T A L 



vifton, or merely for the purpofe of apprizing it of the ap- 

 proach of light, fo as to warn it of the danger of cxpofure. 

 Galen is of the former opinion. Sir Thomas Brown refers 

 this to the clafs of vulgar errors ; but Derham, by dilTec- 

 tion, and the aid of a microleope, confirmed the opinion of 

 Galen. This animal is faid to feed not only on worms and 

 infefts, &c. but on the roots of vegetables: however, it is 

 more carnivorous than frugivorous. In particuLtr circum- 

 ftances it is very fierce and voraciousv Without damp mould 

 for its relidence, it is kept alive with difficulty in a Hate of 

 confinement. Like other animals of a black colour, the 

 mole is fometimes found perfeftly white, or creauKoloured, 

 and fometimes fpotted. Gmelin reckons four varieties, "vit. 

 the vai-iegated or fpotted mole of Edwards, the wiiite, the 

 yellow, and the cinereous. Of its furprifnig power in 

 Iwimraing, we have a curious initance recorded in the 3d vo- 

 lume of the Tranfaftions of the Linnjeaii Society ; which 

 is that of a mole that was feen fwimming towards a fmall 

 ifland in the middle of the loch of Clunie, in Scotland, at 

 the diftance of 180 yards from the land. Linnxus and 

 Gmelin affirm that the mole paffes the winter in a ftate of 

 torpidity ; but this is contradifted by Buffon, and he alleges 

 fadls to prove the contrary. The mole is faid to be unknown 

 in Ireland. In Siberia it attains a larger iize than in Eu- 

 rope, and its fur is fo foft and beautiful, that it would make 

 the moil elegant articles of drefs, were it not for the difficulty 

 of curing and dreffing the {Icin. See Mole. 



AsiATiCA. Has no tail, and tridaftylous fore-feet. This is 

 the Siberian mole of Pennant. It is fomewhat fmaller than 

 the common mole, its length being four inches ; and is a na- 

 tive of the, Cape of Good Hope. 



LoNGlCAUDATA. With a tail of middhng length, and 

 pentadaftylous feet, the hinder ones fcaly. This is the 

 long-tailed mole of Pennaiit : its length from iiofe to tail is 

 four inches and fix-tenths ; and it is a native of North 

 America. 



Rubra ; Red Mole of Pennant. Has a fliort tail, tri- 

 da£Iylous fore -feet, and tridaftylous hind-feet. This is faid 

 to be a native of America. 



Dr. Shaw mentions fome other fpecies, as the 7". purpu- 

 rafcens, or black mole, with a glofs of purple^ pentadafty- 

 loBS feet, and white tail, firft defcribed by Seba, and by 

 him faid to be a native of Virginia : — the 7". rad'iata, or black 

 mole, with v.'hite feet, and nofc radiated with papilla: ; an 

 inhabitant of North America : — the Sorex crijlatus of Liu- 

 naius ; a variety, as Dr. Shaw fays, of the T. longicaudata: — 

 and the T.fujca, or brown mole, with white teet and tail, the 

 fore-feet very broad ; a native of North America, and fup- 

 pofed to be the fame with the Sorex aquaticits of Linnaeus. 



Talpa, (a mole,) in Surgery, a tumour, which makes its 

 way under the Ikin, as a mole under the furface of the 

 ground. Such is faid to be the derivation of the terra. 

 Talpa is often ufed in the language of furgery, to exprefs 

 an encyiled tumour, which forms on the head, and contains 

 a pap-like matter. See Atheboma. 



TALPA R, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the pro- 

 vince of Irak ', 70 miles N.W. of Hamadan. 



TALPARIA, in Surgery, an encyiled tumour, filled 

 with a pap-like matter. See Talpa. 



TALPIA, in Geography, a town of Chinefe Tartary, in 

 the country of Hami ; 28 miles N.E. of Hatamtam. 



TALSENGHE, a town of Hmdooitan, in Vifiapour ; 

 10 miles S.W. of Vifiapour. 



