Part 239

Tap"es*try bee"tle. A small black dermestoid beetle (Attagenus piceus) whose larva feeds on tapestry, carpets, silk, fur, flour, and various other goods.

Tap"pet rod. (Mech.) A rod carrying a tappet or tappets, as one for closing the valves in a Cornish pumping engine.

Tap*poon" (?), n. [Sp. tampón a stopper.] (Irrigation) A piece of wood or sheet metal fitted into a ditch to dam up the water so as to overflow a field. [U. S.]

Tar"get (?), n. 1. A thin cut; a slice; specif., of lamb, a piece consisting of the neck and breast joints. [Eng.]

2. A tassel or pendent; also, a shred; tatter. [Obs. Scot.]

Tar"iff (?), n. A tariff may be imposed solely for, and with reference to, the production of revenue (called a revenue tariff, or tariff for revenue, or for the artificial fostering of home industries (a projective tariff), or as a means of coercing foreign governments, as in case of retaliatory tariff.

Tar*pe"ian (?), a. [L. Tarpeius, prop., pertaining to Tarpeia.] Pertaining to or designating a rock or peak of the Capitoline hill, Rome, from which condemned criminals were hurled.

Task wage. (Polit. Econ.) A wage paid by the day, or some fixed period, on condition that a minimum task be performed. When the workman is paid in proportion for excess over the minimum, the wage is one for piece-work.

Tat"ter*sall's (?), n. A famous horse market in London, established in 1766 by Richard Tattersall, also used as the headquarters of credit betting on English horse races; hence, a large horse market elsewhere.

Tat"ty (?), n.; pl. Tatties (#). [Hind. a.] A mat or screen of fibers, as of the kuskus grass, hung at a door or window and kept wet to moisten and cool the air as it enters. [India]

Tau (tou), n. [Gr. tay^.] The nineteenth letter (, τ) of the Greek alphabet, equivalent to English t.

{ Tau"pie, Taw"pie } (?), n. [Cf. Icel. tpi fool, Dan. taabe, Sw. tåp.] A foolish or thoughtless young person, esp. a slothful or slovenly woman. [Scot.] Burns.

Tau"rid (?), n. [Taurus + 1st -id.] (Astron.) Any of a group of meteors appearing November 20-23; -- so called because they appear to radiate from a point in Taurus.

Tau*taug" (?), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Tautog.

Tax certificate. (Law) The certificate issued to the purchaser of land at a tax sale certifying to the sale and the payment of the consideration thereof, and entitling the purchaser upon certain conditions and at a certain time thereafter to a deed or instrument of conveyance (called a tax deed) of the land, to be executed by the proper officer.

Tax"is (?), n. In technical uses, as in architecture, biology, grammar, etc., arrangement; order; ordonnance.

Tay"lor-White" proc`ess. (Metal.) A process (invented about 1899 by Frederick W. Taylor and Maunsel B. White) for giving toughness to self-hardening steels. The steel is heated almost to fusion, cooled to a temperature of from 700° to 850° C. in molten lead, further cooled in oil, reheated to between 370° and 670° C., and cooled in air.

Tchick (?), n. [Imitative.] A slight sound such as that made by pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth and explosively sucking out the air at one side, as in urging on a horse. -- v. i. To make a tchick.

T connection. (Elec.) The connection of two coils diagrammatically as a letter T, chiefly used as a connection for passing transformers. When the three free ends are connected to a source of three-phase current, two-phase current may be derived from the secondary circuits. The reverse arrangement may be used to transform from two-phase. -- T"- connected, a.

Teache (?), n. [Cf. Amer. Sp. tacha, tacho.] (Sugar Manuf.) Any, esp. the last, of the series of boilers or evaporating pans.

Team"work` (?), n. Work done by a number of associates, usually each doing a clearly defined portion, but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole; as, the teamwork of a football eleven or a gun crew.

Is the teamwork system employed, or does one workman make the whole cigar?

U. S. Consular Repts.

Tear (?), n. (Glass Manuf.) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass. -- Tears of St. Lawrence, the Perseid shower of meteors, seen every year on or about the eve of St. Lawrence, August 9th. -- T. of wine, drops which form and roll down a glass above the surface of strong wine. The phenomenon is due to the evaporation of alcohol from the surface layer, which, becoming more watery, increases in surface tension and creeps up the sides until its weight causes it to break.

Teas"er (?), n. (Elec.) A shunt winding on field magnets for maintaining their magnetism when the main circuit is open.

Tech*ni"cian (?), n. A technicist; esp., one skilled particularly in the technical details of his work.

Tech"ni*phone (?), n. [Gr. &?; art + -phone.] (Music) A dumb gymnastic apparatus for training the hands of pianists and organists, as to a legato touch.

Tech*nog"ra*phy (?), n. [Gr. &?; art, skill, craft + graph.] Description of the arts and crafts of tribes and peoples. -- Tech`no*graph"ic, Tech`no*graph"ic*al (#), a.