Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/661

 TOR

contracted to half its former diameter, and the next morning it was quite clofed and withered, but it hung on the trunk till the thirtieth of September.

The beginning of the flower is a fort of tube, three inches long and about an inch diameter ; of a colour between a yel- low and a pale green : Its furface is channelled with feveral fmall furrows, between which there ran feveral blunt protube- rances in a parallel order along the ridges ; where the tube ex- panded itfelf, it divided into more than forty petaloide feg- ments, ranked in fix feparate feries j the three exterior and inferior whereof, here and there confounded their order, ' 'hile the three fuperior and interior remained feparate and unmixed. Thefe feveral feries differed in fize and colour, the firft or ex- terior feries was of the fame colour with the tube, that is of a pale yellowifh green, but its upper part gradually inclining to purple. The fecond and third feries had half their inner part greenifti, and their edges of a more intenfe purple ; the fourth was between yellow and white, terminating in purple tops; the tops of the fifth were likewife purphfh. The pe- taloide fegments of the fixth feries were very tender and white, all the fegments were of an oblong figure, and in the firft: fe- ries were terminated with blunt tops, in all the others with more and more pointed ones to the very innermoft feries. The innermoft feries, which contained thirteen of thefe feg- ments, had all their edges lightly and irregularly cut and di- vided : the piftil was of equal height with the furface of the flower, and was a hollow tube, terminating at its upper part in a number of fine tender filaments, expanded in the form of a crown ; thefe were as many in number as the fegments of the innermoft feries, that is thirteen. The day before the flower dropped from the ovary, the place where it was to fall off was marked with a blackifh circle, and at this the tube rea- dily and evenly feparated from the rudiments of the fruit. The piftil ftill firmly adhering to the ovary : the petaloide fegments of the flower were found not be feparated from the tube without tearing, and were really fegments, not diftinct petals as might have been gueffed by a curfory view of the flower. The fruit did not come to its full growth, but grew fo far as to fhew that it would never have been prickly : upon difledtion it afforded a vifcous juice, and within it was a cavity, the fides of which were every where befet with fmall villi, ex- cept at the bottom ; and at the end of each of thefe hairs hung a fmall white veficle which was the rudiment of a future feed. The error of the common opinion of fuppofing the flower of the cereus, polypetalous, is evident from this defcription, and all that is obferved of this ftrange and elegant flower, has been fince verified by the flowering of the fame fpecies with us. About fix years ago I was on a vifit at the late Lord Petres at Therndon in EfTex, when his gardener, who had been fome time ordered to watch a cereus of this fpecies which was about to flower, called us out at midnight to fee it. It had opened three flowers at different heights upon the ffalk, and they were all of the fame fize, fomething larger than the ftandard given by Dr. Trew, but in all other refpects per- fectly agreeing with his defcription. Philof. Tranf. N°. 4i6._ The propagation of all the kinds of this remarkable plant is by cuttings, which muft be laid in a dry place ten days or a fortnight before they are planted, or if it be three weeks, there is lefs danger of their mifcarrying. They are to be planted in fmall pots, filled with a light fandy earth, with a mixture of lime rubbifh, laying fome ftpnes at the bottoms of the pots to drain off the moifture. The pots are then to be placed in a gentle bed of tanner's bark, and once a week are to have a gentle watering ; this is belt done in June, or July : toward the middle of Auguft, they muft have air given them by degrees, and at the end of September they muft be removed into the ftove, where they are to remain the win- ter. They mould always have a dry fituation, and fhould never be expofed to the open air even in the midft of fummer. When the top of an old plant has been cut off for propagating ; it always throws out feveral young ihoots from its angles, which may all be eafily propagated in the fame manner, and it will continue to do this in fuch a manner, that there will be a continual fupply even from one ftock. They may be brought in fmall pieces from the Weft Indies packed up in ftraw, and will grow when planted here, as well as if cuttings from our own plants. Miller's Gardener's Diet.

TORCHENES, in the manege, a long ftick with a hole at the end of it, through which a ftrap of leather is run, the two ends of which being tied together, ferve to ftraiten and clofely tie up a horfe's nofe as long as the ftick is ftayed upon the halter or fnafflle. This is done to keep the horfe from being unruly, when he is dreffed, or upon any other occafion.

TORDINO, in zoology, a name by which the Venetians call a bird of the lark kind common in their markets, and called by authors fpipolletta. SeethearticleSpiPOLETTA.

TORDO Marino, in zoology, the name of a bird of the ftar- Hno--kind, called alfo the codirojfo maggiore, or rutkilla ma- jor° and by the Auftrians thzjlein-reitling. Aldrovandus has named it the merula faxatilis, or rock- blackbird. It is of the fize of our ftarling, and much refembles it in figure, its breaft is greyifh and has a black tranfverfe ftreak, and behind that the whole is of a yellowifh hue. Its head and back are of a blackifh hue with fome flight variegations of grey, from Suppl. Vol. II.

