[Tatar], a word derived from a Turanian root signifying "to pitch a tent," hence appropriate to nomadic tribes, became converted by European chroniclers into Tartar, a fanciful derivative from Tartaros (Gr. hell), and suggestive of fiends from hell. Tartary, as a geographical expression of the Middle Ages, embraced a vast stretch of territory from the Dnieper, in Eastern Europe, to the Sea of Japan; but subsequently dwindled away to Chinese and Western Turkestan.
[Tate, Nahum], poet-laureate, born in Dublin, where he was educated at Trinity College; came to London to ply the craft of letters, and in 1690 succeeded Shadwell in the laureateship; improvident, and probably intemperate, he died in the Mint, the refuge of bankrupts in those days; wrote some dramatic pieces, but is to be remembered mainly for his metrical version of the Psalms, executed in conjunction with Nicholas Brady, which superseded the older version done by [Sternhold] (q. v.) and Hopkins (1652-1715).
[Tatius, Achilles], a Greek romancer who flourished about the beginning of the 4th century A.D.; wrote the romance of "Leucippe and Cleitophon."
[Tattersall's], a noted horse-mart and haunt of racing men at Knightsbridge, London, established by Richard Tattersall (1724-1795), an auctioneer, who in 1766 obtained a 99 years' lease from Lord Grosvenor of premises in Hyde Park Corner; the present premises were occupied on the expiry of the lease in 1867.
[Tattooing], a practice of imprinting various designs, often pictorial, upon the skin by means of colouring matter, e. g. Chinese ink, cinnabar, introduced into punctures made by needles; widely in vogue in past and present times amongst uncivilised peoples, and even to some extent amongst civilised races; like the use of rouge, was mainly for the purpose of ornamentation and for improving the appearance, but also in some cases for religious purposes; reached its highest perfection in Japan, where it seems to have been largely resorted to as a substitute for clothing, and was never employed on the face, feet, or hands; among the South Sea islanders the custom is universal, and is still practised by considerable numbers of the lower-class criminals of Europe.
[Tau, Cross of], or St. Anthony's Cross, a cross resembling the letter T.
[Tauchnitz, Karl Cristoph Traugott], a noted German printer and bookseller, born at Grosspardau, near Leipzig; trained as a printer, he started on his own account in Leipzig in 1796, flourished, and became celebrated for his neat and cheap editions of the Roman and Greek classics; introduced stereotyping into Germany (1761-1836). The well-known "British Authors" collection was started in 1841 by Christian Bernard, Baron von Tauchnitz, a nephew of the preceding, who established himself as a printer and publisher in Leipzig in 1837; was ennobled in 1860, and made a Saxon life-peer in 1877; b. 1816.
[Tauler, Johann], a German mystic, born in Strasburg, bred a monk of the Dominican order, had, along with the rest of his order, to flee the city, and settled in Basel, became a centre of religious life there, and acquired repute as one of the most eloquent preachers of the day; his sphere was not speculative thought but practical piety, and his "Sermons" take rank among the aboriginal monuments of German prose literature (1300-1361).
[Taunton], 1, (18), a trim, pleasantly-situated town of Somersetshire (18), on the Tone, 45 m. SW. of Bristol; has a fine old castle founded in the 8th century, rebuilt in the 12th century, and having interesting associations with Perkin Warbeck, Judge Jeffreys, and Sydney Smith; has various schools, a college, barracks, &c.; noted for its hosiery, glove, and silk manufactures, and is also a busy agricultural centre. 2, Capital (31) of Bristol County, Massachusetts, on the Taunton River, 34 m. S. of Boston, a well equipped and busy manufacturing town.
[Taurida] (1,060), a government of South Russia, of extensive area, jutting down in peninsular shape into the Black Sea, and including the Crimea and isthmus of Perekop; forms the western boundary of the Sea of Azov; cattle-breeding and agriculture the staple industries.