T H R 



399 



T H R 



equal distances from each other; the width of these is 

 from two to six inches. Around half the cylinder is a 

 case the inner surface of which is lined with plates of cast- 

 iron grooved in the direction of the axis. The ribs or 

 beaters come quite close to these grooves, so that an ear 

 of wheat or other corn cannot well pass between them 

 Without being flattened. The sheaves of corn, having 

 been untied, are spread on a slanting table, and in some 

 machines are drawn in between two iron rollers, of which 

 one is plain and the other fluted. The motion of these 

 rollers i slow, while that of the cylinder or drum is very 

 rapid. The beaters act on the straw as it comes through 

 the rollers, and beat out most of the corn ; but what 

 remains is carried in between the beaters and the fluted 

 case, and when it has made half a revolution all the grain 

 has been beaten and nibbed out. It falls on a sieve which 

 lets the grain through, but retains the straw, which is 

 raked off by hand or by circular rakes moved by the 

 machine!}. Some of the best implement-makers in Eng- 

 land have found the 1\vo rollers superfluous, and have 

 accordingly dispensed with them. The straw is at once 

 subjected to the beaters, and the machine may be fed 

 more or less rapidly according to circumstances. It 

 requires a little more attention in the person who feeds 

 the machine, but more work is done and some power 

 saved. The great perfection of a thrashing-machine is to 

 rub out every grain and to break the straw as little as pos- 

 sible ; the larger the scale of the machine the better it 

 this. Hand-machines have been made on the same 

 principle, but they do not. effect any saving in the expense, 

 requiring many men to produce the effect, of one horse. 

 The great advantage of hand-machines is that men and 

 women can be employed to thrash who could not use the 

 flail skilfully. Movenble thrashing-machines are very 

 generally in use in Ens-land where farms are small. They 

 itcii the property of an industrious labourer or me- 

 chanic, who undertakes to superintend the work, the 

 farmer finding horses and men. Thus he goes from farm 

 tn farm and earns his livelihood from a small capital laid 

 out in the purcba~c tit a machine. The price of tin; 

 in this \i ay is about half of what is usually paid for I ! 

 ing with the flail : it is more rapidly done, there i 

 chance of pilfcrinsr. and fewer grains remain in the straw. 

 On very large farms it hnx been found economical to 

 erect, a ';ie to work the thrashing-machine, 



chatt'-cutter, and other domestic implements. Where 

 coals are cheap there is a great saving. A steam-i 

 costs little to keep it in order. When not working, tin 

 interest on the original price is the only loss, whereas 

 I mint be fed whether they work or not. The price 

 of steam-engines is so much reduced and their construc- 

 tion so simplified, that they will probably soon form an 

 essential part of the implements on every farm. 



There are some thrashing-machines on a new principle 

 which are said to work well. The drum is furnished with 

 rows of spikes, and similar spikes are fixed into the cover 

 which work in the intervals between the first. The corn 

 in the straw is drawn in by the spikes on the drum, vhicl 

 revolves rapidly, and the ears being beaten in all directions 

 by the fixed and the revolving spikes, the grain falls onto 

 the ear and is coll( '-tc<l below. Such a machine was ex 

 hibitedat the Agricultural Meeting at Cambridge in 1840 

 but it seemed to break the straw more, and to be more ap 

 to clog, than the machines in general use. These will no 

 doubt be made gradually simpler and cheaper, till the; 

 entirely supersede the flail, even in very small farms. 



