I 



T H IJ 



TiiiKsnAV. //»/y. Sci-Hoi.v. 

 rmn<iD.\y. Afjuniiay. Set MaVsda\ TMirJJ^y- 

 THURSIO, in Ickiholoy, a fpccics of fifli mentioned 

 bv Plinv, lib. ix. cap. 9.' It is thougl.t by fomc to be the 

 p)<otfnj,ot porpefs ; and by others the fturgeon. 



THl'RSO, or TiiOBsw, in Geography, a market-town 

 in the (liiro of Caithiiefn, Scotland, is fituatcd on the northern 

 fide of the coaft, .it the extremity of a fpacious bay, on the 

 eftuary of the river Thurfo, at the dillance of 279 miles N. 

 from Edinburgh. The town is irregularly built. A new 

 town, on a rejrular plan, has been lately commenced at 

 Thurfo, in conlequence of which, the inclofed lands let for 

 fjx-c guineas per acre /cr annum. Here is a fine bay or 

 harbour, which is progreflively much improved in conve- 

 nience and fecurity. Eight vefTels belong to the town, and 

 arc chiefly employed in conveying falmon to London. 

 Althoueh the cuftoms of this port are very inconfiderable, 

 f-ct the fi)ll,>\viiig officers arc regularly Rationed here ; a col- 

 eftor, comptroller, land-furveyor, land-waiter, two eila- 

 blifhed tidefmen, and one extraordinary tidefman. Thurfo 

 is a borough of barony, holding of tir ,Iohn Sinclair as im- 

 mediate fupcrior. The charter of ereftion was granted by 

 Charles I. in 1633, in favour of .Tohii Mafter, of Berriedale, 

 by which it was entitled " to all the privileges, immunities, 

 and jurifdidtiorio, belonging to a free borough of barony in 

 Scotland." It is governed by two baillies and twelve coun- 

 fellors, who are appointed by the fuperior, and hold their 

 offices during his pleafure. A well-fupplicd market is held 

 on Fridays ; and here are two annual fairs, one of which 

 continues for ten days. The principal manufafture of the 

 town is coarfc linen cloth : in the neighbourhood are a 

 bleaeh-field and a tannery, both of which are profperous. 

 In the population return of the year 18 1 1, the town and 

 parifh of Thurfo were eftimated to contain 592 houfes, in- 

 habited by 3462 perfons. The parifh extends about three 

 miles from the town in every direftion, except to the north- 

 weft, where it is bounded by the fea. The rocks that 

 bound the coaft exhibit various fcenes of natural grandeur. 

 The Clctt is an infulated rock about 160 yards long and 80 

 broad ; it is elevated about 400 feet above the furface of 

 the fea ; and during the fpring fcafon, is frequented by in- 

 numerable flocks of fca-fowls. 



Thurfo Eaft, anciently called Thurfo Caftle, once the refi- 

 dcnce of the earls of Caithnefs, is now the feat of fir John 

 Sinclair, bart. a native of Thurfo ; a gentleman whofe exer- 

 tions will ever be revered by men of fcience for " The Sta- 

 tiftical Account of Scotland." In the park are the ruins 

 of a fm.ill cliapil, where earl Harold the younger was buried, 

 and where a neat modern monument has been erefted by 

 the above-mentioned baronet — Beauties of Scotland, vol. v. 

 Carlifle's Topographical DiAionary of Scotland, vol. ii. 



THfR>0, a river of Caithnefs, which runs into the fea, at 

 the town of Thurfo. 



THl'RUS, in Natural Hiflory, the name of a creature 

 deferibed by Gefner, and fome others, as a diftinft fpecies of 

 wild bull ; but the accounts of it feem either fabulous or 

 miftaken defcriptions of the wild bull. 



THURY, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Yonne ; 10 miles S.E. of St. Fargeau 



Alfo, a town of France, in the department of the Oife ; 7 

 miles S.E. of Crefpy. ' 



THUS, a town of Perfia, in the province of Khoraffan ; 

 2CO miles N.N.W. of Herat. 



Thus, a river of Perfia, which rifes near Mefghid, in 

 Khoraffan, and runs into the Cafpian fea, 40 miles N.W. of 

 Zaweh. 



Tjitre. See Fr.^nkincense. 



