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TAUNTON 266 TAURUS corporated as a town in 1639, and char- tered as a city in 1864. Pop. (1910) 34,259; (1920) 37,137. TAUNTON, a town in Somersetshire, England; in the valley of the Tone; 45 miles S. W. of Bristol. Here about 710, Ina, the West Saxon king, built a fort- ress, which, passing with the manor to the bishops of Winchester, was rebuilt by Bishop William in the first quarter of the 12th century. Added to in the 13th and 15th centuries, this castle re- ceived Perkin Warbeck (1497), and was held by Blake during his famous defense of the town (1644-1645). In its great hall, fitted up now as a museum, Judge Jeffreys opened the "Bloody Assize," hanging 134 and transporting 400 of the inhabitants of Taunton and the neigh- borhood who had accorded Monmouth an enthusiastic welcome (1685) ; and here too Sydney Smith made his "Mrs. Part- ington" speech (1831). The church of St. Mary Magdalene has a noble perpen- dicular tower 153 feet high (about 1500; rebuilt 1858-1862) ; and other buildings are the Elizabethan shire hall (1858), the municipal buildings (formerly the grammar school founded by Bishop Fox in 1522), King's College school (1880), Independent college (1847-1870), Wes- leyan Institution (1843), Huish schools (1874), Bishop Fox's girls' school, hospi- tal (1809-1873), barracks, etc. Former- ly one of the great "clothier towns" of Somerset, Taunton now has shirt, collar, glove, and silk manufactures, with a large agricultural trade. Pop, about 22,500. TAUNTON, RIVER, a small river in Blassachusetts, which rises in Plymouth county, flows S. W. through Bristol coun- ty, and empties into Mount Hope Bay (Narragansett Bay) at the city of Fall River. It is navigable to Taunton and affords extensive water power. TAUNUS (tou'nos), a mountain range of Western Germany, mainly in the Prus- sian province of Hesse-Nassau, extend- ing E. from the Rhine, N. of the Main; highest summit, Great Feldberg, 2,886 feet. It is well wooded, and exhibits much picturesque scenery. TAURIDA, a province of southern Russia, which includes the peninsula of the Crimea; bounded on the E., S., and S. E. by the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea; area 23,312 square miles; pop. about 2,133,000. The greater part of it be- longs to the Nogai Steppe, only 9-11 be- ing under cultivation, and at least a half unenclosed pasture land. From the steppe there is a gradual rise through the Isthmus of Perekop to the Crimea, some of whose ranges attain an elevation of 5,000 feet. The only river of impor- tance is the Dnieper, which forms the N. W. boundary. Salt lakes abound on the treeless steppes. Vines and orchard trees are cultivated to a certain extent, but cattle-breeding is the main employ- ment of the inhabitants. The population is mixed, about one-third of the whole being Little Russians, and rest Nogal Tartars, German colonists, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians. The chief towns are Simferopol the capital, Sebastopol, Feodorsia, and Kertch. TAURIDS, meteors which appear about Nov. 20, and which have their ra- diant in Taurus. Fire balls are occa- sionally seen among them. TAURUS, in astronomy, the Bull. The second of the zodiacal constellations. It is bounded on the E. by Gemini, on the W. by Aries, on the N. by Perseus and Aur- iga, and on the S. by Orion and Eridan- THE CONSTELLATION TAURUS US. It is composed of many small stars, but has a large one (Aldebaran) situated in the midst of a group called the Hy- ades. They constitute the Bull's fore- head and eye. Another group falling within the limits of Taurus is that of the Pleiades (q. v.). It is situated on the shoulder of the Bull. Taurus contains also the Crab cluster. Also the second sign of the zodiac (8). The sun enters it about April 22. TAURUS, a mountain chain in Asiatic Turkey, stretching for about 500 milea from the Euphrates to the JEgean Sea, latterly running N. of the Gulf of Ada- lia. In the E. it takes the name of Alma Dagh, in the W. that of Bulghar Dagh. It descends steeply to the sea on the S.; N. it merges gradually into the plateau of Asia Minor. It is connected by the Alma-Dagh with the chain of Lebanon;