TAURUS, or THE BULL, a constellation, the second in size of the zodiac, which the sun enters towards the 20th of April.

TAURUS, MOUNT, a mountain range of Turkey in Asia, stretching W. for about 500 m. in an unbroken chain from the head-waters of the Euphrates to the AEgean Sea, and forming the S. buttress of the tableland of Asia Minor; in the E. is known as the Ala Dagh, in the W. as the Bulghar Dagh.  The Anti-Taurus is an offshoot of the main range, which, continuing to the NE., unites with the systems of the Caucasus.

TAVERNIER, JEAN BAPTIST, BARON D’AUBONNE, a celebrated French traveller, born in Paris, the son of an Antwerp engraver; was a wanderer from his boyhood, starting on his travels at the age of 15, and by the end of 1630 had made his way as valet, page, &c., over most of Europe; during the years 1630-1669 he in six separate expeditions traversed most of the lands of Asia in the capacity of a dealer in jewels; reaped large profits; was honoured by various potentates, and returned with stores of valuable information respecting the commerce of those countries, which with much else interesting matter lie embodied in his great work, “Six Voyages,” a classic now in travel-literature; was ennobled in 1669 by Louis XIV. (1605-1689).

TAVIRA (11), a seaport in the S. of Portugal; has a Moorish castle, and good sardine and tunny fisheries.

TAVISTOCK (6), a market-town of Devon, situated at the western edge of Dartmoor, on the Tavy, 11 m.  N. of Plymouth; has remains of a 10th-century Benedictine abbey, a guild-hall, grammar school, &c.; is one of the old stannary towns, and still largely depends for its prosperity on the neighbouring tin, copper, and arsenic mines.

TAXIDERMY, the art of preparing and preserving the skins of animals for exhibition in cabinets.

TAY, a river of Scotland whose drainage area lies almost wholly within Perthshire; rises on the northern slope of Ben Lui, on the Argyll and Perthshire border, and flowing 25 m.  NE. under the names of Fillan and Dochart, enters Loch Tay, whence it sweeps N., SE., and E., passing Aberfeldy, Dunkeld, Perth, and Dundee, and enters the North Sea by a noble estuary 25 m. long and from 1/2 m. to 31/2 m. broad; chief affluents are the Tummel, Isla, Almond, and Earn; discharges a greater body of water than any British stream; is renowned for the beauty of its scenery, and possesses valuable salmon fisheries; has a total length of 120 m., and is navigable to Perth; immediately W. of Dundee it is spanned by the TAY BRIDGE, the longest structure of its kind in the world, consisting of 95 spans, with a total width of 3440 yards; Loch Tay, one of the finest of Highland lochs, lies at the base of Ben Lawers, stretches 141/2 m.  NE. from Killin to Kenmore, and varies from 1/2 m. to 11/2 m. in breadth.

TAYGETUS, a range of mountains in the Peloponnese, separating Laconia from Messina.