telltale 
The children, who are always house tell-tales, soon made 
him acquainted with the little history "f the house and 
family. Thackeray, Henry Esmond, xi. 
2. Aii indication or an indicator ; that which 
KIWI'S to convey information. 
Paint those eyes, so blue, so kind, 
Eager telltales of her mind. 
M. Arnold, A Memory-Picture. 
3. A name given to a variety of instruments or 
devices, usually automatic, used for counting, 
indicating, registering, or otherwise giving de- 
sired information. Specifically (o) In organ-build- 
ing, a piece of bone, metal, or wood, moving in a slot, 
which is so connected with the bellows as to indicate to 
the blower or player by its position the state of the wind- 
supply, (b) A hanging compass, generally in the cabin 
of the commanding officer, (c) An index near the wheel 
of a ship to show the position of the tiller, (rf) A- turn- 
stile placed at the entrance of a public hall or other 
place of resort, and having a mechanism which records 
the number of persons passing in or out. (e) A gage or 
index which shows the pressure of steam on an engine- 
boiler, of gas on a gas-holder,, and the like. (/) A clock- 
attachment for the purpose of recording the presence of 
a watchman at certain intervals. Some forms of this de- 
vice ore provided with a rotating paper dial, showing the 
hour and minute at whicli a watchman touched a project- 
ing button communicating by a point with the paper dial. 
(g) A small overflow-pipe attached to a tank or cistern to 
indicate when it is full, (h) A bar to which are attached 
strips of leather, set at a proper height over a railway 
track to warn brakemen on freight-trains when they are 
approaching a bridge. 
4. In ornith., a tattler; a bird of the genus 
Totanus in a broad sense : as, the greater and 
lesser telltale, Totanus melanoleucus and T. fla- 
vipes. See tattler, and cut under ycllowlegs. 
II. a. 1. Disposed to tell or reveal secrets, 
whether officiously or heedlessly; given to be- 
traying the confidences or revealing the private 
affairs of others; blabbing: as, telltale people. 
Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women 
Rail on the Lord's anointed. 
Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 149. 
2. Showing, revealing, or denoting that which 
is not intended to be known, apparent, or pro- 
claimed: as, telltale tears ; telltale blushes. 
The telltale snow, a sparkling mould, 
Says where they go and whence they came ; 
Lightly they touch its carpet cold, 
And where they touch they sign your name. 
F. Locker, Winter Fantasy. 
3. That gives warning or intimation of some- 
thing : as, a telltale pipe attached to a cistern 
or tank Telltale clock. See clock*. 
tell-trotht, Same as tell-truth. 
tell-trutht (tel'troth), w. [Also Mi-troth ; < tein, 
i 1 ., + obj. truth.'] One who speaks or tells the 
truth ; one who gives a true account or report ; 
a veracious or candid person. 
Caleb and Joshua, the only two tell-troths, endeavoured 
to undeceive and encourage the people. 
Fuller, Pisgah Sight, II. iv. 3. (Trench.) 
The rudeness of a Macedonian tell-truth is no apparent 
calumny. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 99. 
tellural (tel'u-ral), a. [< L. tellus (tellur-), the 
earth, + -a?.] Of or pertaining to the earth. 
tellurate (tel'u-rat), n. [< tellur(ic) + -ate 1 .'] 
A salt of telluric acid. 
tellur-bismuth (terer-biz"muth), n. [< tellu- 
(>) + bismuth.'] Same as tetradymite. 
telluret (tel'u-ret), n. [< tellur(ium) + -et.] 
Same as telluride. 
tellureted, telluretted (tel'u-ret-ed), a. [< tel- 
lur(ium) + -et + -ed' 2 .~] Combined with tellu- 
rium Tellureted hydrogen, HoTe, a gaseous com- 
pound obtained by the action of hydrochloric acid on an 
alloy of tellurium. It is a feeble acid, analogous in com- 
position, smell, and other characters to sulphureted hy- 
drogen. 
tellurian (te-lu'ri-an), a. and n. [< L. tellus 
(tellur-), the earth, '+ -i-an.] I. a. Pertaining, 
relating to, or characteristic of the earth or an 
inhabitant of the earth. 
