Tessaria 
of botany at Ancona.] A genus of composite 
plants, of the tribe In-uloideee and subtribe Plu- 
clieiiiese. It is distinguished from the related genus 
Pluchea by hoary or silky and shrubby stems bearing 
small cymose or corymbose heads with an ovoid involucre 
of two kinds of bracts, the outer somewhat woolly, the 
inner scarious and often shining. The 5 species are all 
American, and chiefly of temperate or mountainous parts 
of the west coast from Chili to California. They resemble 
species of Qnaphalimn or life-everlasting in their frequent 
white-woolly clothing ; their leaves are alternate entire 
and toothed ; their flowers are purplish and small, and 
are sometimes very numerous. See arrow-wood. 
tesseledt, See tesselled. 
For the wals glistered with red marble and pargeting of 
divers colours, yea all the house was paved with checker 
and tesseled worke. Enottes's Hist. Turks (1003). (Nares.) 
tessella (te-sel'a), n. ; pi. tesxellee (-e). [< L. 
tessella, a small square stone, dim. of tessera, a 
square, tessera : see tessera.] Same as tessera. 
tessellar (tes'e-lar), a. [< LL. tessettarius, one 
who makes tessellae, < L. tessella, a little cube 
or square : see tessella.] Made up of tesserse. 
See tessellated. 
Tessellata (tes-e-la'ta), n. pi. [NL., neut. pi. 
of L. tessellatus, checkered: see tessellate.] 1. 
A group of tessellate Paleozoic sea-urchins, sy- 
nonymous with Palsechinoidea. 2. Tessellated 
crinoids; an order of Crinoidea, having the ca- 
lyx formed entirely of calcareous plates, and 
the oral surface without ambulaeral furrows, as 
in the genera Actinocrinus and CyatTiocriiius. 
tessellate (tes'e-lat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. tessel- 
lated, ppr. tessellating. [< L. tessellatus, made 
of small square stones, checkered, < tessella, a 
small square stone : see tessella.] To form by 
inlaying differently colored materials, as a 
pavement; hence, to variegate. 
It was the affectation of some to tesselate their conver- 
sation with antiquated and obsolete words. 
Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 335. 
tessellate (tes'e-lat), a. In zool., same as tessel- 
lated, 3. 
tessellated (tes'e-la-ted), a. [< L. tessellatus, 
made of small square stones, checkered (see 
tessellate), + -ed 2 .] 1. Formed of small pieces 
of stone, glass, or the like, generally square or 
four-sided in plan, and long in proportion to 
their breadth. See tessera, 1. 2. In bot., check- 
ered; having the colors arranged in small 
squares, thus resembling a tessellated pave- 
ment. 3. In zool., checkered or reticulated 
in a regular manner, by either the coloration 
or the formation of the parts of a surface, (a) 
Having colored patches resembling mosaic work or a 
checker-board. (6) Divided by raised lines into square 
or angular spaces, (c) Having distinct square scales. 
Tessellated cells, flattened epithelial cells united at 
their edges intopavementepithelium. Tessellated epi- 
thelium. Same as pavement epithelium. See epithelium. 
Tessellated work, inlaid work composed of square 
or four-sided pieces, or tesserae. Mosaic in the ordinary 
senses is comprised in this. 
tessellation (tes-e-la'shon), n. [< tessellat(ed) 
+ -ion.] 1. The act or art of making inlaid 
work with tesserse. 2. The work so produced. 
Additions to the old glass tessellation in the pulpit. 
Planche, in Jour. Brit. Archseol. Ass., XV. 138. 
tessera (tes'e-ra), n. ; pi. tesserss (-re). [= F. 
tessere = Sp." teisera = Pg. It. tessera, < L. tes- 
sera, a small cube or square of stone, wood, 
etc., a cube, die, tablet, tessera, ticket, token, 
< Gr. rfaaapec;, Ionic 
reaaeptf, four: see 
four.] 1. A small 
piece of hard ma- 
terial, generally 
square in plan, 
used in combina- 
tion with others 
of similar charac- 
ter for making mo- 
saics. Tesserae are 
small in surface, 
and are thick in 
proportion, and 
therein differ from 
tiles, which are 
large and flat. 2. 
A die for playing 
fames of chance. 
. A small square 
of bone, wood, or 
the like used in 
ancient Borne as a 
ticket of admission 
to the theater, etc. 
4. Same as tessera Jiospitalis (which see, be- 
low). [Rare.] 
The fathers composed a form of confession, not as a 
prescript rule of faith to build the hopes of our salvation 
Tesserae, shown separately and com- 
bined in mosaic. (From a Roman 
pavement discovered in London.) 
6250 
on, but as a tesxera of that communion, which, by public 
authority, was therefore established upon those articles. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 321. 
Tessera frumentarl, in Ram. antiq., a ticket entitling 
the holder to a dole of bread, corn, or other provisions. 
Tessera hospitalis, in Rom. antiq., a pledge of mutual 
friendship, wnich was broken in twain, as is a coin by 
modern lovers, and one half retained by each person. It 
served as a means of recognition and a pledge of admis- 
sion to hospitality between the families and descendants 
of the friends. 
