T H O 



T II O 



fcliool of Holum ; and in 1570 he was appointed bifliop'of 

 that diocefe. With a view of diffufing knowledge, he efta- 

 bhflied a printing-prefs, firft at Riipurel, and afterwards at 

 liolum, which he perfonally fuperintended. He was one of 

 the moll learned of the Icelandic hifhops, but too arbitrary 

 in the cxercifc of his cpifcopal funftions. He died in 1629, 

 in the 851!! year of his age. Many coniiderable works, 

 partly his own, and partly thofe of otliers, iflned from his 

 prefs. He alio conftrufted a map of Iceland, which was 

 engraved by Orteliiis. Gen. Biog. 



THORN, in Geography, a city of PrulTia, lituated on the 

 Viftula, formerly the cliicf city of Polilh Pruflia. It was 

 founded by Herman Baick, firft grand-mafterof the Teutonic 

 order, who built the callle of Thorn in 1 23 1. In the follow- 

 ing year, the foundation of the town was laid ; but the build- 

 ing was difcontinued in 1235, on account of the inconvenient 

 fituation, and Thorn was built about a German mile farther 

 up the river, on the fpot where it now Hands. It is fup- 

 pofed to have been called Tlvorn, becaufe the knights of 

 the Teutonic order, by building this city, opened themfelves 

 a thor or door into Pruflia. When the knights of the 

 Teutonic order enormoufly abufed their power throughout 

 all Pruflia, Thorn was the firll city which formed the noble 

 fcheme of fliaking off their oppreflive yoke. The inhabit- 

 ants then put themfelves under the proteftion of Cafimir the 

 Great, king of Poland, upon advantageous conditions, as a 

 free city. Thorn has ten gates, and is divided into the Old 

 and the New Town, each of which had formerly its re- 

 fpeftive council, magiftracy, and police. But, in 1454, 

 they were incorporated into one city. They are, however, 

 feparated from each other by a wall and moat within the 

 town ; and without, they are defended in common by a fine 

 double wall and moats. Thorn was formerly ftrongly for- 

 tified ; and it gradually improved its advantageous fituation, 

 lb as to become a place of very confiderable trade, and one 

 of the principal of the Hanfe towns. It likewife carried 

 on an extenfive commerce in the Baltic, independently of 

 the other cities of that confederacy ; for before the river 

 widened lo much, and confequently became Ihallower, fhips 

 of burden could come up to the very city. From various 

 caufes, in little more than half a century, Thorn greatly 

 declined from its flouriihing cowdition ; for it furrendered 

 by capitulation, in 1655, to Charles Guftavus, king of 

 Sweden ; and, in 1658, after a vigorous fiege, it was taken 

 by the Poles and Brandenburghers. In 1703, it was bom- 

 barded and taken by Charles XII. king of Sweden, who 

 not only exhaufted it by the heavieft contribution, but alfo 

 demolilhed all the fortifications, contrary to the articles of 

 capitulation. Between the years 1708 and 1 7 10, great 

 numbers of its inhabitants were fwept away by the plague. 

 In the following years, the revenues of the city fuffered con- 

 fiderably by the confederations in Poland, and no lefs by 

 the commotions occafioned by the competitors for the crown 

 of that kingdom. In 1793, fo"ie Prufiian troops entered 

 this town, and from that time it has formed part of the 

 dominions of that king ; the king of Pruflia taking poflef- 

 fion of Thorn and Dantzic, together with the palatinates of 

 Pofnania, Kaiifh, &c. agreeably to a proclamation, pub- 

 Llhed on the 25th of March. The foap, ginger -bread, &c. 

 of Thorn, are every where in great requeft ; and, accord- 

 ingly, great quantities of them are exported. The afpa- 

 ragus that grows wild on fome of the city lands, is not 

 inferior to that which is cultivated with fo much care in 

 other countries; 70 miles S. of Dantzic. N. lat. 52° 55'. 

 E. long. iS'^ 30'. 



Thorn, or Thoren, a tovyn of France, in the department 

 iff the Lower Meufe. It had a noble abbey, whofc fuperior 

 Vol, XXXV. 



was a princcfs. This abbey was alfefled in the matricula at 

 one horfc or twelve florins ; 7 miles S.W. of Rurcmond. 



