observed after harvest, on the 15th day of the month Tisri, insti-tuted to commemorate the goodness of God , who protected theIsraelites in the wilderness, and made them dwell in booths, whenthey came out of Egypt .

TABERNJE, [Lat.] in Roman antiquity, were houses made ofboards, shops, or warehouses. Such shops set up in conqueredCountries gave rise to towns,

rABEUNvEMONTANA, in botany, a genus of plants be-longing ro the class penlandria, and order monogynia; naturalordei, Contorta?. Contorted; follicles two, horizontal; seedsimmersed in pulp. There are 19 species.

TABITHA, or DORCAS, a Christian widow at Joppa, whoabounded In works of charity, and after dying, was raised to lifeby St. Peter. Acts ix. 36—42.

TABLE, a moveable piece of furniture, usually made of woodor stone, and supported on pillars or feet for the reception ofthings placed on it.

Table, in mathematics, a system of numbers calculated to beready at hand for expediting astronomical, geometrical, and otheroperations.

Table, in perspective, denotes a plain surface, supposed to betransparent, and perpendicular to the horizon. See Perspective.

Table, in anatomy. The cranium is said to be composed of twotables, or laminae, i. e. it is double, as if it consisted of two boneslaid over one another.

Tables, Laws of the Twelve, were the first set of laws ofthe Romans; thus called either because the Romans then wrote■with a style on thin wooden tablets covered with wax; orrather, because they were engraved on tables or plates ofcopper, to be_ exposed in the most noted part of the publicforum.

Tables of the Law, in Jewish antiquity, two tables on whichwere written the decalogue, or ten commandments, given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Table Bay, a bay of America , on tire North Atlantic Ocean,on the East coast of Labrador. Lon. 20. 57. W. Lat. 53. 45. N.

Table-Cloth, in meteorology, a white cloud resembling atable-cloth, often seen on the top of Table Mountain.

Table Islavd, an island in the North Sea , near the coast ofSpitzbergen . Lon. 20. 30. E. Lat. SO. 57. N.

Table Island, an island in the South Pacific Ocean , one ofthe New Hebrides . Lon. 167. 7. E. Lat. 15. 38. S.

Table Mountain, a mountain of Africa , the most westerlycape in that part of the world, and near the Cape of GoodHope .

'I able Mountains, a range of mountains in the United States ,in the North Carolina . Lon. 81. 40. VV. Lat. 36. 0. N.

TABOO, a word used by the South Sea islanders, nearly ofthe same import as prohibited or interdicted. It applies equallyto persons and things, and is also expressive of any thing sacred,devoted, or eminent,

TABOR, in ancient geography, a mountain of Galilee, nearKadesli, about 12 miles from 1 iberias. It has the form of asugar-loaf, in the midst of an extensive plain, and is 30 stadia inheight.

TABOUROT, Stephen, a French poet, born at Dijon , in1549. He was king’s advocate, in the parliament of Dijon ; andwas a man of genius, but addicted to trifles ; and his poetry waslicentious, agreeably to the taste of the times. He published“ Les Bigarrurcs, Paris, 1582 ;” and " Les Touches, Paris, 1585:”with some other pieces; in all of which he assumed the whimsicaltitle of Lord of Accords. See Accords. He died 24th July,1561, aged 46.

TACAMAHAC, or TACAMAHACA, in pharmacy, a solidrestn improperly called gum in the shops. It exudes from aspecies of poplar; and is in repute for mitigating pains and aches,and is also reckoned a vulnerary. See Materia Medica.

TACAMES, or ATACAM ES, a province of South America ,in Terra Firma, N. of Guayaquil, and W. of the Andes . Theclimate and produce are similar to those of Guayaquil . It alsoproduces grain, fruits, cocoa-nuts, vanillas, sarsaparilla, indigo,and much honey and wax ; and the forests abound with trees ofgreat height and bulk, very thick set.

