T H I 



cliaiii which hooks into the ftaple for drawing the machine 

 by, is thirty inches long. 



Thcwhole of the fcythes, when pi .perly fixed, projefts be- 

 yond the wood, and cut the thifllcc> three-quarters of an inch 

 above the furfacc of the ground. 



In cafes whi.'re the fcythes waat fhaviiening, it is obferved 

 that they may be i-'ared perpendiciUily up, or taken off 

 entirely ; and that, at the fame time, the horfes ftiould be 

 ungeared and taken away. 



In ufing the machine, it is advifed by the ingenious in- 

 ventor, tliat as foon as the thiftles are in full flower it fliould 

 be fet to work, the length way of the ridges ; and that if 

 the fcythes are kept very fharp, it will make excellent work. 

 And when the thiftles have been cut, they fliould lie a day 

 or two, it is faid, to perifli by the lofs of their fap-juice : 

 the ground muft then be cleared, and the clofe or field 

 rolled, the crofs way of the ridges, with a very heavy roller, 

 which fo crufties the hollow ftumps, and renders them fo per- 

 vious to water, that their roots foon rot and are defl;royed. 

 But to expedite the operation of the implement, and the dc- 

 ftruftion of the weeds and plants, the land fliould be cleaned 

 of all kinds of rubbifli, the latter end of March or begin- 

 ning of April, being drefled with the fward-drefl^er, and 

 then rolled the crofs way of the land, or ridges, v>'ith a 

 weighty roller, as juft mentioned. See S\v arv-D rcffer. 



THISTLE-Draiver, an ufeful implement of the forceps 

 kind, which is extremely beneficial in drawing up the com- 

 mon field-thift;le and fonie other ftrong forts of weeds. It 

 may be conftrufted either of wood or iron, in the latter 

 cafe having fockets for receiving wooden handles. When 

 made of wood, it fliould be of the hard and lefs brittle kind, 

 as good tough afli. It is ufually formed from two to three 

 feet in length, having fix notches or blunt teeth cut in each 

 blade, at the bottom part, where it bites or feizes the plants, 

 and each arm well fitted to the other, turning upon a ftrong 

 pivot or pill. In its operation the thiftle is feized clofe to 

 the ground and firmly held, fo as to be drawn out with 

 confiderable length of root. It has been long in ufe in the 

 northern parts of Lancafliire ; and is faid to be lately intro- 

 duced from Wiltshire into the county of Gloucefterfhire, in 

 the agriculture report of that diftrift. It is an ufeful and 

 efFedtive tool for the above purpofe, and only cofts about 

 two {hillings when made of wood, and three or four when 

 of iron. It has long been known in the firft of the above 

 counties by the provincial name of Gripes. 



TmarLE-Fly, in Natural Hijlory, a fmall fly produced 

 from a fly-worm hatching in the protuberances of the car- 

 duus hsEmorrhoidalis. In the protuberances of this thiftle, 

 while they are clofed in all parts, the worm of this fly, 

 from whofe injuring it, at the time of depofiting the egg 

 from which it was hatched, the protuberances arofe, under- 

 goes its lail transformation. It here makes of its own fliin 

 a fliell in form of an egg, within which it puts on the nymph 

 ftate. When this nymph becomes a living fly, the leaft 

 pai'l of its diiBculty is the finding its way out of this ftiell ; 

 it has a ftronger prifon than that, and before it can obtain 

 its liberty, muft force its way through the much more clofely 

 compadled fibres of the protuberance of the vegetable. It 

 has, however, no other means of doing this difficult work, 

 but that of inflating its head, and throwing out the bladder 

 or muzzle with which all thefe creatures are provided in this 

 ftate. See TH1STLE-Ga&. 



This is a difficult operation, and many of the creatures 

 pcrifli in the attempt ; but v.hat much forwards the fuccefs 

 of it, in many calcs is, that the ftalk of the thiftle often 

 becomes naturally half rotten before the time of the fly's 

 egrefs. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol. iv. p. 338. 



