Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/884

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TOR

would give Strokes, in fome mcafure,fuccefnVe : For all Parts of fofc Bodies don't ftrikc at once 5 the Impreffibn of the laft does not take till after the firft have done acting. But thefe fcveral Inclofures ferve to augment the Number of the Springs, and, of Conference, the Velocity and Force of the Aftion.

Theft quick re-iterated Strokes given by a foftifh Matter, iliake the Nerves, fufpend, or change the Courfe of the Animal Spirits, or fome Fluid equivalent: Or, if you had rather, thefe Strokes produce an Undulatory Motion in the Fibres of the Nerves, which clafh.es or disagrees with that they fhould have, in order to move the Arm. And hence the Inability we are under of ufing the fame, and the painful Senfation which accompanies it.

Hence it is, that the Torpedo does not convey its Numbnefs to any Degree, except when touch'd on thefe great Mufcles j fo that the Fifh is very fafely taken by the Tail, which is the Part by which the Fifh ermen catch it.

The Authors who have accounted for the Efiefl: of the Torpedo from Torporific 'Effluvia; have been obliged to have recourfe to the fame two Mufcles ; but then they only make them Refervoirs of the Corpufcles, whereby the Numbnefs is effected.

Lorenziui, who has obferved the 'Contraction as well as Reaumur, pretends that all its Ufe, is to exprefs thofe Corpuf- cles from out of the hollow Fibres of thefe Mufcles wherein they are imprifon'd ; but this Emanation' of Corpufcles admit- ted by moft Authors, is difproved by M. Reaumur, from the following Confederations 5

i° In that no Numbnefs is convey'd, if the Hand be at the fmalleft Didance from the Torpedo : Now, to ufe their own Companion, if the Torpedo numbs as the Fire warms, the Hands would be affected at a Diflance from the one as well as the other.

2° In that the Numbnefs is not felt till the Contraction of the Mufcles is over 5 whereas were the Caufe in Torporific Particles exprcfs'd by the Contraction, the Effect: would be felt in the time of the Contraction.

3 In that were the Numbnefs the Effect of Torporific Par- ticles, it would be convey'd by degrees, as the Hand warms by degrees.

Laftly, in that the Torpedo conveys its Numbnefs to the Hand, thro' a hard, fblid Body, but does not do it thro 1 the Air.

Were the only Ufe the Torpedo makes of its Faculty, the faving itfelf from the Fifhermen, as fome have fuppofed, it would fignify but little - 7 for 'tis very rare that it efcapes their Hands. T'liny, Ariflotle and moft Naturalifts, therefore agree, that it likewife ferves it for the catching of other Fifties: All we know for certain, is, that it lives on other Fifties, and that 'tis generally found on Banks of Sand, &t. probably^ to ferve it as a Foundation or Support for the exerting its Faculty.

M. Reaumur had no Fifh.es alive to examin what the Torpedo would do to them ; but an Animal, next a-kin to a Fifh, he tried it on, viz. a Drake, which being fhut up a while in Water with the Fifh, was taken out dead; doubtlefs from its too frequent Contacls on the Torpedo.

In the Hiftory of Abyfjlnea, we are affured, that if the Torpedo kill living Fifties, it feems to bring dead ones to life again 5 dead Fifties being feen to ftir, if put in the fame VefTel with it; But this is much lefs credible than what is told us in the fame Hiftory, that the Abyffmam ufed Torpedo's for the Cure of Fevers, by tying down the Patient to a Table, and applying the Fifh fucceftively upon all his Members, which puts the Patient to cruel Torment, but effectually rids him of his Difeafe,

Sellon affures us, that our own Torpedo's applied to the Soalsof the Feet, have prov'd fuccefsful againft Fevers.

M. dll Hamel in his Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, Anno 1677, mentions a kind of Torpedo's, which he compares to Conger Eels : M. Richer, from whom he has the Account, affirms on his Knowledge, that they numb the Arm itrongly, When touch'd with a Staff, and that their Effects even go to the giving Vertigo's.

TORQUE, in Heraldry, a round Roll of Cloth twifted and fluff 'd ; fuch is the Bandage frequently feen in Armories about the Heads of Moors, Savages, <fyc.

It is always of the two principal Colours of the Coat. TheTorque is the leaf! Honourable of all the Enrichments wore on the Helmet by way of Creft. See Crest.

TORREFACTION, in Pharmacy, a kind of Ajfation, wherein a Drug is laid to dry on a Metal Plate plac'd over Coals, rill it become friable to the Fingers.

Torrefatlion is particularly us'd, when, after reducing fome Drug, as Rhubarb, or Myrabolans into Powder, 'tis laid oh an Iron or Silver Plate, and that plac'd over a moderate Fire till the Powder begin to grow darkifh ; which is a Mark thofe Remedies have loft their purgative Virtue, an3 have aequir'd a more aftringent one. See Rhubarb, &c

The Word is tbrmM from the Latin torrefacere, to roaft.

Formerly, they us'd to torrefy Opium, to get out fome malignant Parts fancy'd to be in it, e'er they durft ufe it in

Medicine ; but the Effect: was, that its volatile Spirits and Sulphur, wherein its greateft Virtue confifts, were hereby evaporated. See Opium.

