TRANSPORTATION TRAPEZOID. 



659 



for instance, are each separately transparent sub- 

 stances, but, mixed together, are untransparent, be- 

 cause they refract light differently. On the other 

 hand, paper, which by itself is opaque, becomes 

 transparent by moistening it with water or oil. The 

 transparency of a body has no connexion with its 

 hardness or softness, or porosity, as one would at 

 first imagine. The hard diamond is transparent : 

 the softest kinds of wood, on the contrary, are not 

 so, because the rectilinear direction of the rays of 

 light in the mass does not depend on the properties 

 just mentioned. The unchangeableness of this rec- 

 tilinear direction of the rays of light must therefore 

 be regarded as the proper fundamental cause of 

 transparency. Newton, in his optics, has proposed 

 acute inquiries and conjectures respecting transpa- 

 rency in the sense just given. Bouguet, in his 

 Traits d'Optique (Paris, 1760, 4to.), has given the 

 results of his experiments on the diminution which 

 the light suffers in its passage through different 

 bodies. The newly invented photometer of Lam- 

 padius depends upon this principle of the diminu- 

 tion of light by transparent bodies. It is a tube in 

 which plates of the transparent substances are in- 

 serted, till the light at last becomes invisible through 

 it. See a Practical Treatise on Gas Light, by Ac- 

 cum. 



TRANSPORTATION is a kind of punishment, 

 or more properly an alleviation or commutation of 

 punishment, for criminals in England convicted of 

 felony; who, for the first offence, unless it, is an 

 extraordinary one, are generally transported to New 

 Holland or Van Diemen's Land, there to bear hard 

 labour for a term of years. 



TRANSUBSTANTIATION. See Lord's 

 Supper. 



TRANSYLVANIA; a grand principality, form- 

 ing part of the Hungarian estates of the imperial 

 house of Austria, lying between Hungary, Wala- 

 chia, and Moldavia ; 23,500 square miles ; popula- 

 tion, 2,000,000. It is called by the Germans Sie- 

 benburgen, from Siebengebirge, whence a colony of 

 German colonists removed to the former region in 

 1143. The Latin name Transylvania is derived 

 from its situation beyond the Carpathian forests ; 

 and the Hungarian name Erdely signifies the moun- 

 tainous forest. Transylvania is surrounded on the 

 east, south, and partly on the north, by the Carpa- 

 thian mountains, from which lateral chains branch 

 off, and cross the country in every direction. It 

 consists chiefly of alternate mountains and valleys, 

 with few extensive plains. The principal rivers 

 are the Maros, Samos, and Aluta. The lakes are 

 deep. The soil is generally fertile, but badly cul- 

 tivated ; the climate cold for the latitude, but 

 healthy. The productions are wheat, oats, barley, 

 potatoes ; maize and vines are raised in favourable 

 situations ; orchards are not neglected ; hay, and 

 all artificial grasses, are unknown, and cattle sub- 

 sist upon natural herbage ; cattle and sheep arc 

 numerous; there are extensive forests. The mine- 

 ral productions are various. There are salt mines 

 producing annually from 30 to 40,000 tons ; iron 

 mines, yielding 3000 or 4000 tons of iron ; mines 

 of lead, copper, silver, and gold; quarries of marble, 

 jasper, porphyry, slate, limestone, coal, sulphur, and 

 petroleum ; precious stones, as topazes, chrysolites, 

 opals, garnets, &c. ; and mineral springs in abun- 

 dance. 



Transylvania is a part of the ancient Dacia. 

 From the fifth century downward, it wa? succes- 

 sively occupied by different nations; and, in 1004, 



it was made a province of Hungary. John Zapolya, 

 in 1535, was acknowledged by the king of Hun- 

 gary sovereign prince of Transylvania; and he and 

 his successors were often supported by the Turks 

 against the Hungarian princes of the Austrian dyn- 

 asty. Leopold I. finally conquered the country in 

 1689; and by the peace of Carlovitza, in 1699, the 

 sovereignty of Austria over Transylvania was ac- 

 knowledged by Turkey. The country, however, 

 continued to be governed by its own princes, until 

 the extinction of their line, in 1713, when it was 

 incorporated with Hungary. Maria Theresa erected 

 it into a grand principality in 1765. 



The population is composed of thirteen nations. 

 The three principal people are the Hungarians, 

 Szecklers (supposed to be descendants of the Pet- 

 shenegurs), and Saxons (the German colonists above 

 mentioned). The country is accordingly divided 

 into three main divisions : 1. the Land of the 

 Szecklers, in the east, thinly peopled, and subdi- 

 vided into three seats or jurisdictions ; 2. the Land 

 of the Hungarians, in the west, which comprises 

 half of the population and extent of the country, 

 and is divided into eleven counties (comitatus') and 

 two districts ; 3. the Land of the Saxons, in the 

 south and north, which is the best cultivated, and 

 is divided into nine seats or jurisdictions, and two 

 districts. These three nations are called the United 

 ( Uniti) ; the others, called the Tolerated ( Tolerati), 

 are W-alachians, Armenians, Greeks, Moravians, 

 Poles, Russians, Bulgarians, Servians or Rascians, 

 Jews, and gipsies. The last mentioned, called also 

 Pharaohs, and New Peasants, lead a roving life, 

 and cannot be induced to cultivate the land in a 

 stationary place of residence. The Walachians are 

 the most numerous of the Tolerati. Trade is 

 chiefly in the hands of Greeks and Armenians. The 

 Saxons are the most industrious part of the popu- 

 lation, and in their Land lie Hermannstadt, the 

 capital, with 16,000 inhabitants, and Cronstadt, the 

 principal commercial and manufacturing place in 

 Transylvania, with 30,000 inhabitants. The Tran- 

 sylvanian nobility enjoy exemption from taxes, and 

 from the county jurisdiction, and other privileges. 

 The higher nobility, barons, and counts, are styled 

 magnates. The lower nobility are not altogether 

 exempt from taxes : this class includes those nobles 

 who have no manor, the citizens of the free cities, 

 and the officers of the chase to the sovereign. The 

 rest of the people consists of the citizens of the 

 other towns, emancipated peasants and serfs. The 

 Transylvanian estates are divided, in regard to na- 

 tions, into the Hungarian, Szeckler, and Saxon 

 benches; in respect of religion, into the Catholic, 

 Reformed (Calvinistic), Evangelical (Lutheran), 

 and Unitarian or Socinian benches ; and in regard 

 to character, into those of the prelates, of the mag- 

 nates, and of the nobles. The diets are held in 

 Hermannstadt. The estates have the right, in con- 

 nexion with the crown, to make laws, impose taxes, 

 and confer the rights of citizenship on foreigners. 

 The revenue of the principality amounts to5, 000,000 

 guilders. The four religions above mentioned arc 

 privileged ; others are only tolerated. See Military 

 District. 



TRAPEZOID, on TRAPEZIUM; a quadri- 

 lateral figure of unequal sides, and, consequently, 

 unequal angles. It is different from parallelograms, 

 which are quadrilateral figures, with the opposite 

 sides always equal. The word is deiived from the 

 ({reck r^a-rtfy, which had the same meaning in 

 Greek geometry. 



2 T 2 



