TBACHYTE. 392 TRACT SOCIETIES. texture, often possessing also How (rliyolitic) or vesicular textures. It generally exliibits porphy- ritic crj'stals of alkali feldspar, with which is usually associated also biotite, hornblende, or augite. The average composition of trachyte is: Silica, 64 per cent.; alumina, 18 per cent.; oxide of iron, 4 per cent.; magnesia, 1 per cent.; oxide of lime, 2 per cent.; oxide of .sodium, 5 per cent.; oxide of potassium, (i per cent. In composition trachjiie difl'ert but little from syenite. TRACTARIANS. A popular nickname given, in the early days of the Oxford Movement (q.v.), to the party led by Xewman. Pusey and Keble, from the Tracts for the Times, written by these and other members of the party. TRACTION ENGINE. See Automobile. TRACTORS, ELlt^HA. Metallic. See Perkins, TRACT SOCIETIES (Lat. tracttis, treat- ment, discussion, liandling, drawing, from tra- here, to draw, drag). The word tract signifies a brief treatise. In the modern use of the term, it is applied almost exclusively to treatises upon religious subjects, and a tract is distinguished from a book mainly by its external (pamphlet) form and its brevity. The earliest illustration of a tract is found in the separate books of the Bible, each one of which, as originally circulated in manuscript form from hand to hand, may be considered a tract. Apart from tliis, however, we may consider Wiclif, the great English re- former, as the first to begin the work of writing and distrilmting tracts, which, though laboriously produced by hand, yet obtained a large circula- tion. With the invention of printing, the possi- bilities for the development of tract literature were wonderfully enlarged, and the religious movement which culminated in the Reformation may be said to mark the commencement of the general dissemination of Christian literature in tract form. The availability of tracts as a means for prop- agating Christian knowledge led to the forma- tion of societies for that express purpose. An early pioneer among tract societies for English- speaking peoples was the Hoeietn far Promoting Christian Knnirhffrir, which was organized in England in lliOS and incorporated in 1701 to cir- culate Bibles and religious tracts both at home and abroad. The publication of tracts, begun by .John Wesley in 1742, was soon carried for- ward upon a large scale, and in 1782 he organized the Society for the Distribution of Tracts Among the Poor. The first interdenominational union of Christian effort for the circulation of tract literature was effected in 1750. in the City of London, by the formation of the Society for Promoting I'riigioiis Knoiclcdge Among the Poor. This was followed by the organization of simi- lar societies in other cities, and though none of these maintained a permanent existence, they must be regarded as forenniners of the great tract societies of modern times. In the closing decade of the eighteenth century, at Bath, Eng- land, Hannah More (q.v.) initiated a move- ment for the better circulation of Christian liter- ature by putting forth a series of short religious tales in tract form, named tlie Cheap Repository. In 1795 the Religious Tract (Society of Scotland (now known as the Religious Tract and Book Society) was founded in Edinburgh, by Rev. John Campbell. This was followed, in 1799, by the organization of the Religious Tract Society of London, which stands foremost in age and influ- ence among tract societies of the present day. In America the work of religious publication was begun by the Methodist Book Concern, which issued its first publication in 17811. The Massa- chusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowl- edge, founded in 1803, may be properly regarded as the first interdenominational organization for tract work in America. This was followed by the formation of various local .societies, among which were the yeic York Religious Tract Soci- ety, organized in 1812, and the Xcic England Tract Society, organized at Andover in 1814. Tlie latter society, in 1823, changed its headquarters to Boston, and its name to the .Imerican Tract Society, and two years later became merged in the American Tract Soci<ty which was organ- ized in Xew York City by friends of tract work, who desired to see a society of national scope and influence. Since that time tract societies have multiplied, but the American Tract Society still remains the principal agency for tract dis- tribution in America. A board of managers, consisting of a presi- dent, vice-president, and thirty-six members, are elected annually by this society. This board elects the publishing, distributing, and flnance conmiittees. The members of these three com- mittees constitute an executive committee to conduct the business of the society. To promote in the higliest degree the objects of the society, the Constitution specifies that the officers and managers shall be elected from different de- nominations of Christians; that the publishing committee shall contain no two members from the same ecclesiastical connection ; and that no tract shall be published to which any member of that conunittce shall object. Some idea of the magnitude of the work of this society may be gained from the following statistics. The whole number of distinct publi- cations (not including periodicals) issued by the society from the home oflice from 1825 to 1003 w'as 8.498, of which 2,138 have been volumes and fi,360 tracts, etc. These have been published in a score of different languages. The total number of volumes issued during the previous seventy- eight years is 32.743,752 ; of tracts, 449.554,252 : and of periodicals. 204,278. r)()8 : making a grand total of 740.576,672 copies of publications printed. Six periodicals are published by the society, viz. the American Messenger. Apples of Gold, Light and Life, Deutseher Volksfretttid, Amerikanischcr Botschafter, and Maii::an<is de Oro. The society has made appropriations amounting to $747,213, by the aid of which .5080 publications have been issued at foreign mission stations in 157 languages and dialects. The constitution of the Religious Tract Society of London is similar to that of the American Tract Society. Its affairs are conducted by a committee, composed of an equal proportion of members of the Church of England and of Prot- estant dissenters. During its one hundred and four years the society has printed books and tracts in 250 different languages. In all the society has published over ten thousand books, tracts, etc.. and its total distribution amoimts to about 3,540,000.000 copies of its publications. In New York and many other cities there are city mission and tract societies, which find the
