TOURNAMENT 



5849 



TOURS 



or magnesia, and the alkali tourmalines of rich 

 reds, greens and blues. The latter sometimes 

 occur as beautiful, transparent gems. Pink and 

 red tourmaline gems are known as rubellite, or 

 Siberian ruby; the colorless, as achroite, and 

 the blue and green stones as indicolite, or Bra- 

 zilian sapphire. Often in the same crystal 

 there will be two or more contrasting colors, 

 either sharply distinct or blended, and fre- 

 quently the color differs as the light strikes the 

 prism lengthwise or crosswise. 



Bright-colored tourmalines occur in San 

 Diego and Riverside counties, Cal.; the mines 

 in these regions were exploited to meet the 

 expected demands of the Panama-Pacific and 

 San Diego expositions in 1915. Blue and 

 green stones are found in gem pockets in the 

 quarries of feldspar and other rocks in Con- 

 necticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Jer- 

 sey, and black and brown crystals are found in 

 New York quarries. The Ural Mountains, the 

 island of Elba, Brazil, Maine (in the vicinity 

 of Paris), Siberia and Ceylon are famous for 

 bright-colored tourmalines, and much of the 

 achroite also comes from Elba. Blue varieties 

 are found in Sweden, and the black stones oc- 

 cur in Norway, England, Greenland and the 

 Tyrol. 



The interesting physical properties of this 

 mineral have made it useful as well as orna- 

 mental. By heating and friction it is rendered 

 highly electric and it is valuable as a conductor. 

 Transparent tourmaline is also one of the few 

 substances which obstruct some of the' vibra- 

 tions of light, a condition that produces polari- 

 zation of light. For a full explanation of this 

 phenomenon see POLARISCOEE and POLARIZATION 

 OF LIGHT, and accompanying pictures, pages 

 4730 and 4731. 



Consult Kunz's Gems and Precious Stones of 

 North America. 



TOURNAMENT, toor'nament, or TOUR- 

 NEY, toor'ni, the name given in medieval 

 times to the mimic battles of mounted knights 

 who displayed their military prowess by right- 

 ing each other with blunted lances or swords. 

 A tournament was usually arranged by some 

 prince who sent a king-of-arms or herald to 

 foreign courts, and through his own dominions, 

 announcing the "clashing of swords in presence 

 of ladies and damsels." The combat took place 

 on horseback, and a knight generally carried a 

 glove or some other emblem of his lady's favor. 

 Minute regulations were enforced which less- 

 ened the danger of the tourney. Jousts were 

 single encounters between two knights, and in 



every tournament there were a great many 

 jousts as well as combats between parties of 

 knights. The tournament is said to have 

 originated in the tenth century. The first 

 combats were held in France, but the custom 

 spread to England, Germany and the south of 

 Europe. The most celebrated English tourna- 

 ments were held in the tilt-yard near Saint 

 James's, Smithfield, London. 



The Modern Tournament, an affair held by 

 soldiers or athletes to exhibit their training in 

 the use of arms and accouterments, and their 

 skill in military maneuvers, games and sports. 

 Series of games lasting several days are also 

 called tournaments, as tennis and golf tourna- 

 ments. The modern carnival or pageant is 

 often in error called a tournament. 



TOURNIQUET, toor'ni ket, an appliance 

 used to check bleeding in case of a wound or in 

 amputations. A simple tourniquet, for use in 

 case of emergency, can be made from a cord, 

 handkerchief or other piece of cloth. If the 

 wound is a cut artery and in that case bright 

 red blood will spurt out in jets tie the cloth 

 around the limb above the wound, slip a short 

 stick into the loop and twist the stick until the 

 bleeding is checked. A stone laid above the cut 

 under the bandage will aid in increasing the 

 pressure at this point. It is best not to per- 

 mit the tourniquet to remain unloosened for 

 more than half an hour at a time, for it is 

 liable to cause congestion. If nothing is at 

 hand to make a tourniquet, compress the bleed- 

 ing vessel with a padded key or even the fin- 

 ger. If the hemorrhage is from a cut vein, 

 causing an even flow of dark red blood, apply 

 the tourniquet below the wound. 



Surgeons' tourniquets are of various forms. 

 One of these is a semicircular piece of metal 

 used in compressing the aorta in the abdomen; 

 another is a piece of flat rubber tubing, which 

 is wound around the limb several times; still 

 another consists of a padded strap to compress 

 the artery, a band which is fastened around the 

 limb, and a bridgelike device over which the 

 band passes. This bridge is raised by a screw 

 when it is desired to tighten the band. See 

 BLEEDING. 



TOURS, toor, an attractive city in the 

 north-central part of France, famed in history 

 as the scene of a decisive battle fought in 732 

 between the forces of Charles Martel and the 

 Saracens. On this battle field the Christian 

 civilization of Europe was saved from Moham- 

 medanism (see FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES). 

 Tours lies in the pleasant valley of the River 



