844 
TAN 
This process is repeated, with little variation, once, twice, 
or thrice, at the discretion of the manufacturer, till the hides 
are thoroughly tanned ; when they are taken out of the pits, 
suspended on poles to dry, and being compressed and 
smoothed, nearly in the manner before described, are called 
crop hides, and form the principal part of the sole leather 
which is used in England. 
The process of tanning skins (calves, seals, &c.,) is some¬ 
what different from hides. They are continued in the lime- 
pits for ten or fifteen days; they are then depilated and 
washed in water, after which they are immersed in an infu¬ 
sion of pigeon’s dung, called a grainer, having the property 
of an alkali. Here they remain for a week or ten days, ac¬ 
cording to the state of the atmosphere and other circum¬ 
stances, during which time they are frequently handled, and 
scraped on both sides upon a convex wooden beam. The 
scraping, or working, as it is termed, with the action of the 
grainer, helps to discharge all the lime, oil, and saponaceous 
matter, and renders the skin soft and pliant, fitted to imbibe 
the tanning principle. They are now removed into pits con¬ 
taining a weak solution of bark, where they undergo nearly 
the same process of handling, &c., as crop hides ; but they 
are seldom stratified in layers ; and the time occupied in tan¬ 
ning them is usually from two to four months, according to 
their nature and substance. The skins are then dried, and 
sold to the currier, who dresses and blacks them for the up¬ 
per leathers of boots and shoes, for harness, and various 
other purposes. 
The fight and thin sort of cow-hides and horse-hides un¬ 
dergo nearly the same process in tanning as calf-skins, and 
are applied to similar uses. 
These processes are such as are now commonly practised, 
varying, however, with the nature and condition of the pe¬ 
culiar kind of hides and skins—with local habits and cir¬ 
cumstances—and with the skill and experience of the ma¬ 
nufacturer. The greatest defect in the common methods, 
appears to exist in the means of extracting the tannin from 
the bark. Cold water is chiefly used for that purpose ; but 
some persons conceiving that this does not entirely exhaust 
the tanning principle, subject the bark, as before observed, 
to the action of boiling water, &c. If, however, as Sir 
Humphrey Davy has stated, the extract as well as the tannin 
combines with the skin, the extraction of the tannin by heat 
would tend to oxygenate the former, and render it insoluble 
in the liquid. 
TANNINGTON, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 4 
miles north-west of Framlingham. 
TANON, Pol XT, a cape on the south coast of the island 
of Sibu. Lat. 9. 52. N. long. 123. 18. E. 
TANORE, a sea-port town of the south of India, pro¬ 
vince of Malabar. It was formerly a place of considerable 
note, but is now reduced to a mere village. It belongs to 
the British. Lat. 10. 55. N. long. 75. 55. E. 
TANORY, a small island on the east coast of the island 
of Lewis. 
TANP1SCO, a river of Guatimala, in the province of 
Costa Rica, which enters the Pacific ocean, to the east of 
the town of Nicova. 
T'ANPIT, s. A. pit where leather is impregnated with 
bark. 
TANQUAYALAB, a settlement of Mexico, in the district 
of Valles, which contains 213 families of Indians and 
inulattoes. 
TANQUYUCHE, a settlement of Mexico, in the district 
of Tampico, containing GO families of Indians. 
TANSAC, a small village of Mexico, situated on the 
Rio del Norte. 
TANSEY RIVER., a river of America, which rises in 
the Rocky mountains, and after a course of several hundred 
miles, falls into the Missouri near the great falls discovered 
and described by Captains Lewis and Clark, in their adven¬ 
turous journey to the source of the Missouri, and from thence 
to the Pacific ocean. Its general course is from east to west, 
apparently through wide valleys, well supplied with both 
T A O 
the long and broad leafed cotton wood. The hills on its 
banks are from 100 to 150 feet in height, and possess bluffs 
of earth like the lower part of the Missouri. The bed i 3 
formed of small gravel and mud; the water turbid, and of 
a whitish tint; the banks low, but never overflowed; so 
that, except in depth and velocity, it is a perfect miniature 
of the Missouri. 
TANSHELP, a village of England, West Riding of York¬ 
shire, near Pontefract. Population 371. 
TANS1F. See Tknsift. 
TANSITARO, a town of Mexico, in the intendancy of 
Valladofid, and capital of a district of the same name. It 
is situated on an elevated ridge, and is extremely cold. It 
contains about 180 families of Spaniards, Indians, and 
mulattoes. 
TANSLEY, a township of England, in Derbyshire; 1* 
mile east of Matlock. Population 370. 
TANSOR, orTANSovER, a parish of England, in North¬ 
amptonshire; 2 miles north-north-east of Oundle. 
TA'NSY, s. \tanacetum, Lat.] An odorous plant. 
Miller .—Strong tansey, fennel cool. Drayton. —A kind 
of cake, of which tansy forms a principal part.—In the 
spring time are made with the leaves hereof, ( tansy,) newly 
sprung up, and with eggs, cakes or tansies. ' Johnson. 
—Our tansies at Easter have reference to the bitter herbs. 
Selden. 
TANT, s. A kind of small field-spider. Hay. 
TA'NTALISM, s: A punishment like that of Tantalus. 
—A lively representation of a person lying under the tor¬ 
ments of such a tantalism. Addison. 
TANTALTZATION, s. Act of tantalizing; state of 
being tantalized. 
To TANTALIZE, v. a. [from Tantalus, whose punish¬ 
ment was to starve among fruits and water which he could 
not touch.] To torment by the shew of pleasures which 
cannot be reached. 
Thy vain desires, at strife 
Within themselves, have tantaliz'd thy life. Dryden. 
TA'NTALIZER, s. One who tantalizes. 
TA'NTAMOUNT, adj. [French.] Equivalent.—God 
hath inserted it into our reasonable natures; or by his provi¬ 
dence hath conveyed it into the minds of all men, which 
is tantamount unto if. G lami lie. 
TANTIEKAN, a town of China, of the third rank, in 
Kiangnan. 
TANT1MA, a settlement of Mexico, in the district of 
Tampico, which contains 583 families of Indians. 
TANTI'VY, ado. [from the note of a hunting horn, 
so expressed in articulate sounds.—The old French language 
has tentiveux, to denote an eager person; “ homrne qui est 
tente par tout ce qu’rl voit; avide, &c.” Roq.] To ride 
tantivy is to ride at great speed. 
TANTOYUCA, a settlement of Mexico, in the district of 
Tampico, containing 450 families of Spaniards and Indians; 
60 leagues north east-by-north of Mexico. 
TANTUMQUERI, a sea-port on the Gold coast of Africa, 
where a little trade is carried on, and where the English' had 
formerly a fort, which they have now abandoned; 18 miles 
east of Cormantin. 
TANWORTH, a parish of England, in Warwickshire; 
4 miles north-west-by-north of Henley-in-Arden. Popula¬ 
tion 1682. 
TAN-YANG, a town of China, of the third rank, in 
Kiangnan. 
TANY BWLCH, a hamlet of Wales, in Merionethshire; 
in a beautiful and romantic situation; 230 miles north-west 
of London. 
TAO, a city of China, of the second rank, in Hou-quang. 
Lat. 25. 34. N. long. 101.0. E. 
TAOO, Island, one of the Friendly islands, in the 
South Pacific ocean; about 24 miles in circumference. 
TAORMINA, a small but interesting town of Sicily, in 
the Val di Demona, situated on a steep and craggy moun¬ 
tain 
