TAHOE, tiVhf.', Lake. A lake in the Sierra Nevada, on the bouiulary bftween Nevada and California (Jlap: California, C 2). It is '-1 miles lonp and 8 miles broad, and lies at an alti- tude of U225 feet. Its greatest depth is over 1500 feet, and its water is remarkably clear It discharges through the Truckee River into 1 yra- mid Lake, and it has been planned to draw its water llirough tunnels for irrigation purposes.
TAHPANHES, ta-ptin'hez (Heb. Takhpan-
khrs), or Teh.vpii.n-eiies (Heb. Tekh(iphnckhfs) .
A city of Northeastern Egypt mentioned in the
Bible" It is probably to be identified with the
town called bv the Greeks Daphn;T, which was
situated in the Delta about 25 miles southwest of
Felusiimi. Daphnse was a military post of some
importance in the time of Psammetichus I.
(q.v.), who fortified it and established in it a
garrison of Greek mercenaries. The site, repre-
sented by the modern Tel-Defenneh, was explored
by Petrie in 18S6. Consult Petrie, Tunis, Part
ii'. (London, 1887).
TAHR. See Thab.
TAIL'FER', Patrick. An American colonist,
remembered for the polemic entitled A True and
Uistoi-ical Xarriitive of the Colony of Georgia in
America from the first Settlement thereof until
the Present Period (1741). Tailfer, who was a
physician and had emigrated to Georgia, disap-
proved of the administration of the colony. In
1740 he went to Charleston, where, with the as-
sistance of Hugh Anderson and David Douglass,
he wrote and published the work mentioned
above. In this, with unusual cleverness and poise,
he mercilessly attacked Governor Oglethorpe.
TAILLANDIER, ta'yJiN'dya', KENfs Gas-
PAKD Ernest, commonly called Saint-Ren^ TAILLANDIER (1817-79). A French writer on
literature and history, born in Paris. He studied
law, but turned to literature and philosophy, and
in 1840 attracted some attention with his long
poem Beatrice. In 1841 he studied at Heidelberg,
and at the end of that year became a member of
the Faculty of Letters at Strassburg. In 1843
he received the doctor's degree at Paris for his
<S'cot Erigene et la philosophic scholastique, and
then was called to the chair of French literature
at Montpellier. From 1803 he was a professor
in the Faculty of Letters at Paris, and in 1873
became a member of the Academy. Especially
noteworthy are bis writings on German literature
and philosophy, which began in 1843 in the
Revue des Deux Mondes. His works include:
Hisloire do la jeune Allemagne (1848) ; Etudes
sur la revolution en Allemagne (1853); Alle-
magne et Kussie (1856), a study made timely
by the Crimean war ; Histoire et philosophie
religieuse ( 1860) ; Literature itrangire, 6cri-
vains et partes modernes (1861) ; La Oomtesse
d'Alhany (1802); Corrcspondance entre Goethe
et Schiller (1863); Corneille et ses contem-
porains (1864); Maurice de Saxe (1865), a
critical biography; La Serbic au XlXcme siecle:
Kara-George ct Milosch (1875); Dix ans de
I'histoire d' Allemagne (1875) ; and Le roi Leo-
pold ct la reine Victoria (1878).
TAILLE, ti'y'. In Mediajval England and
France, an arbitrary tax enacted by a seignior
from his vassal. In France, specifically a tax
which w'as originally imposed for the maintenance
of the national defence, and which in the course of
time came to fall on the lower classes only, ex-
emption from the tax being in fact the great
mark of distinction between the privileged and
non-privileged classes, the taillabtcs and non-
iaillablcs. See Serf; France.
TAILLE, Jean de la. See La Taille, Jean
de.
TAILOR, Robert. An English dramatist, of
whose life very little is known. He is remem-
bered for his "comedy The Hog Hath Lost His
Per/e, which was presented in London in 1613 and
was printed the following year. The play, which
in plot is similar to Otway's Orphan, is valu-
able for its large number of dramatic allusions.
A? a drama, however, it has not great merit.
Tailor is supposed to be the author of Sacred
Hymns, fifty rather meritorious paraphrases
from the Psalms.
TAILOR-BIRD. One of a group of small
Oriental thrushes or warblers of the genus
Orthotomus, which stitch together leaves to
sustain their nest. There are many species and
allies, but the tailor-bird proper is Orthotomus
sutorius, which is common in India and eastward
about gardens. It has a back of olive green, is
white beneath, the erown of the head is chestnut,
and in the male two middle tail-feathers are
greatly elongated. The bill is long and very
straight and slender. Jerdon writes that it
makes its nest of cotton and various other soft
materials, and draws one leaf or more, generally
two leaves, on each side of the nest, and stitches
them together with cotton, either woven by itself,
or threads picked uj) about a house. The process
has been witnessed, however, by few competent
observers. The fullest account extant is in
Hume, Xests and Eggs of Indian Birds (London,
2d ed., 1890). The birds of a related genus,
Cisticola (see Fantail), "pi}' the .same trade on
steins of grass, confining them by stitches above
the nest, which is built among them and takes
a globular form." See Plate of Pensile Nests
OF Birds accompanying article Nidification.
TAIMYR, timer'. A large peninsula of
Western Siberia, extending into the Arctic
Ocean and forming the northerninost part of the
Asiatic mainland (Map: Asia, K 1). It be-
longs to the district of Turukhansk in the Gov-
ernment of Yeniseisk. By Taimyr Bay the pen-
insula is divided into two parts, of which the
more easterly is the larger and reaches the
parallel of 77° 30' north latitude. This part of
the peninsula has many headlands and contains
the Byrranga Mountains, which are only about
1000 feet in height. The Taimj'r River rises in
73° north latitude, flows through the large Lake
Taimyr (about 1000 square miles), and empties
into Taimyr Ba.y under 75° 35'. The flora is
poorer than in that part of Greenland which is
not covered by the ice-cap. The country is only
occasionally visited, by nomadic Samoyeds and
Ostiaks. It was first explored by the Russian
traveler Alexander Theodor von Middendorflf.
TAINAN, ti'niin'. A city of southern For-
mosa, known as Tai-wan fu until ISSO, and the
capital of the island until 1890. It is on a level
plain of considerable extent, 3 miles east of For-
mosa Channel, with which it is connected by a
canal. Its walls have a circuit of about 6
miles and inclose many open spaces, the principal
markets being in the western suburbs, where
most of the business is done. The Dutch made