the papers read before literary or philosophical societies. Thename of Philosophical Transactions was first adopted by the RoyalSociety of London . See Society.
TUANSALP1NA GALLIA. See Gallia.
TRANSCENDENTAL CURVES, and TRANSCEN-DENTAL EQUATIONS ; terms used by Leibnitz and his fol-lowers, for the illustration of the mechanical curve.
TRANSCRIPT, denotes particularly a copy of an act or in-strument inserted in the body of another.
TRANSFER, in commerce, &c. an act whereby a person sur-renders his right, interest, or property, in any thing moveable orimmoveable, to another. The term transfer is chiefly used for theassigning and making over shares in the stocks, or public funds, toSuch as purchase them of the proprietors.
TRANSFORMATION, in geometry, is the changing or re-ducing of a figure, or of a body, into another of the same area, orof the same solidity, but of a different form. As, to transform orreduce a triangle to a square, or a pyramid to a parallelopipedon.
Transformation of Eiiuations, in algebra, is the changingEquations into others of a different form, but of equal value. Thisoperation is often necessary to prepare equations for a more easysolution.
TRANSFUSION OF BLOOD , an operation by which theblood of one animal was conveyed into the veins of another, andby which it was some time ago imagined the age of animals wouldbe renewed, and immortality, or the next thing to it, conferred onthose who had undergone it. In the Philosophical Transactions 've have an account of the success of various transfusions practisedat London, Paris, in Italy , &c. Sir Edmund King transfusedforty-nine ounces of blood out of a calf into a sheep; the sheep,after the operation, appearing as well and as strong as before. M.Denis transfused the blood of three calves into three dogs, whichall continued brisk, and eat as well as before. The same persontransfused the blood of four wethers into a horse twenty-six yearsold, which thence received much strength, and a more than ordi-nary appetite. Soon after this operation was introduced at Paris ,yiz. in 1667 and 1668, M. Denis performed it on five human sub-jects, two of whom recovered of disorders under which they la-boured, one being in perfect health suffered no inconveniencefrom it; and two persons who were ill, and submitted to the ope-ration, died; in consequence of which the magistrates issued asentence, prohibiting the transfusion on human bodies tinder painof imprisonment. Mr. John Hunter made many ingenious expe-riments to determine the effects of transfusing blood, some ofwhich are sufficient to attract attention. But whether such expe-riments can ever be made with safety on the human body, is aPoint not easily determined. They might be allowed in desperatecases, proceeding from a corruption of the blood, from poison,&c. as in hydrophobia.
TRANSIT, Uransitus, Lat.] in astronomy, the passing of anyPlanet just by, or under, any fixed star ; or of the moon covering,°r moving close by, any other planet.
Transit of Mercury . On Tuesday the 9th Nov. 1802,•Astronomers were gratified with the sight of a transit of Mercury 0y er the Sun’s disk.
The ingress was at.6h. 28m. 49s. A. M. apparent
at Greenwich.
Geocentric Latitude.. 1' 28" S.
Middle of the transit.9h. 14m. 19s.
Geocentric Latitude... 1' 0'
Egress...1 lh. 59m. 49s.
Geocentric Latitude.3' 16' N.
Geocentric Lon. of the ^ -0 ifi° o"
Middle.9h. 18m. 34s.
Duration...5h. 26m. 36s.
. Nearest approach.1' '
■A his transit was visible in all places situated between 22 and 27Ion, E. i. e. to all the nations of Europe and Africa, and W. of^ ia - It was invisible between 22° and 67° Ion. E. and 60° W.^here will not be another transit of Mercury visible in Great Bri-before May 5, 1832; and only two invisible ones before thatu ^. viz. i n 1815 and 1822.
Jransit op Venus. See Astronomy.a «ANSITION, in oratory. See Oratory.
TRANSITIVE, in grammar, an ep.ihet applied to such verbsas signify an action which passes from the subject that does it, toor upon another subject which receives it. Under the head ofverbs transitive come what we usually call verbs active andpassive ; other verbs, whose action does not pass out of themsehes,are called neuters.
TRANSITORY, in common law, stands in opposition to local;thus actions are said to be transitory, which may be laid in anycounty or place.
TRANSLATION, the act of transferring or removing a thingfrom one place to another ; thus, we say the translation of a bishop’ssee, a council, a seat of justice, &c.
Translation is also used for the version of a book, or writingout of one language into another.
TRANSMARINE, that comes from, or belongs to, the partsbeyond sea.
TRANSMIGRATION, in a large sense, is the removal ortranslation of a whole people into another country, by the powerof a conqueror.
Transmigration is particularly used for the passage of thesoul out of one body into another. See Metempsy’chosis, My-thology, and Pythagoras .
TRANSMISSION, in optics, &c. the act of a transparentbody passing the rays of light through its substance, or suffeiipgthem to pass; in which sense the word stands opposed to re-flection.
TRANSMUTATION OF METALS, in alchymy, denotesthe act of changing imperfect metals into gold or silver. This isalso called the grand operation ; and, they say, it is to be effectedby the philosopher’s stone.
TRANSOM, among builders, denotes the piece that is framedacross a double light window.
Transoms, in a ship, certain beams or timbers extended acrossthe sternpost of a ship, to fortify her afterpart, and give it thefigure most suitable to the service for which she is calculated.
TRANSPARENCY, in physics, a quality in certain bodies,,whereby they give passage to the rays of light; in contradistinctionto opacity, or that quality of bodies which renders them imper-vious to the rays of light. It has been generally supposed by phi-losophers, that transparent bodies have their pores disposed instraight lines, by which means the rays of light have an opportu-nity of penetrating them in all directions; but some experimentsin electricity have made it apparent, that by the aciion of thisfluid the most opaque bodies, such as sulphur, pitch, and sealing-wax, may be rendered transparent as glass, while yet we cannotsuppose the direction of their pores to be any way altered fromwhat it originally was. A curious instance of an increase of trans-parency we have in rubbing a piece of white paper over one thathas been written upon or printed ; while the white paper is at rest,the writing or print will perhaps scarcely appear through it; butwhen in motion, will be very easily legible, and continue So till themotion is discontinued.
TRANSPIRATION, the insensible, or almost insensible,passage of an excrementitious matter through the pores of theskin, called also perspiration. See Perspiration ,
TRANSPLANTER , an instrument calculated for expedi-tiously raising plants with their roots, and consigning them toother parts of the field in which they grow. Notwithstandingevery precaution, it frequently happens in turnip-fields that largespots remain barren. In Plate CLX.XI. fig. 9, we have given arepresentation of a simple instrument invented by Mr. Gray, ofSouth Repps, Norfolk , for the purpose of filling up such vacantspaces from the adjoining parts of the same field; and which hasalso been employed for transplanting other vegetables. The han-dle A, must be held with the left hand ; and the short handle B,drawn up with the right. The transplanter should next be putover the vegetable intended to be taken up, and forced into theground with the foot: it is then to be twisted around, and carefullydrawn up, so that the earth may adhere to the root. A holeshould, in the mean time, be made by an assistant, furnished witha similar instrument, for the reception of the turnip ; the root maybe converted in the first transplanter, and deposited in the cavity ;after which, the right hand being kept steady, the left must begradually raised; when the earth and plant will be left in the hole
undisturbed.
TRANSPOSITION,