Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/914

TABULAK STANDARD. 800 TACHINA-FLY. of the commodities on which the standard is based. Tliat many advantages would be gained from the use of a tabular .standard has generally been admitted. Two serious practical dilliculties stand in the way of its introduction. First, the conservative attitude of business men toward any change of this sort; second, the difficulty of agreeing upon the precise mode of calculating the standard, and especially upon the precise commodities which should be selected as basis. Gen. F. A. Walker and others have questioned with good reason the practicability of the stand- ard for the frequent short-time transactions of ordinary business, but for contracts of long dura- tion, and for correcting injustice to recipients of fixed salaries, there seems no ground to ques- tion its suitableness. The first conception of a general index number, or tabular standard, however, appears to date from 1798, when Sir George S. Evelj'n read be- fore the Royal Society a paper on "Endeavors to Ascertain a Standard of Weights and Measures" (Philosophical Translations, vol. Ixxxviii., pp. 175 et seq.). Evelyn's selection of articles is open to criticism, as was pointed out by Arthur Young in 1811. Joseph Lowe {The Present State of Eng- land, London, 1822), referring to both Young and Evelyn, proposes the actual introduction of a tabular standard, and discusses the modes of calculating it. (New York edition, 1824, p. 287, and Appendix.) His is the first practical treat- ment of the subject in English. In Germany the principle of the tabular standard had been sug- gested about 1805, in application to rent pay- ments. (Horton, Silver and Gold, 1S77. pp. 39, 157.) G. P. Scrope. in a pamphlet of 18.33, and in Principles of Political Economy (London, 1833, pp. 405, 424), again pi'oposed the standard. G. R. Porter also treated the subject, and gave a table, in his well-known Progress of the Nation (London, 1838 and 1847). The matter was finally brought to prominence by W. S. Jevons, in an essay of 1865, and more forcibly in his Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (1875, chap. 25) . BiBLiooR.pnY. Consult the Reports of the Committee of the British Association on Meas- uring Variations in the Value of the Monetary Standard (British Association Reports, 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890; the most important material in English) ; also Price. Money and Its Relation to Prices (London, 189(3) ;' Walker, Money (New- York, 1878) ; Report of the Monetary Commis- sion of the Indianapolis Convention, 1898. TABULATA (Lat. nom. pi., tjibulate, floored, table-shaped). A suborder of fossil corals char- acterized by the development of distinct hori- zontal septa or tabulte across the visceral cham- bers of the corallites. It includes such genera as Favosites, Pleurodictyum, Michelinia, Au- lopora, Syringopora, and others which are impor- tant members of the Paleozoic faunas. See CrELENTERATA ; CoRAL ; and articles on genera mentioned above. TABULATING MACHINES, Electric. See Calci'lating ]Lchines. TACAHOUT, tii'ka-hoot' (native name). The small gall formed on the tamarisk tree, Tama- riscus indica. Tacahout is one of the sources of gallic acid, of which it contains a large pro- portion. TACAMAHAC (South American name), or Tacamaii.^ca. a name applied to several dif- ferent resins. One variety of tacamahac is yielded by the balsam-poplar (Populus balsami fera) growing in the "Llnited States. Another variety is obtained from certain tropical Ameri- can trees (£/«p/i)iHm tomenlosum and Elaphriuni taeamahaea) . East Indian tacamahac is ob- tained from the Calophyllum calaba, Calophyllum inophyltum, and Calophyllum taeamahaea. These and certain other varieties are used in making varnishes and to some extent also in medicine. See Calophvllum. TACANA, ta-ka'na. A group of tribes, con- stituting a distinct linguistic stock, inliabiting the banks of the Upper Beni and Mamore rivers, Northeastern Bolivia. They are remarkable for their light complexion, fine features, and in- dependent expression. TACCA (Neo-Lat., from the Malay name). A genus of large perennial tuberous-rooted plants of the natviral order Taccacete. The few species are found in maritime places and woods in the South Sea Island.s, tropical Asia and Africa. Some of them (Tacca pinnatifida, etc.) are much cultivated for the sake of their starchy tubers, which are iised, generally with an acid, as food, although their acridity must be reninved by maceration with water. They yield tahiti arrowroot, which is used as a substitute for West Indian arrowroot. The leafstalks of various species are boiled in China and Cochin- China and used as food. Hats, loooms, and other articles of value are made from them. TACCHINI, ta-ke'ng, PlETRO ( 1838-1905 ) : An Italian astrunomer, born at ilodena. He was ap- pointed director of the observatory there in 1859, and was transferred to a similar post at Palermo in 1863. In 1879 he became director of the ob- servatory in the Collegia Romano. He became known for his observations of eclipses and for his work with the spectroscope. His publica- tions include // passaggio di Vencre sul sole dell' 8-9 dicembre lS7-'i, osserrato a Miiddapur (1875), Ecelissi totali di sole del 1S70, 1SS3, 1SS3, 1SS6, e 1SS7 (1888). TACHE, ta'shS', Alexandre Axtoine (1823-94). A Canadian Catholic archbishop, born in the Rivi6re-de-Loup, Lower Canada. He joined the Order of the Oblate Fathers, traveled great distances toward the northwest and be- came known for his mission worlx among the Indians. In 1871 his see, that of Saint Boniface, was erected into an archbishopric. Archbisliop Tach^ was the founder of the Saint Boniface Theological College, and wrote Vingt annexes de missions dans le nord-oiiest de I'Amerique (1866), and Esquisse sur le nord-ouest de VAmerique (1809), which has been translated into English and is one of the most valuable works of reference on the region. TACHINA-FLY, ta-ki'na (Neo-Lat.. from Gk. Taxr^, tachys, swift). A parasitic fly of the family Tachinidiie. These insects resemble in gen- eral the common house-fly and as a rule are gray, sometimes striped. They are usually parasitic upon caterpillars, upon the backs of which the females lay their eggs. The maggots penetrate