TACCA, in botany, a genus of the class hexandria and ordermonogynia; natural order Coronarite. Calyx six-parted ; corolla

six-petaled, inserted into the calyx, anther-bearing; siigmastella; berry dry, hexangular, many-seeded, inferior. Tiiereis only one species, viz. T. pinnatilida, a native of the East Indies,China, Cochin China , Banda, and the Society Isles.

TACHYGRAPHY , [t«x.v, and the art or practice of

quick writing.

TAC1TA, in the Roman mythology, the goddess of Silence.King Numa Pompilius paid particular veneration to her.

TACITUS , Caius Cornelius, a celebrated Roman historian,and one of the greatest men of his time, born about A. U. C. 809.He applied himself early to the bar, in which he gained high re-putation. Having married the daughter of Agricola, the road topublic honours was open to him, under Vespasian and Titus ; butduring the sanguinary tyranny of Domitian, he and his friendPliny retired from public affairs. The reign of Nerva restoredthese luminaries of literature to Rome, and Tacitus was engaged,in 850, to pronounce the funeral oration of the venerable Vir-ginius Rufus, the colleague of the emperor in the consulship, andafterwards succeeded him as consul A. D. 97. It is supposed thathe died in the end of the reign ol Trajan . His works which re-main are, 1. Five books of his History. 2. His Annals. 3. ATreatise on the different Nations who then inhabited Geimany :4 1 The Life of Agricola. 5. A Treatise on Eloquence. No an-cient author has obtained a more splendid reputation than Tacitus .Kings, princes, and authors of all ranks, have read and admiredhim ; though a spirit of liberty runs through his whole works.Never were description and sentiment so beautifully blended; northe actions and characters of men delineated with such precision.In short, he has all the merits of other authors without their defects.There have been five translations of his works into English .

TACK, in ship-building, a rope used to confine the foremostlower corners of the courses and stay sails in a fixed position, whenthe wind crosses the ship’s course obliquely ; also the rope em-ployed to pull out the lower corner of a studding-sail or driver tothe extremity of its boom.

Tack is also applied, by analogy, to that part of any sail towhich the tack is usually fastened. A ship is said to be on thestarboard or larboard tack, when she is close-hauled, with thewind upon the starboard or larboard side; and in this sense thedistance which she sails in that position is considered as thelength of the tack ; although this is more frequently calledBoard. See that article.

Tack, is to change the course from one board to another, orturn the ship about from the starboard to the larboard tack, in acontrary wind. Thus a ship being close hauled on the larboardtack, and turning her prow suddenly to windward, receives theimpression of the wind on her head-sails, by which she falls offupon the line of the starboard-tack. Tacking is also used in a moreenlarged sense, to imply that manoeuvre in navigation by which aship makes an oblique progression to the windward, in a zig-zagdirection. This, however, is more usually called boating, or turn-ing to windward. See Navigation, and Sailing.

TACKLE, or TACKLING, among seamen, denotes all theropes or cordage of a ship, used in managing ihe sails, &c. In amore restrained sense, tackles are small ropes running in threeparts, having at one end a pendant and a block ; and at the otherend, a block and hook, to hang goods upon that are to be heavedinto the ship or out of it.

TACPOY, a city of Thibet , and capital of a district sonamed; 126 miles S. E. of Lassa. Lon. 92. 52. E. Lat.28. 53. N.

TACQUET, Andrew, a Jesuit of Antwerp , who flourishedin the 17th century. He was a most laborious writer in mathe-matics ; and published “ A Treatise on Astronomy,” an edition of“ Euclid, ” and many other tracts. His works were collected,and printed at Antwerp , in one large volume, folio, 1669. Hedied in 1660.

TACTICS, [Taiditoi,] in the art of war, is the method of dis-posing forces to the best advantage in order of battle, and of pet"forming the several military motions and evolutions. Tactic*consist of a knowledge of order, disposition, and forming, ac-cording to the exigency of circumstances in warlike operations.General tactics are a combination or union of first orders, out ofwhich others grow of a more extensive and complicated nature, tosuit the particular kind of contest or battle which is to be given,

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