TBIPOLI. 472 TRIPTYCH. Vilayet of Tripoli/' in Great Britain Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Series 527 (ib., 1900) ; Winutelli, La Tripolitania (Turin, 1902). TRIPOLI. The capital of the Turkish Vilayet of Tripoli, in Africa, on a promontory in the Mediterranean Sea, which forms a small bay, in latitude 32° 53' N., longitude 13° 11' E. Sahara approaches within a short distance. The town, whose high walls are dilapidated, lies in a fertile plain. It is typically Oriental, with its slender minarets and domed mosques. The castle of the beys is handsome. There is a splendid Roman triumphal arch, erected to Marcus Aure- lius. Tripoli owes its importance as the com- mercial centre of the country to the three historic caravan routes of which it is the terminus. The first of these runs south across the desert of Sa- hara to Lake Chad; the second, southwest to Timbuktu ; and the third, south by east to Wadai and points in Darfur. The city manufactures carpets, scarfs, and Spanish leather. The harbor is inaccessible to vessels drawing fourteen feet. It was visited in 1899 by 600 vessels. The trade is mostly in the hands of the Jews, who are con- gregated in a quarter of the town called Harra. Tripoli, one of the oldest cities of Africa, is the CEa of the Phcenicians. In February, 1804, the harbor was the scene of Lieutenant Decatur's brave exploit of recapturing and burning the American frigate Philadelphia. Population, in 1900, 30,000. TRIPOLI. TRIPOLIS (the classical name), or TARABULUS. A town in Syria, Asiatic Turkey, the capitiil of a liwa in the Vilayet of Beirut, two and a half miles from El-Mina, its port, and 40 miles north-northeast of Beirut (Map: Turkey in Asia, F 5). The streets are well paved and covered in some places by arcades. The houses are built of a porous conglomerate, giving the town a picturesque Oriental aspect. There are fourteen churches, nearly equally divided between the Latin, Greek, and Maronite sects, an American mis- sion station and girls' school, an orphanage and girls' home of the French Sisters of Charity, a synagogue, fourteen mosques, a monastery of dancing dervishes, a castle, and several large khans. Tripoli is famous for its silk sashes. Silk, sugar-cane, ivory, ostrich feathers, wool, and sponges are exported. Mulberry trees are extensively cultivated for the silkworms. There is a large overland trade by camels with Aleppo. Population, 30.000, including El-JIina. Of the inhabitants, 24.000 are Moslems, 4500 Orthodox Greeks, 1500 Maronites. Tripoli was a member of the Phoenician league. At that time it lay on the coa.st. In 450 and in 550 it was de- stroyed by earthquakes. The Saracens took it in 638. It was several times captured by the Greeks. The Romans erected many fine build- ings. After a siege of several years it was taken in 1109 by the Crusaders, under whom it enjoyed great prosperity. Destroyed by the Egyptian Sultan, Kalaun, in 1289, it was rebuilt on its present site. TRIPOLITE (from Tripoli, in Africa), or TRIPOLI. A name sometimes applied to dia- tomaceous earth (q.v. ), but also used to desig- nate the siliceous 'residues left by the decay of impure limestones and schists. The last-named material is extensively mined in Newton County, Mo., and is employed as an abrasive and in water filters. TRIPOLITZA, tre'po-lye'tsa, or TRIP'OL- IS. The capital of the Noraarchy of Arcadia, Greece, 34 miles southwest of Argos, on the Argos-Kalamata Railway (Map: Greece, D 4). It is on a plain, 2000 feet above sea-level, near the site of the ancient Tegea and Mantinea. Tapestries and leather goods are manufactured. Its population in 1896 was 10,465. Tripolitza is a modern city, and under the Turkish pashas was the capital of the Morea. It was captured and burned by the Greek patriot Kolokotronis (q.v.) October 17, 1821. In 1825 it was taken by Ibrahim Pasha. TRIPOS (from Lat. tripus, from Gk. rplirovi, tripous, tripod). A term peculiar to Camljridge University, denoting the three honor classes com- posed of successful candidates in the final exam- inations in the various departments. In mathe- matics the first honor men are known as senior and junior wranglers. The term is also used of the examination itself. TRIPP ANT. In heraldry (q.v.), a term used of a beast of chase represented as walking. TRIP'PEL, Alexander (1744-93). A Swiss sculptor, born at Schafl'hausen. He studied in Copenhagen under 'iedcvelt and Stanley, went in 1771 to Paris, and in 1776 to Rome, where, be- sides antique and some biblical subjects, dis- tinguished by noble treatment of form, he exe- cuted a Monument of Count Tchernitcheff for Moscow, the excellent busts of Goethe (1788) and Herder (1789), both in the grand-ducal library at Weimar, and the Gessner Monument at Zurich. TRIPTOL'EMUS (Lat., from Gk. TpnrT6e- fiot). In Greek legend, the bestower of grain upon mankind. In the Homeric Hymn to De- meter Triptolemus is merely one of the princes of Eleusis, to whom Demeter teaches her sacred rites, when she finally leaves her temple for Olympus. Later, however, he became the son of King Celeus and jMeteneira, and a special favorite of Demeter, who gave him a winged chariot, or one drawn by winged dragons, and sent him forth to bear the knowledge of her gift of grain among mankind. This scene is fre- quently represented on Attic vases of the fifth century and later. Triptolemus had a temple at Eleusis, and was honored in Athens also in connection with the two goddesses Demeter and Kore. Attic belief also made him one of the judges in the lower world, apparently in place of Minos, who held an unfavorable place in local legends. The Greek type of Triptolemus was used by the Romans for Bonus Eventtis, who seems to have had much resemblance to the Eleu- sinian hero. TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH, A. A comedy by Sheridan (1777), altered from Vanbrugh's Relapse (q.v.). TRIPTYCH (from Gk. tpItttvxoc, iriptychos, folded thrice, from rpelc, treis. three -f- 7r-)'x7, pti/eli(' fold, from Trriaaeiv, ptyssein, to fold). A set of three leaves, each painted with a dis- tinct subject, but joined together by hinges, and capable of being folded so as to present a new face when closed. In ecclesiastical use, the triptych was usually a devotional picture, and
