THY 



T H Y 



that the ancients ufed falutiferous as well as fweet-fcentcd 

 things in thefe fumigations. Galbanum lias a worfe fmell 

 than ammoniacum, and yet this alfo we find, together with 

 the myrrh, and other gums, is made an ingredient in the 

 oldeft prefcriptions of this kind. — And Pliny mentions the 

 ammoniacum with the fchxnanth, and other fweets, ufed 

 for this pnrpofe. 



THYMIATUM, in indent Geography, a country of 

 Africa, in Libya, on the coaft of the Atlantic, according 

 to the Periplus of Hannon. 



THYMIC, in Anaiojny, arteries, veins, &c. belonging 

 to the thymus ; fee that article. 



THYMIUM, a wart or excrefcence on the flcift. 



THYMNIAS, in Ancient Geography, a gulf placed by 

 Phny on the coall of the Doride, a province of Alia Minor. 

 Here was a promontory of the fame name. 



THYMOXALME, in the Materia Medka of the An- 

 cients, was a compofition ufed externally in the gout, and 

 many diforders of the limbs, and was given inwardly in dif- 

 temperatures of the ftomach, a quarter of a pint for a dofe. 

 It operated as a purge, and was prepared in the following 

 manner : talce two ounces of bruifed thyme, as much fait, 

 a little meal, rue, and pennyroyal. — Thefe were to be put 

 into a pot, and three pints of water and fourteen ounces of 

 vinegar are to be poured upon them ; after which they are to 

 be covered with a coju-fe cloth, and fet in the fun for fome 

 time. Diofcorides, lib. v. cap. 24. 



THYMUS, in Anatomy, a glandular body, occupying 

 the upper and anterior part of the cheft, and neighbouring 

 portion of the neck, very large in the foetus, and dimlniOied 

 or nearly difappearing in the adult. The name is Greek, 

 ^vl^o;, which Pollux defines " caro fimilis tonfillas, prope 

 cordis caput ;" p. 258. The gland confifts of two lobes, a 

 right and left, which are elongated and conical, being 

 broader below and narrow above : they are joined by cellu- 

 lar fubftance, which can eafily be deftroyed by difleftion, in 

 their inferior two-thirds, but above they are feparated by 

 the intervention of the trachea. The thymus, indeed, may 

 be defcribed as forming two elongated horns above, of which 

 the right is fometimes longer than the left : it alfo forms two 

 horns below ; but they are fhorter, thicker, and more ob- 

 tufe. The principal body of the gland occupies the cavity 

 of the mediaftinum, or the interval between the right and 

 left pleurae, behind the upper part of the fternum. Here it 

 is covered in front by that bone, on the fides by the pleurs, 

 and it refls behind on the front of the pericardium, of the 

 aorta at its origin, and of the left fubclavian vein. The in- 

 ferior cornua reach to about the middle of the pericardium ; 

 and fometimes nearly to the diaphragm : the fuperior run 

 into the neck, on each fide of the trachea, between that tube 

 and the carotid, and reach the thyroid gland, or nearly fo. 



The thymus is large in the foetus ; nearly equal to the 

 heart or one of the lungs. In a foetus of fix months, this 

 gland was to the kidney as 4 to 6. It not only does not in- 

 creafe after birth, but it becomes lefs, contains lefs fluid, is 

 harder, and is nearly loft in the furrounding fat. In the 

 mature fcetus it weighed 160 and 180 grains; at twenty- 

 eight years, 90 grains. In a calf it was 16 ounces; in a 

 full-grown cow, 9 ounces. 



In itrufture it refembles the conglomerate glands : that 

 is, it is compofed of innumerable fmall portions, united by 

 cellular fubftance. By maceration thefe may be feparated 

 into fmaller and fmaller lobules. It is however fofter than 

 the pancreas or falivary glands, and of a darker colour. 

 When cut into, a copious whitifh fluid may be fqueezed out 

 from all parts of its texture. If air be impelled into it, the 

 whole is reduced into a fpongy kind of fubftance. 



No excretory duft has been difcovered in the thymus ; 

 altiiough anatomifts have fancied that they had difcovered 

 padages from it to the afophagus, trachea, pericardium, &c. 



