» THY 



plant, firmlar to the preceding fpecic», but milder, and in fla- 

 vour rather more grateful ; its efTential oil is both in fmaller 

 quantity and Ufs acrid, and its fpirituous extrad comes 

 greatly ihort of the penetrating warmth and pungency of 

 that of the others, fo that it is lefs medicinal than the other 

 fpccies. It is faid to afford an agreeable dillilled water, 

 more durable, but K-fs adive and penetrating than pepper- 

 mint. ( Lewis. ) This has been much extolled as a nervous 

 limple. An infufion of it has been faid to do wonders in 

 tumours, lownefs of fpirits, and head-aches : and it has 

 been much commended for the cure of the night-inare. 



The lemon-lhymc, wliich is a variety of the laft, is lefs 

 pungent than the lirll fort, but more fo than the fecond, and 

 much more grateful than either. Dillilled with water, it 

 yields a larger quantity than the other forts, of a yellowifli 

 very fragrant oil of the lemon-flavour, containing nearly all 

 the medicinal parts of the plant. It gives over alfo, with 

 rectified fpirit, its finer odorous matter. Lewis. 

 Thyme, Cat. Sec Teucrium Marum. 

 Thvme, Miiflich. See Thymus Mafuhina. 

 THYMELjEA, in Botany, from 6^0;-, thyme, and iXona, 

 an olive, (the firft aUuding to the leaf, and the latter to the 

 (tape and oilinefs of the fruit,) is an ancient Greek name, 

 found in Diofcorides, book 4. chap. 173. His ^tiy^'Kam, there 

 defcribed, is thought to be the Daphne Gnldhitn of Lin- 

 nius ; and muft be at Icaft one of that natural order, and, 

 probably, genus. Hence the name has been apphed by 

 many botanills, amongll which were the Bauhins and Tour- 

 nefort, to what Linnxus called Daphne ; fee that article. 

 This latter appellation was preferred by him and his fchool, 

 becaufc a name compofed of another, already eftabliflied, is 

 contrary to a very found law of the Philofophia Botanica ; 

 and in the prefent inftance the word is compounded of two 

 other generic names, though one of them has been made 

 Latin in Oka- The French however ftill hanker after Thy- 

 meUa, as appears by Juffieu's choofing it for the title of one 

 of his Orders. See ThymeI-JE^. 



THYMEL-EiE, the twenty-fifth of Juffieu's Natural 

 Orders, or the fecond of his fixth clafs, thus named from 

 an ancient fynonym of the genus Daphne, which makes a 

 principal figure herein. (See Daphne and Thymeljea.) 

 This order is analogous to the VeprecuU of Linnaeus. For 

 the detailed characters of Juffieu's fixth clafs, fee Lauri. 

 The order of Thymelme is defined as follows. 



Calyx of one leaf, tubular, inferior. Corolla none ; but 

 in fome inftances there are petal-like fcales, originating 

 from the mouth of the calyx, which have the appearance of 

 a polypetalous corolla. Stamens definite, inferted into the 

 calyx, and for the mofl^ part double the number of its feg- 

 ments, fome being oppofite, o'thers alternate therewith. 

 Germtn fuperior, fimple ; ftyle folitary ; ftigma moftly un- 

 divided. Seed folitary, fuperior, either naked, or pulpy, 

 or clothed with the calyx. Embryo deftitute of albumen ; 

 its radicle fuperior. Stem moitly (hrubby. Leaves generally 

 alternate. 



We may add to thefe charafters of Juffieu the remarkable 

 filky appearance of the inner bark, when a twig is broken. 

 Mr. Brown, Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. 1. 358, obferves that the 

 general number oi Jlamens is eight, fometimes four, rarely 

 but two ; in the latter cafes always oppofite to the fegments 

 of the calyx, which are occafionally five, fometim.-s, not 

 always, with lenjlamens. The fame writer informs us th-re 

 IS lometimes a (light portion of aliwnen. The leaves are en- 

 tire, deftitute oijlipulas. Flowers capitate or fpiked, ter- 

 mina[ or axillary, fometimes fohtary. 



