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TENTHREDO, the Saw-fly ; a genus of insects belongingto the Older of hymenoptera. Mouth furnished with jaws, whichare horny, arched, dentated within ; right jaw obtuse at the apex ;lip cylindrical, trifid ; feelers four, unequal, filiform ; wings plain,turned ; sting consisting of two serrated lamina;, and the scutcllumof two grains placed at a distance. About 150 species have beenenumerated.
TENURE, in the English law, signifies the manner wherebylands or tenements are held, or the service that the tenant owes tohis lord. Almost all the real property of England is by the policyof the law supposed to be granted by, dependant upon, and holdenof, some superior lord, by, and in consideration of certain servicesto be rendered to the lord by the tenant or possessor of this pro-perty. The thing holden is therefore styled a tenement, thepossessors thereof tenants, and the manner of their possession atenure.
TERAMNUS, a genus of the diadelphia decandria class andorder of plants. Keel very small, concealed within the calyx ;stamina alternate, five, barren ; stigma sessile, headed. There aretwo species, creeping plants of Jamaica .
TERAMO, a town of Naples , in Abruzzo Ultra, 28 miles N.N. E. of Aquila, and 108 N. of Naples .
TERAPI1IM, or TIIERAPJ11M, a word in the Hebrew language, which has exercised much the ingenuity of the critics.It occurs 13 or 14 times in the Old Testament , and is commonlyinterpreted idols.
TERCEIRA , TERCERA, or TERCEllY, one of thelargest islands of the Azores, or Western Islands, lying in the At-lantic Ocean . Lon. 27. 1. W. Lat. 28 45. N.
TERCH1Z, a town of Persia, in Chorasan. Lon. 57. 35. E.Lat. 35. 0. N.
TEREBELLA, the Piercer , in entomology, a genus be-longing to the class vermes, and order molusca. Body filiform ;mouth placed before; preputium puts forth a pedunculated tubu-lous gland. There are several capillary tentacula about the mouth.Eleven species are enumerated.
TEREBINTI1INE ELECTUARY. See Pharmacy.
TEREDO, in entomology, a genus of vermes belonging tothe order testacea. Animal a terebella ; valves two, calcareous,hemispherical, cutoff before, and two lanceolate ones; shell ta-pering, bending, and capable of penetrating wood. There arethree species.
T. Navalis, the Ship-Worm, has a very slender smoothcylindrical shell, inhabits the Indian seas, whence it was importedinto Europe . It penetrates easily into the stoutest oak-planks,and produces dreadful destruction to the ships by the holes itmakes in their sides ; and it is to avoid the effects of this insectthat vessels require sheathing.
TERENTIUS, AKER, Publius, or TERENCE , a cele-brated comic poet of ancient Rome, born at Carthage in Africa .He was slave to Terentius Lucanus; the senator, who gave himhis liberty on account of his wit, his good mien, and great abilities.Terence , on his becoming a freed man, applied himself to thewriting of comedies. Terence died while on a vovage intoGreece , about the 15th year before the Christian a.-ra. There aresix of his comedies extant, of which the best editions are the Elzevirone 1635, 12mo. that cum integris notis Donati, ct selectis vario-rum, 168f>, 8vo. Westerhovius’s, in two vols. 4to 1726; and thatof Bentley the same year, 4to. A very good English translationwas published in 4to. 1768, by Mr. Colman.
TERKI, a town of Asia , in Circassia, 125 miles E. of Tefiflis.Lon. 47. 50. E. Lat. 43. 22 N.
TERM, inlaw, is generally taken for a limitation of time orestate; as a lease for term of life or years. Term is more parti-cularly used for that time wherein our courts of justice areopen; in opposition to which, the rest of the year is called va-cation.
Term, in grammar, denotes some word or expression in alanguage. The word term, [from terminus,'] is borrowed meta-phorically, by the grammarians and philosophers, from the mea-surers or surveyors of lauds: as a field is defined and distinguishedby its termini, or limits, so is a thing or matter spoken of by theword or term it is denoted by.
