Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/493

* TRANSYLVANIA. 427 TRAP DOOR SPIDER. rising of the Protestants in the country and in Hungary took phice under the head of Stephen Bocskay (q.v. ), who was elected Prince of Tran- sylvania in 1G05, and in lOOli forced the Haps- burgs to recognize the liberties of the Hungarian Protestants. In the Thirty Years' War two princes of Transylvania, Bethlen Galior (q.v.) and George Rflkoczy (q.v. ), figured among the cham- pions of the Protestant cause. When Leopold I. of Austria, after the overthrow of the Turks at Vienna (1GS3), had made himself master of the heart of Hungary, he proceeded to secure pos- session of Transylvania. Prince Jlichael I. Apafi (q.v.) had to acknowledge the Austrian ruler as overlord of Transylvania, which was united with Hungary, and his son, Michael II., was forced to renounce his title for a nionev consideration. In the Peace of Karlovitz, in 1090, the Turkish Sul- tan recognized the sovereignty of Austria over the country. The Diploma of Leopold I., in 1691, had guaranteed to Tran.sylvania its ancient privi- leges and customs. It was erected into a grand princi]iality in 1765. In the Hungarian Revolu- tion of 1848-49 Transjivania was the scene of terrible massacres of the Magj-ars by the Wal- lachs and of the victories and final defeat of General Beni (q.v.). In 1849 Transylvania was separated from Hungary, and made an Austrian crownland. In 1807 it was again united with Hungary. BiBUOGRAPHY. Bielz, Uandbiich dcr Landes- kiinde Sichetthiirgens (Hcrmannstadt, 1850); Eeissenberger, Das Orossfiirstcntutn Siehenhiirgen (Vienna, 1881); Bergncr, •^iebviibiirgen (Leip- zig, 1884) ; Hauer and Stache, Geologie Sieben- biirgens (Vienna, 1885) ; Gerard, The Land Be- yond the Forest (London, 1888). TRAP. A name commonly applied to dark fine-grained rocks .such as diabase, basalt, and diorite, the components of which cannot be readily distinguished. TRAPA (Neo-Lat., abbreviation of ML. cal- citrapa, caltrop, from Lat. calx, heel + ]VIL. cmHEBi: BtJFFALO NDT {Trapa bicornis). trappa, snare, from OHG. trappa. trnpa, AS. trvppe, treppe, Eng. trap; so called from the four spines of .some species, which thus resemble caltrops). A small genus of aquatic plants of Vol. XIX.-28. the natural order Haloragiacea'. Trapa natans, tlie water caltro])s, is found in ditches and ponds in Southern Europe, and is grown in jionds in Holland. The floating leaves are rhomboidal, tootlied, and smooth; those under water are cnt into capillary segments. The fruit has four spines; the large, almond-like kernels are edible either raw or roasted, or in soups, and taste somewhat like chestnuts, hence the French name niarron d'eau (water chestnut). Xuts of Trapa bispiiwsa, the Singhara nut, being starchy, are widely used as food in Cashmere, where tlu'y are made into cakes, etc. Trapa bicornis, by some botanists considered to be a form of Trapa iuitans, is nuich cultivated in China, for its edible fruit. Some botanists reduce all the species to one, with possibly several varieties. TRAPANI, tra'pA-nf.. The capital of the Province of Trapani, Sicilj', situated on a penin- sula, on the northwest coast, 45 miles w'est by south of Palermo (Map: Italy, G 9). There are several fine churches with noteworthy sculptures and paintings, and palaces architecturally inter- esting. The lyeeum has a picture gallery and a natural history collection. The special industries are connected with the working of coral, shell- cameos, marble, and alabaster. There are also ship-building yards, salt-works, fisheries, and an export trade in wine, fruits, olive oil, etc. The fine harbor, which is defended by a fort, is the scene of much connnercial activity. Near the city is the ancient Annunziata pilgrimage church, M-ith the famous statue of the Madonna of Tra- pani. Trapani, the ancient Drepanum and sea- port of Eryx (q.v.), was fortified by the Cartha- ginians in the third century B.C. Here in n.c. 249 they defeated the Romans in a great naval battle. Eight years later, however, Trapani became a Roman colony. It was a royal residence in the Middle Ages. Population (commune), in 1881, 38.231; in 1901, 59,452. TRAP-DOOR SPIDER. Any one of the large hairy tropical spiders belonging to the fam- ily Theraphosidff, which make long tubes in the earth, lining them with silk and furnishing them at the entrance with a bevel-edged, hinged, ac- curately fitting trap-door made of alternate lay- ers of earth and silk. The upper surface is cov- ered with earth or gravel so as to completely dis- guise the entrance. The spider hides in the nest Avhen not seeking its prey, and with some species a branch to the tunnel is built with a separate door. The digging of the burrow, which is always on high sloping ground, is a very laborious "task. The earth is loo.sened with the mandibles, and is carried away piece by piece .supported by the mandibles and maxilla;. One observed by Mogg- ridge took an hour to dig a hollow as large as half a walnut. A species common in the South- western United States (Ctcnitza Californica) digs holes nearly an inch in diameter, and some- times a foot in length. When the spider is on guard, holding the door down from inside by means of its mandibles and feet, it is impossible to raise the trap-door without tearing it. Ex- perimenters at San Diego, California, removed the trap-doors of sixty nests, unhinging them at night. Without exception the spider had by morning completed a new door. Continued re- moval, however, resulted in a falling off in the quality of the successive doors owing to the fail-