climates. The tragacanth is mostly brought from Turkey in lumps. TRAGEDY. A drama representing some grand and serious action, and mostly terminating in some fatal event. TRAJECTORY. The path described by any moving body, as a comet describing a TRANSVERSE. A cross, as a tranverse axis in conic sections. TRAP. A sort of mountain rock, composed of horizontal strata. TRAPEZIUM. An irregular quadrilateral figure. TRAVERSE (in Law.) That which the defendant pleads in bar to avoid the plaintiff's bill. TRAVERSE (in Fortification.) A trench made quite across the mote of a place. TRAVERSE (in Navigation.) The variation or alteration of a ship's course. TRAVESTIE. The burlesque imitation of an author's style and composition. TREACLE. The fluid parts of sugar-cane, which will not crystallize; molasses. TREADMILL. A mill for grinding corn, which is moved by persons stationed on the main wheel. It has been introduced into prisons as a sort of punishment. TREASURER (in Law.) An officer to whose care the treasure of a government or of any company is committed. TREASURY. The funds of a state or nation; in England, conducted by Lords Commissioners, the head commissioner being usuTRANSPORTATION (in Law.) Sending ally considered as the prime minister. In the away criminals into a distant country, either for a term of years or for life. doctrine of the Romish church, into the actual TREE. A solid trunk or stem, springing body and blood of Christ, which is supposed from a root, with branches and leaves, from 20 by them to be miraculously wrought by the to 100 feet high, and living from 50 to 500 consecration of the priest. years. The leaves fix the gases, like the lungs of animals, and the circulations are in some respects similar. TRIPLE TIME (in Music.) A time consisting of three measures in a bar. TRIPOD. The sacred seat, supported by crossbar-three feet, on which the priestesses among the ancients used to deliver the oracles. TREFOIL. Three leaved grass. TRELLIS. A frame of lattice, or red work, used to support plants. TREMOLITE. A sort of calcareous earth. TRENCHES. Ditches in fortifications. TREPAN. A surgical instrument, like a saw, for removing a broken bone from the skull. . TRIPOLI. A mineral of an earthy texture, but for the most part found considerably indurated. It is used as a polishing powder. TRISECTION. The dividing a thing into three parts. TRISYLLABLE. A word consisting of TRESPASS (in Law.) Any wrong done by one private man to another, either to his per-three syllables. son or his property. TRET. An allowance for waste, or for the TRITON. A sea god. TRIUMPHAL CROWN. A crown among dirt that may be mixed with any commo-the Romans given to a victorious general; it dity. was made at first of wreaths of laurel, and afterwards of gold. TRIAD (in Music.) The common chord, consisting of the third, fifth, and eighth. TRIAL. The examination of causes before a proper judge, which, as regards matters of fact, are to be tried by a jury, as regards matters of law by the judge, and as regards records by the record itself. TRIANDRIA. One of the Linnæan classes, comprehending plants the flowers of which. have three stamens, as the crocus, gladrole, valerian, &c. TRIANGLE. A figure bounded by three sides. TRIBUNE. An officer among the Romans, chosen from among the people to defend their rights. TRICOCCE. One of Linnæus' natural orders of plants, comprehending such as have a three armed capsule, as the euphorbia, &c. TRIDENT. A three forked instrument. TRIENNIAL. Every third year. TRIGGER. The catch of a gun lock, which, when pulled, disengages the cock and causes it to strike fire. TRIGLYPH. A member of the Doric frieze. TRIUMVIRATE. A form of government in which three persons bear rule, as the Roman triumvirate of Pompey, Cæsar, and Crassus, and afterwards that of Augustus, Mark Anthony, and Lepidus. TROCAR. An instrument used in tapping for the dropsy. TROOP. A certain number of horse soldiers. TROOPER. A horse soldier. TROPICS (in Astronomy.) Circles drawn at the distance of twenty-three and a half deTRIGONOMETRY. The science by means grees on each side of the equator, that on the of which one part of a triangle may be deter-north side called the Tropic of Cancer, that mined by knowing the other parts, and, there- on the south the Tropic of Capricorn. fore, of great use in land surveying, naviga- TROPICS (in Geography.) The regions on tion, astronomy, &c.; for as the sides depend the earth which