They absolutely hear the tellurian lungs wheezing, pant- 
ing, crying "Bellows to mend" periodically, as the Earth 
approaches her aphelion. 
De Quincey, System of the Heavens. (Dames.) 
II. . 1. An inhabitant of the earth : so called 
with reference to supposed inhabitants of other 
planets. 
If any distant worlds (which may be the case) are so far 
ahead of us Tellurians in optical resources as to see dis- 
tinctly through their telescopes all that we do on earth, 
what is the grandest sight to which we ever treat them? 
De Quincey, Joan of Arc. (Dames.) 
2. Same as tellurian. 
telluric (te-lu'rik), a. [= F. tellurique = Sp. 
telurico, < L. tellus (tellur-), the earth.] 1. Per- 
taining to or proceeding from the earth : as, a 
disease of telluric origin; telluric deities. 
How the Coleridge moonshine comported itself amid 
these hot telluric flames . . . must be left to conjecture. 
Carlyle, Sterling, i. 10. (Dames.) 
0220 
His [man's] knowledge, his ideas, his treasures of art 
and literature, have a sensuous origin, just as this fruit 
has a mineral or telluric origin. The Century, XIX. C90. 
2. Of, containing, or derived from tellurium: 
as, tellvrie acid Telluric acid, H 2 TeO 4 , an oxygen 
acid of tellurium which is formed when tellurium is de- 
ll;i*inited with niter. The pure acid forms a white pow- 
der soluble in hot water. Telluric bismuth, the min- 
eral tetradymite. Telluric silver, hessite. 
telluride (tol'u-rid or -rid), n. [< tclliir-iiini + 
-iWe 2 .] A compound of tellurium with an elec- 
tropositive element. Also called telluret. 
telluriferOUS (tel-u-rif'e-rus), o. [< trHm-i-itm 
+ L. ferre = E. ZwW 1 .]" Containing or yield- 
ing tellurium. 
tellurion (te-lu'ri-on), . [Also tellurian ; < L. 
tellus ( tellur-) + -i-on.] An instrument for show- 
ing in what manner the causes operate which 
produce the succession of day and night and the 
changes of the seasons: a kind of orrery. 
tellurism (tel'u-rizm), . [< L. tellus (tellur-), 
the earth, + -wm.] See the quotation. 
There is in magnetism two different actions one which 
depends upon a vital principle spread throughout nature, 
and circulating in all bodies ; the other the same principle, 
modified by man, animated by his spirit, directed by his 
will. He thinks that the first sort of magnetism, which 
he calls tellurian, or siderism, can be, etc. 
Deleuze, Anim. Magn. (trans. 1843), p. 209. 
tellurite (tel'u-rit), . [< tellur(ous) + -ite^.] 
1. In diem., a compound of tellurous acid and a 
base. 2. In mineral., tellurium dioxid, a min- 
eral found in small yellowish or whitish spheri- 
cal masses, having a radiated structure, occur- 
ring with native tellurium. 
tellurium (te-lu'ri-um), n. [NL., < L. tellus (tel- 
lur-). the earth.] Chemical symbol, Te ; atomic 
weight, 125. One of the rarer elements, occur- 
ring in nature in small quantity in the native 
state and also in combination with various 
metals, as with gold and silver in the form of 
graphic tellurium, or sylvanite, with gold, lead, 
and antimony as nagyagite, and in several other 
mostly very rare mineral combinations. Telluri- 
um is a brittle substance. Its specific gravity is about 6. 2. 
Its chemical properties have made it a problem from an 
early time, and it was first called auruin paradoxum and 
metaUum probletnaticum. That it was not identical with 
any metal previously known was demonstrated by Klap- 
roth in 1798. Tellurium, although having a decided me- 
tallic luster, and occurring in nature almost exclusive- 
ly in combination with decided metallic elements, most 
closely resembles sulphur and selenium in its chemical 
reactions, and is generally classed at the present time 
among the non-metallic elements, although considered by 
Berzelius as being a metal. Foliated tellurium. Same 
as nai/yayite. Graphic tellurium. Same as sylvanite. 
tellurium-glance (te-lu'ri-um-glans), n. Same 
as nagyagite. 
tellurize (tel'u-rlz), v. t. To mix or cause to 
combine with tellurium Tellurized ores, ores 
which contain tellurium compounds. 
tellurous (tel'u-rus), a. [< tellur-ium + -mis.'] 