TALSHIDE. SeeTALwooD. 



TALSPERG, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Upper Rhine ; 12 miles E. of Porcntrui. 



r A M 



TALTITZ, a tovfn of Saxony, in the Vogtiand ; 4 

 miles S. of I'lauen. 



TALUS, in Analomy, a name formerly given to the 

 allragalus, or that bone of the foot which is articulated to 

 the leg. (See ExTitKMiTiES.) This bone in the pecori 

 has a cubic (liape ; and was employed by the ancients in 

 their famous game, ludus talorum. (See Ariftotle, Hill. 

 Anim. lib. ii. c. 1.) For the various appellations of this 

 well-known bone in moll of the European and Oriental 

 languages, and for its form in dilfereiit animals ; fee Th. 

 Hyde, Hilloria Talorum, in vol. ii. of his Syntagma Dif- 

 fcrtationura, Oxon. 1767, 410. 



Talus, or TiJud, in /Irchketlure, the inclination or flope 

 of a work ; as of the outfide of a wall, when its thickiiefs 

 is diminiflicd by degrees, as it rifes in height, to make it 

 the firmer. 



Talus, or Talud, in Fortification. — Taltts of a bajlion, or 

 rampart, is the Hope or diminution allowed to fuch a work ; 

 whether it be of earth, or ftone ; the better to fupport its 

 weight. 



The exterior talus of a work, is its flope on the fide to- 

 wards the country ; which is always made as little as pof- 

 fible, to prevent the enemy's efcaladc, unlefs the earth be 

 bad, and then it is abfolutely neceflary to allow a confider- 

 able talus for its parapet, and fometimes to fupport the earth 

 with a flight wall, called a re-uctcmmt. 



The interior talus of a work, is its flope on the (ide to- 

 wards the place. 



This is larger than the former, and has, at the angles of 

 the gorge, and fometimes in the middle of the curtains, 

 ramps or Hoping roads for mounting upon the terre -plain of 

 the rampart. 



Talus, Superior, of the parapet, is a flope on the top 

 of the parapet, that allows of the foldiers defending the 

 covert-way with fmall-fhot, which they could not do if it 

 were level. 



TALWOOD, Taliatura, in our Old Writers, fire- 

 wood cut and cleft into billets of a certain length : it ij 

 otherwife written talghwood and taljhide. Stat. 34 & 3^ 

 Hen. VIII. c. 3. 7 Edw. VI. c. 7. 43 Eliz. c. 14. 



TALYSIAN, in Geography, a town on the E. coall of 

 the iflaiid of Borneo. N. lat. 1^48'. E. long. 117° 40'. 



TAM, a river of China, which runs into the Ta; 5 miles 

 S.E. of Khi, in Pe-tche-li. 



Tam, El, a town of Perfia, in Segeftan, on the Heei^ 

 mund ; 25 miles E. of Zarcng. 



TAMA, a town of Circaffia, on the Black fca ; 60 mile* 

 E.N.E. of Theodofia. 



TAMACH. See Taisacii. 



TAMACHABAD, a town of Hindooftan, in Benares; 

 18 miles W. of Benares. 



TAMACLIPA, a town of Mexico, in the proTince of 

 Gualleca ; 52 miles N. of Paiiuco. 



TAMACUIL, a town of Mexico, in the province of 

 Guafleca ; 40 miles S. of Panuco. 



TAMAHOO, a fmall ifland in the Eaftern Indian fea, 

 near the wed coafl of Borneo. N. lat. 0° 7'. E. long. 

 109'' 21'. 



TAMALAMEQUE, a town of South America, 

 in the province of St. Martha, on the river Magdalena ; 

 160 miles S. of St. Martha. N. lat. 8=^40'. W. long. 



73° 0'. 



TAMALAPATRA, in the Materia Medico, a name by 

 which fome authors have called the folium Indicum, or In- 

 dian leaf, ufed in medicine. 



The tree which produces this leaf i« the laurus tajfia of 

 H 2 Linnxu*, 