As in Greece, the connexion [between host and guest in 
Rome] often became hereditary ; and a tessera hvxpilalix 
was broken between the parties. Encyc. Brit., XII. 308. 
Tessera mllitaris, in Ram. antiq., a small billet of wood 
on which the watchword was inscribed for distribution to 
the soldiery, and on which was sometimes written an or- 
der or an address of the commanding officer. Tessera 
nummaria, a ticket entitling the holder to a dole of 
money. One engraved in Caylus's Recueil is marked Ar. 
xii. (that is, 12 silver coins or denarii). Tessera thea- 
tralis, in Rom. antiq., the ticket or check by which ad- 
mission to the theater was granted : one found at Pompeii 
fixes the seat which the holder was to occupy by the num- 
ber of the cuneus, the row, and the seat. 
tesseraic (tes-e-ra'ik), a. [< tessera + -ic.~\ 
Same as tesselt'ar. [Bare.] 
tesseral(tes'e-ral),a. [(.tessera + -al.] 1. Same 
as tessellar. "[R"are.] 2. In crystal., same as 
isometric. 
tesserariant (tes-e-ra'ri-an), a. [< L. tessera- 
rius, of or pertaining to a tessera (< tessera, a 
tessera), + -an.'] Of or pertaining to play or 
gaming: as, the tesserarian art. 
tessitura (tes-si-to'rii), n. [It., texture, = E. 
texture.] In music, of a melody or a voice-part, 
that part of its total compass in which the great- 
er number of its tones lie. To voices of moderate 
cultivation it is more important that the tessitura, or aver- 
age field of the tones, should be convenient than that all 
extreme tones should be avoided. 
tessular (tes'u-lar), . [Irreg. for "tesserular, 
< L. tcsserula, dim. of tessera, a tessera.] lu 
crystal., same as isometric. 
test 1 (test), n. [< ME. test, teest, teste = G. test, 
< OF. test, F. let = Sp. tiesto = Pg. It. testo, 
an earthen vessel, esp. a pot in which metals 
were tried, < L. testum, also testu, the lid of an 
earthen vessel, an earthen vessel, an earthen 
pot, in ML. esp. an earthen pot in which metals 
were tried; cf. testa, a piece of burned clay, a 
potsherd , an earthen pot, pitcher, jug ( see test'^) ; 
C *tersttts, pp. of the root seen also in terra for 
"tersa, dryland: see terra, thirst. Cf. test 2 .] If. 
An earthen pot in which metals were tried. 
Our cementing and fermentacioun, 
Our ingottes, testes, and many mo. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 266. 
Put It [gold] in a teste made accordynge to the quantitie 
of the same, and melt it therin with leade whiche yowe 
shall consume partely by vapoure and partely with draw- 
ynge it owt by the syde of the teste. 
R. Eden, tr. of Vannuccio Biringuccio (First Books on 
[America, ed. Arber, p. 366). 
Specifically 2. The movable hearth or cupel 
of a reverberatory furnace, used in separating 
silver from lead by cupellation (see cupel), ac- 
cording to the method usually followed in Eng- 
land. It consists of an oval wrought-iron frame, about 
5 feet long and 2i wide, crossed by several iron bars on 
the bottom, thus forming a receptacle for the finely pow- 
dered bone-ash with which the frame is filled, and in which 
a cavity is scooped out to hold the melted metal while it is 
being cupeled. The test rests on a car, on which it is 
wheeled into its place under the reverberatory furnace 
when ready for use. The hearth of the German cupellation 
furnace, on the other hand, is fixed in its place, but is cov- 
ered by an iron dome, which can be lifted off by the aid 
of a crane. 
3. Examination by the test or cupel ; hence, any 
critical trial or examination : as, a crucial test. 
Let there be some more test made of my metal, 
Before so noble and so great a figure 
Be stamp'd upon it. Shak., M. for M., i. 1. 49. 
Thy virtue, prince, has stood the test of fortune. 
Like purest gold. Addison, Cato, iv. 4. 
Many Things when most conceal'd are best ; 
And few of strict Enquiry bear the Test. 
Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
4. Means of trial; that by which the presence, 
quality, or genuineness of something is shown ; 
touchstone. 
Unerring Nature . . . 
Life, force, and beauty must to all impart, 
At once the source, and end, and test of Art. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 73. 
With the great mass of mankind, the test of integrity in 
a public man is consistency. Macaulay, Sir W. Temple. 
5. [cap.] The Test Act of 1673. See phrase be- 
low. 
Our penal laws no sons of yours admit, 
Our Test excludes your tribe from benefit. 
Dryden, Hind and Panther, lii. 830. 
6. In chem., a substance which is employed to 
detect the presence of any ingredient in a com- 
pound, by causing it to exhibit some known 
test 
property; a substance which, being added to 
another, indicates the chemical nature of that 
other substance by producing certain changes 
in appearance and properties; a reagent: thus, 
infusion of galls is a test of the presence of iron, 
which it renders evident by the production of 
a black color in liquids containing that metal ; 
litmus is a test for determining the presence of 
acids when uneombined or in excess, as its blue 
color is turned red by acids. 7. Judgment; 
discrimination; distinction. 