TOT

the tip of the feathers being of that colour. The tail is long and of a reddifh orange colour, and the under feathers of the wings are of the fame hue ; the females are of a lefs elegant co- lour than the males, viz. a moufe-colour variegated with white on the back, and aih-colour on the belly -, what is yellow in the male birds is alfo very pale in the females. It is not un- common in Germany, and may be taught like the ftarling to imitate the human voice. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 145. 1 ORDYEIUM, in botany, the name of a genus of umbelli- ferous plants ; the characters of which are thefe : The flowers are of the rofaceous kind, being compofed of feveral heart- fafhioned petals of irregular fizes difpofed in a circular order on a cup which afterwards becomes a fruit nearly of an or- bicular figure, being compofed of two flattifh feeds with a high and ufually denticulated margin, which eafily depofit their covering.

The fpecies of Tordylium enumerated by Mr. Tournefort are thefe: 1. The greateft Tordylium, called by fome the largeft caucalis. 2. The fmallerNarbone Tordylium^ called by fome the fmaller Cretic fefeli. 3. The leaft Apulian Tordylium^ called the leaft fefeli, 4. The fmall Syrian Tordylium with a granulated limb, called by fome gingidium, and the great feeded caucalis. And, 5. The Portugal Tordylium, with hem- lock-leaves, and ftriated feeds. Tournef. Inft. p. 320. TORMENTILLA, Tormentill, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of a rofaceous kind, confiding of four leaves difpofed in a circu- lar form : the cup is of the fhape of a bafon, confifting of one leaf, divided into feveral fegments ; the piftil arifes from this cup, and finally becomes a globofe fruit compofed of fe- veral feeds clofely laid together, and covered by the cup. To thefe it may be added, that the leaves grow always more than three together, at the ends or fummits of the ftalks. The fpecies of Tormentill enumerated by Mr. Tournefort are thefe: r. The common wild Tormentill. 2. The large Al- pine Tormentill. 3. The creeping Tormentill, with gold yel- low flowers. 4. The great Tormentill, with green deeply divided leaves. 5. The leffer Tormentill, with leaves deeply indented. Tournef. Inft. p. 298.

Tormentill^ radix, in the materia medica, is the root of the common wild Tormentill, which is frequent with us in woods and on heaths, and flowers in June and July. It is a fmall trailing plant, and the leaves grow about feven at a joint ; the flowers are fmall but of a lively yellow ; the root is tu- berous and often an inch thick, brown or reddifh without, and of a flefh colour within, of a very aftringent tafte, and are to be chofen from the druggifts large, plump, frelh dried. It is a cordial and a very valuable aftringent ; it makes a very good addition to the common white drink, changing it to a red colour and increafing its virtue. Pomct's Hift. of Druggs, p. 48.

TORPEDO, [Cycl.) the cramp, or numb fifli, in ichthyology, a name given to that fpecies of ray-nfh which is wholly fmooth. See the article Raja.

The phenomena of this fifh are fully explained in the cyclo- paedia under the article Torpedo.

TORQUATA, in zoology, a name given by many authors to the common or water- fnake, from the remarkable ring it has about its neck. See the article Natrix.

TORQUILLA, in zoology, the name of a fpecies of wood- pecker, more commonly known by the name jynx, and called in Englifh the wry-neck, from its manner of twifting its neck about, and turning its head over its moulders. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 95. See the article Jynx.

TORTOISE (CycL)-h is faid Tortoifes will live fome days after their heads are cut off, and that this is a preparation for dreffing them in Pegu. Boyle's Works Abridg. Vol. i.p. 28. Sec the article Testudo.

TORTURA, a word appropriated by many medical writers, to exprefs only the diftortions of the face, and particularly of the mouth in convulfions.

TORUS, in architecture. Seethearticle Tore, Cycl.

TORUSCULA, a word ufed by fome medical writers to ex- prefs a drop.

TORYNE, in pharmacy, the name of a kind of fpatula in- tended for the ftirring up the ingredients of decoctions while boiling.

TORYNETOS, a name given by fome to a mixture of bread and water boiled together, whether meant as a kind of a pa- nada, or for a pultice.

TOTANO, or Totanus, in zoology, the name of a bird, of the Kgocephalus or godwit kind, common in the Italian markets, and more ufually known by the name of vetola. See the article Vetola.

Totanus, is alfo ufed by fome for the limofa. See the article Limosa.

TOTAQUESTAC, in zoology, the name of a beautiful Ame- rican bird, defcribed by Nieremberg from Antonrus Herera. It is faid to be fomething fmaller than a pigeon, and all over of a moft beautiful green i its tail-feathers are of a very great length, and are greatly efteemed. The Indians value the bird fo highly that it is death by their laws to kill it, fo that when it is caught they only ftrip it and let it go again. Ray's Ornithol. p. 303.

Q.qqq T0T -