TIMBREL TIME. 



619 



purpose, being more liable to decomposition. The 

 preservative quality of common salt (muriate of 

 soda) is well known. An example of its effect is 

 seen in the hay of salt marshes, which is frequently 

 housed before it is dry, And which often becomes 

 damp afterwards, from the deliquescence of its salt, 

 yet remains unchanged for an indefinite length of 

 time. In the salt mines of Poland and Hungary, 

 the galleries are supported by wooden pillars, which 

 which are found to last unimpaired for ages, in 

 consequence of being impregnated with the salt, 

 while pillars of brick and stone, used for the same 

 purpose, crumble away, in a short time, by the de- 

 cay of their mortar. Wooden piles, driven into 

 the mud of salt flats and marshes, last for an unli- 

 mited time, and are used for the foundations of 

 brick and stone edifices. The application of salt, 

 in minute quantities, is said rather to hasten than 

 prevent the decay of vegetable and animal bodies. 

 Yet the practice of docking timber, by immersing 

 it, for some time, in sea water, after it has been 

 seasoned, is generally admitted to promote its du- 

 rability. There are some experiments which ap- 

 pear to show, that, after the dry rot has commenced, 

 immersion in salt water effectually checks its pro- 

 gress, and preserves the remainder of the timber.* 

 In some ships, the interstices between the timbers, 

 in various parts of the hull, are filled with dry salt. 

 "When this salt deliquesces, it fills the pores of the 

 wood with a strong saline impregnation ; but it has 

 oeen said, in some cases, to render the inside of the 

 vessel uncomfortably damp. If timber is immersed 

 in a brine made of pure muriate of soda, without 

 the bitter deliquescent salts which sea water con- 

 tains, the evil of dampness is avoided. A variety 

 of other substances, besides common salt, act as 

 antiseptics in preventing the dry rot, and the growth 

 of the fungus which attends it. Nitre and alum 

 have been recommended for this purpose ; and some 

 of the metallic salts are considered still more effec- 

 tual. Of these, the sulphates of iron, copper and 

 zinc have the effect to harden and preserve the tim- 

 ber. Wood boiled in a solution of the former of 

 these, and afterwards kept some days in a warm 

 place to dry, is said to become impervious to mois- 

 ture. Corrosive sublimate, which is recommended 

 by Sir H. Davy, is a powerful preservative of or- 

 ganized substances from decay, and proves destruc- 

 tive to parasitic vegetables and animals ; but its 

 safety, in regard to the health of crews, if used in 

 large quantities about the wood of a ship, may be 

 considered as doubtful. An opinion has been stated, 

 that the decay of timber in ships, by dry rot, is owing 

 to the impure atmosphere generated by bilge water, 

 and that it is to be remedied by constructing ships 

 with a view to their free and effectual ventilation. 

 TIMBREL. See Tambourine. 

 TIMBUCTOO, OR TOMBUCTOO ; a city of 

 Africa, for many centuries the great emporium of 

 the interior trade of that continent, situated eight 

 miles to the north of the Niger. This city has 

 excited much interest, and has only recently been 

 visited by any European traveller ; and the informa- 

 tion as yet possessed respecting it is exceedingly 

 vague. Leo Africanus gives a description of this 



* The British frigate Resistance, which went down in Malta 

 harbour, aud the Eden, which was sunk in Ply 



harbour, aud the Eden, which was sunk in Plymouth sound, 

 u-cre liotli affected with dry rot. These ships, after remaining 

 many months under water, wore raised, and it was found that 

 t In- disease was wholly arrested. Kvery vestige of fungus had 

 disappeared, and the snips remained in service afterwards, per- 

 fectly sound from any further decay. (Supplement to the En- 

 cyclopedia Britannica. iii W2 ) 



city, which he had visited twice. According to 

 him, Timbuctoo was founded in the year of the 

 Hegira 610 (1218, A. D.), and having extended its 

 dominion over all the neighbouring states, acquired 

 that commercial prosperity for which it has ever 

 since been distinguished. At the time when he 

 visited it, it contained many persons of great opu- 

 lence, particularly foreign merchants. The king 

 held a splendid court, and had an army consisting 

 of 3000 cavalry, and a numerous infantry. The 

 royal palace and principal mosque were built of 

 stone, but the houses of the ordinary inhabitants 

 were constructed in the form of bells the walls 

 composed of stakes or hurdles, and the roofs of 

 reeds. In 1811, Robert Adams, an illiterate Ame- 

 rican sailor, was, according to his own account (see 

 his Narrative, London, 1816, the misstatements of 

 which are pointed out in the North American 

 Review, vol. 5 and 22), after being shipwrecked 

 near cape Blanco, carried as a slave to Timbuctoo, 

 and detained there six months. A more recent ac- 

 count was given by captain Riley, an American, 

 who suffered shipwreck on the coast of Sahara, in 

 1815. The account was given to Riley by Sidi 

 Hamet, an intelligent Arab merchant, by whom he 

 was purchased and carried to Mogadore. (See 

 Riley 's Narrative of his Shipwreck and Captivity, 

 New York, 1817.) In 1826, major Lairig reached 

 Timbuctoo, where he remained for upwards of a 

 month. Several letters were received from him 

 while there, stating that, in point of extent, it did 

 not exceed four miles in circuit, but that in other 

 respects it answered his expectations. He was 

 soon after obliged to leave the city, and was mur- 

 dered three days after quitting it : his papers have 

 not been recovered. (SeeZai?</.) In 1828, Caillie 

 visited Timbuctoo (or Temboctoo, as he calls it), 

 and resided there above a fortnight. According to 

 him, it consists of ill-built earthen houses, situated 

 in the midst of deserts of moving sand, and con- 

 taining seven mosques. He estimates the popula- 

 tion at only 10,000 or 12,000, chiefly negroes, who 

 are Mohammedans. It is entirely supported by 

 commerce, being the depot of salt from the Taudeny 

 mines, and of European goods brought by the cara- 

 vans from Morocco, as well as those from Tunis 

 and Tripoli, which go by the way of Ghadamis. 

 These goods are embarked for Jenne, to be ex- 

 changed for the gold, slaves, and provisions, with 

 which that city exclusively supplies Timbuctoo. 

 It may be proper to observe, that the truth and ac- 

 curacy of Caillie's statements have been very much 

 questioned, particularly in the London Quarterly 

 Review. Lon. of Timbuctoo, according to Rennell, 

 2 30' E. ; lat. 16 30' N. ; according to the map 

 prepared by Jomard, from Caillie's notes, lat. 17 

 50' N. ; Ion. 3 34' W. See Caillie's Travels to 

 Timbuctoo, from the French, London, 1830. 



TIME is the general relation in which all things 

 perceptible stand to each other, in regard to their 

 origin, continuance and dissolution. It is a form 

 necessary to enable the mind to unite successive 

 existence. It is not an external object, nor a mere 

 relation of individual things to each other, but is in- 

 finite, like the phenomena which are submitted to this 

 form in our perceptions. (See Kant, volume vii, p. 

 304.) We speak of a distinct period of time (re- 

 lative time) only in reference to that which fills 

 time. Accordingly, we also distinguish the past, 

 Dresent and future as its component parts, which 

 mss continually each into the succeeding. In order 

 ;o measure the succession and duration of particu- 