Who would excel, when few can make a test 
Betwixt indifferent writing and the best ? Dryden. 
S. An apparatus for proving light hydrocarbon 
oils by heat, to find the temperature at which 
they evolve explosive vapors ; an oil test. E. 
H. Knight Bbttger's sugar test, a test for sugar in 
urine, consisting in boiling with a solution of sodium car- 
bonate and basic bismuth nitrate. If sugar is present, a 
black precipitate is produced. Breslau's test, the pla- 
cing of the stomach and intestines of a dead new-born in- 
fant in water immediately after removal. It was formerly 
supposed their floating was a proof that the child had been 
born alive. Bryce'S t68t, a test of the genuineness of a 
vaccination by revaccinating at another point. If the first 
vaccination is genuine the second vaccination will, if made 
a short time after the first, follow an accelerated course, 
though dwarfed in size ; or if it is made later, say after the 
fifth day, the second inoculation will notdevelop. Catop- 
tric test, a former method of diagnosing cataracts by 
means of the changes observed in the reflected images of a 
light held in front of an eye affected by cataract, as differ- 
ing from those of a normal eye. Day's blood test, a test 
for blood in which the suspected stain is treated first with 
fresh tincture of guaiacum and then with hydrogen per- 
oxid in watery or ethereal solution. If blood be present 
a sapphire-blue stain is produced. Ehrlich's test. Same 
&a Ehrlich's reaction (which see, under reaction). Physi- 
ological test. See physiological. Reinsch's test, a test 
for the presence of arsenic, which consists in heating the 
suspected solution slightly acidified with hydrochloric 
acid, with a strip of bright metallic copper immersed in it. 
The arsenic is deposited as a gray film. Rosenthal's 
test, a test by means of electricity for cavies of the spine. 
SchirFs test, a means of detecting uric acid or a urate 
by silver nitrate. Test Act, an English statute of 1673. 
It made all ineligible to hold office under the crown who 
did not take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, or re- 
ceive the sacrament according to the usage of the Church 
of England, or subscribe the Declaration against Transub- 
stantiation. It was directed against Roman Catholics, but 
was applicable also to Dissenters. It was repealed in 1828. 
Test types, letters of various sizes used by oculists in 
testing vision. The test of conceivability, of Incon- 
ceivability. Seeconceivability, inconceivability. To take 
tie test, to submit to the Test Act ; take the sacrament 
in testimony of being a member of the Church of England. 
= Syn. 3 and 4. Proof, ordeal, criterion.- See inference. 
test 1 (test), v.t. [< test 1 , n.] 1. In metal., to 
refine, as gold or silver, by means of lead, in a 
test, by the removal by scorification of all ex- 
traneous matter, or in some other way. 
Not with fond shekels of the tested gold. 
Shak., M. for M., ii. 2. 149. 
2. To put to the test ; bring to trial and exam- 
ination ; compare with a standard ; try : as, to 
test the soundness of a principle; to test the 
validity of an argument ; to test a person's loy- 
alty; to test the electrical resistance of a wire. 
The value of a belief is tested by applying it. 
Leslie Stephen, Eng. Thought, I. 20. 
3. Specifically, in chem., to examine by the use 
of some reagent. 
test 2 (test), n. [Early mod. E. teste; < OF. teste, 
F. tete = Sp. Pg. It. testa, a shell, the head, < 
L. testa, a piece of earthenware, a tile, etc., a 
potsherd, an earthen pot, pitcher, jug, etc., a 
shell of shell-fish and testaceous animals: see 
tesft. The later E. uses are technical, and di- 
rectly from the L.] If. A potsherd. 
Then was the teste or potsherd, the brasse, golde, & 
syluer redacte into duste. Joye, Expos, of Daniel, ii. 
2. In gool., the hard covering of certain ani- 
mals; a shell; a lorica. Tests are of various tex- 
tures and substances, generally either chitinous, calcare- 
ous, or silicious, sometimes membranous or fibrous. See 
shell, 2, and skeleton, 1. Specifically (a) The outermost 
case or covering of the ascidians, or Tunicata. It is ho- 
mologous with the house of the appendicularian tunicates, 
and is remarkable among animal structures in that it is im- 
pregnated with a kind of cellulose called tunicin. See cuts 
under Salpa and cyathozoaid. (6) The shell of a testaceous 
mollusk ; an ordinary shell, as of the oyster, clam, or snail, 
(c) The hard crust or integument of any arthropod, as a 
crustacean or an insect. (d) The hard calcareous shell of 
an echinoderm, as a sea-urchin, (e) The shell of any fora- 
minifer. (/) The lorica or case of an infusorian. 
3. In bot., same as testa, 2. 
test 3 t (test), n. [< L. testis, a witness. Hence 
ult. test 3 , v., attest, contest, detest, obtest, protest, 
testimony, etc.] 1. A witness. 
Prelates and great lordes of England, who were . . . 
testes of that dede. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., II. cci. 
2. Testimony; evidence. 
To vouch this is no proof, 
Without more wider and more overt test. 
Shak., Othello, L 8. 107. 
