614 



TIEBEAM TIGER FLOWER. 



titles. But at the first and last quarters of the 

 moon, the action on one body tends to counteract 

 that of the other; and the tides, both at ebb and 

 flow, are smallest, and are called neap tides. We 

 have supposed the highest tides to happen at new 

 and full moon, and the lowest at the quarters. But 

 tin- waters do not yield instantly to the action ex- 

 erted upon them: the greatest effect takes place 

 some time after the attractive influence has passed 

 its point of greatest power. Thus the spring and 

 neap tides actually occur about a day and a half 

 after the times above indicated. So, also, for a si- 

 milar reason, the real time of high water, in the 

 daily tides, happens about three hours after the 

 moon has passed the meridian. It will be perceived, 

 from what has been said, that the sun's and moon's 

 influence will vary with a change of distance, being 

 greatest when the attracting body is nearest, and 

 vice versd. The phenomena of the tides are modi- 

 fied, moreover, by the situation of the sun and 

 moon with respect to the equator, and the particu- 

 lar latitude of the observer. When, for instance, 

 the moon passes near the zenith of the observer, 

 supposed to be in one of the temperate zones, the 

 opposite high tide will be in the same latitude on 

 the other side of the equator ; consequently, under 

 the above circumstances, the high tide, when the 

 moon is above the horizon, exceeds the high tide 

 when the moon is below the horizon ; and at a 

 point in the direction of the nearest pole, fifty de- 

 grees from the place where the moon is vertical, 

 there will be only one tide in twenty-four hours. 

 The different heights to which the same tide rises, 

 in places but little distant from each other, depend 

 upon local circumstances ; as the particular form of 

 the coast, the meeting of currents, &c. Where a 

 bay grows narrower and narrower, like a tunnel, as 

 it runs up from the ocean into the land, the swell 

 of water must rise higher as the passage becomes 

 more contracted in breadth. Thus, in the bay of 

 Fundy, which answers to this description, and is of 

 great extent, the tide sometimes rises to the height 

 of seventy feet. It is frequently asked, why there 

 are not tides in the inland seas and larger lakes. If 

 we observe, upon an artificial globe, the very small 

 space occupied by the largest bodies of water of 

 this description, we shall readily perceive that there 

 can be no appreciable difference in the action of the 

 moon upon so small a portion of the earth's surface ; 

 the whole of the lake, or sea, therefore, becomes 

 lighter when the moon is over it, and there is no 

 heavier mass of water ninety degrees distant to 

 force it above its natural level. 

 TIEBEAM. See Architecture. 

 TIERNEY, GEORGE, an eminent political cha- 

 racter on the whig interest, was the son of a mer- 

 chant of London, and born in 1761. He was edu- 

 cated at Cambridge, and designed for the bar, to 

 which he was called. His father had some con- 

 nexion with the East India company ; and the first 

 publication of Mr Tierney (1787) was the Real 

 Situation of the East India Company. Mr Tierney 

 now engaged in political life, and was sent down by 

 a noble duke as candidate for Colchester, when he 

 stood a severe contest at a great expense, which his 

 patron refused to pay. The loss therefore fell 

 heavily on Tierney. In 1796, he was nominated 

 by the popular party to oppose Mr Thelluson, for 

 the borough of Southwark ; and, although defeated 

 on the poll, yet, on a petition to the house of com- 

 mon*, he removed his opponent by the treating act; 

 and, on the next return, as his competitor was le- 



gally disqualified, Mr Tierney was declared duly 

 elected. As soon as he was in the house, he entered 

 warmly into the measures of the whigs. He soon 

 proved himself an able speaker, and long ranked as 

 one of the first in the house. During a debate in 

 the year 1798, some words spoken in the hou-c 

 were the occasion of a duel between him and Mr 

 Pitt, in which, however, neither party was wounded. 

 When Mr Addington became minister, in 1802, he 

 made Mr Tierney treasurer of the navy. In 1806, 

 under the Grenville administration, Mr Tierney was 

 made president of the board of control, but went 

 out of office early in the following year, on the re- 

 signation of the ministry. He then lost his seat 

 for Southwark, but afterwards sat for different 

 places; in 1806 for Athlone, in 1809 for Bandon 

 Bridge, in 1813 for Appleby, and in 1818, 1820 and 

 1826, he represented the proprietor of Knaresbo- 

 rough. In 1827, Mr Canning invited him to the 

 mastership of the mint, from which be retired, 

 with lord Goderich, in 1828. His death took place 

 Jan. 25, 1830. 



TIERS ETAT (third estate}. There was a 

 time in France when the nobility and clergy pos- 

 sessed the property of almost the whole country. 

 The cities were insignificant, and the former two, 

 therefore, alone appeared at the diets. By degrees 

 the cities rose in wealth and importance, became free 

 from the yoke of the feudal lords, and of course 

 were to be summoned also, when taxes were to be 

 | granted. Even the peasantry, having acquired the 

 ownership of the ground which they cultivated, 

 rose in importance ; and Louis IX. summoned the 

 cities and bailiwicks to send deputies to the diets 

 in 1252. But this was done particularly by Philip 

 IV. (the Fair), in 1303, when he was desirous to 

 make himself popular on account of his quarrel with 

 pope Boniface VIII. ; hence the name tiers flat. 

 This order, however, was subjected to great humi- 

 liations : while the clergy were seated to the right 

 of the king, and the nobility to the left, the deputies 

 of the cities and bailiwicks were obliged to stand 

 outside of the bar, and to receive and answer the 

 propositions of the king on their knees. But the 

 steady march of civilization made the third estate 

 the nation, and the government, embarrassed or 

 unsupported by the clergy and nobility, turned its 

 eyes to this important class in 1788; and Sieyes, in 

 his treatise Quest ce que le Tiers Etat? (1789), 

 gave utterance to the feeling of the people. The 

 tiers etat, at present, is the nation itself; so that 

 the term became unconstitutional, even during the 

 restoration. 



TIFLIS. See Teflu. 



TIGER. This animal and the lion are the largest 

 and most powerful of the cat kind. The tiger is 

 found only in the East Indies, in Hindoostan, Siam, 

 Cochin-China, Malacca, and the isles of Sunda. Its 

 strength and sanguinary disposition are such that it 

 is the terror of the inhabitants in those countries; 

 and no animal, except the elephant, is capable of 

 resisting it. It even comes into the midst of vil- 

 lages, in the night time, for the purpose of carrying 

 off cattle. The colour is yellow, with transverse 

 black stripes; and the tail has alternate black and 

 yellow rings. The pupil of the eye is round. It 

 resembles the other animals of the cat tribe in every 

 respect, can be tamed as easily as the lion, and be- 

 comes familiar with its keeper. Its voice is very 

 powerful, and resembles that of the lion. 



TIGER FLOWER (tigridia pavonia); a Mexi- 

 can plant, frequently cultivated in gardens, on ac- 



