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frozen, and great storms of snow are frequent. Bootan is a country°f steep mountains, crowned with eternal snow ; they are inter-sected with deep valleys, through which run many torrents. Thesemountains are covered with stately trees of various sorts. TheValleys and sides of mountains produce crops of wheat, barley,®nd rice. Tibet is divided by geographers into three extensiveParts or districts, but these are not very distinctly marked, viz. theUpper, Middle, and Lower Tibet.

1. Tibet, Lower, is that part which borders upon China ; but,®S Mr. Cruttwell observes, “ the subject is obscure, and likely toremain so.” But the people are much improved by their vicinityto the Chinese .

2. Tibet , Middle, is that extensive country in the centre ofTibet , in which the city and district of Lassa are situated. Lassa‘s the capital of it and of all Tibet . See Lassa. This is thePrincipal part of Tibet , and the natives are in a high state of civili-sation, if we take out of the account the very absurd principles ofthei r religion.

3. Tibet , Upper, comprehends those extensive territories, which•'e about the sources of the Ganges and Sanpoo : and is prettypopulous, between Upper Tibet and Cashgar . There is a districtcalled Little Tibet ; but Major Rennet, though he visited thisCountry, could not learn with certainty, whether this district belongslo Upper Tibet or to Cashgar . The inhabitants are stout andVjarlike, of a copper complexion, in size rather above the middleEuropean stature, quarrelsome, and fond of spirits, but honest,f he common people, both in Bootan and Thibet , are clothed incoarse woollen studs of their owif'manufaeture, lined with suchskins as they can procure : but the belter orders are dressed inEuropean cloth, or China silk, lined with Siberian furs. The use°f linen is unknown. The chief food of the inhabitants is made ofcheese and butter, mixed with the flour of coarse barley or pease;they are furnished with rice and wheat from abroad. They havePlenty of animal food, lish and game. They have a singularmethod of preparing their mutton, by exposing the carcase entire,a fter the bowels are taken out, to the sun and bleak northern winds, Vv hich blow in Aug. and Sept, without frost, and so dry up theJhices and parch the skin, that the meat will keep uncorrupted*or the whole year. This meat may be generally eaten without•hiy other preparation. The language spoken in Tibet is differentfrom that of the Tartars . The astronomers are acquainted withfile motions of the heavenly bodies, and able to calculate eclipses;“ot the lamas are generally ignorant; few of them can read, much*®ss understand, their ancient books. The plants are almost all■European, great numbers being natives of Britain . The appearance°f the hills gives promise of many ores of metal anti pyrites.

1'ere are inexhaustible quantities of Lineal, and rock-salt isPlentiful; gold dust is found in great quantities in the beds ofUvers, and sometimes in large masses, lumps, and irregular veins ;mad, cinnabar containing a large proportion of quicksilver, copper,and iron might easily be procured. But they have no better fuelman the dung of animals. A coal-mine would be a valuablediscovery. \Ve are told, that in some parts of China bordering on* 'Let, coal is found and used as fuel. The religion and politicalConstitution of this country are intimately blended together. ForSl *ice the expulsion of the Eluth Tartars, the kingdom of Tibet hasdapended oil the empire of China , which they call Cathay ; andhere reside two mandarines, with a garrison of 1000 Chinese , atLassa, the capital, to support liie government; but their power doesd°t extend far : for in tact the Lama, whose empire is founded onPersonal attachment and religious reverence, governs every tilingeternally with unbounded authority. As the grand Lama mustDever concern himself about temporal affairs; lie appoints a deputylee-gerent or minister under him, called Tipa, to whom he intrustshe entire management of all civil and secular affairs. This tipajf e ars the habit of a lama; but is dispensed with from observing thetr }ct and severe rules of the order. The adoration and worshipPaid to the grand Lama, is beyond all conception degrading, ami^'■"graceful to human nature. They even think his very excrementsdivine favour. Polygamy exists in a manner shockingly repug-Vdv\*°- European ideas; for there is a plurality of husbands,tl I 0 * 1 is firmly established and even respected there, similar to*om Na - vres - They expose their dead on the pinnacle of

fountain", to be devoured by wild beasts and birds of prey,wasted away by time and the weather.

