Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/614

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Whole body within, it might fooncr be taken for a fea-fhell than a land animal. Its flefh is eatable, like the reft of this kind ; and its food is the fame as theirs. Ray's Syn. Quad.

, p. 234. See Tab. of Quadrupeds, N". 21. 1 at v-MuJhUnus, the weafel-h'cadcd armadillo, in zoology, the name of a finall animal of the armadillo kind ; its head is about three inches and an half long } his forehead two inches and a half broad, and very flat ; the end of his nofe half an inch ; his eyes finall ; his ears very diftant from one another ; his body eleven inches long, and about fix broad ; and his tail five inches long, and not tapering to fo extreme a thinnefs at the point as that of the common armadillo, but a fifth of an i'neh over. His fore leg two inches and a half long, and three quarters of an inch broad, with five toes ; his hinder foot fomething larger, and with the fame number of toes. His head, back, fides, and tail, all covered with a fhelly armour. His breaft, belly, and ears, all naked. Greiu'z Mufseum Reg. Societ. p. 19.

dillo, a creature of about twelve or fourteen inches long. Its nofe is fhaped like that of a pig, with four toes on its fore feet, and the hinder foot thicker, and having five toes ; his tail eleven inches long, and extremely fmall at the extremity. Its head, legs, back, and tail, are all covered with a fhelly ar- mour. The fore part of his tail covered with eleven Ihelly rings ; his thighs, breaft, belly, and ears, all naked ; his eyes black, round, and very fmall. His teeth are twelve in each chap, and no thicker than large needles. Grew** Mufseum Reg. Societ. p. 18.
 * T Ain-Porcinus, in zoology, the name bf the pig-headed arma-

TATUETE, in zoology, the name of a fpecies of Tatu^ or armadillo, fmaller than the common one, and differing alfo in many other refpects.

Its head is fmall and fharp ; its ears long and erect; its tail about three fingers long ; and its legs much longer than in the common larger kind ; but its moft iignal difference is, that it has only four toes on the fore feet, and five on the hinder ones ; the two middle ones are the longeft on the fore feet, and the three middle ones on the hinder ; its whole length is about feven fingers breadth ; its forehead and whole body are covered with a coat of armour, which ftands out at the fides fo far, that the creature can, at pleafure, draw in its head and legs under it; the armour of the back confiits of nine pieces nicely joined to one another ; the tail is coated in the fame manner, and has likewife nine junctures, and ends in a point. It is of an iron colour on the back, and whitifh at the fides ; its belly alfo is whitifh and naked, except for a few hairs.

The flefh of this is accounted more delicious than that of any other creature of this kind, though they may all be eaten. Ray's Syn. Quad. p. 234.

TATULA, in botany, a name ufed by Clufius,- and fome other authors.) for the ftramonium, or thorn-apple. Ger. Emac. Ind. 2 j

TAVACCARiEj in the materia medica, the name by which many authors call the coccus maldiv'ne, or maldive nut. Pifo, p. 203.

TAULACUM, in natural hiftory, a name given by the people of the Eaft Indies to a fpecies of orpiment which is very com- mon with them.

It is of a dirty yellow colour, and is compofed partly of an ir- regular mafs, partly of fine flakes, like fcales of fifties. Thefe are of the beft colour. The whole mafs, on being expofed to the fire, burns, and emits copious fumes ; but it does not melt readily. After it has been feveral times calcined, the Indians give it internally in intermittent fevers, with fafety and fuccefs. Woodw. Catal. FofT. vol. 1. p. 24,

TAUREA, among the Romans, a punifliment inflicted by whipping with fcourges made of bulls hides. Pitifc. in voc.

TAURIA, Tauftta, in antiquity, a feftival in honour of Nep- tune. Pott. Archaeol. T. 1. p. 432.

TAURIUA, among the Romans, games in honour of the in- fernal gods. They_ were otherwife called ludi taurii. See Pitifc. in voc. Ludi.

TAUROBOLIUM, orTAURoBotioN, among the antients, facrifices of bulls, which were offered to Cybele, the mother of the gods, to render thanks to the goddefs of the earth, for her teaching men the art to tame thole animals, and fit them for labour. See Pitifc. in voc.

TAUROCOLLA, Bull-glue, a fort of glue much ufed among the antients in works that requited ftrength, being accounted far ftronger than any other kind. It was made by boiling down the ears and genital parts of a bull in water.

TAURUS, [Cycl.) Bull, in zoology, the male of the ox-kind. See the articles Bull and Bos.

Taurus, in ornithology, a name given by the antients to the bittern, or butterbump, from its imitating the roaring of a bull in its noife.

