T II A 



T H A 



fignifying a nobleman ; though fometimes only a freeman, 

 and fometimes a Tnagillr;itc. 



Thank Lands, were lands granted by charter of the Saxon 

 kings to their thanes. 



THANET, IJle of, in Geography, is a trad of land on 

 the fouthern coall of the county of Kent, England, confid- 

 ing of about 27,000 acres, and is feparated from the remain- 

 ing part of the county by tlie narrow channel of the river 

 Stour, and the fmaller (tream called the Nethergong. The 

 marihes which border thcfe llreams are extcnfive, ami aflord 

 rich pafturage for cattle, but the higher grounds are prin- 

 cipally appropriated to the growth of corn. The ifie is in 

 fhape a long oval, being about nine miles in length from 

 eaft to weft, and nearly live miles broad from north to fouth. 

 Solinus, who is quoted by Camden, calls it Athanatos, and 

 in fome copies Thanatos, which probably gave origin to the 

 Saxon appellation Tenet, or Tanctlond ; though Lewis de- 

 rives this from Tene, a fire or beacon ; and he fuppofes the 

 ifle to have been fo named on account of the beacons or fires 

 which were kept here to give notice of Danifh or other 

 pirates, to whofe ravages it was greatly expofed. Thanet is 

 bounded on the north and eaft fides by the ocean ; a circum- 

 ftance which, conneftcd with the falubrity of its air, and its 

 convenient diftance from the metropolis, has led to the efta- 

 bliftiment of feveral watering-places ; and thefe, in tlie fum- 

 mer and autumnal fcafons, occafion a continual influx of 

 vifitants, whofe expenditure adds greatly to the wealth of 

 the fixed inhabitants. The chalk cliffs which furround the 

 coaft abound in foffils ; and among them, the cornua am- 

 monis has been found, meafuring apwards of three feet in 

 diameter. The whole of Thanet is divided into the two 

 capital manors of Minfter and Monkton, by St. Mildi'ed's 

 Lynch, a narrow ftrip of land, left unploughed, and extend- 

 ing quite acrofs the ifle, from Weft;gate by Woodchurch, to 

 Sheriff's Hope near Monkton. The ifle anciently contained 

 eleven pariflies ; but thofeof Sarre and All Saints have been 

 united to St. Nicholas, and that of Woodchurch to Bir- 

 chington. The pariflies of Minfier, Monkton, and Stonar, 

 with parts of thofe St. Nicholas and St. Lawrence, are under 

 the jurifdicfion of two conrtables ; the other pariflies, namely 

 St. John's, including the town of Mai-gate ; Birchington, 

 with Gore's End, St. Peter's, and Wood or Woodchurch, 

 the ville of Ramfgate, and the ville of Sarre, with the remain- 

 der of St. Nicholas and St. Lawrence, are all members of, 

 and fubjeft to the controul of the ports of Dover and Sand- 

 wich. The population return of the year 181 1 fl;ated the 

 inhabitants of the ifle to be 16,156 ; the number of lioufes 

 3209. (See Margate, Ramsgate, and Reculveu.) — 

 Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xiii. Kent ; by 

 E. W. Brayley. 



THANN, or Dann, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Lfppcr Rhine ; 13 miles N.N.E. of Befort. 



Thann. See Tanna. 



THANNHAUSEN, or Tannhausen, a town of 

 Germany, in the circle of Swabia, and principal place of a 

 lordftiip of the fame name, on the river Mindel ; 14 miles 

 N. of Mindelheim. 



THANNURIS, in Andent Geography, a town of Afia, 

 in Ofrhoene ; and another in Mefopotamia. 



THANTIA, a town of Paleftiue, in Batan;ea, eaft- 

 ward towards the mountains, S.E. of Adraa. 



THANWALD, in Geography, a town of Silefia, in the 

 principality of Breflau ; 13 miles N.W. of Breflau. 



THAOUAOUIS. See Tav avis. 



THAPAUA, in Ancient Geography, a town fituated in 

 jlie interior of Arabia Felix. Ptol. 



Vol. XXXV. 



THAPSA, a townof P.-Jeftinc, in the tribe of Ephraiin. 



'l'HAPSAClIS,or AMi'iirpoi.is, a large and flourifliing 

 town of Afia, in Syria, on the banks ot the Euphrates. 