The genera, as they (land in Juirieu, zre Dirca ; La^ctta, 

 Lamarck lUuftr. t. 289 ; Cansjera, Jufl". append. 448 ; 



THY 



Daphne; Pajferina; Stellera ; Siru/hiola ; I.achnea ; Dais; 

 Gnidia; Neflandra of Bergius, included under Gnidia by 

 LinnsEUS ; and Quifqualis. To thefe is to be added the 

 great diandrous genus of Pimelea, of which Mr. Brown de- 

 fines thirty-four New Holland fpecies. 



The order under confideration is one of thofe which has 

 moft excited the queftion of what is a calyx f and what a 

 corolla? and is appealed to equally by thofe who maintain 

 different theories on this intricate fubjeft. It feems to us 

 that the Thymelaa combine both thofe parts in one, Jie co- 

 loured infide of their calyx having exaftly the nature of a 

 corolla; which is confirmed by the remark of Juffieu, tliat 

 the tube of Daphne Mezereum is double, formed of two 

 layers. The appendages, in the form of fcales, or glands, 

 found in Gnidia and Siruthiola, are more evidently />f/a/f, and 

 would doubtlefs be univerfally taken for fuch, did not ana- 

 logy and theory call a doubt over the fubjeft. At any rate 

 it is fafe to fay that Daphne has a coloured calyx, as well as 

 moft of its allies ; juft like Polygonum, in the generally co- 

 lourlefs order of Holerareic, or Atriplices. 



Thymel^a; Radix, in the Materia Medico, the dried 



root of the thymeUa foliis livi of Tournefort and other 



authors. 



It is a light root of different fizes, of a reddifti colour 



without, and greyifti within, woody, and full of fibres, and 



taftes f'.veet at iirft, but is hot as fire when it has been held 



a little time in the mouth. It lofes however both this fiery 



tafte, and its acrid quality, in long keeping, and with them 



its virtues. 



It is to be chofen new, well fed, and not worm-eaten. 



The fruit of this plant is the granum cnidium of the ftiops. 



They are both of an acrid quality, and are not in ufe in the 



(hops at prefent. 



THYMELE, in Biography, a celebrated female Grecian, 



who invented theatrical dances. It is fuppofed that the 



Gi-eeks called their comedians Thymelici from her name. 

 Thymele, in the Ancient Theatre, a kind of pulpit, where 



the fingers, called thymelici, performed. 



THYMELICI, among the Romans, were muficians, 



who fung in the interludes, or who danced and kept time 



with their geftures. The place where they performed was 



called thymele, whence Juvenal, vi. 66. 



" Attendit thymele, thymele nunc ruftica difcat." 



THYMIAMA, 9u/^ia^a, in j4ntiguity, an offering of in- 

 cenfe to God. 



Thymiama, in the Materia Medico, a name by which 

 fome authors have called the cafcarilla bark ; called by fome 

 cortex thuris, or Indian bark. (See Thus Judmrum.) The 

 cortex thymiamatis of the German (hops is a bark, in fmall 

 brownifti-grey pieces, intermixed with bits of leaves, brought 

 from Syria, Cihcia, &c. and fuppofed to be the produce of 

 the liquid ftorax-tree. It has an agreeable balfamic finell, 

 approaching to that of liquid ftorax, and a fubacid bitterifh 

 tafte accompanied with fome flight aftringency. Cartheufer 

 and Hoffman report, that it affords an excellent fumigation 

 for oedemas, rheumatifms, and catarrhs ; and that tlie fpi- 

 rituous tinfture and extraft, and the diftilled fpirit, are 

 ufeful anodynes or antlfpafmodics in convulfive coughs and 

 other diforders. It is rarely met with in this country. 

 Lewis. 



THYMIAMATA, a kind of fumigations among the 

 ancients, the ingredients of \vhich were fo various, that it 

 appears they always confulted utility as well as pleafure, in 

 their compofition of them. 



We find the gum ammoniacum of the ancients, which 

 had the fmell of caftor, ufed in them : whence it is evident, 



that 



