TILSIT TIMBER. 



617 



Prussia, at the invitation of Napoleon, also repaired 

 to Tilsit. July 7, peace was concluded between 

 Napoleon and Alexander, by Talleyrand, Kurakin, 

 and Labanoff Rostoffski, Kalckreuth and Golz. 

 The question was only respecting the territory of 

 the king of Prussia, who was obliged to cede one 

 half of his country in order to retain the other, under 

 the hardest conditions, which it was almost impos- 

 sible to fulfil. By the terms of the peace, it was set- 

 tled, 1. that the provinces torn from Poland by 

 Prussia, in 1793 and 1795, should form a new 

 duchy of Warsaw ; 2. that Dantzic, with a territory 

 two leagues in circuit, should be made a free city, 

 under the protection of Prussia and Saxony ; 3. 

 that the king of Saxony, made duke of Warsaw, 

 should have a military road to his new state, through 

 Silesia ; 4. that the dukes of Mecklenburg, Olden- 

 burg, and Coburg should be reinstated, by the em- 

 peror of the French, and on the other hand, his 

 brother Jerome should be acknowledged, by Alex- 

 ander, as king of Westphalia, Joseph as king of 

 Naples, Louis as king of Holland ; and, 5. that the 

 kingdom of Westphalia should be formed of the 

 provinces ceded by Prussia, situated on the left 

 bank of the Elbe, together with Brunswick, Hessia, 

 &c. At the same time, 6. Alexander ceded the 

 lordship of Jever to Holland, and promised, 7. to 

 withdraw his troops from Moldavia and Walachia, 

 and conclude peace with the Porte, under Napo- 

 leon's mediation. On the other hand, Russia re- 

 ceived of the Prussian provinces, that of Bialy- 

 stock, 4360 square miles, with 184,000 inhabi- 

 tants. Moreover, the Russians evacuated Cattaro 

 >n consequence of the peace of Tilsit. In a secret 

 article, Russia promised to unite with France against 

 England, to secure the independence of neutral flags, 

 and to induce the courts of Stockholm, Copenha- 

 gen, and Lisbon to concur in the same arrangement. 

 The terms of the peace between Napoleon and Fre- 

 deric William III. of Prussia, were contained, essen- 

 tially, in that just described. Prussia was to cede 

 the above-mentioned Polish provinces, and all the 

 provinces between the Elbe and Rhine, to Napo- 

 leon, the circle of Cottbus to Saxony, and to close 

 her ports against England. July 9, the peace with 

 Prussia was signed, and count Kalckreuth agreed, 

 with the prince of Neufchatel, that all Prussia 

 should be evacuated by Oct. 1, if the heavy con- 

 tributions should be paid up to that time, or secu- 

 rity satisfactory to the intendant-general should be 

 given for the payment. These terms could not be 

 fulfilled, and Prussia continued a prey to French 

 commissioners, until it compounded for the imposi- 

 tions laid on it, after the lapse of a year, by the 

 payment of 120,000,000 francs. Yet it remained 

 continually exposed to attack on the part of the 

 French, who occupied three fortresses on the Oder 

 (Glogau, Kustrin, and Stettin), and from their 

 allied states (Warsaw, Saxony, and Westphalia), 

 until, in 1813, its situation was changed. In the 

 treaty with Russia, it was said, " The king of Prus- 

 sia receives back half of his states at the intercession 

 of the emperor of Russia." In 1822, Lewis Gold- 

 smith published the secret articles of the peace of 

 Tilsit, or rather the secret agreements made at the j 

 same. According to these, Russia was to have ' 

 European Turkey; a prince of Napoleon's family j 

 was to receive the crown of Spain and Portugal ; 

 the temporal power of the pope was to cease ; 

 France to occupy the African States ; Malta and 

 Egypt to belong again to France ; France to be ! 

 supported by Russia in the conquest of Gibraltar ; ' 



the Mediterranean to be open only to French, Rus- 

 sian, Spanish, and Italian vessels ; and Denmark to 

 be indemnified by the Hanse towns in northern 

 Germany, if she would employ her fleet against 

 England, &c. 



TILT-HAMMER ; a large and heavy hammer, 

 put in motion by a water-wheel or steam-engine. 

 Cogs being brought to bear on the tail of the ham- 

 mer, its depression causes the head to be elevated, 

 which, when liberated, falls with considerable force 

 by its own specific gravity. Tilt-mills work on the 

 same principle. 



TILTING OF STEEL, is the process by which 

 blistered steel is rendered ductile. This is done by 

 placing it under the tilt-hammer. 



TIMJEUS, of Locri, in Magna Graecia; a Pytha- 

 gorean philosopher, and a teacher of Plato, who has 

 called one of his dialogues by his name. Timaeus 

 employed himself chiefly in the study of nature. The 

 genuineness of the work which goes under his name 

 (On Nature and the Soul of the World) is doubted 

 by Meiners, though defended by Tiedemann. It is 

 inserted in Stanley's History of Philosophy. Mein- 

 ers considers it merely as an abridgement of Plato's 

 TimcEus. 



TIMAR AND SIAMET are military fiefs in 

 Turkey. See Zaim. 



TIMBER. A vast expense is every year occa- 

 sioned by the premature decay of wood, employed 

 in ships and other structures, which are exposed to 

 vicissitudes of weather, and especially if they are 

 subjected to the influence of warmth combined with 

 moisture. Trees of different species vary greatly 

 in the durability of their wood ; yet, none of the 

 species commonly employed are capable of with- 

 standing, for many years, the effect of unfavourable 

 exposures and situations. The decay of timber is 

 sometimes superficial and sometimes internal. In the 

 former case, the outside of the wood first perishes and 

 crumbles away, and successive strata are decomposed, 

 before the internal parts become unsound. In the 

 other species, which is distinguished by the name 

 of the dry rot, the disease begins in the interior sub- 

 stance of the wood, particularly of that which has not 

 been well seasoned, and spreads outwardly, causing 

 the whole mass to swell, crack, and exhale a musty 

 odour. Different fungous vegetables sprout out of 

 its substance ; the wood loses its strength, and 

 crumbles, finally, into a mass of dust. This disease 

 prevails most in a warm, moist, and confined atmos- 

 phere, such as frequently exists in the interior of 

 ships, and in the cellars and foundations of houses. 

 Its destructive effects in ships of war have given 

 rise, of late, to numerous publications. Some 

 writers consider that the dry rot is not essentially 

 different from the more common kinds of decay ; 

 but there seems to be sufficient reason for the dis- 

 tinction which has usually been drawn. The pre- 

 vention of the evil has been attempted in various 

 ways, and with some degree of success. 



Felling. It is agreed by most writers that the 

 sap of vegetables is the great cause of their fermen- 

 tation and decay. Hence it appears desirable, if 

 there is any season in which the trunk of a tree is 

 less charged with sap than at others, that this time 

 should be selected for felling it. The middle of 

 summer and the middle of winter are, undoubtedly, 

 the periods when the wood contains least sap. In 

 the months of spring and autumn, in which the roots 

 prepare sap, but no leaves exist to expend it, the 

 trunk is overcharged with sap; and in many trees, 

 as the maple and birch, sap will flow out at these 