T M I 



Thistle-Go///, a name given by the more ac<.ii*atc au- 

 thors to the protuberances on the ftalk of a fpecies of 

 tliiftle, called by authors carduus hiimorrhoidcilis , from thofc 

 tubercles, which are fuppofcd to refemble thofc of the lis- 

 morrhoidal veins in perfoiis fubjedl to the piles. Thefe 

 have been fuppofed a natural produftion of the plant ; but 

 they are far othcrwife. The whole hiftory of them is, that 

 a certain fpecies of fly always dcpofits its eggs on the 

 ftalks ; and the young ones, when hatched, gnaw their way 

 into the fubftancc of the ftalks, and the copious derivation 

 of the juice, oecaGoned by their fucking, produces the tu- 

 bercles which are found on it. 



Thefe tubercles are of a roundifli or oblong figure, and 

 are of various fizes, from that of a pea to the Ligncfs of a 

 nutmeg ; they are much harder than the reft of tlie ftalk, 

 approaching to a woody ftrufture ; when cut open, they 

 are found to contain each feveral oblong and narrow cells ; 

 thefe have no communication with one another, and are 

 eacli inhabited by a fmall white worm, which has two hooks 

 at the head ; with thefe it breaks tlie fibres of the plant, in 

 order to get at its juices. When it has arrived at the time 

 of its change into the nymph llatc, it ceafes to eat, and 

 drawing up its body much fliorter than ufual, its flcin 

 hai-dens, and forms a fhell, under which it changes into a 

 very beautiful two-winged fly ; the wings are whitifli and 

 tranfparent in the middle ; and at the edges furrounded with 

 black in the form of a chain of figures Uke the letter Z ; 

 the body and breaft of this fly are of a beautiful black, with 

 fome flight variations of yellow, with which the flioulders 

 are ftreaked ; the anterior part of the head is white, aud 

 its back-part edged with a yellow down ; the antennas are 

 reddifli, and the legs are partly black, and partly of a fine 

 clear brown. 



In obferving the changes of the worms of thefe galls, 

 there are often obferved fome which go through them in a 

 different manner from the reft, and finally produce a very 

 different fpecies of fly. Thefe are the progeny of the eggs 

 of fome other fpecies of fly, whofe worm being carnivorous, 

 is lodged by the art of its parents, while it is yet in the egg 

 ftate, in the fubitance of this gall, there to prey upon the 

 defencelefs inhabitants. 



There are many fpecies of galls the inhabitants of which 

 are expofed to enemies. In thofe it is common to find the 

 proper inhabitant and the devourer in the fame cell ; the 

 one feeding on the juices of the plant, the other on its 

 juices ; but this is not the cafe here, thefe worms imme- 

 diately deftroying the proper inhabitants, and being found 

 always alone in their cells. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol. vi. 

 p. 221. 



Thistle, Order of. See Andrew. 



Tm.STLE, our Lady of the, was alfo a military order, in- 

 flituted in 3370, by Louis II. duke of Bourbon. It con- 

 fiftcd of twenty-fix knights, of which that prince and his 

 fuccelfors were the chiefs. Their badge was a fl<y.blue 

 girdle ; and, on folemii occafions, a mantle of the fame 

 colour, with a gold collar, interwoven with flower-de-luces ; 

 among which was the word efpcrance, hope, in capitals. 



THISTLE-TAKE, a cuftom in tlie hundred of Hal- 

 ton, in the county of Chefter, whereby, if in driving beafts 

 over the common, the driver permits them to graze, or take 

 but a thiftle, he fhall pay a halfpenny a bcaft to the lord of 

 the fee. 



AtvFifkerton, in Nottinghamfhire, by ancient cuftom, if 

 a nati e, or cottager, killed a fwine above a year old, he 

 paid the lord one penny, which was alfo called thiftle- 

 take. 



THIVA, or Stibes, in Geography, a town of European 



Turkey, 



