Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/826

 796 TONQUA BEAN limits of health. The papillary surface is healed and repaired with great readiness and perfection. TONQIJA BEAN (also written Tonquin, Tonga, and Tonka), an Asiatic name applied to a South American product, the seeds of dipterix odorata, a tree belonging to the leguminosas or pulse family. The genus dipterix (Gr. <Kf, double, and Trrep6v, a wing) comprises about eight species, all large trees of the forests of Brazil, Guiana, and neighboring countries, and belongs to a tribe of the family of which there are no representatives in northern localities ; the trees have pinnate leaves and large pani- cles of flowers, which are succeeded by (what is very unusual in the family) a pod containing only a single seed. The Tonqua bean tree grows 60 to 90 ft. high, with a trunk some- times 3 ft. in diameter ; the indehiscent pods, about 2 in. long, are almond-shaped and very thick ; the single seed is over an inch long, shaped somewhat like a large kidney bean ; it has a wrinkled skin, which is shiny black. The odor, which is re- markably strong, re- sembles that of the me- lilot or sweet clover and the* sweet-scented vernal grass (antJiox- anthum), and is due to the same princi- ple, coumarine, a con- crete crystallizable, vol- atile, neutral substance, with the composition CisHeOi, very solu- ble in alcohol and ether, and somewhat so in boiling water, from which it crys- tallizes on cooling ; the beans are often frosted with crystals of this, which show very distinctly on their black surface. Formerly the beans were much used to scent snuff, and they are often called " snuff baans," a few of them being placed in a jar with the snuff, or a single one kept in the snuff box ; they were also formerly used in smo- king tobacco, but a much cheaper substitute is found in the "wild vanilla" (liatris odoratis- sima) of Florida. (See VANILLA.) The odor of the bean bears some resemblance to that of the true vanilla, and much of the extract of vanilla sold for flavoring ice cream and articles of cookery is adulterated with it, and in some of the cheaper flavoring extracts it is entirely substituted for that costly material ; any one with a nice sense of smell can readily detect the least admixture. The wood of the Tonqua bean tree is remarkably close-grained, hard, and heavy, and, though redder, much resem- bles lignumvitae, and in some parts of South America it is called by that name ; it is valued Tonqua Bean (Dipterix odo- rata). Half of the one- seeded pod. TONTINE for fine cabinet work. Another species, D. eboensis, is the eboe tree, the fruit of which is without odor ; its timber is hard and valuable. TONQDIN. See ANAM. TONQIW, Gulf of, an arm of the China sea, having the Anamese province of Tonquin on the west, the Chinese province of Quang-tung on the north and east, and the island of Hainan on the southeast ; length, nearly 300 m. ; aver- age width, 150 m. The Sangkoi or Tonquin river flows into it. It has numerous islands. The typhoons are very violent in the gulf. TONSILS, or Amygdalae, two glandular organs, of an almond shape, with the larger end up- ward, situated on each side of the fauces, be- tween the anterior and posterior pillars of the soft palate, and easily brought into view by opening the mouth. They are composed of a collection of mucous follicles, which open through 12 or 15 orifices on the inner side of each tonsil. These follicles are lined with a continuation of the mucous membrane of the pharynx, and have a structure similar to that of Peyer's glands in the small intestine. They secrete mucus which goes to make up the mixed mass of saliva, or to lubricate the fauces during the act of deglutition, the pressure of the food and the constriction of the pharynx forcing the contents from the organs. They are sup- plied with blood from the facial, inferior pharyngeal, and internal maxillary arteries, and with nerves from the fifth and glosso- pharyngeal. The veins terminate in the ton- sillar plexus on the outer side of the tonsil. These organs vary in size in different individ- uals, being notably larger in persons of scrofu- lous constitution. They are liable to acute inflammation, involving great enlargement and suppuration; an affection called tonsillitis or cynanche tonsillaris, and popularly quinsy. TONSTALL. See TUXSTALL. TONTINE, a kind of life annuity originated by Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan, who published his scheme and introduced it into France about the middle of the 17th century. The subscri- bers or their representatives were divided into 10 classes, and an annuity was apportioned to each class according to their age, the sur- vivors deriving an increased annuity as their associates died, and the last survivor receiving the entire annuity of the class till the close of his life. The first association of this kind, called the " Royal Tontine,-' was founded under the administration of Cardinal Mazarin in 1653. The total sum paid in was 1,025,000 francs, in 10 classes of 102,500 francs each. The sub- scription was 300 francs, and every subscriber received the interest of his investment until the death of some member of the association increased the dividend to the rest, and after the death of the last subscriber it reverted to the state.' This project was not successful, nor were two more subsequently proposed by Tonti. In 1689 Louis XIV. authorized anoth- er of 1,400,000 francs divided into 14 classes, according to age, from children of 5 years to