Taurus Mtbiopicus, the /Ethiopian Bull, an animal defcribed in a very remarkable manner by Pliny. He indeed calls it the Indian Bull, and has led Solinus into the fame error ; but all the authors whom he quotes, and from whom he has tranferibed his account, calling it the /Ethiopia?! Bull, we may be allured that was its proper coun- try. Agatharcides is the oldeft author who has defcribed thefe

TEA

animals ; he fays, they lived only in Ethiopia, and that they were greatly larger than our oxen, and of a yellowifh or tawny colour, and were fwifter of foot than almoft any other animal. Strabu, and all the other authors of credit, alfo mention this animal : but the defcriptions they give of it are in fome particulars, carried too far into the marvellous. They tell us, that all its hair ftands the wrong way, and makes it the rougheft animal, to appearance; in the world ; and that its head is, as it were, all mouth, the opening of the mouth reaching from ear to ear. The horns, they lay alfo, were very ftrong and ftlarp, and were moveable, fo that the creature could turn them in any direction, at pleafure, to take aim at the proper part of the creature he would gore ; but that as foon as he had placed them in this direction, they be- came firm and unalterable in it by any force, till he chofe to alter the pofition himfelf. They, add, that its back, or hide in general, wasofthehardnefs of flint, and turned away all forts of darts; ^ This creature hunted and fed upon all other animals, according to the accounts of the fame authors, and could it- felf never betaken but by pitfalls; and that when it was thus trapped, and let down into a hole or pit, out of which it was impoffible to get out, its fury generally killed it in a few mi- nutes; without any wound. Thefe are the wondetful things related by the antients of this animal ; but they are fo con-, trary to the courfe of nature in the ox kind, that we may very juftly rank them among the other miraculous animals, (uch as the mantichora ; and the vermis caruleus, of fixty or fe- venty foot long. See the articles Mantichora.

TAXTJS, the Tew, in botany, the name of a genus of trees the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of the amen- taceous kind, and is compofed of a number of apices, ufually fhaped like mufhrooms ; thefe are the male flowers ; the em- bryo fruit appears in different parts of the tree, and finally be- comes a red berry, of a hollowed or cup-like fhape, juicy, and containing a feed. There are alfo fometimes, on the fame trees with thefe, dry fruits, in fhape of acorns ; the feed be- ing enclofed at its bottom, not by a juicy berry, but by a dry cup.

There is no other known fpecies of the Tew, betide the com- mon kind ; but that is fometimes found with variegated leaves. Tourn. Inft, p. 589.

Taxus, in zoology, the name of the Badger, called in fome parts of England, the brock, the gray, and the pate. The Greeks had no name for this animal, unlefs their hytcna was the fame creature. See the article Hyjena. Authors who have defcribed this animal, have all made two kinds ; the Taxus-Caninus and Taxus-Porclnus, the dog and the hog-Badger. The laft of thefe is our common kind ; and 'tis indeed doubted whether there be any fuch animal as the authors defcribe under the other name. The body of the Badger is fiiort and thick ; its neck very fhort, and its hairs long, and very rigid, and ftifflike hog's bridles. Thofe on the back are of a pale yellow near the root ; brown or black in the middle, and at the extremities yellowifh again; fo that the creature appears, upon the whole, of a mixt colour, or what we call grey, on the back. The fides and belly are covered with hairs, which are all over of a pale yellowifh hue ; and the legs and fhoulders, as alfo the belly, are wholly black. It has a broad white line from the top of the head to the nofe ; and on each fide of this a very regular pyramidal black mark reaching up to the ears ; and below thefe the jaws are whitifh, that the creature's face looks very oddly variegated. Its eyes are fmall ; and its fnout wholly like a dog's. The teeth are like thofe of a dog alfo ; and the legs fhort ; its fore feet have fharp claws, with which it digs itfelf burrows in the earth. Its face is very like that of the fox being broad at the top of the forehead, and fharpening to a point at the nofe, fo as to appear triangular in fhape ; and its cheeks are tumid, and furnifhed with ftrong mufcles, whence it bites very hard. It feeds on infefts and fmaH animals, and on the roots of vegetables. We have them in many parts of England, particularly in the counties of Effex, Suffex, and Warwickfhire. Ray's Syn. Quad. p. 185. The Badger's (kin is of fome ufe in commerce. Their fat is fold by the druggifts, as 3 remedy againft diforders of the kid- neys, and the fciatica; and their hair for the making pencils for painters and gilders. Savar. Dift. de Comm. p. 354.

TEA {Cycl.) — Tea is extolled by the orientals as the greateft of all medicines ; moderately and properly taken, it afls as a gentle aftringent and coiroborative; it ftrengthens the fto- mach and bowels, and is good againft naufeas, indigeftions, and diarrhoeas. It ads alfo as a diuretic and diaphoretic. The immoderate ufe of it, however, has been very prejudicial to many, who have been thereby thrown into the diabetes.

TEALE. Summer Ts ale, in zoology. Sec the article Cir- cias.

TEARS (Cycl.)— Dr. Vaterus is of opinion, that the Tears come from the white lines feen on the infide of the palpebral defcribed by Meibomius. He obferved two fmall duels, be-* fides the common nafal duel, from the lacrymal fac into the nofe ; one of them opened into the upper part of the nofe ; the other opened into the antrum maxillare. Mifcel Berol' Tom. 4. par. 3. §. 5.

TEASEL,