T R A 



T R A 



Thus Ariftotle, in his book De Coelo, undertaking to 

 Ihew, that all the ftars are round, transfers the queftion to 

 the moon, and proves her rotundity from her increafing and 

 waning ; fuppofing it a thing admitted by his opponents, 

 that the ftars are all alike. 



TRANSYLVANIA, Principality of, in Geography, a 

 country of Europe, bounded on the N. by Hungary, Po- 

 land, and Moldavia ; on the E. by Moldavia ; on the S. by 

 Walachia and the bannat of Temefvvar ; and on the W. by 

 Hungary. The form is nearly oval, about 400 miles in cir- 

 cumference. It is fiirrounded on all fides by lofty moun- 

 tains, and is itfelf mountainous and woody ; the mountains 

 run from N. to S., and branch off hkewife E. and W., and 

 terminate at the centre, in hills covered with vineyards, and 

 abundant in minerals. The air is generally warm, but more 

 wholefome than that of Hungary ; the foil is fertile, abound- 

 ing in corn ; flax of a very good quality, which is manu- 

 fadured into linen ; wine, cattle, and rich paftures : among 

 the minerals are gold, filver, copper, iron, quickfilver, cin- 

 nabar, antimony, fulphur, vitriol, rock-falt, falt-petre, 

 ochre, &c. The principal quadrupeds are buffaloes, horfes, 

 wild afles, elks, bears, wild boars, linxes, chamois, mar- 

 tens, ermines, and beavers. The inhabitants are compofed 

 of different nations : Hungarians, Sikli or Scythian Huns, 

 Saxons, Walachians, Armenians, Rafcians, Bulgarians, and 

 Greeks ; to which may be added Jews and Cingars, who 

 live in tents, and lead a vagabond life like gipfies. This 

 country is by the Germans called Siebenbergen, and by the 

 Hungarians Erdely. It was anciently a part of Dacia ; 

 and, conquered by Trajan, it became a Roman province. 

 It afterwards fell into the hands of the Goths, Huns, and 

 afterwards tlie Hungarians. In the year 1004, it was firll 

 made a province of Hungary, and continued under the go- 

 vernment of a waiwode to the year 1526, when two rival 

 princes contended for this principality ; one of them was 

 fupported by the German emperor, and the other by the 

 Turks ; whereupon this country became the feat of war for 

 many years. The princes of the houfe of Ragotfki were 

 at the head of the Proteftant faftion, and fupported by the 

 Turks, but being at length obliged to quit Tranfylvania by 

 the Auftrians, Ragotfl<i fled for refuge into Turkey ; and 

 at the treaty of Carlowitz in 1699, this country was con- 

 firmed to the houfe of Auftria by the Turks. The go- 

 vernment of Tranfylvania is wholly different from that of 

 Hungary ; and, by the joint confent of prince and people, 

 formed into an arittocratical government ; and, fince the 

 year 1722, rendered hereditary to the princes and princeffes 

 of the houfe of Auftria. Formerly the prince of Tranfyl- 

 vania fucceeded to tlie government by free eleftion, but 

 fince the year 1722 by inheritance ; and though his power 

 is connefked with that of the king of Hungar\', and arch- 

 duke of Auftria, yet his government and privileges differ 

 from both. The ftates of Tranfylvania, with refpeft to 

 the number of its nations, are divided into Hungarians, 

 Siculi, and Saxons ; with refpeft to its different religions, 

 into Catholics, Calvinifts, and Lutherans ; and formerly, 

 alfo, into Unitarians: but, politically, after the example of 

 Hungary, into prelates, nobility, gentry, and royal towns. 

