siniferous
shale</i>." (`Standard.')

<hw>Tassel-fish</hw>, <i>n</i>. a thread-fish of Queensland,
of the genus <i>Polynemus</i>, family <i>Polynemidae</i>.
Polynemoid fish have free filaments at the humeral arch below
the pectoral fins, which Guenther says are organs of touch,
and to be regarded as detached portions of the fin; in some
the filaments or threads are twice as long as the fish.

<hw>Tassy</hw>, <i>n</i>. a pet name for Tasmania.

1894. `The Argus,' Jan. 26, p. 3, col. 5:

"To-day Tassy--as most Victorian cricketers and footballers
familiarly term our neighbour over the straits--will send a team
into the field."

<hw>Tattoo</hw>, <i>v</i>. and <i>n</i>. to mark the human
body with indelible pigments. The word is Polynesian; its
first occurrence in English is in Cook's account of Tahiti.
The Tahitian word is <i>Tatau</i>, which means tattoo marks
on the human skin, from <i>Ta</i>, which means a mark or
design. (Littre.) The Maori verb, <i>ta</i>, means to cut,
to tattoo, to strike. See <i>Moko</i>.

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages' (Cook's First Voyage; at
Tahiti, 1769), vol. ii. p. 191:

"They have a custom of staining their bodies . . . which they
call <i>Tattowing</i>. They prick the skin, so as just not to
fetch blood, with a small instrument, something in the form of
a hoe. . . . The edge is cut into sharp teeth or points
. . . they dip the teeth into a mixture of a kind of lamp-black
. . . The teeth, thus prepared, are placed upon the skin, and
the handle to which they are fastened being struck by quick
smart blows, they pierce it, and at the same time carry into
the puncture the black composition, which leaves an indelible
stain."

1777. Horace Walpole, `Letters,' vol. vi. p. 448:

"Since we will give ourselves such torrid airs, I wonder we
don't go stark and tattoo ourselves."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii.
p. 109:

"A very famous artist in tatu came with the party, and was kept
in constant and profitable employment. Everybody, from the
renowned warrior to the girl of twelve years old, crowded to be
ornamented by the skilful chisel. . . . The instruments used
were not of bone, as they used formerly to be; but a graduated
set of iron tools, fitted with handles like adzes, supplied
their place. . . . The staining liquid is made of charcoal."

1847. A. Tennyson, `Princess,' canto ii. l. 105:

". . . Then the monster, then the man;
Tatto