Tannin
a substance much used by the tanner in the manufacture of leather. There are several tannins, all of vegetable origin. Scientists divided them into two groups. Tannins of the first class are obtained from abnormal growths caused usually by the sting of insects. The most important source of this sort is nut galls. Other tannins are obtained from healthy portions of the plants, as from the leaves and twigs of the sumac and from the bark and leaves of various oaks and the hemlock. Other tannins are obtained from divi-divi and catechu. It is the particular province of tannin to prevent bacteria from rotting the leather. For this reason the hides are steeped after proper preparation in an extract of tannin.
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Tanning
. See Leather
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Tantah
a town of lower Egypt; on the railway about 50 miles N. of Cairo. It has many large public buildings, besides a palace of the Khedive, and is celebrated in connection with the Great Moslem saint Seyyidel-Bedawi, to whom a mosque is here erected. Tantah has three great annual fairs , which are held in January, April, and August, and at the latter 500,000 persons are said to congregate from the surrounding countries. Pop. about 74,000 .
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Tantalem Island
an island in the Gulf of Siam, on the E. coast of the main peninsula, from which it is separated by a narrow strait; 65 miles long by 20 wide.
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Tantalite
an orthorhombic mineral of rare occurrence , found in granite rocks rich in albite or oligoclase; luster, metallic; color, black; streak, reddish brown to black; opaque, brittle. Composition: A tantalate of the protoxides of iron and manganese, part of the tantalic acid being sometimes replaced by oxide of tin, forming a stanno-tantalate. Formula (FeOMnO), TaOs .
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Tantalum
a pentad metallic element , symbol, Ta., Ta., at. at. wt. 182, discovered in 1803 by Ekeberg in the minerals tantalite and yttrotantalite . The metal is
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Tantra
in Hindu sacred literature, one of the compositions, great in number and in some cases extensive, always assuming the form of a dialogue between Siva and his bride in one of her many forms, but chiefly as Uma and Parvati, in which the goddess asks her consort for directions how to perform certain ceremonies. In giving her the necessary prayers and incantations he warns her that it must on no account be divulged to the profane. The Tantrikas, or followers of the Tantras, consider them a fifth Veda, and attribute to them equal antiquity and superior authority. They were composed chi chiefly in Bengal and eastern India. The Saktas are great supporters of the Tantras .
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Taormina
a town on the E. coast of Sicily; on a lofty rock 900 feet above the sea; 35 miles S. W. of Messina. It has numerous relics of antiquity, as an aqueduct, tesselated pavements, and the remains of a theater, reckoned one of the most splendid ruins in Sicily, and commanding a view of almost unparalleled magnificence. Taormina (ancient Tauromenium), founded by the Siculi in the 4th century B. C., long Roman possession. It was taken by the Saracens in 902 and 962, by the Normans in 1078, by the French in 1676, and in 1849 by the Neapolitans under Filangleri.
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Taos
the most N. of the Pueblo tribes of North American Indians. They live in New Mexico, in a village of the same name, on the Rio de Taos, 50 miles N. of Santa Fé, and number about 400.
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Tap
The quantity of metal which runs from a furnace or cupola, from the time of opening or tapping to that of closing or botting up, is called a tap. A large ladle is said to be filled at one or more taps, as the case may be.
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Tap-cinder
See MILL-CINDER. Taper is draught given to patterns and models to make their withdrawal from the sand easier. In other words, the lowest parts of a pattern are made smaller in dimensions than the upper, in order that a gradually increasing clearance shall occur as the pattern is being drawn from the sand. This not only minimizes the damage to the mould, but to pattern also; the straining and rapping being always in proportion to the amount of taper given. See DRAUGHT.
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Tapajos
a river of Brazil, rises in the Serra Diamantina, 20 miles from the headwaters of the Paraguay, and after a N. course of 1,100 miles, joins the Amazon in lon. 35° W. The Tapajos is a dark, wide stream, and is navigable throughout most of its length. Steamers ply on its lower course for several hundred miles.
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Taper Chuck
A solid chuck having a large opening for the reception of tapers, centers, laps, etc., as shown in Fig. 84.
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Tappan
EVA MARCH, an American author, born at Blackstone, Mass., 1854. She was the daughter of the Rev. Edmund March Tappan and was educated at Vassar College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Her works include: "Charles "Charles Lamb, the Man and the Author"; "In the Days of Alfred the Great"; "In the Days of William the Conqueror"; "In the Days of Queen Elizabeth"; "Our Country's Story"; "Robin Hood, His Book"; "American Hero Stories"; "When Knights Were Bold"; "The House with the Silver Door"; "The Farmer and His Friends"; "Diggers in the Earth"; "Food Saving and Sharing"; "The Little Book of Our Country".
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Tapti
a river of Bombay, India; rising in the Betus district of the Central Provinces, and flowing 450 miles W. through the Sátpura uplands and the districts of Candeish and Surat to the Gulf of Cambay; 17 miles below the town of Surat. Even small vessels of 40 to 50 tons burden cannot ascend higher than Surat. The port of Suwali at the mouth is now deserted, and the lower channels of the river are being silted up.
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Tar River
a river in North Carolina, which rises in Granville co., flows S. E., and enters Pamlico Sound by a wide estuary. The lower part of it is called Pamlico river. It is about 200 miles long.
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Tara
a parish in Meath co., Ire- , 21 miles N. W. of land Dublin. It was a royal residence in the early days of Ireland and from the hill of Tara was brought the famous stone long used in the coronation of the Scotch kings at Scone. It is now in the chair of Edward the Confessor at Westminster. A sort of Parliament used to be held at Tara, in which all the nobles and principal scholars of Ireland met to institute new laws or to extend and renew old ones, and to examine and correct the national annals and history of the country. TARAI. See TERAI. TARA FERN (pteridium aquilina esculenta), a species of bracken, the rhizome of which was used as food by the Maoris before the British settlement of New Zealand. It is found in Australia, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands.
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