Of, pertaining to, or obtained from tellurium. 
Tellurous acid, H 2 TeO 3 , an oxygen acid of tellurium, 
analogous to selenious acid, and, like it, formed by the ac- 
tion of nitric acid on the element. It is a white insoluble 
powder, forming with alkalis crystallizable salts. 
Telmatodytes (tel-ma-tod'i-tez), . [NL. (Ca- 
banis, 1850), < Gr. T&IUL(T-), a marsh, + fvr>/c, 
diver.] A genus of true wrens, or subgenus 
of Cistothorus, under which is often named fhe 
common long-billed marsh-wren of the United 
States, C. or T. palustris. See cut under marsh- 
wren. 
telodynamic (tel"o-di-nam'ik), a. [< Gr. rffkt, 
afar, + drvanic,, power: see dynamic."] In mech., 
elect., etc., relating to or used in the transmis- 
sion of power from or to a distance. 
The mechanical method of traction by means of the telo- 
dynamic cable is preferable to any electric system. 
The Engineer, LXVII. 9. 
telolecithal (tel-o-les'i-thal), a. [< Gr. T&of, 
end, + AfxiSoc, the yolk of an egg.] In embryol., 
having much food-yolk which is eccentric from 
the formative yolk, as the large meroblastic 
eggs of birds: correlated with alecitlial (having 
no food-yolk) and centrolecithal (which see). 
The classification of animal eggs proposed by Balfour is 
adopted : viz., alecitlial, telolecithal, and centrolecithal. 
Nature, XXXVII. 607. 
telopore (tel'o-por), n. [< Gr. rttoc, end, + 
Tropof, pore.] In embryol., a terminal pore left 
by the closing from before backward of the 
median furrow produced by the invagination 
of mesoderm in the embryo of some insects. 
Patten, Quart. Jour. Micros. Sci., XXXI. 639. 
telotroch (tel'o-trok), . Same as telotrocha. 
telotrocha (te-iot'ro-ka), n. ; pi. telotrochse (-ke). 
[NL. : see telotrochotts.] The ciliated embryo 
of polychastous annelids, having a circle of cilia 
around the body just in front of the mouth and 
behind the eyes, on the segment which becomes 
temerarious 
the pra?stomium. There is also usually in such em- 
bryos another circlet of cilia around the caudal end of the 
body, and a tuft upon the center of the pricstomium. See 
atrocha, mesatrocha. Also, irregularly, teleotncha. 
telotrochal (te-lot'ro-kal), n. [< telotroi'h-om + 
-?.] Same as tclotroehotts. Gegenbaur, Comp. 
Anat. (trans.), p. 137. 
telotrochous(te-lot'ro-kus),a. [< Gr.rt/'.of.end, 
+ T/IOXUC, a wheel: see trochus.] Surrounded 
by terminal cilia, as an annelidous larva; hav- 
ing the character of a telotrocha. Huxley, Anat. 
Invert., p. 171. 
teletype (tel'o-tip), H. [IrregX Gr. rifte, afar,+ 
ri'Trof, type.] 1. A printing electric telegraph. 
2. An automatically printed telegram. 
telpher (tel'fer), a. [Irreg. < tel(eyraph) + Gr. 
<t>(peiv, carry, = E. bear 1 . Cf. telpherage.] Of 
or relating to a system of telpherage. 
telpherage (tel'fer-aj), . [< telj/hcr + -age.] 
Transportation effected automatically by the 
aid of electricity ; specifically, a system of elec- 
tric locomotion especially adapted to the trans- 
fer of goods, in which the carriages are sus- 
pended from electric conductors supported on 
poles. Every carriage or train of carriages contains an 
electric motor, which takes the current from the conduc- 
tors upon which it runs. 
