placed between the jaws and attached to a lever. They are made
in many sizes, from the smallest, designed for rats, to the “Great
Bear Tamer,” weighing over 40 ℔, with jaws of 16 in. in which
lions, tigers and grizzly bears are trapped. The steel-trap is set and
concealed in such a manner that the animal must step on its pan
in passing over it to secure the bait. In trapping such wary animals
as the sable, marten, mink, otter or beaver, great care is taken to
obliterate all signs of the trap and of human presence, the scent of
the hands being neutralized by smoking the traps or avoided by
the use of gloves. In North America castoreum, musk, as afoetida,
oil of anise and common fish-oil are used to entice the victims to the
traps. Trails of some one of these scents are laid from different
directions to the trap.
With the clutch-traps must also be reckoned the oldest form of steel-trap, now to be seen only in museums, the man-trap, which was used first about the middle of the 18th century when the systematic preservation of game rendered protection against poachers a necessity. Such a trap, from Gloucestershire, is over 6 ft. long, has 19-in. serrated jaws and weighs 88 ℔. Another form of man-trap, the spring-gun, belongs to the next category, the killing traps, which are divided into traps of weight, point and edge. The most important of the weight class is the dead-fall, of which the typical form consists of a pen over whose narrow entrance one or more logs are laid across a lighter log, which is balanced upon a spindle necessarily struck by the entering animal, causing the logs to fall upon its back. In some cases the bait is attached to the spindle itself. The dead-fall was always the favourite trap of the American Indians, and is in use among many aboriginal tribes in Africa and South America. A slab of stone is often used as a weight. The common mouse-trap which kills either by a blow or strangulation is a variety of dead-fall. Of point-traps may be mentioned those of the impaling and the missile classes. An example of the former is the stake or spear placed by Arab and African tribes at the bottom of pitfalls for big game. Another impaling trap common in Africa is the harpoon down-fall, generally used for the hippopotamus. It consists of a heavily weighted harpoon suspended in such a way that the animal, passing beneath, breaks a cord and precipitates the harpoon upon itself. Another example of impalement is the hawk-trap, consisting of a circle of stout sharp wires, in the centre of which a live fowl is placed. A bird of prey attempting to secure the fowl is impaled upon the wires. Of missile traps the most universal are the ancient spring bow and its modern representative the spring gun. This is fixed upon stakes, or against a tree, with a line attached to the trigger and stretched immediately in front of the muzzle. An animal pressing against the string pulls the trigger and discharges the piece into its own body. An arrangement of sticks holding the bait in front of the muzzle is sometimes substituted for the string. Of edge-traps a curious example is the wolf-knife of Western America, which consists of a very sharp blade embedded in frozen fat. One of the wolves, licking the fat, cuts its tongue and a flow of blood ensues, with the result that not only the wolf itself but its companions become infuriated by the smell and taste, and the wounded beast, and often many of the others, are killed and devoured. The Alaskan knife-trap for large game consists of a heavy blade attached to a lever, which, when released by the animal biting at the bait, flies over and kills the victim.
See Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, by W. B. Lord (1871); Camp Life and the Tricks of Trapping, by W. H. Gibson (1902); O. T. Mason, “Traps of the American lndians," Annual Regort, Smithsonian Institution, for 1901; The Story of the Trapper, by A. C. Laut (1903).
TRAPANI (anc. Drepanum), a city and episcopal see of Sicily, capital of the province of the same name, situated on the west coast, 3 m. W. of the Monte San Giuliano, which rises above it, 121 m. W. by S. of Palermo by rail, and 47 m. direct. Pop. (1906), town 47,578, commune 68,986. The ancient Drepanum (δρέπανον, a sickle, from the shape of the low spit of land on which it stands) seems originally to have been the port of Eryx, and never to have been an independent city. It is represented by Virgil in the Aeneid as the scene of the death of Anchises, but first appears in history as an important Carthaginian naval station in the First Punic War (about 260 B.C.), part of the inhabitants of Eryx being transferred thither. Near Drepanum the Roman fleet was defeated in 250 B.C., while the struggle to obtain possession of it ended in the decisive Roman victory off the Aegates Islands in 241, which led to the conclusion of peace (see Punic Wars). It continued to be an important harbour, but never acquired municipal rights. Under the Norman kings, at the time of the first crusade, it became a place of importance; while it was a residence of the Aragonese kings. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was strongly fortified. In 1848 it was the first Sicilian city to rise against the Bourbons.
