TOR 



were witli the corolla. The anthers are roundi/h, combined 

 in pairs. Gcrmen ovate, pointed. Stigma between the an- 

 thers, of two thin plates. The parts of the flower in our 

 fpecimens fcarcely admit of fufficicnt examination to deter- 

 mine the genus of this plant with certainty, but it appears 

 to agree with Torenta better than with any other. 



1.0RENT0, in Geography. See York. 



TOREUMATOGRAPHY, a Greek, term, fignifying 

 the knowledge, or rather defcription, of ancient fculptures, 

 and baflb-relievos. 



The invention of toreumatography is owing to Phidias, 

 and its perfeftion to Polycletus : the Italian gravers have 

 let a great deal of light into the toreumatography. 



TOREUTICE, TOfaiTixn, formed from the Greek to^vo?, 

 kith, of T03EW, terebro, perjoro, that part of fculpture called 

 turning. 



TORFjEUS, TnoRNfODUs, or TnoRMOD Torvesen, 

 in Biography, an eminent hiftorian, was born in a fmall idand 

 called Engoe, on the fonthern coaft of Iceland ; and having 

 laid the foundation of his education at the fchool of Skalholt, 

 he fpent three years, from j 554 to 1657, in the univerfity 

 of Copenhagen. In the fpring of 1659 he was captured, 

 in a voyage from Chriftianfand on board a Dutch veflel, by 

 a Swedifli cruizer, and carried to Jutland. Upon his re- 

 leafe and arrival at Copenhagen, he was appointed the king's 

 interpreter for Icelandic antiquities. In 1662 he vifited 

 Iceland, for the purpofe of collcfting old MSS. ; and in 

 the accomplifhment of his objeft was much encouraged and 

 affifted by the bidiop of Skalholt. In 1663 he returned to 

 Denmark with a variety of valuable materials ; in 1 664 he 

 was made fecretary to the diftrift of Stavanger ; and in the 

 following year he married: but in 1667 he refigned his 

 office, and was appointed antiquary to the king. Upon 

 the death of his father and brother he made a voyage to 

 Iceland, for the purpofe of fecuring his property ; and in 

 the fame year he went to Amfterdam ; but on his return he 

 was (hipwrecked at Skagen, and obliged to travel to 

 Aarhuus by land. Embarking for Zealand, he encountered 

 a ftorm near the idand of Samfoe, and landed at Senas, 

 where he was wantonly attacked by an Icelander, and in 

 felf-defence killed his antagonjll. Upon this he was ar- 

 reflied, tried, and condemned to fuffer death. Upon an 

 appeal firil to a fuperior court in 1672, and afterwards to 

 the king, it was ultimately determined that he diould pay a 

 fine of 100 dollars, and be releafed. The king, however, was 

 difpleafed, and deprived him of his falary and office ; upon 

 which he retired to Norway, where be lived without any em- 

 ployment till the year 1682, when he was appointed royal 

 hiftoriographer and adeflbr in the confiftory, with a ftipend 

 of 600 dollars per annum. Thus circumftanced, he com- 

 menced his hiftory of Norway ; but in 1706 he was obliged ' 

 to defifl; from the profecution of it by a feverc illnefs, after 

 he had brought it down to the union of Calmar, and to re- 

 fign the completion of it to profeflbr Reitzcr. Having loft 

 his wife in 1695, he married a fecond in 1709 ; and in 17 19 

 died without iffue. Torfaeus was a man of confiderable 

 karning, and particularly converfant with ancient hiftory 

 and antiquit ^;s ; and he was much refpefted by the northern 

 fovereigns, Frederick III., Chriftian V., and Frederick IV. 

 His works, aftually publidied and left in MS., were very 

 numerous. The coUeftion of his MSS., relating more 

 efpecially to the hiftory of Iceland, amounts to feveral 

 volumes folio, and is preferved in the king's library at 

 Copenhagen. Gen. Biog. 



In conneftion with Torfsus, we diall here mention the 

 learned and eminent Arnas Magjiaeus, the fon of an obfcure 

 country prieft in the weftern part of Iceland, and more con- 



VoJL. XXXVI. 



TOR 



fpicuous for his devotion to literary purfuits than Torfaeua. 

 Raifed from a humble and obfcure fituation by extraordi- 

 nary efforts of talent and induftry, he attained, in 1694, at 

 the age of 3 1 years, the honourable ftation of profedbr of 

 philofophy in the univerfity of Copenhagen ; and a few 

 years afterwards, he was invefted with the offices of pro- 

 fefTor of northern antiquities and fecretary of the royal 

 archives. luceffant in his hterary labours, he compofed 

 feveral important works, and coUefted at great expence a 

 magnificent library, ferving to iiluftrate the literature and 

 antiquities of the North, and more efpecially the literature 

 of his native idand. The greater part of this library was 

 unhappily confumed by the fire which happened at Copen- 

 hagen in 1728 ;. and the unfortunate Magnaeus was witnefs 

 to the ahnoft total deftruClion of the fruits of many years' 

 labour. He died two years after this difaftrous event, and 

 bequeathed to the hbrary of the univerfity the remnant of his 

 literary treafures. His friend and favourite pupil, Finnur 

 Jenfon, was another of the eminent Icelanders, who, during 

 the laft century, have contributed to preferve unimpaired 

 the charafter and refpeftability of their country. Created 

 bidiop of Skalholt in 1754, he retained this office during 

 the remainder of a long fife, wholly devoted to the improve- 

 ment and happinefs of his fellow-citizens. In his admirable 

 work, the " Ecclefiaftical Hiftory of Iceland," written in 

 elegant Latin, and publiftied at Copenhagen in 4 vols. 4to. 

 he has bequeathed to his countrymen a monument of ex- 

 tenfive erudition, genuine piety, and warm patriotic feelings, 

 which will continue as one of the moft illuftrious monuments 

 of their literature. Mackenzie's Travels in Iceland. 



TORFVE, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in Weft 

 Gothland ; 75 miles N.E. of Uddevalla. 



TORGA, a town of the principality of Georgia, in the 

 province of Caket ; 85 miles S.E. of Teflis. 



TORGAU, or ToRGAW, a town of Saxony, in the 

 marggravate of Meiffen, on the Elbe. It was anciently the 

 head place of a peculiar feigniory, which paffed in fief from 

 the eleftors of Saxony, of the Afcanian line. In the year 

 1530, the feventeen articles of the Proteftant doftrine were 

 prefented at this place, to the eleftor John; and in 1576, 

 the Torgau writing was made here, out of the Swabian 

 Concordat and the Maulbrun Formula ; from which writing, 

 the year following, the Formula Concordia; was drawn up 

 at Klofter Bergen. In the year 1745, the Pruffians paffed 

 the Elbe here ; in the year 1756, they fixed their military 

 office at this place ; and in the year 1757, they broke down 

 the bridge thrown over the Elbe. In the year i 760, the 

 Auftrians, under marfhal Daun, were defeated by the 

 Pruffians, commanded by the king in perfon. The Auf- 

 trians loft 200 officers, and 7000 men prifoners. Marfhal 

 Daun himfelf was wounded. The Pruffians had 2500 men 

 killed, and 4000 wounded ; 28 miles E.N.E. of Leigfic. 

 N. lat. 51° 32'. E. long. 13° 3'. 



ToRGAU, Con'uocation of. See Form of Concord. 



TORGEISKOI, in Geography, a town of Ruffia, in 

 the government of Irkutfk ; 24 miles N.N.W. of Nert- 

 chinfk. 



TORGEL, a fmall idand in the North fea, near the 

 coaft of Norway. N. lat. 65° 30'. 



TORGELOW, a town of Anterior Poraerania, on the 

 Ucker ; 9 miles N. of Pafewalk. 



TORGOCH, m Ichthyology. See Charr. 



TORGOTS, in Geography,^ a tribe of the Mongoles, 

 who formed themfelves into a diftinft horde much later than 

 the other Kalmuck branches. Removing at firft from the 

 reftlefs Soongares, they marched weftward till they came to 

 the fleppes on the Volga, where they finally fettled, and 



G received 



