Tropic Bird
a popular name for any species of the genus Phaëthon. They are tropical sea birds, in habits and general appearance approaching gulls and terns, and resembling the latter in their mode of flight. Their powers of flight are great, and they are usually seen at considerable distances from the land, as they live almost entirely on the wing, and when they do not return to the distant shore to roost, rest on the surface of the water. They are about 30 inches long, of which the long tail feathers occupy about one-half. The general hue of the plumage is white; in two species, Cyc from the Atlantic Ocean, P. ætherius (or candidus) and P. flavirostris, the tail feathers are white; in the third species, P. phœnicurus, from the Pacific Ocean, they are red, and are highly valued by the natives of the South Seas as ornaments. Tropic birds nest in holes かっ TROPIC BIRD in cliffs and on rocky islands, the female laying only one egg, and the male sitting in a hole by her side, both with heads inward.
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Tropine
C8H15NO; an organic base obtained by heating atropine with a saturated solution of baryta water, and precipitating the baryta with carbonic acid gas. It has a strong alkaline reaction, is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether, melts at 62°, and boils at 229°. From its ethereal solution it crystallizes in colorless anhydrous tables.
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Troppau
the chief town and capital of the former Austrian Silesia; on the Oppa; 106 miles S. S. E. of Breslau. It is surrounded by fine gardens, replacing the old walls and intrenchments, and has three suburbs, six churches (one Evangelical), an old town hall (lately rebuilt in Gothic style), a large barrack, a higher gymnasium and realschule, a teachers' training college, a commercial school, and several benevolent institutions. Troppau manufactured, before the World War, cloth (chiefly military), machinery, beet sugar, beer, potash, sodawater, lucifers, spirits, liquors, and paper. Troppau was founded in the 13th century. From Oct. 20 to Dec. 20, 1820, a congress of representatives ves of the five great powers, afterward transferred to Laibach, met here to plan for suppressing revolutionary outbreaks in Italy. Pop. about 35,000.
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Troppo
in music, an Italian term for too much.
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Tros
King of Phrygia. The son of Erichthonius and Astyoche, and grandson of Dardanus . He was married to Callirrhoe , by whom he became the father of Ilus , Assaracus , and Ganymedes . The country and people of Troy derived their name from him. Tucca, Plotius. A friend of Horace and Vergil; the latter bequeathed to him and Varius his unfinished works. Tullius, Servius. The sixth king of Rome. The account of the early life and death of Servius Tullius is full of marvels, and cannot be regarded as possessing any title to a real historical narrative.
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Troubadour
one of a class of poets which appeared first in Provence, in the S. of France, at the end of the 11th century. They were the inventors of a species of lyrical poetry almost entirely desubjects voted to romantic and amatory , and generally very complicated in its meter and rhymes. They flourished till the end of the 13th century. There is reason for supposing that the art of the troubadours, generally called the gay science, was derived the East, coming into Europe through the Spaniards, and the troubadours of Provence learning from their neighbors of Spain. Troubadours frequently attached themselves to the courts of kings and nobles, whom they praised or censured in their songs; but it was a rule that some lady was selected, and to her, under some general or fancy title, love songs, complaints, and other poems were addressed. The "love service" of the troubadours was often nothing more than mere artificial gallantry, where but there are instances on record it became something more earnest. The poems of the troubadours were not always confined to subjects of gallantry; sometimes they treated of the conditions of society, the evils of the times, the degeneracy of the clergy, and other subjects. See PROVENÇAL.
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Troubadours
troo'ba-doors, a name given to a class of poets who flourished in Provence, France, and in northern Italy from the middle of the tenth to the end of the thirteenth century. In the development of the French language, we find the prevailing dialect of the south called Langue d'oc (language of oc); that of the north, Langue d'oui (language of oui), from the two words for "yes," oc and oui, used respectively in the two dialects. Langue d'oc was also called provencal, and it was in this language that the troubadours sang their songs. They seem to have invented a particular variety of lyric. Love was the special theme of the troubadours, as it was of the minnesingers of Germany. They also sang of war, and songs of expression of religious fervor are common, inspired doubtless by the religious enthusiasm of the Crusades. Public events of importance also furnished subjects for the troubadour. The troubadours to the number of thousands appeared almost contemporaneously. For three centuries such poets held high reputation. Almost suddenly the language declined, the troubadours ceased to sing, and this literature, the outgrowth of an age and in no sense the result of individual genius, entirely ceased, having left an enormous number of poems, many of them pleasing and beautiful, but not a masterpiece among them. See Blondel ; Minnesingers ; Trouveres
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Trouve'res
a class of poets who appeared in the north of France during the twelfth century. They correspond to the troubadours of the south. While the Langue d'oc or Provencal tongue was declining gradually in the south, a new language, Langue d'oui was maturing, and with it a literature was developing in the north. The names of troubadour and trouve're are simply different forms of the same word. The poetry of the trouve'res is as different from that of the troubadours as is their language. The trouve'res produced epics and narrative poems instead of lyrics. Their subjects were the romances of chivalry and tales of supernatural occurrences, including three distinct classes, those relating to King Arthur, those relating to Amadis, the Gaul, and those concerning Charlemagne and his paladins. Allegories, fables in verse, and the dramatic compositions of the mysteries were also among the productions of the Trouve'res. See Troubadours
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