TIBIA, in anatomy, the principal bone of the leg. See Ana-tomy.

TICKF.LL, orTiCKiLL, a town of Yorkshire , in the W. Riding,,five miles S. of Doncaster . Lon. 1.11. W. Lat. 53. 27. N.

TICKERA, a considerable article of merchandise of Fezzan inAfrica . It is a preparation of pounded dates, and the meal ofIndian com, formed into a paste, and highly dried in an oven, andis a palatable and salubrious food.

T1CONDERAGO, a town and fort of New York . It is 185miles N. of New York . Lon. 73. 25. VV. Lat. 43. 45. N.

TICUNAS, an American poison, of which the Abb6 Fontanahas given a particular account. It is supposed to be the same withthat used in Africa and the East Indies. It dissolves very readily,even in cold water, and likewise in the vegetable and mineralacids. With sulphuric acid it becomes as black as ink, but notwith the rest of the acids. In this acid it also dissolves more slowlythan in any of the rest. It does not effervesce with acids oralkalis ; neither does it alter milk, nor tinge it except with the naturalcolour of the poison ; nor does it ting' he vegetable juices eitherred or green. When examined by tii ■ microscope, there is, noappearance of regularity or crystallization ; but it for the mostpart appears made up of very small, irregular, roundish bodies, likevegetable juices. It dries without any noise, and lias an extremelybitter taste applied to the tongue. The ticunas’ poison is harmlesswhen put into the eyes ; nor is it fatal when taken by the mouth,unless the quantity is considerable. Six grains of the solid poison,dissolved in water, killed a young pigeon which drank it in lessthan 20 minutes: five grains killed a guinea pig in twenty-fiveminutes; eight grains killed a rabbit in an hour and eight minutes,&c. In those experiments it was observed that much less poisonwas required to kill an animal whose stomach was empty, than onethat had a full stomach.

TIDE , the periodical rising and falling of the waters of theocean. There is a certain depth of the waters of the ocean whichwould obtain if all were at rest; but observation shews that theyare continually varying from this level, and that some of thesevariations are regular and periodical. 1. On the shores of the ocean,and in bays, creeks, and harbours, which communicate freely withthe ocean, the waters rise up above this mean height twice a-tlay,and as often sink below it, forming what is called a flood and anebb, a high and a low water. The whole interval between highand low water is called a tide; the water is said to flow and to ebb ;and the rising is called the flood-tide, and the falling is called theebb-tide. 2. This rise and fall of the waters is variable in quantity.At Plymouth, for instance, it is sometimes 21 feet between thegreatest and least depth of the water in one day, and sometimesonly 12 feet. These different heights of tide succeed each other ina regular series, diminishing from the greatest to the least, and thenincreasing from the least to the greatest. The greatest is called aspring-tide, and the least is called a neap-tide. 3. This series iscompleted in about 15 days. More careful observation she\v 3that two series are completed in the exact time of a lunation.For the spring-tide in any place is observed to happen preciselyat a certain interval of time (generally between two and threedays) after new and full moon, and the neap-tide at certain intervalsafter half-moon ; or, to be more accurate, the spring-tide alwayshappens when the moon lias got a certain number of degrees E.of the line of conjunction and opposition, and neap-tide happenswhen she is a certain number of degrees from her first or lastquadrature. Thus the whole series of tides appear to be regulatedby the moon. 4. High water happens at new and full moonwhen the moon has a certain determined position with respectto the meridian of the place of observation, preceding or followingthe moon’s southing a certain interval of time ; which is constantwith respect to that place, but very different in different places.5. The time of high water in any place appears to be regulatedby the moon; for the interval between the time of high waterand the moon’s southing never changes above three quarters of anhour, whereas the interval between the time of high water andnoon changes six hours in the course of a fortnight. Q, The intervalbetween two succeeding high waters is variable. It i s ) eas t 0 fall about new and full moon, and greatest when the iribon is inher quadratures. As two high waters happen every day, we maycall the double of their interval a tide-day, as we call the diurnalrevolution, ot the moon a lunar-day. The tide-day is shortest, about