No remains of the classical period exist except a portion of the mole. There are some fine Gothic and baroque palaces, and a few churches with interesting details. The Oratorio S. Michele contains wooden groups representing scenes from the Passion, executed in the 17th century and used for carrying in procession. On the tiled pavement of Sta Lucia is an interesting view of Trapani, showing the strong fortifications on the land side, which have been demolished to permit of the extension of the town in that direction. The Madonna dell' Annunziata, about 1½ m. east of the town, founded in 1332, is now restored to its original style. The adjacent Cappella del Cristo Risorto contains a statue of the Virgin and Child in marble said to have been brought from Cyprus, to which an immense number of valuable offerings have been made, among them two bronze Candelabra and a model of the city in silver; while the statue itself is hung with jewels, necklaces, cameos, rings, watches, &c. The modern town is clean and well built, with a fine esplanade on the south. It is a harbour of considerable importance. It was entered by 144 vessels, representing a tonnage of 129,164 in 1906. The imports showed a value of £276,674, the most important items being wheat, coal and timber; while the exports amounted to £143,347, the chief items being salt, wine, salt fish and building-stone. There are also large salt-pans to the south of the city, extending along the coast as far as Marsala, which produce about 200,000 tons of salt annually, of which in 1906 121,192 tons were exported, chiefly to Norway, Sweden, Canada and the United States. The numerous windmills are used for grinding the salt.
- (T. As.)
TRAP-BALL, or Knur and Spell (M. Eng. knurre, knot; Dan. spil, spindle), an old English game, which can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th century, and was commonly played in northern England as late as 1825, but has since been practically confined to children (bat, trap and ball). It was played with a wooden trap, by means of which a ball (knur) of hard wood about the size of a walnut was thrown into the air, where it was struck by the player with the “trip-stick,” a bat consisting of two parts: the stick, which was of ash or lancewood and about 4 ft. long, and the pommel, a piece of very hard wood about 6 in. long, 4 in. wide and 1 in. thick. This was swung in both hands, although shorter bats for one hand were sometimes used. Originally the ball was thrown into the air by striking a lever upon which it rested in the trap; but in the later development of the game, usually called knur and spell, a spell or trap furnished with a spring was used, thus ensuring regularity in the height to which the knur was tossed. The object of the game was to strike the knur the greatest possible distance, either in one or a series of strokes.
TRAPEZE, or Trapese, a form of swing, consisting of a crossbar suspended by ropes and used for gymnastic exercises, acrobatic displays and the like. The name was so applied in French (trapèze) from the resemblance of the apparatus to a "trapezium" or irregular four-sided figure. The Greek τραπέζιον is a diminutive of τράπεζα, a table, literally a four-footed or four-legged object, being a shortened form of τετράπεζα (τετρα-, four, and πέζα, foot).
TRAPEZOPHORON, the Greek term (from τράπεζα, table, and φέρειν, to bear) given to the leg or pedestal of a small side table, generally in marble, and carved with winged lions or griffins set back to back, each with a single leg, which formed the support of the pedestal on either side. In Pompeii there was a fine example in the house of Cornelius Rufus, which stood behind the impluvium. These side tables were known as mensae vasariae and were used for the display of vases, lamps, &c. Sometimes they were supported on four legs, the example at Pompeii (of which the museums at Naples and Rome contain many varieties) had two supports only, one at each end of the table. The term is also applied to a single leg with lion's head, breast and forepaws, which formed the front support of a throne or chair.
TRAPPISTS, Cistercian monks of the reform instituted by Armand J. le B. de Rancé (q.v.), abbot of La Trappe, 1664. La Trappe was a Cistercian abbey near Soligny, in the diocese of Sées, in Normandy, founded 1140. It suffered grievously from the English wars and from commendatory