TORRENT, Torrens, in Geography, an impetuous Stream of Water, falling fuddcnly from Mountains wherein there have been great Rains, or an extraordinary Thaw of Snow 5 and making great Ravages in the Plains. Sec River, &c.

TORRICELLIAN, a Term very frequent among phyfi- cal Writers, ufed in the Phrafes, Torricellian Tube, and Tor- ricellian Experiment, on account of the Inventor, Torricellz, a Difciple of the great Galileo.

The Forricellian Tube is a GlafsTube, as AB, about three Foot long, and 3 * of an Inch in Diameter, reprefented (Tab. Pneumaticks, Fig. 6.) whofe upper Orifice A is hermetically fealed.

The Torricellian Experiment, is perform'd by rilling the Torricellian Tube A B with Mercury \ then flopping the Orifice B, with the Finger ; inverting the Tube ; and plunging that Orifice in a Veffel of ftagnant Mercury C. See Mercury,, This done, the Finger is removed, and the Tube fuftain'd perpendicular to the Surface of the Mercury in the Veffel.

The Confcquence is, that Part of the Mercury falls out of the Tube into the Veffel, and there only remains enough iri the Tube to fill from 28 to 31 Inches of its Capacity, above the Surface of the ftagnant Mercury in the Veffel.

Thofe 2?, l$c. Inches of Mercury, are fuftain'd in the Tube by the Preffure of the Atmofpherc on the Surface of the ftagnant Mercury 5 and according as that Atmofphere is more or lefs heavy, or as the Winds blowing upwards or down- wards, heave up, or deprefs the Air, and fo increafe or dimi- nifh its Weight and Spring; more or lefs Mercury is fuftain'd from 28 Inches to 31. See Air and Atmosphere.

The Torricellian Experiment makes what we now com- monly call the 'Barometer or Weather-Glafs, See Barome- ter.

TORRID Zone-., the Traft of Earth lying under the Line, and extending on each Side to the Two Tropicks 5 or to 23 Degrees and a Half of Latitude. See T'Roric, Zone, &c. The Ancients believed the Torrid Zone uninhabitable 5 but from the late Navigations, we learn, that the exceffive Heat of the Day there, is tempered by the Coldnefs of the Night. TORI, in Law, an Injufice or Injury ; as de [on Tort meme, in his own Wrong, $c. Hence alio Tort-feafcr, &c. The Word is pure French.

TORTEAUX, in Heraldry. See Tourteaux. TORTOISE-57K?//, the Spoils or Cover of a Teftaceous Animal, call'd a Tortoife ; ufed in Inlaying, and on various other Occafions, as for Snuff-boxes, Combs, &c. See Testaceous and Shell.

There are two Kinds of Tortoifes, vt&~ the Land and Sea Tortoife.

The Sea Tortoife, again, is of four Kinds, viz. the Frefb Tortoife, the Caret, the Cahohanna, and the Loger-hu : But 'tis the Caret alone furnifhes that beautiful Shelly fo much admired in Europe.

The Shell of the Caret is thick, and confifts of two Parts, the upper, which covers the Back, and the lower, the Belly : The Two are joined together at the Sides by ftrong Liga- ments which yet allow of a little Motion.

In the Fore-part is an Aperture for the Head and fore Legs : and behind, for the hind Legs and Tail.

'Tis the under Shell alone is ufed : To feparate it from the upper, they make a little Fire beneath it, and aftbon as ever 'tis warm, the under Shell becomes eafily feparable from the upper, with the Point of a Knife, and is taken off. in Lamina; or Leaves, without killing the Animal, which, 'tis fiid, being turn'd to Sea again, gets a new Shell.

The whole Spoils of the Caret confift in 1 3 Leaves, 8 of them flat, and 5 a little bent : Of the flat ones, there are 4 large ones, about a Foot long, and 7 Inches broad.

The beft Shell is thick, clear, tranfparent, of the Colour of Antimony, fprinkled with Brown and White. When ufed in Marquettry, i$c. the Workmen give it what Colour they pleafe, by means of colour'd Leaves, which they put under- neath them.

In Generation, Rondehthtt obferves, the Embraces of the Male and Female Sea Tortoifes, continue for a whole Lunar Month; and that they fquirt Water out of the Noftrils, in the fame Manner as the Dolphin. On the jBrafiliaiz Shore, they are faid to be fo big, as fbmetimes to dine Fourfcore Men : And that in the Indian Sea, the Shells ferve the Na- tives for Boats. T)e Laet- adds, that in the Ifland of Cuba they are of fuch a Bulk, that they will creep along with Five Men on their Backs. TORTOIS in the Afilitary Art. See Testudo. TORTURE, a grievous Pain inflicted on a Criminal, or Perfon accufed ; to make him confefs the Truth. See Question.

The Forms of Torture are different in different Countries. In fome they ufe Water, jn others Iron, in fome the Wheel or Rack, in fome the Boot, Thumbkins, &c. SeeRAcK.

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