 The magnates confift of the great officers of ftate, the 

 counts and barons. The gentry are Hungarians and Sicuh, 

 but the royal towns Saxons only. The nobility are gene- 

 rally very proud, and keep their peafantry in a ftate of fla- 

 very ; four out of fix days in the week the peafant is obliged 

 to labour for his mafter, having only the remaining two 

 days for himfelf. The principality of Tranfylvania is go- 

 verned in the name of the prince and nobility, by the diet, 



the office of ftate, the royal government, the exchequer, the 

 affembly of Hungarian counts, the tribunals of juftice, and 

 the magiftrates of the Siculi and Saxons. The diets meet 

 by fununons from the prince at Hermanftadt. The re- 

 venue arifes from the contributions, cuftoms, metals, mine- 

 rals, rock-falt, royal demefnes, efcheats, and confifcations ; 

 and are levied by the treafurj'. This province pays to the 

 emperor in taxes of all kinds 1,500,000 florins annually, 

 which is chiefly impofed upon the land, for the payment of 

 the citizens is very trifling. Tranfylvania formerly could 

 bring from 80,000 to 90,000 foldiers into the field ; but 

 at prefent the whole force of that principality confifts of 

 fix regiments, under a commander-in-chief, for the defence 

 of the country. 



TRANTERY, in fome Cujloms, denotes the money 

 arifing by amerciaments of ale-fellers and viftuallers for 

 breaking the aflize of bread and ale ; particularly at Luilon, 

 and other manors in Herefordftiire. 



TRAP, in Geography, a town of Marj'land ; 7 miles 

 S.E. of Oxford — AHb, a town of Marj'land ; 7 milea 

 S.W. of Sahft)ury. 



Trap, in Geology, a clafs or family of rocks, charafter- 

 ized by the tendency to affume a columnar fhape, or to 

 divide into ileps forming natural terraces. The name is 

 originally derived from the Swedifti word trappa, a ftep. 

 It was called by Wallerius corneus trapezins. 



Rocks of the trap family are verj' extenfively fpread 

 over the globe, and no queftion in geology has excited 

 greater attention than that refpefting the mode of their 

 formation. The near refemblance which many of thefe 

 rocks bear to compaft lava, the remarkable pofition in 

 which they frequently occur, the regularity of their ftruc- 

 ture, and the changes which the rocks in their vicinity 

 have evidently undergone, induce many geogolifts to af- 

 cribe to them an igneous origin ; other geologifts ftre- 

 nuoufly contend, that all trap-rocks have been originally 

 formed by depofitions from an aqueous fluid. Before 

 detaihng the fafts in favour of thefe different hypothefes, 

 it will be proper to defcribe the rocks which are comprifed 

 in the trap -formation. The earlier geologifts have fre- 

 quently applied the term trap indefinitely to a great va- 

 riety of rocks, and the diftinftion made between trap and 

 the rocks which the French mineralogifts have denominated 

 corneene, is extremely vague. 



The roche de corne, fo frequently mentioned by Sauffure, 

 according to Brongniart is a trap-rock in the Wernerian ac- 

 ceptation of the term. Werner, according to Mr. Jamefon, 

 reftritts the term trap to rocks principally charafterized by 

 the prefence of hornblende and black iron-clay ; yet the 

 fame author informs us, in the following paragraph, that in 

 the oldeft or primitive trap, no iron-clay whatever occurs. 

 Jamefon's Mineralogy, vol. ii. p. 129. 



The prefence of hornblende and felfpar, or augite and 

 felfpar, would have formed a more accurate and compre- 

 henfive definition of the conftituents of trap-rocks, or of 

 thofe rocks which are comprifed by Werner in the trap- 

 formation. 



M. le Cordier, in an interefting memoir prefented to 

 the National Inftitute in 18 15, afferts, that in the trap- 

 rocks which are fuppofed to be of igneous origin, and in 

 volcanic rocks, hornblende is extremely rare, but its place 

 is fupphed by augite, which has been miftaken for horn- 

 blende. The conllituent parts of thefe two minerals are 

 the fame, and the proportions in which they combine do 

 not greatly vary, fo that confiderable doubt has exifl:ed 

 whether they (hould not be claffed as the fame fpecies, 



notwith- 



