Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/762

 732 THYME ner toe, and the marsupial bones are absent, represented only by fibro-cartilage ; the fe- male has a distinct pouch, with four mamma. Only one species is described, the dog-headed thylacine (T. [P.] Harrisaii, Temm.), about the size of a young wolf, or 3f ft. long, with a tail 20 in. additional, and a height at the shoulders of about 22 in. ; the head is dog- shaped, with narrow and elongated muzzle; ears short, pointed, very broad at the base, and well covered with hair on both surfaces ; eyes full and black, with a nictitating mem- brane ; long black bristles on the upper lip, and a few on the cheeks and above the eyes ; the claws stout, short, and brown, the bottoms of the feet with large, very rough pads. The fur is short and close, waved and slightly woolly ; the general color is grayish brown, paler below, with 12 to 14 transverse black bands on the back, longest and widest poste- riorly; pale around eyes, and edge of upper lip white ; tail with short fur, with longer hairs at under side of apex ; rusty red about the pouch ; the legs are shorter in proportion than in the wolf, and the gait is semi-planti- grade. It is wild and shy, inhabiting the cav- erns and dismal glens of mountainous districts ; inactive during the daytime, probably from imperfect vision, it preys at night upon the smaller marsupials ; it is sometimes so large as to be a match for several dogs, and is one of the most formidable of Australasian quadru- peds ; it is rare except in the most inaccessible regions. Among the fossil remains of the caves of Wellington valley, New South Wales, Prof. Owen has described parts of lower jaws of what he calls T. spelceus, differing from exist- ing ones in their greater depth. In the secon- dary schists of Stonesfield has been discovered the genus thylacotherium (Owen), known by the lower jaw, which has six incisors, two moderate canines, six false and six true tri- cuspid molars ; the T. Prevostii (Guv.) was about the size of a rat. An allied genus from the same strata is phascalotherium (Broderip), somewhat larger. THYME, low undershrubs or perennial herbs, of the genus thymus (Gr. 0iy*of, from Obetv, to burn perfume, it having been used as incense), of the labiate or mint family. The wild or creeping thyme of northern Europe (T. serpyl- lum) is sparingly naturalized in the older states in old fields, and in some cases as a weed upon lawns ; it is much branched and prostrate, forming low dense tufts a foot in diameter ; its very small ovate leaves are fringed at the base with a few long hairs, and its purplish flow- ers are crowded in whorls at the ends of the branches. This is sometimes cultivated as an aromatic herb, but not so much so as the garden thyme (T. vulgaris), from southern Europe, which differs from the preceding in having a more erect and bushy habit, paler leaves, and flowers in shorter clusters ; there are varieties of this, both the broad-leaved and narrow- leaved being known in kitchen gardens, and THYMUS GLAND the variegated or golden thyme, which has each leaf distinctly marked with yellow, is a pleasing ornamental plant. Lemon thyme, Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum). much esteemed by some for its peculiar flavor, is T. citriodorus. The thyme in general use is T. vulgaris, the foliage of which is highly aro- matic and much used for flavoring stuffing and other cooking ; its properties are due to an essential oil, the oil of thyme, which is used as an external stimulant, in liniments, especially in veterinary medicine; it contains a liquid and a solid oil or camphor, which may be sepa- rated by fractional distillation. THYMUS GLAND (Gr. 0(y/of), a double vascular or ductless gland, situated, in the human sub- ject, in the upper part of the anterior medias- Transverse Section of an injected Lobule of the Thymus of a Child, maprnifled 30 diameters, a. Membrane of the lobule. 6. Membrane of the pland follicles, c. Cavity of the lobule from which the larger vessels branch out into the corpuscles, on the surface of which they ter- minate, occasionally forming loops.