TADPOLE 



5678 



TAFT 



Naval Tactics. As the introduction of mod- 

 ern firearms has completely changed the aspect 

 of military tactics, so has steam (combined 

 with modem weapons) changed naval warfare. 

 The old style wooden vessels had not only to 

 fight but to maneuver for wind, a matter now 

 entirely disregarded. The general principles of 

 military tactics may be applied to naval war- 

 fare, in that the object is to oppose the enemy 

 with a superior or better placed and maneu- 

 vered force. The development of signaling, 

 especially the introduction of the wireless tele- 

 graph, air planes and searchlights greatly facili- 

 tated naval tactics. In the United States navy 

 the principal battle formations are called line, 

 column and echelon. Ships advancing abreast 

 are said to be in line, in column when one be- 

 hind the other, in echelon when advancing in 

 a diagonal line. A fleet consists of two or more 

 squadrons of from two to eight ships each. A 

 division is half a squadron of more than five 

 vessels belonging to a squadron or division. 



In a sea fight, as in a land fight, if the line 

 of battle be broken, an opportunity is pre- 

 sented to destroy the disorganized vessels, as 

 their power is weakened when not acting in 

 direct cooperation. Naval battles are now set- 

 tled at long distances (in the Battle of Jutland, 

 ten or eleven miles), and should vessels become 

 separated from their line of battle, they are an 

 easy prey to the enemy. F.ST.A. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Army Strategy 



Navy War of the Nations 



TADPOLE, tad'pohl. The first period in the 

 life history of a frog or toad, after it hatches 

 from the egg, is known as the tadpole, or larval, 

 stage. When the creature first hatches it looks 

 like a lump of dark jelly with a head and a 

 tail. There are no gills, no mouth and no eye, 

 but on certain parts of the body there are hair- 

 like processes which enable it to push itself 

 forward in the water. Gills, eyes and mouth 

 then develop, and, in the course of time, the 

 gills are replaced by lungs, the tail is absorbed, 

 and legs appear. These last changes mark the 

 end of the tadpole stage and the beginning of 

 the mature period. For illustration of tadpole 

 and further details, see FROG. 



TAFFETA, laf'cla, a variety of silk fabrics, 

 the name being derived from a Persian word 

 tajtah, meaning "spun" or "woven." Taffeta 

 was originally used as the name of all plain 

 silks which were made simply by alternating 

 the threads of the warp and the woof. At 



various times various qualities have been as- 

 cribed to the silk called taffeta ; in the sixteenth 

 century it was "very thick and costly;" in the 

 seventeenth it was "very soft and thin;" and 

 about 1750 it was described as a "lustrous silk, 

 sometimes checkered or flowered, and some- 

 times striped with gold and silver." In com- 

 mon use to-day the name is given to all plain 

 silks as distinguished from corded or twilled 

 fabrics (see WEAVING). 



TAFT, LORADO (1860- ), an American 

 sculptor, teacher and lecturer on art subjects, 

 whose genial personality and clear and interest- 

 ing way of presenting his subject have won him 

 popularity as a public speaker. He was born 

 at Elmwood, 111., and was graduated at the 

 University of Illinois in 1879. After complet- 

 ing an art course in Paris, at the School of Fine 

 Arts, he established a studio in Chicago, which 

 has since been his headquarters. In 1886 he 

 became an instructor at the Chicago Art In- 

 stitute, and in that capacity has exercised a 

 helpful influence over thousands of young peo- 

 ple. In 1909 Taft was made professorial lec- 

 turer at the University of Chicago. 



His work represents a blending of the ideal 

 and realistic tendencies in sculpture. One of 

 his best-appreciated sculptures is a symbolic 

 group called The 

 Spirit of the Great 

 Lakes, which has 

 been set up on 

 the south fagade 

 of the Art Insti- 

 tute (see illustra- 

 tion, page 1311). 

 He also designed 

 a remarkable co- 

 lossal Fountain of 

 Time for Chica- 

 go's Midway Plai- 

 sance, a boule- 

 vard connecting 

 Jackson and 

 Washington 

 parks. Other 

 works include the 

 Columbus Memo- 

 rial Fountain, at SCULPTURE BY TAFT 

 w , , "Solitude of the Soul," in 



VV a s n i n g t o n , the Art institute, Chicago. 



D. C.; the Wash- 

 ington Monument, Seattle; The Blind, sug- 

 gested by Maeterlinck's drama of that name, 

 and Solitude of the Soul. He has written a 

 History of American Sculpture, the best work 

 on the subject yet written. 



