Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/581

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TADPOLE prize instituted by Canova, under whose di- rection he executed from 1813 to 1820 many works, including a statue of Washington. His subsequent productions comprise " Venus and Amor," "The Abduction of Ganymede," "Fran- cis de Sales," " A Bacchante," and " The Arch- angel St. Michael," a colossal marble group for which an American is said to have paid $40,- 000 (1869). TADPOLE. See FROG. TAEL, a Chinese measure of weight, equal to 1 oz. avoirdupois. The Chinese government does not coin gold or silver. All payments are made in bullion or foreign coins, by weight ; hence the tael (Chin. Hang) has become a money of account, and 720 taels are received at Hong Kong and Shanghai as equivalent to 1,000 Mexican dollars. Taking the value of the Mexican dollar as fixed by the secretary of the treasury of the United States, Jan. 1, 1875, the tael would be equivalent to 1-386 United States dollar. The name is sometimes applied to the money of Japan, Siam, and Sumatra, and is probably of Malay origin. TJEffARUM. See CAPE MATAPAN. TAFILET, or Tafilelt, a division of Morocco, consisting of the oasis of the same name, lying S. E. of the Atlas mountains, between lat. 30 45' and 31 10' K and Ion. 3 3' and 3 25' W. ; pop. estimated at 100,000. The oasis of Tissimi lies N. of it, and that of Sahra K E. Tafilet is a fertile plain watered by two rivers, both of which are lost in the sands of the desert. Rain seldom falls. Wheat and barley are cultivated on the banks of the rivers, but dates are the chief product. Large herds of sheep and goats are kept, and stuffs and car- pets are manufactured. There are mines of lead and antimony. The oasis is divided into five districts, Sfalet, Rhorfa, Iffii, Shiffa, and Tannajiut. The most important town is Abu- am, about 240 m. E. S. E. of Morocco, but the official centre is Rissani, a few miles N. E. of Abuam. The inhabitants are mostly Shelloohs. A considerable trade is carried on with other parts of Morocco and with Algeria. Tafilet, which is mentioned by the earliest Arab chroni- clers, is probably identical with the kingdom of which Sigilmessa, founded A. D. 759, was the capital. In 1648 a king of Tafilet founded the dynasty which still rules Morocco. TAGANROG, a city of southern Russia, in the government of Yekaterinoslav, on a prom- ontory formed by the sea of Azov, 18 m. from the mouth of the Don and 27 m. N. W. of Azov; pop. in 1867, 25,027, including many Armenians and Greeks. It is strongly forti- fied, and despite the shallowness of the harbor it is the principal port of the sea of Azov. The exports in 1873, chiefly wheat, amounted to 28,797,839 rubles, and the imports to 8,048,- 663. The town has four large squares. The principal buildings are the cathedral, the admi- ralty, the marine hospital, the quarantine, the exchange, the theatre, and the palace near the Greek monastery of Jerusalem, built by Alex- TAHITI 553 ander I., who died and has a monument here. It was originally founded in 1696, but the pres- ent city dates from 1768. Taganrog was much damaged in 1855 by the bombardment from French and English gunboats, as well as the neighboring seaport Mariupol (founded in 1779 by Greeks; pop. about 6,000), which is under the municipal authority of Taganrog. TAGLIACOZZI. See TALIACOTIUS. TAGLIOM. I. Filippo, an Italian ballet mas- ter, born in Milan in 1777, died near the lake of Como, Feb. 11, 1871. He was successively connected with the theatres at Stockholm, Cassel, and Warsaw till 1853, when he returned to Italy. The most celebrated of his numerous ballets is the " Sylphide." He married a daugh- ter of the Swedish tragedian Karsten. II. Maria, a dancer, daughter of the preceding, born in Stockholm about 1804. In 1822 she first appeared at Vienna, in 1827 at Paris, and in 1832 at Berlin. In the last year she married Count Gilbert de Voisin. She retired in 1847, and has since lived at her villa on the lake of Como, or in one of her palaces at Venice. She gained her greatest triumphs in La baya- dere, La Sylphide, and Lajille du Danube. III. Paul, brother of the preceding, born in Vienna about 1808. After performing with his sister in various theatres, he married the dancer Amalia Galster, with whom he made tours in Europe and the United States. His career as a dancer ended in 1847, when he became bal- let master at the royal theatre in Berlin. He has since produced Sardanapal, Undine, and other celebrated ballets. His daughter MARIA, born in Berlin in 1834, excelled as a dancer, but in 1866 retired from the stage, on her marriage with Prince Joseph Windischgriitz. TAGUS (Span. Tajo ; Port. Tejo), a river of Spain and Portugal, the longest in the penin- sula, and dividing it into two nearly equal parts. It rises in the Sierra de Cuenca, in the prov- ince of Teruel near the border of Guadalajara, and flows N. W. for about 35 m. ; then nearly W. 20 m., receiving the waters of the Molina ; then S. W. a little more than 70 m., the Gua- diela and other streams augmenting it ; then nearly W. till it becomes for about 20 m. the boundary of Portugal, its principal affluents being the Jarama, Cedron, Guadarrama, Al- berche, and Alagon. Entering Portugal, it in- clines more and more to the southwest, receiv- ing below Abrantes the Zezere, and from that point is navigable for vessels of 150 tons. In the lower part of its course are numerous isl- ands, and for about 20 m. it spreads out into a table-like basin, 8 m. or more in width ; but as it approaches Lisbon the hills on either side close up the valley, and at its mouth it is not over a mile wide. The banks of the Tagus are generally rugged and precipitous, and the adja- cent plains are dry and barren. Lisbon, San- tarem, and Abrantes in Portugal, and Talavera de la Reyna, Toledo, and Aranjuez in Spain, are on its banks. Its length is about 540 m. TAHITI. See SOCIETY ISLANDS.