It has fevcral arteries and veins : the former principally 

 from the thyroid and mammary. The veins join the left fub- 

 clavian, or the jugular, and the internal mammary. 



The nerves, if it has any, are extremely fmall twigs from 

 the phrenic. Its abforbing veffels, which no doubt exift, 

 are not much known. 



It is of confiderable fize, even in the adult, in fome ani- 

 mals, as the rat : the fame may be obferved of the Arftic 

 bear. It is large in fctaceous animals. 



We know nothing of its office, nor why it is fo large in 

 the foetus. There is not even a probable conjefture on the 

 fubjeft. 



Thymus, a warty excrefcence, efpecially about the anus 

 or pudenda. 



THYMUS, in Botany, Thyme; Su'/jo; of the Greeks, whe- 

 ther fo called from flu^oc, courage, in allufion to its cordial 

 qualities ; or from Svu, to glow or burn ; or to facrifice, becaufe 

 it may have been ufed in facrifick garlands ; we muft leave to 

 every one's opinion. The lall explanation appears the leaft 



fatisfaftory Linn. Gen. 297. Schreb. 394. Willd. Sp. 



PI. V. 3.' 138. Mart. Mill. Dia. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 v. 3. 413. Sm. Fl. Brit. 639. Prodr. Fl. Grasc. Sibth. v. i. 

 419. Purfli4i3. Juff. 115. Tourn. t. 93. Lamarck Illuftr. 



t. 512 Clafs and order, Didynamia Gymnofpcrmia. Nat. 



Ord. Verticillatci, Linn. Labiatte, Jufl^. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, tubular, per- 

 manent, divided nearly half way down into two lips, the 

 mouth clofed with converging hairs ; upper lip broadeft, 

 flat, ereft, with three teeth ; lower of two equal awl-fhaped 

 fegments. Cor. of one petal, ringent ; tube the length of 

 the calyx, with a fmall throat ; upper lip rather the fliorteft, 

 flat, ereft, emarginate, obtufe ; lower longer and broader, 

 fpreading, in three obtufe lobes, of which the middle one is the 

 broadeft. Stam. Filaments four, incurved, two longer than 

 the reft ; anthers fmall, two-lobed. Pi/l. Germen fuperior, 

 deeply four-cleft; ftyle thread- ftiaped ; ftigma divided, 

 acute. Peric. none, the feeds being concealed in the calyx, 

 whofe orifice is contrafted and hairy. Seeds four, fmall, 

 roundifli. 



Efl". Ch. Calyx two-lipped, its mouth clofed with hair. 

 Upper lip of the corolla flat, emarginate. 



The trifling genera of old authors, made out of the pre- 

 fent, though indicated by Linnaeus, are not worth confi- 

 dering. It is more defirable to define the limits of Thymus 

 itfelf, which run very clofe upon thofe of Melissa ; fee that 

 article, at the end of which this fubjeft is difcufled. The 

 number of fpecies in Syft. Veg. ed. 14. are eleven ; Will- 

 denow has 22. We fliall find fome things among them to 

 correft, and feveral new fpecies to add. The habit of the 

 whole is more or lefs fhrubby, but their ftature humble, with 

 fpreading or diffufe branches. Root woody, generally pe- 

 rennial. Branches fquare. Leaves oppofite, moftly entire. 

 Floivers either whorledor capitate, purple or lilac, fometimes 

 nearly white ; never really blue, fcarlet or yellow. Whole 

 plant abounding with pungent aromatic effcntial oil. This 

 genus is almoft entirely European, and inliabits dry hilly 

 fituations, in the warmer or more temperate climes. 



I. Th. Serpyllum. Wild Thyme, or Mother of Thyme. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 823-. Willd. n. i. Fl. Brit. n. i. Engl. 

 Bot. t. 15 14. Curt. Lond. fafc. 2. t. 47. Woodv. Med. 

 Bot. t. no. (Serpyllum; Rivin. Monop. Irr. t. 42. S. 

 vulgare ; Ger. Em. 570. Dod. Pempt. 277. Vaill. Parif. 

 t. 32. f. 9, as well as the varieties 6, 7 and 8.) 



/S. Ser- 



