THA 



TIIA 



TETRAGYNIA. Having four pis- 

 tils. 



TETRANDRIA. With four sta- 

 mens. 



TETTIGONIANS. The Cicadi- 

 ans, or tree locusts. 



THALAMUS. In anatomy, the 

 part of the brain from which the op- 

 tic nerves have part of their origin. 

 In botany, the part on which the 

 ovary is seated. The succulent red 

 centre of a strawberry, the core in 

 the fruit of a raspberry, are the tluil- 

 ami of these plants. Some botanists 

 call it the receptacle of the fruit. 



THALLUS. The leaf-like ex- 

 pansion of lichens, sea-weeds, &c. 

 Hence these plants are sometimes 

 called Thallogcns, or Thallophytcs. 



THATCH. "Thisisacovermgof 

 straw, rushes, or reeds, as a substi- 

 tute for tiles, or slates, for houses, 

 barns, and principally for sheds for 

 cattle. The increase of agricultural 

 produce on a farm makes the stacking 

 of corn out of doors a matter of neces- 

 sity as well as convenience. The 

 temporary thatching of these stacks, 

 as well as of hayricks, has made it 

 necessary that some of the regular 

 servants of the farm should be capa- 

 ble of thatching in a neat and sub- 

 stantial manner, that there may be 

 no delay from want of a regular 

 thatcher. We will first describe the 

 mode of thatching hayricks and corn 

 stacks, as the simplest. 



" The rick, or stack, having been 

 formed into a proper shape, either 

 with a roof slanting from a ridge, or 

 conical, and ending in a central point, 

 the straw is prepared by moistening 

 it, that it may more easily bend with- 

 out breaking. It is then forked up 

 in a loose heap, the straws lying in 

 every direction, and somewhat mat- 

 ted. Portions are now drawn out 

 from this heap in handfuls, which 

 lays the straws again in a more paral- 

 lel order ; these are placed in a fork- 

 ed stick, which will hold several of 

 these bundles or handfuls, and are 

 thus carried to the thatcher on the 

 top of the rick, or stack. He seizes a 

 handful, and bending one end into a 

 kind of noose, he inserts this into the 



hay or straw near the bottom of the 

 roof, at one end if it be a square roof, 

 or at any convenient part if it be a 

 round one. He presses down the 

 straw which he has thus inserted to 

 about half its length, in order to form 

 the eaves, which extend a little be- 

 yond the lower part of the roof 

 When he has thus laid several hand- 

 fuls side by side, so as to cover about 

 a yard in width, that is, as far as he 

 can conveniently reach without mo- 

 ving his ladder, he begins another 

 row a little above the place where 

 he began, so that the lower end of 

 the straw now inserted may cover 

 the upper part of the first row, as tiles 

 do each other. Thus he proceeds 

 upward till he comes to the upper 

 ridge of the roof, or to the point of 

 the cone in a round stack. In the 

 latter case the covering diminishes 

 to a point, so as to form a triangle. 

 The ladder is now shifted a yard to 

 one side, and the same operation is 

 performed, care being taken that each 

 Iresh handful put on shall be inter- 

 woven with that which lies beside it, 

 so that no water can possibly pass 

 between them. Thus the work pro- 

 ceeds till the roof is completed, and 

 it only remains to secure the upper 

 ridge in a square stack, or the point 

 of the cone in a round one. In the 

 first case, the highest layer of straw 

 is made to extend beyond the ridge 

 on both sides, and the ends are brought 

 together and stand up like the bristles 

 on a hog. A rope of straw has been 

 prepared, and many small rods, about 

 two feet long, and cut sharp at the 

 point: these are inserted just below 

 ! the ridge, in a line with it, and about 

 ' a foot apart ; one end of the straw 

 rope is inserted into the stack, and 

 twisted firmly round the projecting 

 end of the first rod ; it is then wound 

 once round tlie next rod, and so on 

 the whole length of the ridge ; this is 

 ; done on both sides. The straws which 

 I form the ridge are now cut with shears 

 horizontally, to give it a neat finish, 

 and at each end a kind of ornament 

 ' is usually made by winding a straw 

 rope round a handful of the project- 

 i ing straw, lorming a kind of knot or 



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