Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/431

LEFT THORAX 369 THORN from the breast to the back. It consists of the dorsal vertebrae, the sternum, the ribs, and the costal cartilages, and con- tains the lungs, the heart, etc. The mus- cles of the thorax are: The intercostals, levatores costarum, the sub-costals, tri- angularis stemi, with which may be in- cluded the diaphragm. In comparative anatomy, the part of the trunk above or anterior to the diaphragm. In entomol- ogy, the central diversion of the body of insects. It is formed of three consoli- dated somites or segments; the pro- thorax, the mesothorax, and the meta- thorax. Also, a breastplate, cuirass, or corselet. THORBECKE, HEINRICH (tor- bek'e), a German Orientalist; born in Meiningen, Germany, March 14, 1837. He was appointed professor in the Univer- sity of Halle, 1887. His studies were directed mainly to the poetry of the Be- dawin and the history of Arabic. He was author of: "Life of Antarah, the Pre-Islamite Poet" (1868); "Al Asha's Song of Praise to Mohammed" (1875); "M. Sabbag's Grammar of Conversation- al Arabic in Syria and Egypt" (1886). He died in Mannheim, Germany, Jan. 3, 1890. TH0RBT7RN, GRANT, pseudonym Lawrie Todd, an American author; bom in Dalkeith, Scotland, Feb. 18, 1773; emi- grated to America in 1794. As the hero of Gait's novel, "Lawrie Todd," he was a well-known figure in New York, where he followed the business of seedsman. He was noted for his charity. His publica- tions in book form include: "Forty Years* Residence in America" (1834); "Men and Manners in Great Britain" (1834); "Fifty Years' Reminiscences of New York" (1845); "Hints to Merchants," etc. (1847); "Notes on Virginia" (1848); "Life and Writings of Grant Thorburn" (1852-1853). He died in New Haven, Conn., Jan. 21, 1863. THOREAU, HENRY DAVID (tho'- ro), an American author; born in Con- cord, Mass., July 12, 1817, and educated at Harvard University, where he gradu- ated in 1837. From that time till 1840 he was a schoolmaster. He engaged also in land surveying, carpentering and other handicrafts, but devoting a great part of his time to study and the contempla- tion of nature. In 1845 he built for him- self a hut in a wood near Walden pond. Concord, Mass., and there for two years lived. After quitting his solitude, Thoreau pursued his father's calling of pencil maker at Concord. Besides con- tributing to the "Dial" and other peri- odicals, he published "A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers" (1849), and "Walden, or Life in the Woods" (1854). After his death appeared "Ex- cursions in Field and Forest," "The HENRY DAVID THOREAU Maine Woods," "Cape Cod," and "A Yan- kee in Canada." Thoreau was a friend of Emerson. He died in Concord, May 6, 1862. THORN, a sharp conical projection constituting the growing point of a branch which has proved abortive. That this is its origin is shown by the fact that sometimes trees, which are thorny in their vnld state, have their spines converted into branches when long cul- tivated in a garden, as is the case with the apple and the pear. A thorn dif- fers from a prickle, which is so super- ficial that it comes away when the bark is peeled off, while in similar circum- stances a thorn, being deep seated, re- mains. Sometimes thorns bear leaves, as in the whitethorn. THORN, a strongly fortified town in the province of West Prussia, on the right bank of the Vistula (here spanned by a viaduct 1,100 yards long), 31 miles E. S. E. of Bromberg. Founded by the Teutonic order in 1231, and a member of the Hanseatic League, Thorn contains a town hall and a number of other build- ings remarkable for their beautiful gables and interiors; became a Polish town in 1454; and was annexed to Prus- sia in 1793, and again finally in 1815. It became an important fortified stronghold in the 17th century: was five times be- sieged between 1629 and 1813; and since 1878 has been made a fortress of the first rank by Prussia, the old fortifica-