This word "telpherage" ... is intended to designate 
all modes of transport effected automatically with the ' 
aid of electricity. According to strict rules of deriva- 
tion, the word would be " telephorage " ; but in order to 
avoid confusion with "telephone," and to get rid of the 
double accent in one word, which is disagreeable to my 
ear, I have ventured to give the new word such a form 
as it might have received after a few centuries of usage 
by English tongues, and to substitute the English sound- 
ing "telpher" for "telephore." In the most general 
sense, telpher lines include such electric railway lines as 
were first proposed by my colleagues, Messrs. Ayrton and 
Perry. The word would also describe lines, such as I have 
seen proposed in the newspapers, for the conveyance of 
small parcels at extremely rapid rates. But to-night I 
shall confine myself entirely to the one specific form in 
which the telpher line first presented itself to my mind, 
and which it has fallen to my lot to develop. In this form 
telpher lines are adapted for the conveyance of minerals 
and other goods at a slow pace and at a cheap rate. 
Fleeming JmHn, Jour. Soc. of Arts (1884), XXXII. 648. 
telpherway (tel'fer-wa), n. The road, line, or 
way on which transportation by the system of 
telpherage is carried on. 
telson (tel'son), n. [NL., < Gr. T&OOV, a boun- 
dary, limit.] In sool., the last segment, or an 
azygous appendage of the last segment, or the 
median axis of the last segment, whether in 
one piece or more, of certain crustaceans and 
arachnidans, as the middle flipper of a lobster's 
tail-fin, the long sharp tail of a horseshoe-crab, 
and the sting of a scorpion. In long-tailed crusta- 
ceans a broad flat telson combines with similar swim- 
merets to form the rhipidura. In some thysanurous in- 
sects the telson is a small plate at the end of the abdomen, 
and is either a modified segment or, more probably, a me- 
dian azygous appendage. See cuts under Amphilhoe, Eu- 
rypterida, horseshoe-crab, scorpion, and Squillidee. 
telt. An obsolete or provincial preterit of telfl. 
Telugu (tel'ij-gB), n. [Also Teloogoo; < Telugu 
Telugu, also Telunga, Telinga, etc., < Telingd, 
one of the people of the country called Teliii- 
gana or Tilinguna.'] The language of the dis- 
trict in the east of the Deccan inhabited by 
the Telingas: a Dravidian dialect. Also used 
adjectively. 
temenos (tem'e-nos). n. ; pi. temene (-ne). [< Gr. 
re/zevof, a piece of land marked off, a sacred 
inclosure, < rifivciv, ra^elv, cut: see tome. Cf. 
temple 1 .'] In Gr. antiq., a sacred inclosure or 
precinct; a piece of land marked off from com- 
mon uses and dedicated to a god ; a precinct, 
usually surrounded by a barrier, allotted to a 
temple or sanctuary, or consecrated for any 
other reason. 
The building was surrounded with a wall of brick form- 
ing a court or temenos. Encyc. Brit., II. 388. 
Temenuchus (tem-e-nu'kus), n. [NL. (Caba- 
uis, 1850), so called as occupying pagodas in 
India ; < Gr. Te/ievoi>xof, holding a piece of land 
(a sacred inclosure), < re/jevof, a piece of land, 
a sacred inclosure (see temenos), + exeiv, have, 
hold.] A genus of Old World starlings, with 
exposed nostrils, a bare postocular area, and 
an enormous crest of lanceolate feathers over- 
hanging the back of the neck. The only spe- 
cies is T. pftgodantm, the pagoda-thrush of Latham, 
originally described as"Brahm's martin" by Sonnini in 
1782, which extends from Afghanistan to Ceylon, and is 
a well-known bird of the whole peninsula of India. The 
male is 8J inches long, the wing 4. the tail 2}. The gen- 
eral color is lavender-gray, varied with black, white, and 
cinnamon : the long crest is greenish-black, the feet are 
yellow, and the eyes are white. The female is similar, but 
rather smaller and with a shorter crest. See cut on fol- 
lowing page. 
temerarious^ (tem-e-ra'ri-us), a. [= F. ti'im'- 
rairi 1 = Sp. Pg. It. temerario, < L. temerarius, 
