added, under the empire, tolls, taxes on grain, on the privilege of Roman citizenship etc. In Europe, under the feudal system, kings were supported by their own lands, and in war claimed the services of their barons and knights at their own expense. Venice, in the middle ages, began the modern system of taxation by taxing land and levying import-duties; but throughout Europe, until the French Revolution and in some cases since, the nobles and clergy were privileged classes and paid no taxes. In many countries of Asia the right of taxation was given or sold to governors of provinces or to the highest bidder, a practice which often resulted in wringing from the people all that they had, which caused widespread misery. In Europe, too, taxes were sometimes farmed out at a lump sum.
In the United States taxes are imposed by the federal, state and municipal governments. Federal taxes are in the form of tariffs (q. v.) on imports, excise-duties, (mainly on liquors and tobacco) and income taxes (q. v.). Import and excise duties are indirect taxes, that is, not paid directly by the consumer. The bulk of state taxes are laid directly on property. The heaviest taxes usually are those laid for local purposes by the county or city. Besides the ordinary city or county taxes, assessments are often made on property specially benefited, for opening streets or roads, for street-lamps, sewers, water-service etc.
Unjust and unfair taxation has often caused discontent and even revolutions, and how to tax without oppressing the people is a deep problem. Turgot the French statesman, called it the art of plucking the goose without making it cry. In most countries it is now recognized that no tax can be levied without the consent of the representatives of the people who have to pay it. It was England's attempt to raise a stamp-duty and a customs-duty on tea in America that caused the revolt of the colonies under the celebrated cry: “No taxation without representation.”
Taxidermy (tă x′ĭ-dẽr′my), the art of preparing the skins of animals for the purposes of the naturalist. In preparing small animals for stuffing, the skins are removed, the flesh clinging to them is cleaned away, and they are anointed with arsenical soap. This keeps the skin supple and prevents decay and attacks of insects. Larger skins are prepared with a powder containing arsenic, burnt alum, oak-bark and camphor. The animals are then stuffed and mounted.
Taxon′omy, that division of botany which deals with the classification of plants. It is one of the oldest of subjects, and not very long ago it was the only form of botanical instruction given in the schools. Specialists in this study are called taxonomists or systematists, but the plant-kingdom is so vast that no one can be a specialist in the taxonomy of all groups. Accordingly there are algologists, who classify algae; mycologists, who classify fungi; bryologists, who classify mosses; pteridologists, who classify ferns. Ordinarily, when a man is called a systematist or a taxonomist, without any qualification, he is a specialist in the classification of seed-plants. The early attempts to classify plants were purely artificial, that is, there was no effort to indicate their real relationships. For example, one of the earliest groupings of seed-plants was into herbs, shrubs and trees. This brought together many wholly unrelated plants and kept apart many which are closely related, as unrelated words are brought together in a dictionary by the accident of their first letter. The artificial system was most highly developed by Linnæus, who invented an elaborate scheme on the basis of the number of stamens and pistils in the flower. This scheme was used until quite recently, but it has now been entirely replaced by natural systems. These systems attempt to group plants together which are really related, a family in botany meaning about what the term means among human beings, if one substitutes species for individuals. A natural system of classification can only become perfect when the complete development and structure of every plant are known. Hence such systems are being constantly revised as knowledge increases.
Tay, the largest river of Scotland, pours into the German Ocean a greater bulk of water than any other river of Great Britain. The Dochart is the chief feeder of Loch Tay, and from this lake the Tay flows past Dunkeld and Perth, at the mouth of the Earn widening into the Firth of Tay, from three fourths of a mile to a mile wide, and falling into the North Sea about ten miles below Dundee, after a course of 120 miles. It is navigable to Perth, and the tide flows a mile further up. The salmon-fisheries are valuable.
Tay′lor (James) Bayard, American author and traveler, was born at Kennett Square, Pa., on Jan. 11, 1825. At 17 he was apprenticed in a printing-office, and soon began to publish poems in newspapers and magazines. In 1844 he made a walking-tour of Europe, an account of which he published as Views Afoot. After writing for several newspapers, he joined the editorial staff of The New York Tribune, in which appeared accounts of travels in California, Mexico, up the Nile, in Asia Minor, India, China and Japan. In 1878 he became minister to Germany. Taylor was a quick worker, throwing off many volumes of verse, fiction, sketches, essays, translations and criticisms, besides his 11 books of travel. As an original poet he stands high in the second rank. Some of his best travesties are in his Echo Club. Among the finest of his poems are Bedouin Song, The Quaker Widow and The
