T A F 



T A V 



itlic genus can have little pretenfions to be cftecmcd natural ; 

 and as Willdenow himfelf has not fubfequently followed this 

 hint, we prefume he thought it unauthorized by his own 

 fpecimen, which has the afpeft of a confluent Gnumiiilis. 



TAENSAPAVA, ip Geography, a river of Weil Florida, 

 which runs into the Ibbcrville, N. lat. 30° 19'. W. long. 



1D° 12'. 



TAFAI^E, a river of Africa, which runs into the fca, 

 between the rivers Senegal and Nunc/.. 



TAFALISGA, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of 

 Jaaga, at the union of the Falema with the Senegal. N. lat. 

 14° 42'. W. long. 10" 12'. 



TAFALLA, a town of Spain, in Navarre, honoured 

 with the name of city by Philip IV. It has an univerfity ; 

 15 miles S. of Pamplona. N. lat. 42° 35'. W. long. 



TAFARA, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Bam- 

 barra, on the Niger ; 115 miles S.W. of Scgo. 



TAFEELALAT, a town of Africa, in Sahara ; 200 

 miles N. of Tombuftoo. N. lat. 19° 40'. E. long. 2^ 15'. 



TAFELBERG, a town on the E. coaft of the iiland of 

 Ceram. S. lat. 3 20'. E. long. 131° 10'. 



TAFEEICHTE, a mountain on the borders of Lufatia, 

 3540 feet above the level of the fea. 



TAFFAREL, or Taff-rail, in Ship-BuUJmg, the 

 upper part of a fhip's ftern, ufually ornamented with carved 

 work, or mouldings, the ends of which unite with the 

 quarter-pieces. 



TAFFAROWY, in Geography, a mountain of Algiers ; 

 13 miles S.E. of Oram. 



TAFFETY, or Taffaty, in Commerce, a kind of line, 



fmooth, filken ftuft ; having, ufually, a remarkable luflre, or 



glofs. 



yllamoile, 7 .1 , /r^ • r t 



T n ■ > tlie talTeias nous ot L,yons. 

 JLivJiring, J ■'^ - 



Taffetas noir lujlre of the French, is our alamode. 



Non lujlre is our lujlrhig. 



There are tafFeties of all colours ; fome plain, others 

 ftriped with gold, filver, filk, &c. others checquered, others 

 flowered, others in the Chlnefe point, others the Hungarian ; 

 with various others to which the mode, or the caprice of the 

 workmen, gives fuch whimfical names, that it would be as 

 difficult, as it is ufelefs, to rehearfe them : befides, that they 

 fcldom hold beyond the year in which they firft rofe. The 

 old names of tafFeties, and which ftill fubfifl, are, tafFeties of 

 Lyons, of Spain, of England, of Florence, of Avignon, &c. 



The chief confumption of tafFeties is in the fummer- 

 dreffes for women, in gowns, linings, window-curtains, &c. 



There are three things which contribute chiefly to the 

 perfeftion of tafFeties, t/'z. the filk, the water, and the fire. 

 Thefilkis not only to be of the finefl kind, but it mufl be work- 

 ed a long time, and very much before it be ufed : the watering 

 is only to be given very lightly, and feems only intended to 

 give that fine luflre, by a peculiar property not found in all 

 water : laftly, the fire, which is paflTcd under it to dry the 

 water, has its particular manner of application, on which the 

 perfeftion of the fluff depends very much. 



