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THA
THE
THALES , a celebrated Greek philosopher, and the first of theseven wise men of Greece, was born at Miletus about 640 B. C.Thales acquired great reputation by his wisdom and learning : hewas the first among the Greeks who foretold eclipses of the sun,and made extraordinary discoveries in astronomy. Thales wasthe author of the Ionian sect of philosophers, who were thus calledfrom his being born at Miletus, a city of Ionia . He maintainedthat water was the principal of which all the bodies in the universeare composed ; that the world was the work of God ; and that God sees the most secret thoughts in the heart of man. Thales went to seeCroesus, who was marching with a powerful army into Cappado-cia, and enabled him to pass the Halys without making a bridge.He died soon after, at about 90 years of age. He composed se-veral treatises in verse, or meteors, the equinoxes, &c. but theyare all lost.
THALIA, in Pagan mythology, one of the nine Muses . Shepresided over comedy.
Thalia, in botany, a genus of plants of the class monandria,and order monogynia ; natural order Scitaminea.’. Calyx three-leaved; corolla five-petaled, two inner petals less; nectary lan-ceolate, concave; drupe with a one-cclled nut. There are twospecies, viz. T. geniculata, and T. cannxformis; the former is anative of South America, tiie latter of Mallicollo, one of the NewHebrides . There are fifteen species, three of which are indi-genous.
THALICTRUM, Meadow-Rue ; in botany, a genus of thepolyandria polygynia class and order; natural order Multlsiliqux.Calyx none; petals four or five ; seeds tailless. There are twenty-two species.
THALLITE, in mineralogy, a stone found in the fissures ofmountains in Dauphiny, and on Chamouni, in the Alps . It issometimes amorphous, and sometimes crystallized. It is brittle.Specific gravity about 3. 4. Before the blow-pipe it froths, andmelts into a black flag; with borax it melts into a green bead. Theconstituent parts are.
Silica. .......37.0
Alumina.27.0
Oxide of iron.17.0
Lime.14.0
Oxide of.. L5
96.5
Loss. 3.5
100.0
THAMES , the finest river in Great Britain, which takes itsrise from a copious spring, called Thames Head, two miles S. W.of Cirencester, in Gloucestershire . At Iiechlade it becomes na-vigable, from whence it continues its course north-east to Oxford,where it receives the Charwell; from Oxford it runs south-east toAbington, and so to Dorchester, where it receives the Thame,and continues its course south-east to Windsor, and thence runseast to London , and continues the same course to the sea, receiv-ing the river Medway near the mouth of it.
THANE, [thamts, I-at ] was a title formerly given to the no-,bility in Rritain. It signifies a minister or honourable retainer,from the verb thcnian, to minister. There were several degrees ofnobility among the Anglo-Saxons ; but those most commonlymentioned are tiie king’s thanes and the alderman’s thanes. Theking’s thanes seem to have been of three different degrees, accord-ing to their diflerent degrees of wealth or favour at court. Thealderman’s thanes seem to have been of the lowest degree of nobi-lity, and next to them those who were promoted to that dignityfrom their advancement in the church, from their valour, successin agriculture, or commerce.
THANE, an island in the county of Kent, surrounded bythe sea, except on the N. E. side, where it is bounded by thebranches of the Stour, now inconsiderable to what they were for-merly.
THANWALD, a (own of Silesia, 13 miles N. W. of Bres-law.
THAPSIA, the Deadly Carrot; in botany, a genus ofplants of the class pentandria, and order digynia; natural orderUmbellatse. There are six species.
THARGEHA, in Grecian antiquity, festivals in honour ofApollo and Diana.
THAWING, the resolution of ice into its former fluid state bythe warmth of the air. See Congelation, and Frost.
TIIAXTED, an incorporated town of England, in Essex , 20miles N. W. of Chelmsford, and 43 N. N. E. of London . Lon. 0,22. E.Lat. 51. 56. N.
THEA, Ihe Tea-tree; in botany, a genus of the class and or-der polyandria monogynia. Corolla six or nine-petaled; ca-lyx five or six-leaved ; capsule tricoccous. There are two spe-cies, or at least principal varieties; the viridis, or green, and thebohea, which again admit of various subdivisions or varieties,though this has been supposed uncertain. It is a native of Japan ,China , and Tonquin, and has not, as far as we can learn, beenfound growing spontaneously in any other part of the world. Thelea-tree, however, is now common in the botanical gardens in thiscountry ; and it is evident that there are two species, or at least,permanent varieties of it: one with a much longer leaf than theother, which our gardeners call the green tea; and the other withshorter leaves, which they call the bohea. The green is by muchthe hardiest plant, and with very little protection, will bear therigour of our winters. Messrs. Loddridges, of Hackney, havenow several large plants of it in the open ground, which they onlycover with mats in hard frost. It is chiefly propagated in thiscountry by layers. See Plate CXXIX. This plant delights invalleys, and is frequent on the sloping sides of mountains and thebanks of rivers, where it enjoys southern exposure. It flourishesin the northern latitudes of Pekin as well as round Canton ; butattains the greatest perfection in the mild temperate regions ofNankin.
TH EATRE, signifies the place in which spectacles, or
dramatic representations, are exhibited. The Romans borrowedthe form of their theatres from those of the Greeks, which weregenerally built in the shape of a semicircle, encompassed w ith por-ticoes, and furnished with seats of stone, disposed in semicircles,rising gradually one above another. The principal parts of theancient theatres were thescena, proscenium, orchestra, and area.Among the moderns, theatre more peculiarly denotes the stage,or place whereon the drama or play is exhibited ; answering to theproscenium of the ancients. It is also used, in a more com-prehensive sense,, for the whole play-house. See Drama ,Play , &c.
Theatre is also used in architecture, chiefly among the Italians ,for an assemblage of several buildings, which, by a happy dis-position and elevation, represents an agreeable scene to theeye.
TllEBAID, orTHEBAIS, in geography, the ancient nameof an extensive district in.the S. of Upper Egypt, so called fromThebes, its chief city .
THEBAN LEGION, a legion of Roman soldiers, who suffer-ed martyrdom for Christianity, under Dioclesian and Maximiati.It was commanded by St. Maurice , and, together with the officers,amounted to 6600 men. This legion received its name from thecity of Thebes in Egypt , where it was raised. It was sent byDioclesian to check the Bagauda:, who had excited some disturb'ances in Gaul. Maurice having carried his troops over the Alps ,the emperor Maximian commanded him to employ his utmost eS'ertions to extirpate Christianity . This proposal was received withhorror both by the commander and by the soldiers. The emperor,enraged at their opposition, commanded the legion to be dec'*mated; and when they still declared that they would sooner di ethan do any thing prejudicial to the Christian faith every tenthman of those who remained was put to death. Their perseveranc eexcited the emperor to still greater cruelty ; for when he saw thatnothing could make them relinquish their religion, he commandedhis troops to surround them, and cut them to pieces. Maurice,the commander of these Christian heroes, and Exuperus and Can*didus, officers of the legion, who had chiefly instigated the soldiof 3lo this noble resistance, signalized themselves by their patienc®and their attachment to the doctrines of the Christian religion*They were massacred, it is believed, at Agaune, in Cbablais, th®22d Sept. 286. Notwithstanding many proofs which support th' 6transaction, Dubordier, Hollinger, Moyle, Burnet, and Mosheim,doubt the (act. i