506 



TA TABULAR SPAR. 



from teil, tau and rule. T Is used as an abbreviatioi 

 on ancient monuments, K.C., for Titus, Titius, 7'ul 

 lius. As a numeral, it signified 160, according to 

 the verse : 



1'ynoque ctnlenoi ft texaginta tmebit. 



T. with a dash over it, thus, T, signified 160,000 

 Among the Greeks, ' denoted 300, and T V 300,000. 

 The tsof the Hebrews signified 9; and with t\n 

 points placed horizontally over it, thus, ._., it. de- 

 noted 9000. Sometimes the acute accent over this 

 or any one of the first nine letters multiplied its 

 value a thousand times. T, on French coins, de- 

 notes the mint of Nantes. When the Roman tri- 

 bunes approved of senatorial decrees, they sub- 

 scribed a T. In music, T signifies tenor, also tace, 

 to indicate silence ; and in concerts it is likewise 

 the sign of tutti, a direction to the whole band to 

 play after a solo. It also stands for trillo, a shake. 

 The word T is used also to denote things of this 

 form, as a T bandage, in surgery, one consisting ol 

 two bands which cross each other ; or the T palace 

 in Mantua, (q. v.) For the use of T in modern 

 abbreviations, see Abbreviations. 



TA (great') ; a Chinese word, used in many geo- 

 graphical names, as Ta-chan (great mountain). 

 TAAUT. See Hermes Trismegistus. 

 TABARD (now corrupted into Talbof) ; an inn 

 in the borough of Southwark (London), from which 

 Chaucer and his companions set out on their pil- 

 grimage to Canterbury. Over the entrance is this 

 inscription: " This is the inn where Geoffrey Chau- 

 rer, knight, and nine and twenty pilgrims, lodged, 

 in their journey to Canterbury, in 1383." In the 

 ynrd is a picture representing their entrance into 

 <'anterbury. The original house was, however, 

 burnt down in 1676, when the present building was 

 erected on its site. 



TABBY, in commerce ; a kind of rich silk which 

 has undergone the operation of tabbying, or being 

 passed through a calender, the rolls of which are 

 made of iron or copper, variously engraven, which, 

 bearing unequally on the stuff, renders the surface 

 unequal, so as to reflect the rays of light differently, 

 making the representation of waves thereon. 



TABERNACLE (Latin, tabernaculum, a tent) 

 is used in the Hebrew writings for the tent, or 

 sanctuary, in which the sacred utensils were kept 

 during the wanderings of the Israelites in the de- 

 sert. It was always placed in the middle of the 

 camp, and bonie by Levites. It was fixed at 

 Shiloh. After the temple (q. v.) was erected, the 

 holy instruments were removed thither. The 

 feast of tabernacles was a Jewish festival, designed 

 to commemorate the nomadic period of the national 

 history, when the people dwelt in tents. The 

 feast continued eight days, during which booths 

 were erected and occupied by those engaged in 



celebrating the ceremonies Tabernacle is also 



used to signify the box in which the host is kept on 

 the altar in Roman churches, and for the niche or 

 cabinet in which the sacred relics, images, &c., are 

 preserved. The Methodists often call their meet- 

 ing-houses tabernacles. 



TABLATURE; a word formerly applied to the 

 collection of signs used in a musical composition ; 

 so that to understand the notes, clefs, and other ' 

 marks, in such a way as to be able to sing at sight, ' 

 was to be skilled in the tablature. The chief signs 

 were letters, ciphers, and, at a later period, the 

 lines indicating the octave in which a note was to 

 be performed. Letters were used until the eleventh 4 



century, when the proper notes were introduced. 

 (See Note.) As the latter lire an Italian invention, 

 they were called the Italian tablature ; whirh name, 

 however, soon went out of use ; and the old signs 

 alone are now understood by tutiltitiin-. 



TABLE, in perspective, denotes a plane surface, 

 supposed to be transparent, and perpendicular to 

 the horizon. It is always imagined to be placed 

 at a certain distance between the eye and the ob- 

 jects, for the objects to be represented thereon, by 

 means of the visual rays passing from every point 

 thereof through the table to the eye; whence it is 

 called perspective plane Table, among the jewel 

 lers. A table-diamond, or other precious stone, is 

 that whose upper surface is quite flat, and the si<l< - 

 cut in angles ; in which sense, a diamond cut tnl,h- 



wise is used in opposition to a rose-diamond 



Table, in mathematics ; systems of numbers, used 

 for expediting astronomical, geometrical, and other 

 operations; thus we say tables of the stars; tables 

 of sines, tangents, and secants ; tables of logarithms, 

 rhumbs, &c. ; sexagenary tables. 



TABLE MOUNTAIN, in Pendleton district, 

 South Carolina, is about 4000 feet above the sea, 

 and 3138 above the valley at its base. It presents 

 on one side, a tremendous precipice of solid rock, 

 about 300 feet nearly perpendicular. Some have 

 estimated its height to be even three times as great ; 

 and we have no measurement of it that can be 

 relied on. At the bottom of the precipice, a dismal 

 valley is sunk far below the surrounding country. 

 The precipice, viewed from this valley, appears like 

 a mighty wall raised to the heavens. The summit 

 of the mountain is often enveloped in the clouds. 

 TABLE, ROUND. See Round Table. 

 TABLES, TWELVE. See Twelve Tables. 

 TABLEAUX VIVANTS. See Pictures, Liv- 

 ing. 



TABOO. This word, significant of a peculiar 

 custom prevalent among the South sea islanders, 

 is used, in general, to denote something consecrated, 

 sacred, forbidden to be touched, or set aside for 

 particular uses or persons. It is applied both to 

 persons and things, and both to the object prohi- 

 bited and to the persons against whom the prohibi- 

 tion extends. Thus a consecrated piece of ground 

 is taboo; the act of consecrating it is called taboo, 

 and the persons who are excluded from entering 

 are also said to be tabooed. A particular article of 

 food is sometimes tabooed at a certain season, in 

 order to preserve it against a season of scarcity, 

 . The object of the institution seems to have 

 been the imposition of certain restraints upon a 

 rude and lawless people, like the establishment 

 of the cities of refuge, sanctuaries, c., in the 

 rude ages of European society. 



TABOR, the mount of transfiguration, is situ- 

 ated in Galilee, about fifty miles from Jerusalem. 

 See Galilee, and Transfiguration. 

 TABORITES. See Hussites. 

 TABULAR SPAR, OR TABLE SPAR (Schaal- 

 stein of Werner) ; a massive mineral, whose primary 

 ? orm is regarded as a doubly-oblique prism. The 

 ileavage in the direction of two faces, intersecting 

 each other at angles of 95 25', is easily obtained, 

 hough in one direction it is more easily effected 

 than in the other. The remaining cleavages are 

 with difficulty distinguished; lustre vitreous, in- 

 clining to pearly, particularly upon the perfect faces 

 of cleavage : colour white, inclining to gray, yellow, 

 red, and brown ; streak white ; semi-transparent to 

 translucent; rather brittle; hardness about that jf 



