TERRA COTTA 



5762 



TERRE HAUTE 



River terraces are formed as a result of the 

 cutting down of flood plains. That is, as a 

 stream forms a deeper and narrower bed, the 

 flood plain is gradually cut away, and finally a 

 new and lower plain is built in the old valley 

 floor, the remnants of which rise in terraces 

 above the new level of the river. Each of sev- 

 eral terraces marks a period of the down-cut- 

 ting process, and the highest terrace is the old- 

 est. Rivers in the terrace stage are much older 

 than those in the flood-plain stage. Terraces 

 along lakes, such as those on the shores of Lake 

 Champlain, are the marks of former shore lines, 

 and they indicate that the volume of water is 

 less than it once was. There are prominent 

 terraces around most of the Great Lakes. See 

 FLOOD PLAIN ; RIVER. 



Terraces to a total of many thousand miles 

 have been built on hillsides and mountain sides 

 in China to provide additional land for culti- 

 vation, for in that country of 400,000,000 people 

 every available foot of land is cultivated in- 

 tensively. Like terraces are constructed by the 

 mountain peoples of the Philippine Islands. 



TER'RA COT'TA, a hard, durable and at- 

 tractive form of earthenware, made from clay of 

 superior quality, and used in making architec- 

 tural decorations, pottery, garden vases, flower- 

 pots, monuments, fountains, mantels, chimney 

 pieces and similar objects. It may be pro- 

 duced in almost any color, but is usually a 

 warm shade of red or a rich cream color. In 

 the manufacture of terra cotta often clays from 

 a number of different beds are secured. The ma- 

 terial is weathered, ground, mixed with water, 

 and with sand, pulverized fire brick or other 

 vitrifying substance, tempered and then molded 

 into the desired forms. The pieces, after be- 

 ing partially dried, are worked over by the fin- 

 isher, and are then baked in large kilns. When 

 a particular pattern is to be used several times, 

 a model of the design is made, and a mold 

 is taken into which the plastic material is 

 forced by hand. 



In some large cities the fronts of tall build- 

 ings are occasionally covered with white glazed 

 terra cotta; such a surfacing has the advantage 

 of being easily kept clean. Yet, notwithstand- 

 ing the comparative cheapness of this substance 

 as a building material, and its durability, light- 

 ness and resistance to heat, terra cotta is not 

 so generally used in architecture as stone, mar- 

 ble, brick and granite, and its possibilities have 

 yet to be thoroughly tested. Builders who use 

 it must always take into consideration the fact 

 that clay tends to shrink in drying and in fir- 



ing, and in taking measurements allowance 

 must be made for such shrinkage. 



Among the ancients terra cotta was very ex- 

 tensively used. The Greeks and Romans em- 

 ployed it in making roof tiles, gutters, house 

 ornaments, statues and statuettes, vases, tombs 

 and coffins, imitations of metal jewelry, pot- 

 ters' and sculptors' molds and numerous other 

 objects, and it also had an important place in 

 mural decorations in relief. In Italy, in the 

 Middle Ages, there flourished a school of terra 

 cotta sculpture, founded by a member of the 

 Delia Robbia family (see ROBBIA, DELLA) . There 

 are valuable collections of Greek and Roman 

 terra cottas in the Louvre, the British Museum, 

 and in other museums of Europe. 



TERRAPIN, ter'apin, a general name loosely 

 applied to several species of sluggish shelled 

 reptiles, living in ponds, rivers and swamps, 

 and more commonly called mud turtles. Al- 

 though their home is in the water, where dur- 



YELLOW-BBLLIED TERRAPIN 



ing the winter they bury themselves in the 

 mud, they lay their eggs on land, often more 

 than a mile from their haunts, depositing them 

 in holes in the ground. In size these creatures 

 vary from the common mud turtle, six or eight 

 inches long, to the Southern alligator terrapin, 

 which weighs from forty to one hundred pounds. 

 Their bodies are covered with a slightly curved 

 shell, and they have the power of drawing the 

 feet, tail and head into this horny case. The 

 shell, like the legs and head, is often marked 

 with brilliant or delicate colors. 



The flesh of terrapin, especially of that 

 known as the diamond back, is considered a 

 table delicacy, and soup made from it is a dish 

 "fit for the gods." The diamond-back species, 

 which requires eighteen years to reach a suit- 

 able size, is now very rare. Commercially, male 

 terrapin are known as bull; females, as cows; 

 the young, little bulls and heifers, according to 

 the sex. See TURTLE; TORTOISE. 



TERRE HAUTE, ter' e hold', IND., the 

 county seat of Vigo County, situated on the 

 Wabash River about ten miles from the Illi- 



