Florida. See Dry Tortugas. TORTURE (Lat. tortura, a twisting, tor- ture, from torquere, to rack, twist, torment). The infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment or for purpose of revenge or for the purpose of compelling the person tortured to give evidence or make confessions in judicial pro- ceedings. Among primitive and savage peoples torture has been used as a means of ordeal (q.v.), and as a means of punishing captured enemies. During the Middle Ages the Church made use of torture as a means of compelling religious con- formity and for the purpose of extorting evidence in heresy trials. Throughout Southern and West- ern Europe the most extreme cruelties were prac- ticed for this purpose (see Inquisition), and it was not until 1816 that torture was finally prohibited by Papal bull. Examination by tor- ture, otherwise called 'the question,' has been largely used in many countries as a judicial in- strument for extracting evidence from unwill- ing witnesses, or confessions from accused per- sons. In ancient Athens slaves were always examined by torture, and their evidence seems on this account to have been deemed more valu- able than that of freemen. No free Athenian could be examined by torture, but torture seems oc- casionally to have been used in executing crimi- nals. Under the Roman Republic only slaves could be legally tortured, and, as a general rule, they could not be tortured to establish their master's guilt. Under the Empire, however, tor- ture, besides being much used in examining slaves, might by order of the Emperor be in- flicted even on freemen, to extract evidence of the crime of Iwsa majestas, a prerogative fre- quently exercised by the Roman emperors. Cic- ero and other enlightened Romans condemned