Tabard, a tunic without sleeves worn by military nobles over their
arms, generally emblazoned with heraldic devices. “Toom Tabard,” empty
king's cloak, nickname given by the Scotch to John Balliol as nothing
more.
Tabernacle, a movable structure of the nature of a temple, erected
by the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness; it was a
parallelogram in shape, constructed of boards lined with curtains, the
roof flat and of skins, while the floor was the naked earth, included a
sanctum and a sanctum sanctorum, and contained altars for sacrifice and
symbols of sacred import, especially of the Divine presence, and was
accessible only to the priests. See Feasts, Jewish.
Table Mountain, a flat-topped eminence in the SW. of Cape Colony, rising to a height of 3600 ft. behind Cape Town and overlooking it, often surmounted by a drapery of mist.
Tables, The Twelve, the tables of the Roman laws engraven on brass
brought from Athens to Rome by the decemvirs.
Tablets, name given to thin boards coated with wax and included in a
frame for writing on with a stylus.
Table-turning, movement of a table ascribed to the agency of spirits
or some recondite spiritual force acting through the media of a circle of
people standing round the edge touching it with their finger-tips in
contact with those of the rest.
Taboo or Tabu, a solemn prohibition or interdict among the
Polynesians under which a particular person or thing is pronounced
inviolable, and so sacred, the violation of which entails malediction at
the hands of the supernatural powers.
Tabor, Mount, an isolated cone-shaped hill, 1000 ft. in height and
clothed with olive-trees, on the NE. borders of Esdraëlon (q. v.), 7 m. E. of Nazareth. A tradition of the 2nd century identifies it as the scene of the Tranfiguration, and ruins of a church, built by the Crusaders to commemorate the event, crown the summit.
Tabriz (170), an ancient and still important commercial city of
Persia, 320 m. SE. of Tiflis, 4500 ft. above sea-level; occupies an
elevated site on the Aji, 40 m. E. of its entrance into Lake Urumiah; carries on a flourishing transit trade and has notable manufactures of leather, silk, and gold and silver ware; has been on several occasions visited by severe earthquakes.
Tacitus, Cornelius, Roman historian, born presumably at Rome, of
equestrian rank, early famous as an orator; married a daughter of
Agricola, held office under the Emperors Vespasian, Domitian, and Nerva, and conducted along with the younger Pliny the prosecution of Marius Priscus; he is best known and most celebrated as a historian, and of writings extant the chief are his “Life of Agricola,” his “Germania,” his “Histories” and his “Annals”; his “Agricola” is admired as a model biography, while his “Histories” and “Annales” are distinguished for “their conciseness, their vigour, and the pregnancy of meaning; a single word sometimes gives effect to a whole sentence, and if the meaning of the word is missed, the sense of the writer is not reached”; his great power lies in his insight into character and the construing of motives, but the picture he draws of imperial Rome is revolting; b. about A.D. 54.
Tacna (14), capital of a province (32) in North Chile, 38 m. N. of
Arica, with which it is connected by rail; trades in wool and minerals; taken from Peru in 1883.
Tacoma (38), a flourishing manufacturing town and port of Washington
State, on Puget Sound; has practically sprung into existence within the
last 15 years, and is the outlet for the produce of a rich agricultural
and mining district.
Tadmor. See Palmyra.
Tael, a Chinese money of account of varying local value, and rising
and falling with the price of silver, but may be approximately valued at
between 6s. and 5s. 6d. The customs tael, equivalent in value to about 4s
9d., has been superseded by the new dollar of 1890, which is equal to
that of the United States.
Taganrog (50), a Russian seaport on the N. shore of the Sea of Azov; is the outlet for the produce of a rich agricultural district, wheat, linseed, and hempseed being the chief exports. Founded by Peter the Great in 1698.