T H W 



Thits JuJaoruni, called alfo cafctirilla and cortex eleii* 

 iherur, in the Materia Medica, is the bark probably of the 

 Ihrub defcribed by Catefby, under the name of rtctnoldes 

 eUiigni folio or ilalhern, the crolon cafcarilla of Linnajus, 

 which grows plentifully in moft of the Bahama i/lands ; 

 thence it is brought to us in curled pieces, or rolled up into 

 (hort quills, about an inch wide ; covered on the outfide 

 with a rough whitifh matter ; and brownifli within ; and 

 exhibiting, when broken, a fmooth clofe blackifh-brown 

 furface. The bark, freed from the outer coat, has a light 

 agreeable fmell, and a moderately bitter tafte, accompanied 

 witli a confiderable aromatic warmth. It is eafily inflam- 

 mable, and yields, whilft burning, a fragrant fmell, fome- 

 what refembhng that of muflc. StifTer was the firft who 

 employed this bark as a medicine in Europe ; who relates 

 that a tinfture of it in alkalized vinous fpirits, or in dulci- 

 fied alkaline fpirits, proved carminative and diuretic, and did 

 fervice in arthritic and fcorbutic cafes. In 1694 and 1695, 

 it was employed by Apinus in an epidemic fever of the in- 

 termittent kind. The gentlemen of the French Academy 

 ~ found this bark of excellent fervice againft an epidemic 

 dyfenteryin 17 19, when the ipecacuanha proved ineffeftual. 

 At prefent it is of great efteem among the Germans, as a 

 warm ftomachic and corroborant, in flatulent colics, in- 

 ternal haemorrhages, dyfenteries, the diarrhoea of acute 

 fevers, and, mixed with the Peruvian bark, in common in- 



termittents Among us it has been lately received into 



pradlice ; but its ufe, fays Dr. Lewis, is not yet become fo 

 general as it well deferves to be. Its virtues are partially 

 extrafted by water, and totally by rectified fpirits. Lewis's 

 Mat. Med. 



Thus, in Sea Language, the order by which the pilot di- 

 refts the hclmfman to keep the ftiip in her prefent fituation 

 when failing with a fcant wind, fo that fhe may not approach 

 too near the direftion of the wind, and thereby ftiiver her 

 fails, nor fall to leeward, and run farther out of her courfe. 

 Falconer. See Steering. 



THUSCUS Vicus, in yincient Geography, the name of 

 one of the feven mountains of Rome, called alfo Coelius Mons. 

 THUTHOA, a river of the Peloponnefus, in Arcadia, 

 wliich difcharges itfelf into the Ladon. 

 THUYA, in Botany. See Thuja. 

 THWAITE,,in Ichthyology. See Shad. 

 THWART, in a boat, the feat or bench of a boat on 

 which the rowers fit to manage the oars. Hence thoughts, 

 (which fee,) is ufed in the fame fenfe. 



Thwart the Hatvfe, in Sea Language. See Athwart. 

 Thwart Ships, acrofs the fhips. See Athwart. 

 Thwart the Way, in Geography, a fmall iftand in the 



Straits of Sunda. S. lat. 5° 55'. E. long. 105° 43' 



Alfo, a fmall ifland in a bay on the coaft of^New Guinea. 

 S. lat. 2° 15'. E. long. 136° 54'. 



THWARTER, Trembling, or Leaping-IIl, a difeafe 

 in fheep, of the {baking, jumping, and convulfive kind. 

 Thefe different terms, fome of which were formerly par- 

 ticularly ufed in one part and another in another, efpecially 

 in the northern diftrifts of the kingdom, are now faid to be 

 had recourfe to indifferently, and appHed indifcriminately to 

 all difeafes which, on a dry foil, proceed from a weak and 

 enfeebled ftate of body and baiTen feafons. Under this 

 threefold name, fome fay they have feen fheep fuffering by 

 difeafes, which at leaft had much refemblance to thoft of 

 feveral other forts, as the apopleftic, paralytic, rheumatic, 

 &c. ; and that even when an old fheep falls down, and 

 dies of weaknefs and exhauftion, the manner of its death 

 differing fomewhat from that of the hog-fheep, it is frequently 

 aforibed by (hepherds to the thwarter or trembling -ill. 



1 o There 