lie within the tropical circles, on the angles, the proportions of the sides are about 1600 miles on each side of the equator, the same, and, therefore, tables are calculated over some part of which the sun passes directto apply to all triangles. In spherical trigo-ly vertical two days in the year. It is the nometry, the sides are referred to the centre of hottest, wettest, and most fertile part of the the earth. TRILLION (in Arithmetic.) A billion of billions. TRIM OF A SHIP. Her best posture, proportion of ballast, and hanging of her masts, &c. for sailing. TRINITARIANS. Those who believe in the Trinity. TRINITY. The doctrine of three persons in the Godhead, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. TRIO (in Music.) A piece for three voices. crown. earth, but less favourable to human life than the temperate zones. Its heats are, however, tempered by elevation, and by winds which constantly follow the sun from east to west, and from their convenience to ships are called Trade Winds. In the plains the heat varies from 120 to 80 degrees, and is seldom below 65. But at great elevations snow lies all the year. TROUBADOURS. Ancient bards of Provence and Normandy, who wrote verses and set them to music. TROVER. An action which a man has against any one who having found his goods, or having them unjustly in his possession, refuses to deliver them up. TROUGH. A hollow piece of wood, which serves to hold water or any other fluid. TROUT. A delicate fish, abounding in the rivers and ponds of America and England, and weighing from 1 to 15 pounds. It has a wide mouth, filled with teeth, which cover the palate and tongue; the scales are small, the back ash coloured, the sides yellowish, and, when in season, it is sprinkled all over the body with small, beautiful red and black spots. Anglers use worms or artificial flies as bait to take them. TROWEL. A bricklayer's tool for spreading mortar. TROY WEIGHT. A weight of twelve ounces to the pound, twenty pennyweights to the ounce, and twenty-four grains to the pennyweight, used for weighing gold and silver. It is so called from Troyes, a town in France. TRUCE. A suspension of hostilities. TRUFFLES. A sort of mushrooms. TRUMPET. The loudest of all wind instruments, consisting of a folded tube, generally of brass. equal to 2240 pounds, whereby the burden of ships is estimated. TUNIC. An under garment in use among the Romans. TUNING (in Music.) Rectifying the false sounds of musical instruments. TUNGSTEN. An opaque mineral of a white colour and great weight, composed of lime and other earthy substances. TUNNEL. A subterraneous passage cut through hills, mountains, and even in some cases under water. TURBOT. A well known fish, inhabiting the European seas, which grows to thirty pounds weight. It is much esteemed for the delicate taste, firmness, and sweetness of its flesh. This fish is sometimes two feet and a half long, and about two broad. The scales on the skin are so very small that they are hardly perceptible. The colour of the upper side of the body is a dark brown, spotted with dirty yellow; the under side a pure white, tinged on the edges with somewhat like flesh colour, or pale pink. TRUMPETER. The soldier who sounds the trumpet. TRUMPETER-BIRD. A bird of South America, so called from its harsh cry, like a child's trumpet. TRUSS (in Surgery.) An elastic bandage worn in cases of hernia or ruptures. TRUSS (among Mariners.) A machine for pulling a yard home to the mast. TRUSTEE (in Law.) One who has an estate or money put into his hands for the use of another. TUBE. Any pipe or canal which serves as a passage for air or any other fluid. TUFAS. Beds of lime. TULIP. A well known, beautiful flower, the roots of which, when first introduced into Europe, brought extravagant prices. TUMBRIL. A carriage for war tools. TUMOUR. A swelling, or morbid enlargement of any part of the body. TUN, or TON. A vessel for wine and other liquors; also, a certain measure of capacity, containing 242 gallons; also, a weight) and the most rigid disciples of the Mahometan domestic turkey; it goes in flocks, and feeds faith. Individually, the Turks are a brave, on grain, seeds, fruits, &c. The colour of the honest, and amiable people, but the govern- males, called gobblers by the hunters, is a ment is an absolute despotism, and as such is dark brown. It is the original stock of the inimical to the progress of social improvement; domestic turkey, and was