THERMOPYLAETHESEUS. 



597 



100 centig., 80 Reaum., 150 De Lisle ; and of 

 course 9 Fahr. 5 centig. 4 Reaum. 7 De 

 Lisle. Fahrenheit's is, therefore, the smallest de- 

 gree, and Reaumur's the largest. The is called 

 the zero: all degrees below this are called minus, 

 and are prefixed by a dash, thus -20. In the 

 Reaumur and centigrade scales, the degrees above 

 zero are also called plus, and marked thus, +20, 

 to prevent one kind being mistaken for another. 

 Rules for changing the degrees of any one of the 

 scales into equivalent degrees of another ; Fahren- 

 heit into Reaumur. Each degree of Fahrenheit is 

 equal to four ninths of one of Reaumur. As 

 Reaumur, however, reckons his degrees from the 

 freezing point, and Fahrenheit 32 below this point, 

 we must, when the number of Fahrenheit's degrees 

 to be reduced indicates a temperature above the 

 freezing point, first deduct thirty-two, and then 

 multiply the remainder by four, and divide the pro- 

 duct by nine. The quotient is the corresponding 

 number of degrees on Reaumur's scale. If the 

 temperature indicated was less than the freezing 

 point, we must also be careful to take the actual 

 number of degrees, reckoning from the freezing 

 point. Thus four degrees above Fahrenheit's zero 

 is twenty-eight below his freezing point ; and this 

 is the number to be reduced to Reaumur's scale. 

 Reaumur into Fahrenheit. Each degree of 

 Reaumur is equal to 2 of one of Fahrenheit. 

 Multiply the given number of degrees of Reaumur 

 by nine, and divide the product by four. If the 

 degrees of Reaumur were minus, the quotient 

 must be deducted from thirty-two, and the re- 

 mainder will be the equivalent degrees of Fahren- 

 heit. If the given degrees were not minus, the 

 quotient must be added to thirty-two degrees, and 



the sum will be the equivalent sought Fahrenheit 



into Centigrade. Each degree of Fahrenheit is 

 equal to five ninths of one of the centigrade. Pro- 

 ceed as in the case of Fahrenheit into Reaumur, 

 multiplying, however, by five and dividing by nine. 

 Centigrade into Fahrenheit. Proceed as in 

 Reaumur into Fahrenheit, multiplying by nine and 



dividing by five Reaumur into Centigrade. Each 



degree of Reaumur is equal to 1^ of the centigrade. 

 Multiply the given number of degrees of Reaumur 

 by five, and divide the product by four ; the quo- 

 tient will be the equivalent number of degrees on 



the centigrade scale Centigrade into Reaumur. 



Each degree of the centigrade is equal to of 

 Reaumur. Multiply the given number of degrees 

 of the centigrade by four, and divide the product 

 by five ; the quotient will be the equivalent num- 

 ber of degrees on Reaumur's scale. Extensive 

 tables of the correspondence of these thermometri- 

 cal scales, and of some of the most remarkable tem- 

 peratures, may be found in the Treatise on the Ther- 

 mometer and Pyro-ieter, in the Library of Useful 

 Knowledge. See our article Pyrometer. 



THERMOPYLAE; a narrow defile in Greece, 

 leading from Thessaly into Locris and Phocis ; be- 

 tween mount JEta and the sea ; 40 miles north of 

 Thebes. It is five or six miles long, but was only 

 fifty or sixty paces (in the narrowest part only 

 twenty-feet) wide, in the time of the Greeks ; it is 

 now nearly double, from the retiring of the sea. 

 The cliffs overhanging the pass are, in general, from 

 400 to 600 feet high. It is celebrated for a des- 

 perate resistance against the Persian army, made by 

 300 Spartans, under Lconidas. (q. v.) It was 

 railed by the Greeks simply Pylae (gates), or Ther- 

 mo]>i/ffr, from the warm springs (thcrma-) hard by. 



In Strabo's time, the pass was still adorned by the 

 monument erected in honour of Leonidas and his 

 followers, on which was this simple inscription : 

 " Stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here 

 in obedience to their laws." Thermopylae now forms 

 a part of the north-eastern frontier of Greece, as 

 determined by the protocol of February 3, 1830. 



THEROIGNE DE MERICOURT, called the 

 revolutionary Amazon, was born near Luxemburg, 

 and previous to the revolution of 1789, had been a 

 prostitute in Paris. She was no less remarkable 

 for her oratorical powers than for her beauty ; and 

 she took an active part in some of the tumults of 

 that period. She is said to have been at Versailles 

 on the fifth of October, and to have been employed 

 in distributing money and haranguing the mob. In 

 1790, having accompanied the secret agents who 

 were sent to excite insurrections in Liege, she was 

 taken prisoner by the Austrians, and carried to 

 Vienna, but soon after released. In 1792, we find 

 her again at Paris, the champion of constitutional 

 principles. She appeared in public armed with a 

 pike, or sabre and pistols, at the head of a troop of 

 furious Amazons. It was she who caused Suleau 

 and five others, who had been arrested on suspicion, 

 to be murdered, August 10, 1792. She soon after 

 proved to be insane, and was confined in a mad-house 

 until her death, in 1817. 



THERSITES ; a Grecfan at the siege of Troy, 

 who is described by Homer as the most deformed 

 of the Greeks, squinting, lame, hunch-backed and 

 bald-headed. He was noted for his malice, and 

 was continually provoking his fellow-soldiers, par- 

 ticularly Agamemnon, Ulysses and Achilles by his 

 taunts and sarcasms. He is said to have been 

 killed by Achilles. 



THESEUS ; king of Athens, and son of JEgeus 

 by JEthra., the daughter of Pittheus ; one of the 

 most celebrated of the heroes of antiquity. He 

 was educated at Troezone, at the house of Pittheus, 

 and passed for the son of Neptune. When he came 

 to years of maturity, he was sent by his mother to 

 his father, and a sword was given him, by which he 

 might make himself known to ^Egeus, in a private 

 manner. (See JEgeus.) His journey to Athens 

 was not across the sea, as was usual with travel- 

 lers ; for he determined to signalize himself in 

 going by land, and encountering difficulties. The 

 road which led from Troezene to Athens was in- 

 fested with robbers and wild beasts; but these 

 obstacles were removed by his courage. He 

 destroyed Corynctes, Sinnis, Sciron, Procrustes, 

 Cercyon and Phsea. At Athens, however, his 

 reception was not cordial. Medea lived there with 

 JEgeus ; and as she knew that her influence would 

 fall to the ground if Theseus was received in his 

 father's house, she attempted to destroy him before 

 his arrival was made public. .flSgeus was to give 

 the cup of poison to the stranger ; but at the sight 

 of his sword on the side of Theseus, he knew him 

 to be his son. The Pallantides, who expected to 

 succeed their uncle JEgeus on the throne, as he had 

 no children, attempted to assassinate Theseus ; but 

 they failed in the attempt, and were all put to death 

 by the young prince. The bull of Marathon next 

 engaged the attention of Theseus. He caught the 

 animal alive, and, after he had led it through the 

 streets of Athens, sacrificed it to Minerva or the 

 god of Delphi. After this, Theseus went to Crete 

 among the seven chosen youthj whom the Athe- 

 nians yearly sc-nt to be devoured l>y the Minotaur. 

 The wish to deliver his count i v fro: 1 .) .TO dreadful a 



