TAN 



T.ot do equally well for o-x, and the other harder Skim. 

 This, however, he imagiiits, might bo only for want of 

 knowing the beft method of ufing the wood. And certainly 

 thefe trials defcrve to be farther profecutcd ; fincc tlie fmall 

 branches of the oak, which are of little value, miglit be thus 

 made to fupply the place of a much dearer commodity, the 

 'liu-k ; and as in many trees the bark of the young branches 

 ■'S found to be of greatly more vintue than that of the larger 

 branches, or the trunk, the ufe of thefe fmall boughs, bark 

 ^id all, might very probably be found to anfwer to all the 

 efTefts of the bark of the larger kind alone. Memoirs Acad. 

 Scienc. Par. 1736. 



The Society of Arts, &r. granted a prt-mium of 100/. 

 in the year 1765, for the difcovery of a method of tanning 

 witli oaken faw-duft ; but the acquifition has not hitherto 

 had its defired effetl ; thougli it is faid that the ufe of oaken 

 law-dull has been advantageoufly adopted in Germany. 

 Doflie's Mem. of Agr. vol. i. p. 227. 



We are told, in Phil. Tranf. N° 36, that the operation of 

 fanning is performed, on leather, better in the Weft Indies 

 fhan in England. They ufe three forts of bark, tlie man- 

 grove-bark, the olive-bark, and another ; and the whole 

 bnfinefs is fo foon done, that a hide dehvered to them, is in 

 ilx weeks ready to be worked into (hoes, though they bellow 

 Jefs labour than we do. 



Mr. Albert Gefner, firft phyfician to the duke of Wir- 

 temberg, having made fome experiments on the duft of 

 heath, dried in an oven, and afterwards pulverized, as a fub- 

 ititute to that of oak -bark in tanning, found that the leather 

 prepared by this method was very good ; but he obferves, 

 that the operation is much more tedious. (Hift. R. A. S. 

 Paris, for 1756. ) Others have propofed a trial of the fmall 

 branches of heath, and the leaves of oak. 



Tan, in Gardening, a fubftance of the oak-bark, or other 

 fimilar kinds, after it has been ground and foaked in the 

 ooze of the tanners' vats, and properly dried, is ufed for 

 the purpofe of making hot-beds, for forcing many forts 

 of exotic plants that require a durable fteady heat. 



It has not been of very long ufe in England, and was 

 brought to us from Holland in the reign of king William, 

 and then ufed for the raifmg of orange-trees ; but after this 

 period it became difufed ; and it is of a much later date, 

 <viz. about the year 1 7 1 9, tliat it has been brought into ufe 

 again for the raiiing of the pine -apple, fmce which time it is 

 become generally ufed, wherever it is to be had, for all the 

 purpofes of the hot-bed, in raifing tender exotic plants. 



Refufe tan, made up into cakes, ferves as fuel, in circum- 

 ■ftances where a gentle and continued fire is advantageous. 

 See Y>A.KK.-Bed, Hor-Bed, Moj-Hoiife, and Stove. 



Tan, Floiver of, is a name given by the people employed 

 in the tanning-trade, to a yellow fubftance, often found upon 

 old tan, or oak-bark broken to pieces, which has been ufed 

 HS tan, and is of no farther fervice. 



The name, however, is very improper ; and though every 

 body converfant in tan-yards muft have feen the thing, yet 

 :t has always pafTed as an efflorefcence of the bark, till the 

 curious Mr. Marchand inquired more accurately into its na- 

 ture, and found it to be a plant of itfelf, wholly different 

 from the matter of the tan ; and to which the bark, which 

 had been often wetted and dried again, ferved as a proper 

 matrix. He found it to be more nearly allied to the fpunge, 

 than to any other genus of plants, and therefore named it 

 fpongia fugax mollis Jlava £5* amana in pidvere coriario najcens, 

 ioft, beautiful, yellow-fading fpunge, growing on tanners' 

 jbark. 