THRASYBU'I.US OoaT/^nuXoc), the son of Lycus, was 



born at Steiria in Attica. In the year B.C. 411 the oligar 



dial party at Athens trained the ascendency, and tbnnei 



a new senate of 400 member*. The oligarchs in the flee 



"ined at Samos ende, bring about a siinila 



ilution there, but their efforts failed ; and among tin 



men who exerted themselves to maintain the demon-alien 



utuiiou, ThriLsybulus, who then had the command of a 



triri t. He and his friend Thrasyllus com 



peli is to swear to keep quiet, and not t< 



attempt anv alteration in the constitution. The geneial 



j'.vn to belong to the oligarchs were removed 



and Thravbulus and Thrasyllus were appointed in thei 



steail. The army under their command assumed the right 



anil of Athens, and in an assembly o 



the i-ainpThru ' a decree passed, by which AIci 



bia a the chief support of the demo 



ratical party, and who was living in exile with Tissa- 

 >hernes, should be recalled. Thrasybulus set out to fetch 

 lira to the camp. (Thucyuides, viii. 81.) In 410 B.C. he 

 greatly contributed to the victory which the Athenians 

 gained in the battle of Cyzicus. In B.C. 408, when Alci- 

 )iades returned to Athens from Byzantium, Thrasybulus 

 was sent with a fleet of eighty galleys to the coast of 

 Thrace, where he restored the Athenian sovereignty in 

 nost of the revolted towns ; and while he was engaged 

 lere he was elected at Athens one of the generals, "toge- 

 ther with Alcibiades and Cpnon. In B.C. 400 Thrasybulus 

 was engaged as one of the inferior officers in the Athenian 

 leet during the battle of Arginusae-; and after the battle. 

 le and Theramenes were commissioned by the generals to 

 save the men on the wrecks : but a storm prevented their 

 executing this order. Respecting the fate of the generals 

 and the conduct of Theramenes on this occasion, see THE- 

 RAMENES. Thrasybulus is not charged with any improper 

 act during the proceedings against the generals, and for two 

 years after his name does not occur in the history of Attica. 

 During the government of the Thirty Tyrants at Athens, 

 he was sent into exile, and took refuge at Thebes. The 

 jalamities under which his country was suffering roused 

 ;iim to exertions. The spirit which prevailed at Thebes 

 igainst Sparta, and against its partisans at Athens, em- 

 [widened him to undertake the deliverance of his country. 

 With a band of about seventy, or, according to others, of 

 only thirty fellow-exiles, he took possession of the fortress 

 of rhyle, in the north of Attica. The Thirty, sure of vic- 

 tory over so insignificant a garrison, sent out the 3000 

 Athenians whom they had left in the enjoyment of a kind 

 of franchise, and the knights, the only part of the population 

 of Athens who wore allowed to bear arms. On their ap- 

 proach to Phyle some of the younger men, eager to dis- 

 tinguish themselves, made an assault upon the place, but. 

 were repelled with Considerable loss. The oligarchs then 

 determined to reduce the fortress by blockade ; but a heavy 

 fall of snow compelled them to return to Athens. During 

 their retreat the exiles sallied forth, attacked the rear, and 

 cut down a great number of them. The, Thirty now sent 

 the greater part of the Lacedaemonian garrison of Athens 

 and two detachments of cavalry to encamp at the distance of 

 about fifteen stadia (nearly two miles) from Phyle, for the 

 purpose of keeping the exiles in check. The small band 

 of Thrasybulus had in the meantime increased to 700, as 

 the Athenian exiles flocked to him from all parts. With 

 this increased force he one morning descended from Phyle, 

 surprised the enemy, and slew upwards of 120 hoplitesand 

 a lev,- horsemen, and put the rest to flight. Thrasybulus 

 erected a trophy, took all the arms and military imple- 

 ments which he found in the enemy's camp, and returned 

 to Phyle. 



The Thirty now began to be alarmed at the success of 

 the exiles, and thought it necessary to secure a place of 

 refuge in case the exiles should succeed in getting pos- 

 on of Athens. For this purpose they, or rather Critias, 

 devised a most atrocious plan. By fraud and force he con- 

 trived to secure 300 citizens of Eleusis and Salamis capa- 

 ble of bearing arms ; and after they were conveyed to 

 Athens, he compelled the 3000 and the knights to condemn 

 them to death. All were accordingly executed, and 

 Kleusis was deprived of that part of its population to 

 which it might have looked, for protection. In the 

 meantime the number of exiles at Phyle had continued to 

 increase, and now amounted lo one thousand. With these 

 Thrasybulus marched by night to Piraeeus, where he was 

 joyfully received, and great numbers of other exiles imme- 

 diately increased his army. The Thirty no sooner heard 

 dl' this movement than they marched against Pirn-ens with 

 all their forces. Thrasybulus by a skilful manreuvre 

 obliged the enemy, who was .superior in numbers, to oc- 

 cupy an unfavourable position at the foot of the hill of 

 Munychia. In the ensuing battle the army of the tyrants 

 was put. to flight and driven back to the city. Critias fell 

 iu the con' 



The consequences of this success showed that there had 

 been little unity among the oligarchs, and that an 

 open breach had only been prevented by fear of Critia.s. 

 Some of the Thirty and a great many of the 3000 were in 

 their hearts opposed to the atrocities which had been com- 

 mitted, and had avoided, as much as they could, taking 

 part in the rapine and bloodshed. They also were aware 

 that the hatred and contempt under which they we.ru 



