Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/687

 TERBURG been isolated, and a majority of chemists at present discredit its existence. TERBURG, Gerard, a Dutch painter, born in Zwolle in 1608, died in Deventer in 1681. He painted cabinet size conversation pieces, musi- cal parties, and ladies at their toilets. In 1648 he painted a picture of the plenipotentiaries assembled at the congress of Munster, which led to his being invited to Madrid by Philip IV. He excelled in color and the finishing of his draperies, especially white satin. TERCEIRA, one of the Azore islands, near the centre of the group ; lat. 38 40' K, Ion. 27 10' W. ; extreme length 20 m., general breadth about 12 m. ; pop. about 50,000. The coast is generally bold and precipitous, and the central part of the island is mountainous, the summits consisting mostly of fertile plains. Many of the mountain masses are composed of soft pumice. The island is well watered, and the soil fertile. Grain, wine, and cattle are pro- duced, and it exports oranges and lemons. Capital, Angra. In 1829 Terceira became the seat of the regency for Dona Maria da Gloria during Dom Miguel's usurpation in Portugal, and Dom Pedro I. of Brazil collected there forces for the recovery of his daughter's throne. TEREDO. See SHIP WOEM. TERENCE (PuBLius TEKENTIUS AFEE), a Ro- man comic poet, born in Carthage about 195 B. C., died about 159. He became a slave of P. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, who gave him an excellent education, and finally freed him. The Andria, his first play, was acted in 166, and its success introduced him into the best society of Rome, Laslius and the younger Scipio being among his associates. Later in life he went to Greece, and there translated 108 of Menander's comedies. The manner of his death is uncertain, though the common account ascribes it to grief at the loss of all his translations of Menander. Six of his comedies are extant, and besides the Andria (" The Woman of Andros "), the plot of which was adopted by Steele in his " Conscious Lov- ers," there are Hecyra ("The Stepmother"), produced in 165 ; Heauton - Timoroumenos ("The Self-Tormentor"), produced in 163; Eunuchus (" The Eunuch "), the most popular of his plays, for which he received 8,000 ses- terces, produced in 162 ; Phormio, produced in 162 ; and Adelphi (" The Brothers"), acted first in 160. The dramas of Terence all belong to kQfabula palliata, and with the exception of the last two were first performed at the Megalesian games. The plots were borrowed from Menander. Terence's Latinity is elegant, and his works have been handed down in a very correct state. There have been numer- ous imitations of his comedies by the mod- erns, and they have been translated into near- ly all the languages of Europe. The first edi- tion is probably that of Milan (fol., 1470). Re- cent editions of the text with notes are those of Davies (London, 1869), Wagner (London, 1869), and Umpfenbach (Berlin, 1870). Among TERMITES 657 English translations are those of Colman (Lon- don, 1765), Patrick (Dublin, 1829), and Riley (London, 1853). TERHUNE, Mary Virginia (HAWES), an Ameri- can novelist, under the pseudonyme of Marion Harland, born in Amelia county, Va., about 1835. At the age of 16 she 'published in " Godey's Lady's Book " a sketch entitled "Marrying from Prudential Motives," which was copied into an English periodical, trans- lated into French, retranslated into English, and published in England and America as an English tale. In 1856 she married the Rev. E. P. Terhune, and since 1859 has resided at Ne.wark, N. J. Her works are: "Alone" (Richmond, 1854; 19th ed., 1856); "The Hidden Path" (New York, 1855); "Moss Side" (1857); "Miriam" and "Nemesis" (1860); "Husks" (1863); "Husbands and Homes "(1865); "Sunnybank" (1866); "The Christmas Holly " (1867) ; " Ruby's Husband " (1868) ; " Phemie's Temptation " (1869) ; " Helen Gardner," " The Empty Heart," " Com- mon Sense in the Household, a Manual of Practical Housewifery," and ' ' At Last " (1 870) ; " True as Steel " (1872) ; " Jessamine " (1873) ; and "From my Youth Up" (1874). TERMIM-IMERESE (anc. TTiermce Himerenses), a town of Sicily, part of the ancient northern Himera, in the province and 20 m. S. E. of the city of Palermo, E. of the mouth of the San Lionardo ; pop. in 1872, 25,780. It has fine churches, a good harbor, fisheries, and an active trade in local products, including mac- caroni, which is the best in Sicily. After the destruction of the Greek city of Himera by Hannibal, the son of Gisco, in 409 B. C., the surviving inhabitants fled to the neighboring Thermae, so named from its celebrated hot sul- phur springs. The town appears to have ex- isted during the Roman empire, and consider- able portions of the Roman part are still visi- ble. The southern Therma3 or Therms Seli- nuntise is described under SCIACCA, its modern site. (See also HIMERA.) TERMITES, the proper name of the white ants, or the neuropterous insects of the family termitince. Though they resemble the com- mon ants (formica) in their social habits, they belong to a different order, and in many re- spects come near the orthoptera. In the genus termes (Linn.) the antennas are thread-shaped, with about 20 joints ; the eyes small but promi- nent, and the ocelli three; the mouth as in orthoptera; thorax distinct, and wings large, long, and membranous ; legs short with fonr- jointed tarsi ; abdomen with a pair of minute caudal appendages. They live in vast com- munities, principally in the tropics, and do great damage by devouring everything but metals and stone which comes in their way, gnawing even the interior of the beams of houses, leaving only a thin shell. According to Latreille there are five classes in their com- munities, males, females, workers, neuters, and soldiers. The males and females are at first