It makes its appearance motl frequently in the furamer- 



TAN 



months, and is then feen in fmall tufts of a beautiful yellow 

 colour, on different parts of the old heaps of bark. It ap- 

 pears at firil in form of a thin yellow fcum, and is of a fort 

 of jelly-like ftrufture ; but it every day grows larger and 

 thicker, till it ftands above half an inch out from the furfacc 

 of the bark. As it grows, its fnrface becomes more and 

 more cavernous and fpnngy, the pores or holes being of dif- 

 ferent diameters, and the nitcrilicial matter forming a fort of 

 net -work more or lefs regular, and often interrupted by ir- 

 regular prominences in feveral parts ; and, in fine, when tlje 

 growth is complete, tlie whole more refembles a fpunge 

 than any vegetable fubftance, and is of a deep yellow co- 

 lour, and confiderably thick and tough confiilence ; there 

 are no roots to be difeovered ift'uing from it ; its fmcll is like 

 that of rotten wood, and its taftc is fomewhat ftyptic. It 

 always appears in tlie warm months, and always upon fuch 

 old tan as has begun to ferment, and is in the ftatc in which 

 our gardeners ule it for hot-beds. If it happens to ftand 

 expofed to the fouth fun, it is but of (liort duration ; but 

 if it be in a Iheltered place, it will lall a confiderable time, 

 and often fpread itfelf to a great extent, and make a 

 very beautiful figure for many weeks. Mem. Acad. Par. 



'Xxs-Bed, in Gardening. See Bakk-^iW. 



Tan-P/V. See Baiik-P/V. 



T^A^-Spud, in Rural Economy, the name ufually given to 

 a particular fort of tool ufed for peeling of the bark from 

 oak, and fome other trees, in certain dilirifts ; but in others 

 they employ feveral different implements for effctling this 

 purpofe. 



TAs-Stove. See Hor-Hoii/e and Stove. 



TANA, in Geography, the moft confiderable river in 

 Finmark. 



TANACETUM, in Botany, Tanfy, a barbarous Latin 

 word, of which, like Ofmunda, it is fcarcely poffible, as 

 Linnasus remarks, Phil. Bot. 160, to determine the mean- 

 ing, or from what language it is derived. Of OsMUNDA 

 we have attempted an explanation. ( See that article. ) De 

 Theis cites Linn;eus and Dodonxus as deducing Tanacetum 

 from Athanajia ; but we find no fuch etymology given by 

 them, though feveral writers fpeak of thefe words as fy- 

 nonimous, and fome lexicographers give that explanation. 

 ASxvKTia, as exprefBng an unfading, or everlafting, flower, 

 is little applicable to our Tanfy. — Linn. Gen. 417. Schrcb. 

 549. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 1809. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. 

 Sm. Fl. Brit. 862. Prodr. Fl. Graec. Sibth. v. 2. 167. 

 Ait. Hort. Kevv. v. 5. 1. Purlh 522. Jud". 184. Toum. 

 t. 261. Lamarck Illuftr. t. 696. Gsrtn. t. 165 — Clafs 

 and order, Syngenejia Polygamia-fuperjlua. Nat. Ord. Cum- 

 pofiliZ difcoidex, Linn. Coryndifer<t, JufF. 



Gen. Ch. Common Calyx liemifpherical, imbricated, with 

 acute compaft fcales. Cor. compound, tubular, convex. 

 Florets of the dilk numerous, funnel-fhaped, with five re- 

 flexed fegments in the limb, all perfedl : thofe of the radiut 

 few, fmall, three-cleft, moft deeply divided at their inner 

 fide. Slam, in the perfeCl florets. Filaments five, capillary, 

 very ftiort ; anthers united into a cylindrical tube. Pijl. in 

 the perfeft florets, Germen oblong, fmall ; ftyle thread- 

 fliaped, the length of the ftamcns ; ftigma in two revolutc 

 fegments : in the female ones, Germen oblong ; ftyle fimple ; 

 ftigmas two, reflexed. Peric. none, except the unchanged 

 calyx. Seeds folitary, oblong, crowned with more or lefs 

 of a flight margin. Recept. convex, naked. 



Obf. Sometimes the radius is wanting, all the florets 

 being, in that cafe, perfcft. The feeds of fome fpcciet are 

 faid to want the crown. 



Eir. 