 When Alexander, after leaving Egypt, came to Thapfacus, 

 he found iiere two bridges over tlie Euphrates. Xenophon 

 tells us tliat Cyrus fojourned liere five days ; and that it was 

 licre that he informed the Greeks of his intention to march 

 to Babylon. Tlie foldiers mutinied, but were afterwards 

 appealed by his promifes. Thapfaeus is now a village, called 

 " El-Der." The channel of the river is here about half a 

 mile in breadth, and would appear to have been fordable from 

 the earliett; times to the prefent day. It was pafled on foot 

 by Cyrus and his whole army, and, as fome fay, by that of 

 Alexander the Great. 



THAPSIA, in Botany, a name adopted from the ancient 

 Greeks, whofe 0x4-10:, if not precifely a fpecies of our pre- 

 fent genus, was certainly, like it, a large umbelliferous 

 plant, yielding a gummy exudation, and bearing yellow 

 flowers, iucceeded by broad feeds. Such is the defcription 

 given by Diofcorides, who moreover adds, that his 6a^)-^(», 

 fo named from tlie ifland of Thapfos, where it grew, was in 

 e\-ery refpeft like Ferula, but with a more flender ftem, and 

 leaves nearly akin to fennel. The root was large ; white 

 within, black on the oiitfide, with a tluck acrid bark. He 

 attributes various virtues to its gum or juice, either taken as 

 a purge, in oppreffions of the cheft ; or applied externally, 

 along with honey, wax, or frankincenfe, for cutaneous com- 

 plaints, tumours, &c. — Linn. Gen. 144. Schreb. 193. 

 WiUd. Sp. PI. V. I. 1464. Mart. Mill. Did. v, 4. Ait. 

 Hort. Kew. v. 2. 156. Sm. Prodr. Fl. Grace. Sibth. 

 V. I. 20I. Juff. 220. Tourn. t. 171. Lamarck lUuftr. 

 t. 206. Gasrtn. t. 21. — Clafs and order, Pentantlria 

 Digynia. Nat. Ord. Umbellatdc, Linn. Umbelllfcrte, Jufl". 



Gen. Ch. General Umbel large, with about twenty rays, 

 of nearly equal length ; partial of as many, nearly ecjual, 

 rays. Involucrum none, neilher general nor partial. Perianth 

 fcarcely difcernible. Cor. Univerfal uniform ; all the 

 flowers fertile ; partial of five lanceolate incurved petals. 

 Stam. Filaments five, capillary, the length of the corolla ; 

 anthers finiple. Pi/l- Germen inferior, oblong ; ftyles two, 

 fliort ; ftignias obtufe. Peric. Fruit oblong, encompafled 

 longitudinally with a membranous border, feparable into 

 two parts. Seeds two, very large, oblong, convex, pointed 

 at each end, encompafled at each fide with a large, flat, 

 entire -edged border, which is emarginate at each extremity. 



Eff. Ch. Livolucrum neither general nor partial. Fruit 

 oblong, encompafled with a membranous border. Petals 

 uniform, lanceolate, inflexed. Flowers all fertile. 



I. Th. villofa. Villous Deadly Carrot. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 375. Willd. n. I. Ait. n. I. (Th. prima ; Cluf. Hift. 

 v. 2. 192. Th. latifolia Clufii ; Ger. Em. 1030.) — 

 Leaflets toothed, villous ; confluent at the bafe. — Native of 

 fliony ground, in Spain, Portugal, and the fouth of France. 

 Dr. Sibthorp found it in the fields of Patmos and Cyprus, 

 and Dr. Brouflbnet at Algiers. The root is perennial, 

 tap-fliaped, faid to be of an extremely foetid, acrid, and 

 naufeous quahty, which has given rife to the Englifli name. 

 Gerarde applies to this fpecies what Diofcorides fays of 

 T. garganica, that exhalations from the root or plant exul- 

 cerate the flcin. The ^em is three or four feet high, ereft, 

 round, fmooth, leafy, branched at the top. Leaves large 

 and fpreading, twice or thrice pinnate ; their leaflets fefGle, 

 obtufe, pinnatifid, notched, confluent at the bafe, in the 

 manner of a fern ; hairy on both fides ; whitifli and downy 

 at the back. Umbels feveral, ftalked, terminal, large, 

 fmooth, naked. Flowers yellow, rather fmall. Fruit about 

 half an inch long, and a quarter broad, with four ribs at 

 3 L each 