carried to Europe but under the reign of Mahmoud the second, many years after the discovery of America. which commenced in 1808, many important changes were introduced indicative of a nearer approximation to the institutions of the western states of Europe. TURMERIC. A drug procured from an Indian tree, the curcuma of Linnæus, which is used in dying. TURNER. One who follows the art of TURKEY. A large domestic bird, the young turning. of which are exceedingly tender. The cock TURNING. The art of forming wood, is very proud and irascible, and struts about ivory, and other hard substances into a round with his tail expanded when moved either by or oval shape, by means of a machine called pride or anger. a lathe, and several instruments, as gouges, chisels, drills, formers, and screw tales, with which the turner works the thing into the desired form as the lathe is turning. TURNPIKE. A gate set across a road, through which all travellers passing either on horseback or in a conveyance, must pay toll; also, the road which has such a gate. TURNSOL, or TURNESOL. A valuable dyeing drug, which is prepared chiefly in the village of Grand-Galargues, near Montpellier, from the Croton Tinctorum, Lin., in French called Maurelle. TURNSPIT. A species of the dog that used to be taught to turn a spit before the introduction of smoke jacks. TURPENTINE. A resinous substance TURKEY BUZZARD. This bird is larger procured from different species of the pine than a raven, and is very common in the and fir. The best sort is procured in North southern parts of the United States. It lives America. The method of obtaining it is by on filth and putrid flesh, and is so useful in making a series of incisions in the bark of clearing away offensive substances, as to be the tree, from which the turpentine exudes, protected by law in the southern cities. It is and falls down into holes or other receptacles a foul bird, and exceedingly voracious. prepared to catch it. TURKEY, WILD. This noble bird was formerly common in all parts of this country, but is now seldom found except in the western territories. It is often larger than the TURTLE. A species of tortoise, with longer legs or fins. The green turtle is a harmless creature, and when laid on its back, quite helpless. They are eaten in the West Indies, and by epicures in the United States and in Europe, who esteem them a great luxury. The hawks-bill turtle affords the tortoise-shell, which on old ones is sometimes 10 pounds weight. their mate is such, that if a pair be confined in a cage, and one die, the other will refuse food, and also die. TUSCAN ORDER. An order of architec TUSCULANE QUESTIONES. Five books of Tully, so called from their being composed at Tusculum.. TUSCULUM. A city of Italy, about 13 miles from Rome, built on an eminence, where many of the Roman nobility, and particularly Cicero, Virgil, and Horace, had country seats. TUŠKS. The long pointed teeth that stand out of the mouth of some carnivorous animals. TUTTY. A gray oxide of zinc. TWILIGHT. That period of light between darkness and the rising or setting of the sun. In our latitude it may be said to begin and end when the sun is about eighteen degrees below the horizon. TWINE. A twisted thread. TWINLING. A twin lamb, a lamb of two brought at a birth. TWIST. Any thing made by convolution. ture first used in Tuscany in Italy, which has or winding two bodies together. but few ornaments or mouldings. TYMPAN. A frame belonging to a print. ing press. TYMPANUM. The drum or barrel of the ear, in which are lodged the bones of the cet, &c. U AND V. U or V, the twentieth letter in the alphabet, and idle persons who wander from place to stands as a numeral for 5, and formerly with place, without any visible means of support. a dash over it, thus V, for 5000; as an abVÁLET. Formerly a young gentleman breviation, V. G. Verbi gratia, V. L. videli- of family, but now applied to a serving man of low degree. VACATION (in Law.) The period beVALLAR CROWN. A crown bestowed tween the end of one term and the beginning among the Romans on a general who first of another; and the same in the Universities. entered an enemy's camp. VACCINATION. Inoculation with the cow pock, intended as a preservative against infection from the small pox. VACUUM (in Philosophy.) A space supposed to be devoid of all matter or body. VADE MECUM. The name of any small book that may be carried about with one. VAGRANTS (in Law.) Beggars, strolling |