TAB. tar; connected with Lett, dariva, tar, Lith. darwa, resinous wood, especially that of the fir-tree, and ultimately with Kiij;. tixc}. A term aiijilieil to the oily, dark-colored products obtaineil in the destructive distillation of peat, wood, coal, bones, and other materials of organic origin. Bone-tar is described under Dippel's Animal Oil (q.v.). Coal-tar is likewise described in a special article. (See Coal-Tar.) Wood-tar is commonly made from the resinous roots and wood of various pines. The wood is heaped into a conical stack depressed at the centre, covered with earth, and fired. The tar runs to the centre. This distilla- tion may be more economically conducted in re- torts. Wood-tar is largely tised for water-proof- ing, preservative, and antiseptic purposes. In doses of one or two grains it is considered a good remedy in diseases of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages. See Acetic Acid; Ace- tone; Methyl Alcohol, etc. TARA, ta'ra. A hill in County Meath, Ire- laud, about six miles east of Trim and nearly the same distance southeast of Xavan. It is noted as the site of the palace of the ancient kings of Ireland from the preliistoric Firbolgs (q.v.) down to the middle of the sixth century. It was here that Saint Patrick began his great apostolate by preaching to King Lao- ghaire or Leary in 432. The site was finally abandoned in 5G5 on account of a curse pro- nounced against the reigning I'Cing by Saint Ruadhan. The lines of the ancient palace may still be traced in the mounds and earthworks ■which crown the summit of the hill. Although the 'harp of Tara' has been thus silent through so many centuries, the place remains a focus and rallying point for Irish national aspiration. Here O'Connell, the liberator, held the greatest of his monster meetings during the Repeal agi- tation, and here also some forty years later Parnell erected the montmient, which now stands out prominently above the landsea])e. to the memory of the Croppy insurgents who fell in an engagement near by during the rebellion of 1798. TARA (Polynesian name), or TARO (Colo- casia antiquorunt, var. cficiileiitn ). A plant of the natural order Araeeae, cultivated for its TARA (^Colocasis antiquorum). 33 TARANTISM. roots, which are a leading article of food In the South Sea Islands. The roots, which are from 12 to l(j inches in length, are washed to re- move their acidity, and cooked like breadfruit, the rind being lirst scraped oil'. See Cocco. TAEABULUS, ta-rii'liwi-loTis. A town uf Syria. S.-i- Tripoli. TARAFA, til-ra'fi'i (Ar. Tara(a ■ Amr ihn al- Ahd al-Hul.ri} (c.otiO). An 'early Arabian poet. He lived at the Court of the King of Ilira in Northeastern Arabia. In eon.sequence of his satires on royalty, the King had him put to death. He ranks as one of the six great pre- Islamic poets of Arabia, and is the author of one of the seven Mu'alkihOI, or prize poems, of that period, which remain the classic models of Arabic poetiy. The Arabic text is in Ahlwardt, Dii'ans of the Hix Atwicnt Arabic Poets (Lon- don, 1870) ; there are translations by Riickert, in Sichcn Biicher dcr morgciiliindischen tiagen und Geschichten (Stuttgart, 1837), and by Van- denhoff, Xoninilla Tarafce carmina (Uerlin, 1895). TARA FERN" (Ptcris aquUina, var. esciiten- ta). A species of brake (q.v.), the rhizome of which was one of the principal articles of food in New Zealand before the settlement of the islands. The root is cut in pieces about 9 inches long, placed in stacks, and carefully protected from rain. This fern is also distributed in Australia, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands. In Japan the cut rhizomes are macerated to remove the starch. TARAI, tii-rl', or TERAI. A low, moist, and unhealthful region stretching along the south- ern base of the Himalayas nearlj' throughout their length, from Assam in the east to the Pun- jab in the northwest. In spite of its unhealthful nature, it is densely poinilated by tribes who seem to be immune from malarial diseases. TARANTELLA, ta'ran-telTa (It., taran- tula ) . An Italian dance, written in f time, conlantly increasing in speed, and alternating between the major and minor modes. It is ac- companied by castanets and a tambourine. Dur- ing the Jliddle Ages the dancing of the tarantell.a was thought to be a cure for a form of insanity which was induced by the bite of the largest of European spiders, the Lycosa tarantula. From the fifteenth to the seventeenth century a pecu- liar nervous disease, called tarantism, existed in Italy, whose only effective cure was the music of the tarantella. Of the many songs used for this purpose but few ^xist. Specimens are given in Jones's Maltese Melodies (London, ISOo) ; Smith's Miisica Antirjiia (London, 1812) ; and Mendel's Lexicon (Berlin. 1870-83). The taran- tellas written by modern composers bear little resemblance to their prototypes in either form or rhythm. They are written in | or f time, and, owing to their great rapidity, have become favorites for brilliant solo pieces. See Dancinq Maxia. TARANTISM. A dancing or leaping mania sui)posed to be due to the bite of a spider, the tarantula (q.v.), and especially prevalent at Taranto, in Apulia, Italy. The disease was essentially <a form of contagious emotional or hysterical excitation. The gesticulations, contortions, and cries somewhat resembled those observed in Saint Vitus's dance and other
