Tura
or TOORA, a river of west Siberia which joins the Tobol, 78 miles W. of Tobolsk. It is about 300 miles
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: T (106)
These 11 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Tura, Turbot, Turkey Buzzard.
Turbot
a favorite table fish in European cities. The European turbot weighs from five to ten or even fifty pounds. It is what is known as a flatfish, a term applied also to the sole, flounder, and halibut. Its body is flattened like that of a sunfish only more so, and is surrounded almost entirely by a continuous dorsal and anal fin. The head is twisted so that both eyes are on one side. It swims on one side; the upper side is dark, the lower side light colored. One would naturally take the lower side for the belly and the upper side for the back; but this is not the case. One gill opening and a fin are on the lower side. A careful examination of the fish reveals the fact that the entire digestive tract--the "insides" of the fish--are within an inch or two of the head, and that the apparent body is a widely lobed tail. The turbot is one of the finest table fishes. It feeds on clean sandy bottoms, and is caught according to season with trawl net or hook and line. The London markets dispose of fresh turbot and lobster sauce to the value of a million dollars a year. See Fish ; Flounder
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Turkey Buzzard
or TURKEY VULTURE, the Rhinogryphus (Cathartes) aura. Like the other vultures, they feed on carrion, but their habits vary somewhat with locality; in the southern United States they act as scavengers in the towns; in Guatemala and throughout South America they are not seen in but occur in pairs only in the forests. flocks,
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turkey Red
. See Madder
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Turkish Bath
a popular form of hot air bath, in which the patient, after being subjected for some little time to a considerable temperature, is vigorously rubbed down, and is then conducted through a series of cooling chambers till he has regained his normal temperature. All secretions and accretions are thus completely removed from the skin, which is left free to perform its functions healthily.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turkomans
nomadic Tartar a people occupying a territory stretching between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Aral, the khanates of Khiva and Bokhara, Afghanistan, and Persia. They do not form a single nation, but are divided into numerous tribes or clans.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turks
an important and widespread family of the human race; found from the banks of the Lena through central Asia and Asia Minor to the European shores of the Bosporus and the Ægean. Formerly classed among the Turanian peoples, it is now more usual to say that they are of the Mongolo-Tartar ethnological group, and speak languages of the Ural-Altaic family. To them belong at the present day Yakuts, Siberian Tartars, Kirghizes, Uzbegs, Turkomans, Karakalpaks, Kazan Tartars, and Dungans, as well as the Ottoman Turks; linguistically the Bashkirs and Tchuwashes fall under the same head. The existing Turkish peoples are all Moslems, except the Yakuts, and mostly nomadic. They have given ruling families or races to China, Persia, India, Syria, Egypt, and the empire of the Caliphs.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turmeric
the rhizome or rootstock usually having pointed cylindrical branches, of Curcuma longa (natural order Zingiberacea). This species of Curcuma is handsome herbaceous a plant, the flowering stem of which has long, narrow, sheathing leaves, and above these a leafy spike of yellow flowers. It is cultivated all over India, but it is also grown in the East Indian islands, China and the Fijis. The tubers, which are yellowish externally, yield a deep yellow powder of a resinous character. Turmeric has been long employed in the East as a medicine , and as a yellow dye which can be changed into a deep brownish red by alkalies, but neither color is permanent . It is a principal ingredient in some Indian articles of food, including curry powder. In W. countries it is not now much used in dyeing, nor in medicine, but it is very useful as a chemical test for the presence of alkalies, any alkaline substance quickly changing its color from yellow to reddish brown. Mustard is frequently adulterated with turmeric , and so also are some other substances . Turmeric has an aromatic taste and a peculiar odor not unlike that of ginger. The odor is due to an essential oil called turmerol, of which the tubers contain about 1 per cent.; and the coloring principle is known as curcumin . African turmeric, brought from Sierra Leone, is obtained from a species of canna.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turner
CHARLES TENNYSON, an English poet; brother of Lord Alfred Tennyson; born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, July 4, 1808. He assumed the name of Turner by royal license, having inherited some property from his great uncle, Rev. Samuel Turner. Besides "Poems of Two Brothers," written in collaboration with Alfred, he wrote: "Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces" (1830); "Sonnets" (1864); " Small Tableaux" (1868); "Sonnets, Lyrics , and Translations" (1873); " Collected Sonnets, Old and New" (1880). He died in Cheltenham, England, April 25, 1879.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Turner, Joseph Mallord William
Joseph Mallord William (1775-1851), a celebrated English landscape painter. He was the son of a London hairdresser. He was employed when a boy to color engravings. He became a painter of rivers, the sea, ships, and landscapes. His work was applauded warmly by Ruskin. Several hundred illustrations were prepared for publication under such titles as South Coast Scenery, England and Wales, Rivers of France, etc. Among his best known paintings are the Fighting Temeraire, Towed to Their Last Moorings, The Sun Rising Through a Mist, and The Slave Ship . He was an eccentric man and never married. He was wont to disappear from view, going on a tramp for months alone. At death he desired to be wrapped in the canvas of the painting known as The Building of Carthage, now in the National Gallery, London. He was buried in St. Paul's hard by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Turner, Nat
Nat (1800-31), a Virginia slave. He became possessed of the idea that the voice of God was calling him to lead his people to freedom. In 1831 he started an impossible insurrection. Several families of whites were massacred. He went from plantation to plantation, killing whites and increasing his following until he had two hundred half crazed negroes at his back. Fifty-five white people had been butchered before troops were obtained to suppress the rising. Turner took refuge in the Dismal Swamp , but was taken finally and hanged. The heads of sixteen of his fellow insurgents were fixed on poles along the highways as a warning. The terror created by the insurrection was such that leading Virginians seriously considered the question of general emancipation. 2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: BR 2026-07-22)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia