system. Its most active principles are 

 theine and a volatile oil, to which latter its 

 flavour and odour are due, and which 

 possesses narcotic and intoxicating proper- 

 ties ; but it also contains fifteen per cent, of 

 gluten or nutritious matter, and more 

 than twenty-five per cent, of tannin. The 

 Lite Professor Johnstone endeavoured to 

 explain its action by stating that the theine 

 lessened the waste of the body, and con- 

 sequently lessened the necessity for and 

 thus stood in the place of food, while the 

 gluten actually nourished the body; but 

 Dr. Edward Smith has recently shown 

 these statements to be fallacious, only a 

 trifling proportion of the gluten being 

 taken up by boiling-water, and the theine 

 promoting instead of retarding vital ac- 

 tion, thereby increasing the bodily waste. 

 He sums up its action thus :— ' It increases 

 the assimilation of food, both of the f esh 

 and heat-forming kinds; and with ahun- 

 dance of food it must promote nutrition, 

 whilst in the absence of sufficient food it 

 increases the waste of the body.' [A. S.] 



THECLE. A term sometimes used for 

 the capsules of mosses, or for the asci of 

 fungi and lichens, but now generally ex- 

 ploded as unnecessary. [M. J. B.J 



THECAPHORE. The stalk of an ovary. 



THEET-SEE, or TH1TSEE. Mclanorrhcea 

 nsitatiasima, which yields the varnish of 

 Martaban. 



THEINE. A crystalline principle found 

 in tea and a few other vegetable substances. 

 It is considered identical, or nearly so, 

 with the caffeine of coffee, and the guara- 

 nine of guaraua. See Thea. 



THEKEL. A Chilian name for the pur- 

 gative diuretic infusion of the leaves of 

 Chceraalodia chilensis. 



THELEOPHYTON. A genus of Cheno- 

 podiacece, from the sandy coast of Tas- 

 mania. They are smooth herbs covered 

 with watery papillas, the stems prostrate, 

 bearing monoecious flowers— the females 

 axillary, the males at the extremity of the 

 branches. They differ from Atriplex in 

 habit, in the flve-lobed calyx of the male 

 flowers, and in the urceolate two-Iobed 

 calyx (bracts of some authors) which en- 

 closes the fruit. [J. T. S.] 



THELEPHORA. A genus of Fungi, 

 which was formerly almost of the same 

 extent as the natural order Auricularini, 

 but is now confined to those species whose 

 hymenium shows slight traces of papillae 

 or veins, and is confluent with the pileus, 

 which has no cuticle and is of a fibrous 

 texture. The veins and papillae, it should 

 be observed, are not distinct growths, as 

 in the lower Agaricini or Hydnei, but 

 depend entirely upon the structure of the 

 pileus. The more highly developed species 

 have a central stem, with a regular pileus. 

 To these succeed others, in which the pileus 

 is variously divided, still retaining a stem; 

 and then, through a series of lateral-stem- 

 med or stemless species, we arrive at those 



which are totally resupinate. Amongst 

 the latter we have one or two which 

 are injurious to fabricated timber, espe- 

 cially T.puteana, which is extremely hy- 

 grometric. They may, however, readily be 

 destroyed by a strong solution of corrosive 

 sublimate. The species occur in all parts 

 of the world, and are especially abundant 

 and prominent in the United States ; but 

 the finest, amongst which is T. dendritica 

 (.which without sufficient reason has been 

 erected into a distinct genus, because it 

 exhibitsthetypical characters of Thelephora 

 more perfectly than others), are essentially 

 tropical. We possess, however, some beau- 

 tiful representatives, amongst which T. 

 caryophyllcea, with its funnel-shaped or 

 variously incised pileus, is the most inte- 

 resting. T. laciniata is perhaps the most 

 common, and is abundant everywhere in 

 heathy pinewoods, attaining often a con- 

 siderable size. Some of the species are un- 

 pleasantly distinguished by their disagree- 

 able smell. The best-known is T. pahnata, 

 but this is far surpassed by T. fastidinsa : 

 both are British species. [M. J. B.] 



THELESPERMA. A genus of Compo- 

 site?, comprising a Brazilian perennial, 

 with much-divided leaves and terminal 

 flower-heads, surrounded by a double in- 

 volucre, whose outer series of scales are 

 shorter than the inner, which are some- 

 what united together. The receptacle is 

 covered with membranous scales, white at 

 tbeirmargins, and bears anumber of yellow 

 tubular five-toothed florets. The fruits 

 are somewhat compressed, and surmounted 

 by a two-awned pappus. [M. T. M.] 



THELYGONUM. A genus of Chenopodi- 

 acece, which however is referred by some 

 authors to Urtieacece, on account of the 

 presence of stipules. It consists of a 

 smooth somewhat succulent herb, inhabit- 

 ing the Mediterranean region, with stalk- 

 ed oval leaves, the lower ones opposite, 

 the upper alternate. The flowers are sessile 

 axillary and monoecious ; the males two or 

 three together, bractless, with a two- 

 leaved perigone, and twelve to twenty 

 stamens ; and the females one to three, 

 with numerous bracts. The capsule is 

 leathery, indehiseent, with a single horse- j 

 shoe-shaped seed. T. Cynocrambe is sub- | 

 acrid and slightly purgative, but is some- 

 times used as a potherb. [J. T. S.] 



THELYMITRA. A rather extensive ge- 

 nus of terrestrial orchids, belonging to the 

 Neottece. The perianth is regular, spread- 

 ing, and the labellum sessile, spurless. 

 They are herbs, with fascicled or tuberous 

 roots ; while the stems have one sheathing 

 leaf, and bear the blue white pink or 

 yellow flowers in loose spikes. This genus 

 may be recognised from all others by 

 having the segments of the perianth 

 and of the labellum nearly equal, and the 

 hood-shaped column enclosing the sub- 

 erect anther. All the described species, 

 with the exception of one, T. javanica, 

 which is found in the mountains of Java, 

 are from Australia and New Zealand. The 



