TURNER
TURTLE
coloring prints for an engraver. He was indebted to a Dr. Monro for encouragement in his early work by giving him the opportunity to see his fine collection of water-colors and by buying his sketches. He studied at the Royal Academy, where he exhibited his pictures, and in 1802 was elected a member, being already recognized as the first landscape-painter of his time. His style was afterward changed by travel in Europe, and in the last few years of his life, as some physicians believe, by a change in his eyes, which cast the blue mist so characteristic of his later works. He contributed 259 pictures to the Royal Academy, and over 19,000 drawings and sketches were mounted and arranged by Ruskin. His illustrations of the poems of Rogers, Byron, Scott and other authors are well-known. Among his paintings are Dutch Boats in a Gale, Falls of the Clyde, Sun Rising through a Mist, The Fighting Temeraire, Bay of Baics and Childe Harold or Modern Italy. His most famous drawings are Rivers of France, Rivers of England, Scenery of the Southern Coast etc. They were carefully prepared by him for engraving, and all his pictures were engraved during his lifetime. Ruskin in Modern Painters did much to raise Turner to the high position he holds among English painters. He was very eccentric, traveling alone and hiding himself for months under an assumed name, and had a strong passion for money. He died on Dec. 19, 1851, at Chelsea, leaving to the nation his collection of pictures, which have been placed in the National Gallery of London. His large fortune was left to found a home for needy artists, but some defect in the will prevented the carrying out of his wishes. He was buried beside Sir Joshua Reynolds in St, Paul's. See Life by Thornbury; Life by Hamerton; and Modern Painters by Ruskin.
Turner, Sharon, an English historian, was born at London, Sept. 24, 1768. He was attorney by profession, but continued his literary studies, and published a History of the Anglo-Saxons, in three volumes. This work was the result of years of patient collection of materials and research, and gave its author a permanent place in English literature. His other works are a History of England from the Earliest Period to the Death of Elizabeth and a Sacred History of the World as Displayed in the Creation. He died at London, Feb. 13, 1847.
Turn*Verein (tpfirn-fer-ine'), from the German turn meaning gymnastics and verein meaning society, is a German society for gymnastic exercises, instituted in 1811 by Friedrich Ludwig jahn, known as Turn-vater Jahn. Jahn realized the important influence of gymnastics upon health and physical fitness, especially in the training of soldiers; and, being a soldier himself and inordinately fired with the spirit of war and patriotism, he conceived the idea of
forming a society which should prepare German youth physically for excellent citizenship. In 1811 a sand-field was secured near Berlin, the edge of what now is the great exercising-ground of the Berlin garrison. Here began the gymnastic exercises which now form part of the curriculum in every German school. A monument of Jahn has been erected here, the stones of which were sent from far-away countries. Knowing the German fondness for song, Jahn sought to establish an intimate relation between singing in unison and outdoor exercises. Singing was then made a part of the gymnastic exercises on the march to and from the field, and Jahn took great pains to select patriotic and military songs. On this gymnastic field he was training the minute-men of the German Revolution. The turn-verein now is a great factor in German education. A university union was founded in Berlin in 1860; and was immediately imitated by other universities. An association of such unions was founded in 1872. The two great associations of turn-vereine in Germany include respectively 26 universities (the older including Berlin, Leipzig and Gratz), and 16 universities and high schools (including Jena, Freiburg, Miinchen and Aachen.)
Tur'pentine, a gum or resin which is found in various species of pine, and some other trees. American or common turpentine is obtained from the long-leaved pine, and is brought in the largest quantities from North Carolina. Venice turpentine, which is considered the best kind, is from the larch-tree. German turpentine comes from the Scotch fir, Strassburg turpentine from, the silver fir and Canada turpentine from the balsam or balm-of-Gilead fir. Turpentine is obtained by making a cut in the tree and catching the sap, which looks much like honey. The oil of turpentine is made from this sap by distilling, and the hard part that is left is the common yellow resin, used in making soap etc. Turpentine hardens in the air, burns easily, and can be dissolved by alcohol or ether. The oil of turpentine is used in medicine and in making varnishes and paints. The name comes from the terebinth tree, from which the Greeks obtained it. See RESIN.
Turquoise (tur-koizf), one of the precious stones, is a mineral, found mostly in Persia. It is a phosphate of alumina colored by copper. It is hard and of a greenish-blue color, the finest blue being the most valuable. It is used in the east for ornamenting swords, charms and girdles, and is thought to protect its owner against disease. The finest specimens are supposed to belong to the shah of Persia, as only inferior varieties are allowed to be sent out of the kingdom.
Tur'tle, a general name for all reptiles having the body inclosed between an upper shield (carapax) and a lower shield (plastron).