Term in the Apts, or Term or Art, is a word which, be-
sides the literal and popular meaning which it has, or may havein common language, hears a further and peculiar meaning in someart or science.
Terms, Cambridge. Lent-term begins January the 14th, andends Friday before Paim-Scnday. Easter -term begins the Wed-nesday after Easter-week, and ends the week before Whitsunday .Trinity-term begins the Wednesday alter Trinity-Sunday, andends the Friday after the commencement, or second of July.Michaelmas-term begins October the 10th, and ends Decemberthe l6th.
Terms, Irish. In Ireland the terms are the same as atLondon , except Michaelmas-term, which begins Octoberthe 13th and adjourns to November the 3d,' and thence tothe 6th.
Terms, Oxford. Hilary or Lent -term begins January 14th,and ends the Saturday before Palm-Sunday. Easter -term beginsthe tenth day after Easter, and ends the Thursday before Whit-sunday . • Trinity-term begins the Wednesday after Trinity-Sun-day, and ends after the act, or 6th of July, sooner or later, as thevice-chancellor and convocation please. Michaelmas term beginsOctober the 10th, and ends December the 17th.
TERM ES, in entomology, a genus of insects belonging to theorder aptera. Mouth with two horny jaws; lip horny, quadrifid,lacinia; linear, acute; feelers four, equal, filiform ; antennaemoniliform in most species; eyes two. , There are ten spe-cies. >
T. Fatalis Beelicosus, or The White Ant, is of a yellowcolour above ; the wings also yellowish ; the cosla is ferruginous;the stemmatu are near the eyes, the central point being somewhatprominent. Of the while ant we have a very curious and interest-ing description, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1781, byMr. Henry Smealhman of Cleinent’s-lnn. According lo thisaccount, the works of these insects surpass those of the bees,wasps, beavers, and other animals, as much at least as those ofthe most polished European nations those of the least cultivatedsavages. In the interior construction of their habitations, theyappear greatly to exceed any work of human construction. Themost striking parts of these structures are, the royal upatIntents,the nurseries, magazines of provisions, arched chambers and gal-leries, with their various communications; the ranges of Gothic-shaped arches, projected, and not formed by mere excavation,some of which are two or three feet high, but which diminish ra-pidly, like the arches of aisles in perspective; the various roads,sloping staircases, and bridges, consisting of one vast arch, andconstructed to shorten the distance between the several parts ofthe building, which would otherwise communicate only by wind-ing passages. In some parts near Senegal , their number, mag-niititle, and closeness of situation, make them appear like thevillages of the natives. But these and many other curious in-stances of the great sagacity and powers of these insects cannot heunderstood, without viewing the plates in which their feebleframes, and comparatively stupendous works, are delineated. SeePhilosophical Transactions above referred (o. There arethree distinct ranks among them. These are, first, the labourersor working insects; next the soldiers, or fighting order, w ho dono kind of labour, and are about twice as long as the former, andequal in hulk to about fifteen ot them ; and lastly, the winged orperfect insects, which may he called the nobility or gentry of thestate; for they neither labour nor fight, being scarcely capableeven of self-defence. “ These only are capable of being electedkings or queens ; and nature has so ordered it, that they emigratewithin a few weeks after they are elevated lo this state, and eitherI establish new kingdoms, or perish within a day or two.”
TERM1NAEIA, in antiquity, feasts celebrated by the Romansin honour of the god Terminus.
Terminalia, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the classpolygamia , and order nmncecia. Male calyx five-parted ; corollanone; stamens ten; hermaphrodite, style one; drupe inferior,boat shaped. There are six species, natives of the East and WestIndies .
TERMINI, in architecture, denotes a kind of statues ofcolumns, adorned on the top with the figure of a man’s, w oman’s?or satyr’s head, as a capital; and the lower part ending in a kindof sheath or scabbard. See Architecture.
Termini, iu geography, a (own of Sicily , in the valley of
• Demons,