Oftavio May, of Lyons, is held the firil founder of the 

 manufadlure of glofTy taflcties ; and tradition tells us the 

 occafion of it. Oftavio, it feems, going backwards in the 

 world, and not able to retrieve himfelf by the manufacture 

 of tafFeties, fuch as were then made, was one day mufing on 

 his misfortunes, and, in mufing, chanced to chew a few 

 hairs of filk which he had in his mouth : his reverie being 

 over, the filk he fpit out feemed to fhine, and, on that ac- 

 count, engaged his attention. He was foon led to refleft on 

 the reafon ; and, after a good deal of thought, concluded. 



that the hiflrc of that filk mufl come, i. From his having 

 prcflcd it between his teeth. 2. From his having wetted it 

 with his faliva, which had fomething glutinous in it. And, 

 3. From its having been heated by the natural warmth of 

 his mouth. All this he executed upon the next taftcties he 

 made, and immediately acquired in.mcnfe ritlns to himfelf, 

 and to the city of Lyons the reputation it ftill maintains, of 

 giving the glofs to tafFeties better than any other city in the 

 world. 



It will not, we conceive, be lefs ufeful than curious, to 

 infert here the defcription of the engine contrived by Oc- 

 tavio to give the glofs to taft'ety ; and to add the manner of 

 applying it, and the compofitioii of the water ufed in it. 



The machine is much like a filk-loom, except that, in- 

 ftcad of iron points, here is ufed a kind of^ crooked needles, 

 to prevent the taflety from flipping : at the two extremities 

 are two beams, on one of which is rolled the tafFety to take 

 the glofs ; and on the other, the fame taft'ety, as faft as it 

 has received it. The firft beam is kept firm by a weight of 

 about two hundred pounds, and the other turned by means 

 of a little lever pafFmg through mortifcs at each end. The 

 more the tafFety is ftretched, the greater luflre it takes : 

 care, however, is to be ufed that it be not weakened by 

 over-ftretching. 



Befides this inftrument for keeping the ftuff ftretched, 

 there is another to give it the fire : this is a kind of carriage, 

 in form of a long fquare, and of the breadth of the tafFeties : 

 it moves on trundles, and carries a charcoal fire under the 

 tafFety, at the dillance of about half a foot. 



Thefe two machines prepared, and the tafFety mounted, 

 the luflre is given it by rubbing it gently with a ball, or a 

 handful of lifts of fine cloth, as it rolls from one beam to 

 the other ; the fire, at the fame time, being carried under- 

 neath it to dry it. As foon as the piece has its luftre, it is 

 put on new beams to be ftretched a day or two ; and the 

 oftener this laft prep.vation is repeated, the more it increafes 

 the glofs. 



For black taffeties, the glofs is given with double beer 

 and orange or lemon-juice ; liut this laft is the leaft proper, 

 as being apt to whiten them. The proportion of the two 

 liquors is, a gallon of orange -juice to a pint of beer, to be 

 boiled together to the confiftence of a rich broth. For 

 coloured taffeties, they ufe gourd-water diftilled in an 

 alembic. 



There are alfo feveral different forts of tafFeties manufac- 

 tured in China ; as corded tafFeties, which wear well ; and 

 alfo fome with flowers, and others beautifully ftriped ; and 

 a particular taflety, of which they make drawers, and other 

 kinds of wearing apparel. This laft is thick, and yet fo 

 pliant, that it may be folded and prefled with the har.d, with- 

 out leaving any mark in it. They alfo wafh it, like other 

 ftufFs, without its lofing much of its luftre. The Chinefe 

 workmen give the luflre to this taftety with the fat of the 

 river-porpoife, which they purify by waflu'ng and boiling ; 

 and then with a fine brufli, they give the taft'ety two beds in 

 the fimie direction, on the fide which they intend to render 

 gloft'y. 



TAFFI, Andkea, in Biography, was one of thofe early 

 matters to whom the revival of the arts in Italy is attributed. 

 His fhare lay in the praftice of mofaic painting, which he 

 learned of a Greek monk, named Apollonius, who had been 

 called to 'Venice to work in the great church of St. Marco ; 

 and who afterwards accompanied Taffi to Florence. Andrea 

 was born at Florence in the year 1213, and died there at the 

 age of 8 1 . 



TAFILET, or Tafilelt, in Geography, a diftrift, for- 

 merly a kingdom of Africa, in the empire of Morocco, and 



country 



