TRIBUNE 



5878 



TRIESTE 



Related Subjects., The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Geology Jurassic Period 



Ichthyosaurus Mesozoic Era 



TRIBUNE, the name given in ancient Rome 

 to either of two officers whose functions were 

 totally different. 



The military tribunes were originally the 

 leaders of the soldiers furnished by the various 

 tribes, and from this fact the name was taken. 

 During the time of the republic there were six 

 tribunes to each legion, and they ranked next 

 after the commander-in-chief. At first they 

 were appointed by the consuls, but later part or 

 all of them were elected by the people. Under 

 the empire the office declined in importance, 

 and the tribunes came to be little more than 

 the staff of the commander. 



The tribunes of the people were magistrates 

 elected to protect the rights of the plebeians. 

 In 494 B.C. this class seceded f from Rome and 

 refused to return until permission was given 

 them to choose such officers. There were six 

 of these tribunes; they held office for one year 

 only, but were eligible to reelection. The 

 tribunes had the right to arrest any person, 

 even the consuls; they might veto any meas- 

 ure proposed by the Senate ; their persons were 

 inviolable, and through these privileges they 

 became in time the most powerful officers of 

 the state. The gradual acquisition by the ple- 

 beians of many political rights which had orig- 

 inally belonged only to the patricians was 

 largely the work of the tribunes. Augustus as- 

 sumed the prerogatives of this office, and be- 

 ginning with his reign it lessened in importance. 



TRICHINA, triki'na, an animal parasite 

 which, when it finds lodgment in the human 

 system, causes a serious disease known as 



TRICHINA 



(a) The parasite; (&) enclosing membrane; 

 (c) muscle. 



trichiniasis. The trichina is a minute worm 

 which inhabits the muscles of pigs, rabbits, rats 

 and other animals. In these creatures it exists 

 as an undeveloped, hairlike organism coiled up 

 in an enclosing sheath, or cyst, and it does not 



develop beyond this immature stage until it is 

 taken into the human intestine. Human beings 

 usually acquire trichiniasis through eating un- 

 cooked, or poorly-cooked, pork. As the meat is 

 digested the immature worms are freed from 

 their cysts, reach a stage of maturity and mul- 

 tiply with great rapidity. The larvae pass 

 through the intestinal walls in countless num- 

 bers and are carried by the blood vessels to 

 the muscles, where they find lodgment and be- 

 come encysted, like the parent worms. The 

 envelope enclosing the worm gradually hardens, 

 and in course of time the stone-forming process 

 extends to the parasite itself, thus ending its 

 activity. 



Trichiniasis. The first symptoms of the dis- 

 ease are loss of appetite, nausea, weakness and 

 diarrhoea. Then follow pains in the muscles 

 and stiffening of these parts, fever and swelling 

 of the limbs. The disease runs its course in 

 about four weeks ; from twenty to fifty per cent 

 of the cases end fatally. After the worms reach 

 the muscles it is impossible to dislodge them, 

 but if strong purgative medicines are given 

 when the infection is first detected, the para- 

 sites will be expelled from the intestinal tract, 

 and the disease will be checked. C.B.B. 



TRICOLOR, tri'kuler, a name given to the 

 French national flag, which has three colors, 

 blue, white and red, in equal vertical sections, 

 the blue nearest the flagstaff, the white next 

 and the red at the outer end. The name is 

 sometimes applied to other flags modeled on 

 that of the French. The tricolor was intro- 

 duced during the French Revolution and is 

 now the sole flag of France. (See color plate, 

 The Flags of Europe, following page 2196.) 



TRICYCLE, tri'sik'l, a three-wheeled vehicle 

 used as a plaything among children and as a 

 wheel chair for invalids. It was introduced for 

 general use in 1876, and many improvements 

 have been made upon the first awkward model. 

 Usually the rider sits between the two large 

 rear wheels, which are propelled by pedals 

 pushed up and down by the feet, while the 

 small wheel in front is used as a balance. The 

 rider steers by using a long handle attached to 

 the front wheel. Since the perfection of the 

 bicycle (which see) tricycles have been less 

 popular than formerly, except among small 

 children. 



TRIESTE, trees' lay, or TRIEST, tre est' , 

 a flourishing manufacturing city of former Aus- 

 tria-Hungary, but after the War of the Nations 

 given to Italy, is at the extreme northeastern 

 angle of the Adriatic Sea, on a small, crescent- 



