TURNPIKETUSCANY. 



705 



mcrial. They are given to cattle to fatten them, 

 and also to sheep, hogs, &c. It has been ascer- 

 tained that the most advantageous mode of field 

 culture is by drills, which will produce crops of 

 treble the weight of those grown in the broad-cast 

 manner. The ruta baga, or Swedish turnip, is a 

 variety of B. campestris, often cultivated. The 

 root is large, of a yellowish colour ; but, in gene- 

 ral, it is less esteemed than the common turnip. 



TURNPIKE ; a gate set up across a road, 

 watched by an officer for the purpose, in order to 

 stop travellers, wagons, coaches, &c., in order to 

 take toll of them. Turnpike roads are often called 

 turnpikes, just as mail-coach, hackney-coach, stage- 

 coach, are shortened to mail, hack, and stage. 



TURNSPIT; an active, industrious variety of 

 dog, once considered an indispensible attendant on 

 the spit, and still employed in some parts of Eu- 

 rope. It is distinguished by the length of the body, 

 and shortness of the legs ; the tail is curled on the 

 back, and the usual colour grayish with black spots. 

 TURPENTINE is a resinous juice extracted 

 from several trees belonging to the genus pinus. 

 English turpentine is from the Scotch fir ( P. syl- 

 vestris). Venice turpentine, which is more thin 

 and aromatic, is from the pinus larix. Strasburgh 

 turpentine is from the pinus picea. The common 

 American turpentine comes from the pinus pulus- 

 tris, which grows abundantly in the Southern 

 States. All these kinds of turpentine, and many 

 others, known in commerce, are obtained by exu- 

 dation and hardening of the juice flowing from in- 

 cisions into the pine trees. To obtain the oil of 

 turpentine, the juice is distilled in an apparatus like 

 the common still ; water is placed with the turpen- 

 tine, and the residuum and product exceed the origi- 

 nal weight ; 250 pounds of good turpentine produce 

 60 pounds of the oil. Sixteen ounces of Venice 

 turpentine, being distilled with water, yielded four 

 ounces three drams of oil of turpentine ; and the 

 same quantity distilled without water yielded, with 

 the heat of a water bath, two ounces only. When 

 turpentine is distilled or boiled with water till it 

 become solid, it appears yellowish ; when the pro- 

 cess is farther continued, it acquires a reddish-brown 

 colour. The oil of turpentine, called also spirit of 

 turpentine, cannot, without singular difficulty, be dis- 

 solved in alcohol, though turpentine itself is easily 

 soluble in that spirit. One part of oil may be dis- 

 solved in seven parts of alcohol ; but on standing, 

 the oil chiefly separates, and falls to the bottom. 



TURPIN, archbishop of Rheims, to which see 

 he was probably raised about 753, died at the be- 

 ginning of the ninth century. He encouraged liter- 

 ature by procuring books to be copied, and enriched 

 the library of his church, for which he procured 

 from Charlemagne many privileges. His name has 

 escaped oblivion in consequence of its having been 

 prefixed to the romantic history of Charlemagne 

 and Roland, one of the grand sources of the tales 

 of chivalry of the middle ages. (See Romance.) 

 From internal evidence it appears that this mass of 

 fable was compiled in the eleventh century, and 

 was translated from Latin into French in 1206 and 

 1207, by a clerk dependent on Renaud count o( 

 Boulogne. A more recent version was published 

 by Robert Gaguin, in the beginning of the sixteenth 

 century. The original first appeared in the histo- 

 rical collection of Schardius, Frankfort on the 

 Maine (1566, folio) ; and Ciampi printed (Florence, 

 1822, 8iro.) an edition of the work, with a preli- 

 minary dissertation. 



VI. 



TURQUOISE, OR CALAITE, is a mineral 

 found only massive, having an impalpable composi- 

 tion and a conchoidal fracture ; colour blue or green, 

 often bright ; feebly translucent on the edges, or 

 opaque ; hardness that of feldspar ; specific gravity, 

 2-83 to 3-00. It is not dissolved by muriatic acid. 

 Before the blowpipe, it becomes brown in the re- 

 ducing flame, and gives a green colour to it. It is 

 infusible by itself, but very easily fuses with borax or 

 salt of phosphorus. According to Berzelius, it con- 

 sists of phosphate of alumine and lime, silex, oxide 

 of iron and copper, and a little water. It is found 

 in Persia, either in pebbles, or in small veins, in its 

 original repository, traversing a kind of trap. Cut 

 and polished,' it is used for ornamental purposes. It, 

 is commonly cut in oval. A piece of fine colour, five 

 lines by four and a half, is valued at about 10. 



TURTLE. See Tortoise. 



TURTLE DOVE, (columba turtur). This bird 

 is shy and retired, and builds only in deep woods. 

 It makes the forest resound with its plaintive coo- 

 ings. It is celebrated for its conjugal attachment, 

 and is found in all the temperate parts of the Euro- 

 pean continent. 



TUSCALOOSA, the metropolis of the state of 

 Alabama, is situated at the falls on the Black War- 

 rior, near the centre of the state, 320 miles above 

 Mobile, 160 south-west of Huntsville. The name 

 of this town is the Chocktaw word for Black War- 

 rior. The first settlement was made here in 1816 

 17. In 1821, it contained about 700 inhabitants, 

 and in 1840, 16,583. It is the capital of Tuscaloosa 

 county, and contains the state and county buildings, 

 and the usual variety of dwelling-houses, shops and 

 offices, that are found in the new and flourishing 

 towns of the south and west. The temporary log 

 buildings first erected here have not wholly disap- 

 peared. Tuscaloosa is 858 miles from the city of 

 Washington, and stands in lat. 33 12' N.,lon. 87 

 42' W. 



TUSCAN ORDER OF ARCHITECTURE. 

 See Architecture. 



TUSCANY (Toscana) ; a grand duchy of Cen- 

 tral Italy, bounded north by Modena and the 

 States of the Church, east by the States of 

 the Church, and south west by a part of the Me- 

 diterranean called the Tuscan or Tyrrhenean sea. 

 It includes Elba and some smaller islands ; is divided 

 into three provinces, Florence, Pisa, and Sienna ; 

 chief towns, Florence, the capital, Leghorn, the 

 chief seaport, Sienna, Pisa, Arezzo, Cortona, and 

 Piombino; square miles, 8390; population 1,300,530. 

 The face of the country is agreeably diversified 

 with hills, valleys and plains. The Apennines, en- 

 tering on the north, traverse the country in a 

 south-east direction. In Tuscany, their highest 

 summits do not exceed 3000 feet, sometimes bleak 

 and sterile, but generally covered to the tops with 

 vegetation and forests. The country is well wa- 

 tered by numerous streams; the most considerable 

 are the Arno, Cambrone and Chiana. The climate is 

 generally pleasant and healthy, except the Marem- 

 ma, or maritime district. The soil for the most 

 part is a rich alluvial mould. The chief objects of 

 culture are wheat, maize, beans, pease, and a variety 

 of vegetables ; also clover and other artificial 

 grasses; vines, mulberries, olives, oranges, lemons, 

 figs ; and rice in the marshy parts. Sheep and cat- 

 tle are numerous in the mountainous districts. 

 Near Pisa is a stud of camels, established at the 

 time of the crusades. There" are mines of copper, 

 lead and quicksilver ; also marble, alabaster, crystal 

 2 v 