Thorn, in Botany, a name generally given to ail trees, or 

 the larger kinds of fhrubs, which are armed with fpines or 

 prickles, but more particularly applied to the Linnsan 

 genus Ckat.'EGU.s, now funk in Mks.''1Lus. (See thofe 

 articles. ) Otherwife this name is almoft as vaguely applied 

 as its Greek and Latin fynonyms, axKvjy. and fpina, neither 

 of which is ftnftly appropriated to any one plant, or family 

 of plants. Av.KvOa, in Diofcorides, is the name of tiiat well- 

 known herb, whofe leaves compofe the ornamental part of a 

 Corinthian capital, and which is the Brank-urfine, or Acan- 

 thus of modern botanifts, as well as of the generality of 

 writers. But he applies the fame likewife to a kind of 

 thilUe. The Acanthus of Virgil can fcarcely be any thing 

 elfe than the Common Holly, Ilex Aquifolium, though we 

 do not find that this idea has occurred to his critics or 

 iiiuftrators. This flirub, fo abundant in Italy, cannot be 

 traced, under any other name or allufion, in the poet ; while 

 the brigiit afpeft, the faffron or fcarlet colour, the pliant 

 twigs of his Acanthus ; but, above all, its being evergreen 

 and bearing berries, Georg. 2. 119, and fubjefted in winter 

 to the fliearsof the gardener, ibid. 4. 137, are circumftances 

 ftrikingly appropriate to the Holly, not to the Bqank- 

 urfine ; though the name may allude to the prickly foliage 

 of either. 



TnoKs-AppU. See Datura, and Datura Stramonium. 

 TliOKN, Black, or Sloe-tree, a fpecies of the ^runuj-, called 

 prunus fylvejlris. See Prunus and Slok. 

 Thorn, Box. See Lycium. 



Thorn, Buck. See Rhamnus, and Rhawnus Cu- 

 tharticus. 



Thorn, Chri/l's. See Paliurus and Rhamnus. 

 Thorn, Cock/pur. See CRAxyEcus, Mespilus, and 

 Pyrus. 



Thorn, Egyptian, a name fometimes applied to a plant 

 which is armed with llrong thorns or prickles, and which 

 is faid to have been lately found to make a good hedge- 

 plant when kept low by being well cut in. It is alfo a 

 very ornamental ftirubby tree-plant for pleafure-grounds. 

 See Acacia. 



ThOrn, Evergreen. See Mespilus and Pyrus. 

 Thorn, Glajlonbury, a variety of the hawthorn. See 

 Crat^gus and Mespilus. 



Thorn, Goat's, a fpecies of AJlragalus ; which fee. See 

 alfo Tragacantha. 



Thorn, Nam. The fruit of this thorn has been found 

 ufeful by farmers in feeding team and other horfes. See 

 Crataegus and Mespilus. 



Thorn, Lily. See Catesb^a. 

 Thork, Purging. See Rhamnus. 

 Thorn, Scorpion's, a fpecies of Ulex ; which fee. 

 THORif» Spanijh Hedge-hog, a fpecies of Antbyllis ; which 

 fee. 



TllORN, White, a fpecies of Crataegus ; which fee. See 

 alfo Mespilus. 



Thorn, in Vegetable Phyfwlogy. See Spina and Fulcra. 



TuoRti-Hedges, in Agriculture, a term often applied to 



fuch as are made of that plant, whether of the white or blatk 



kind. They in moll cafes form the befi fences. See 



Fence, Quickset, Qvickszt -Hedge, &c, 



THORNBACK, in Ichthyology, the Enghfli name of a 

 fpecies of ray-fi(h, the raia clavata of Linnxus, priekly on 

 the back, and with tuberculofe teeth, and a tranfvcrfe carti- 

 lage in the belly : the young filh have very few fpines on 

 them, and their backs are often fpotted with white, and each 

 fpot encircled with black. (See Raia.) This fpecies 

 4 B frequents 



