49 
is used for mixing with plaster, to thicken and render it more adhesive 
and durable. Its fruits yield a solid fat, used for making candles, 
although it has a most disagreeable odor. 
THEA VIRIDIS.—This is the China Tea plant, whose native country is 
undetermined. All kindsand grades of the teas of commerce are made 
from this species, although probably it has some varieties. Black and 
green teas are the result of different modes of preparation; very much 
of the green, however, is artificially colored to suit the foreign trade. 
The finest teas do not reach this country ; ; they will not bear a sea voy- 
age, and are used only by the wealthy classes in China and Russia. 
The active principles of the leaves are theine and a volatile oil, to which 
latter the favor and odor are due. 
THEOBROMA CAcAO.—This plant produces the well-known eacao or 
chocolate, and is very extensively cultivated in South America and the 
West India Islands. The fruit, which is about 8 to 10 inches in length, 
by 3 to 5 in breadth, contains between fifty to a hundred. seeds, ‘and 
from these the cacao is prepared. As an article of food, it contains a 
large amount of nutritive matter, about 50 per cent. being fat. It con- 
tains a peculiar principle, which is called theobromine. 
THEOPHRASTA JUSSL“I.—A native of St. Domingo, where it is some- 
times called Le petit Coco. The fruit is succulent, and bread is made 
from the seeds. 
THESPESIA POPULNEA.—A tropical tree, belonging to the Mallow 
family. The inner bark of the young branches yields a tough fiber, fit 
for cordage, and used in Demerara for making coffee-bags, and the finer 
pieces of it for cigar-envelopes. The wood is considered almost inde- 
structible under water, and its hardness and durability render it valua- 
ble for various purposes. The flower-buds and wnripe fruits yield a 
viscid yellow juice, useful as a dye, and a thick, deep, red-colored oil is 
expressed from the seeds. 
THRINAX ARGENTEA.—This beautiful palm is called the Silver Thatch 
palm of Jamaica, and is said to yield the leaves so extensively used in 
the manufacture of hats, baskets, and other articles. It is also a native 
of Panama, where it is called the Broom palm, its leaves being there 
made into brooms. 
TILLANDSIA ZEBRINA.—A South American plant, of the Pine-Apple 
family ; the bottle-iike cavity formed at the base of the leaves will some- 
times contain a pint or more of water, and has frequently furnished a 
gratefal drink to thirsty travelers. 
TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA.—A climbing plant, so tenacious of life that 
when the stem is cut across or broken, a rootlet is speedily sent down 
from above, which continues to grow until it reaches the ground. A 
bitter principle, calumbine, pervades the plant. An extract called ga- 
luncha is prepared from it, considered to be a specific for the bites of 
poisonous insects — tor ulcers. The young shoots are used as 
emetics. 
TORENIA ASIATICA.—A beautiful flowering plant of the family Sero- 
phulariacee. The leaves of this plant are used in decoction, on the 
Malabar coast, for medicinal purposes, and considered of much value in 
certain diseases. 
TRIPHASIA TRIFOLIATA.—A Chinese shrub, with fruit about the size 
of hazel-nuts, red-skinned, and of an agreeable sweet taste ; when green, 
they have a strong flavor of turpentine, and the pulp is very sticky. 
ie are also preserved whole in sirup, and are sometimes called Lime- 
erries, 
4p 
